Finned heat sink assemblies

• US 20030019104A1
• Filed: 09/27/2002
• Published: 01/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Martin D Smalc
• Original Assignee: Martin D Smalc
• Inventors: Smalc, Martin D.
• Granted Patent: US 6,886,249 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 29/890.03
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/4882 Assembly of heatsink parts
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/3677 Wire-like or pin-like cooling fins or heat sinks
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/3738 Semiconductor materials
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/4935 Heat exchanger or boiler making
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49373 Tube joint and tube plate structure

Abstract

A construction is provided for a finned heat sink constructed from a plurality of components separately formed from graphite materials. The components include a base and a plurality of fins. In one embodiment, the base is constructed from a first graphite material, and a plurality of elongated fins are constructed from a second graphite material, which may be the same material as the first graphite material. The fins each extend at least partially into the base, and have a length extending away from the base parallel to each other. The graphite material of the fins includes graphene layers aligned in planes parallel to the length of the fins. Two constructions are provided for the base. In one construction the base includes graphene layers aligned in planes parallel to the length of the fins. In another construction the base includes graphene layers aligned in planes perpendicular to the length of the fins.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a heat sink assembly, comprising:

(a) forming a base from a first graphite material;

(b) forming a plurality of separate fins from a second graphite material;

(c) assembling the base and the fins into a heat sink assembly; and

(d) bonding the base and the plurality of fins together.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second graphite materials are the same form of graphite material.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second graphite materials are both resin-impregnated graphite materials.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

in step (d), the bonding is achieved by clamping together the base and the fins, and curing the resin-impregnated graphite materials.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

in step (a) the base is formed by compressing a powered graphite material; and

in step (b), the fins are formed from a sheet of flexible graphite material.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

in steps (a) and (b), both the base and the fins are formed from sheets of flexible graphite material.

7. A method of manufacturing a heat sink apparatus for an electronic component, comprising:

(a) rolling an anisotropic flexible graphite sheet between shaped rollers to produce a plurality of parallel elongated continuous fin stock members defined in the rolled sheet;

(b) cutting off a portion of the rolled sheet having a length corresponding to a fin length;

(c) separating the fin stock members of the cut-off portion of the rolled sheet to create a plurality of separate elongated fins; and

(d) forming a generally planar base bonded to the fins so that the fins extend from the base in a direction generally perpendicular to the plane of the base.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein step (d) comprises:

rolling another anisotropic flexible graphite sheet between other shaped rollers, and cutting the other sheet into a plurality of base pieces having recesses; and

stacking the base pieces so that the recesses of adjacent base pieces combine to form base openings in which the fins are received.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

clamping the stacked base pieces and fins;

curing the clamped base pieces and fins; and

thereby bonding the base pieces and fins together.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

die pressing a powdered graphite material to form the base about end portions of the fins, so that graphene layers of the base are aligned in planes perpendicular to lengths of the fins.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein:

step (a) includes aligning graphene layers of the anisotropic flexible graphite sheet in planes parallel to the length of the fins as the anisotropic flexible graphite sheet is rolled between the shaped rollers.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein step (a) comprises:

rolling the anisotropic flexible graphite sheet with a series of shaped rollers, so that the material between fin stock members is increasingly reduced as the sheet passes each shaped roller.