Turbulent flow cooling for electronic ballast
First Claim
1. An apparatus for heat dissipation for a luminaire, comprising:
- a thermally-conductive housing having an exterior surface, an interior surface that forms a cavity, a first end with an opening to provide access to the cavity from an exterior of the housing, and a plurality of thermally-conductive protrusions that extend from the exterior surface of the housing and exposed to an ambient fluid on the exterior of the housing to at least one of convectively or radiantly thermally transfer heat from the housing to the ambient fluid on the exterior of the housing;
an electronic ballast mounted in the cavity of the housing and thermally conductively coupled to the interior surface of the housing to allow the housing to at least conductively absorb at least a portion of heat generated by the electronic ballast during use, andan active heat transfer device mounted at least proximate the first end of the housing to sealingly enclose the electronic ballast in the cavity of the housing at least during use and operable to cause turbulence in the ambient fluid on the exterior of the housing at least about the thermally-conductive protrusions to enhance convective transfer of heat to the ambient fluid from the plurality of thermally conductive protrusions.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for heat dissipation for a luminaire comprises an active heat transfer device and a thermally-conductive housing. The active heat transfer device causes turbulence in an ambient fluid. The thermally-conductive housing includes a cavity and a first end. The cavity is structured for an electronic ballast of the luminaire to be housed therein and thermally attached to an interior surface of the housing to allow the housing to absorb at least a portion of heat generated by the electronic ballast. The first end is structured for the active heat transfer device to be mountable to the first end of the housing. The housing further includes at least one thermally-conductive protrusion extending from an exterior surface of the housing and exposed to the turbulence in the ambient fluid to transfer at least a portion of the heat absorbed by the housing to the ambient fluid.
170 Citations
17 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for heat dissipation for a luminaire, comprising:
-
a thermally-conductive housing having an exterior surface, an interior surface that forms a cavity, a first end with an opening to provide access to the cavity from an exterior of the housing, and a plurality of thermally-conductive protrusions that extend from the exterior surface of the housing and exposed to an ambient fluid on the exterior of the housing to at least one of convectively or radiantly thermally transfer heat from the housing to the ambient fluid on the exterior of the housing; an electronic ballast mounted in the cavity of the housing and thermally conductively coupled to the interior surface of the housing to allow the housing to at least conductively absorb at least a portion of heat generated by the electronic ballast during use, and an active heat transfer device mounted at least proximate the first end of the housing to sealingly enclose the electronic ballast in the cavity of the housing at least during use and operable to cause turbulence in the ambient fluid on the exterior of the housing at least about the thermally-conductive protrusions to enhance convective transfer of heat to the ambient fluid from the plurality of thermally conductive protrusions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method of actively cooling an electronic ballast of a luminaire, the method comprising:
-
providing a thermally-conductive housing having an exterior surface, an interior surface that forms a cavity to house the electronic ballast of the luminaire therein, the housing having a first end with an opening to provide access to the cavity from an exterior of the housing, and a plurality of thermally-conductive protrusions extending from the exterior surface of the housing; thermally coupling the electronic ballast to the housing to promote at least a portion of heat generated by the electronic ballast to be transferred to the housing and the plurality of thermally-conductive protrusions of the housing; mounting an active heat transfer device to the housing at least proximate the first end of the housing to sealingly enclose the electronic ballast in the housing; and causing turbulence in an ambient fluid at least surrounding the plurality of protrusions of the housing to enhance convective transfer of heat to the ambient fluid from the plurality of protrusions. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
Specification