Heat management for electronic enclosures

• US 9,578,781 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2014
• Issued: 02/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Slippey, Andrew J., Ellis, Michael C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Tuan T
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATEL, MUKUNDBHAI G
• Application Number:
  US14/274,075
• Publication Number:
  US 20150327402A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,019 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20309 Evaporators
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20318 Condensers
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20336 Heat pipes, e.g. wicks or capillary pumps
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20436 Inner thermal coupling elements in heat dissipating housings, e.g. protrusions or depressions integrally formed in the housing

Abstract

An enclosure and method for housing electrical components. The enclosure includes walls provided about the electrical components, the walls having poor thermal conductivity. At least one thermal transport device extends through at least one respective wall. The at least one thermal transport device has a first portion which is positioned within the enclosure, a second portion which is positioned outside of the enclosure and a transition portion which connects the first portion to the second portion. The at least one thermal transport device has a high effective thermal conductivity and provides a high thermal conductivity path for heat energy to pass from within the enclosure to outside the enclosure.

Claims

1. An enclosure for housing electrical components, the enclosure comprising:

walls provided about the electrical components, the walls having poor thermal conductivity;

at least one heat pipe extending through at least one respective wall, the at least one heat pipe having a first portion, a second portion and a transition portion, the first portion serves as an evaporator and is positioned within the enclosure, the second portion serves as a condenser and is positioned outside of the enclosure, at least one of the first portion or the second portion is embedded in the at least one respective wall and extends parallel to the at least one respective wall, the at least one of the first portion or the second portion having three sides that are captured in the at least one respective wall, the at least one of the first portion or the second portion is flush with a surface of the at least one respective wall, the at least one of the first portion or the second portion is flattened to expose more surface area of the at least one of the first portion or the second portion to allow more heat to be rejected via natural convection, the transition portion connects the first portion to the second portion and is jogged or bent relative to the first portion and the second portion, the transition portion is embedded in and extends through the at least one respective wall;

the at least one heat pipe has a high effective thermal conductivity and provides a high thermal conductivity path for heat energy to pass from within the enclosure to outside the enclosure.

2. The enclosure as recited in claim 1, wherein the walls are made from a carbon and polymer composite material.

3. The enclosure as recited in claim 1, wherein the walls are made from a glass and polymer composite material.

4. The enclosure as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one heat pipe is a thermosyphon.

5. The enclosure as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one heat pipe has fins provided on the first portion.

6. The enclosure as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one heat pipe has fins provided on the second portion.

7. The enclosure as recited in claim 1, wherein the transition portion of the at least one heat pipe is bent at an angle of between about 1 degree and about 20 degrees.

8. The enclosure as recited in claim 1, wherein the second portion of the at least one heat pipe is flattened and maintained in the at least one respective wall, allowing more surface area of the at least one heat pipe to be exposed so that more heat can be rejected from the at least one heat pipe via natural convection.

9. An enclosure for housing electrical components, the enclosure comprising:

walls provided about the electrical components, the walls having poor thermal conductivity;

at least one device that transports thermal energy using latent heat extending through at least one respective wall, the at least one device having an evaporator portion which is positioned within the enclosure and a condenser portion which is positioned outside of the enclosure, at least one of the evaporator portion or the condenser portion embedded in the at least one respective wall, the at least one of the evaporator portion or the condenser portion extending parallel to the at least one respective wall, the at least one of the evaporator portion or the condenser portion having three sides that are captured in the at least one respective wall, the at least one of the evaporator portion or the condenser portion is flush with a surface of the at least one respective wall, a transition portion connects the evaporator portion to the condenser portion and is jogged or bent relative to the evaporator portion and the condenser portion, the transition portion is embedded in and extends through the at least one respective wall;

the at least one device has a high effective thermal conductivity and provides a high thermal conductivity path for heat energy to pass from the evaporator within the enclosure to the condenser outside the enclosure.

10. The enclosure as recited in claim 9, wherein the walls are made from a composite material.

11. The enclosure as recited in claim 10, wherein the walls are made from a carbon and polymer composite material.

12. The enclosure as recited in claim 9, wherein the at least one device is a passive, two-phase device.

13. The enclosure as recited in claim 12, wherein the at least one device is a heat pipe.

14. The enclosure as recited in claim 12, wherein the at least one device has fins provided on the evaporator portion.

15. The enclosure as recited in claim 12, wherein the at least one device has fins provided on the condenser portion.

16. A method of thermally conducting heat from inside an enclosure formed of composite material, the method comprising:

collecting heat from the inside of the enclosure at an evaporator of a heat pipe that transports thermal energy using latent heat;

conducting the heat from the evaporator of the heat pipe through a transition portion of the heat pipe which is embedded in a wall of the enclosure to a condenser of the heat pipe, the transition portion connects the evaporator portion to the condenser portion and is jogged or bent relative to the evaporator portion and the condenser portion, at least one of the evaporator or condenser is embedded in a wall of the enclosure and is flush with a surface of the wall, the at least one of the evaporator portion or the condenser portion having three sides that are captured in the wall;

dissipating the heat from the condenser outside of the enclosure;

wherein the heat pipe has a high effective thermal conductivity and provides a high thermal conductivity path for heat energy to pass from the evaporator to the condenser, and the condenser is embedded to allow the heat pipe to be compatible with various external configurations.