JP2003309387A - Heat radiation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat radiation device which is small in size, light in weight, and whose radiation quantity is large. <P>SOLUTION: Water which is generated at the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen at a fuel cell unit 5 is led from a drain pipe 6 and a conduit pipe 8 to a water-holding member 13 of a radiation 7, which is constituted at the upper part of a heating part 4. When the radiator 7 is heated by the heat from the heating part 4, the water soaked into the water-holding member 13 evaporates. At this evaporation time, a large amount of heat of vaporization is deprived of the radiator 7 to radiate the heating part 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat radiating device for cooling a heat-generating component in a device using a fuel cell as a power supply. 2. Description of the Related Art In general electronic equipment and the like, heat is generated at a portion where electricity is consumed. For example, an LSI or a hard disk represented by a CPU, for example, generates a large amount of heat, causing damage to components and a decrease in reliability due to the generated high heat. Therefore, in a conventional electronic device, a heat radiator is attached to a heat generating portion or heat is radiated by blowing air by a fan. [0003] However, in any case, the heat radiating device of the conventional electronic device carries the heat by the convection of air, so that the amount of heat that can be radiated is limited. In addition, the heat dissipating device using the FAN generates noise and has a rotating portion, which causes mechanical failure and shortens the service life. In a radiator using a radiator, the surface area must be increased in order to enhance the radiation effect.
The size increases and the weight increases. By the way, in recent years, fuel cells have been miniaturized, and are going to be mounted on portable devices in the near future. The problem here is how the fuel cell processes water in accordance with its principle in order to synthesize and discharge water when generating electricity. When attaching a fuel cell to the installed equipment, it is sufficient to prepare a tank for draining or storing.However, in portable equipment, the surroundings get wet due to drainage, or water enters the electronic circuit of the mobile equipment, causing damage. Attaching a drainage tank may not be a very good method because it may cause it, and it is against the size and weight reduction of portable devices. An object of the present invention is to provide a heat radiating device which is small and lightweight and has a large heat radiation amount. [0005] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a fuel cell unit which obtains a DC power supply and generates water by reacting oxygen and hydrogen via an electrolyte, A device that operates by electric power supplied from the battery unit, wherein a heat radiator is provided for the heat generating component, and the operation of the fuel cell unit is performed on the heat radiator. It is characterized by providing a supply means for supplying water generated at the time. The heat radiating device according to the present invention is a power source because water generated from the fuel cell unit that supplies power to the equipment is supplied to the radiator attached to the heat generating component and used for heat radiation of the heat generating component. The heat-generating component can be cooled by water generated by utilizing the characteristics of the fuel cell unit, and a small and light-weight heat radiation device having a large heat radiation effect can be obtained. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a portable device employing a heat dissipation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
A portable device, for example, a notebook personal computer 1, has a main circuit board 3 and a heat-generating component 4 such as a CPU housed in a main body housing portion 2, and is configured in a known manner. A fuel cell unit 5 is disposed in the main body storage portion 2 adjacent to the heat generating component 4, and the fuel cell unit 5 may be integrally mounted in the main body storage portion 2. Is detachable in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. The fuel cell unit 5 is provided with a drain pipe 6 extending in the attachment / detachment direction, and the drain pipe 6 of the fuel cell unit 5 in a state of being housed in a water guide pipe 8 of a radiator 7 formed above the heat-generating component 4 is detachable. It is connected. As will be described in detail later, the drainage pipe 6 and the water guide 8 constitute a supply means for supplying water generated in the fuel cell unit 5 to the radiator 7. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the state of taking out the fuel cell unit 5 described above. Fuel cell unit 5
Is basically composed of a fuel cell 9 and a fuel tank 10, and the fuel cell 9 has an air intake port and an exhaust
And a power output electrode 12 for outputting power, and a drain pipe 6 for supplying generated water to the radiator 7. The fuel cell unit 5 is a container for supplying oxygen and air to the positive electrode side and supplying hydrogen to the negative electrode side, generally using a catalyst such as a hydrocarbon compound such as LP gas, natural gas, methanol, or kerosene. Through which hydrogen is separated and supplied, and the two are reacted to generate water through the process of producing water. This fuel cell unit 5
The generated power is used as a power source for the notebook computer 1 connected to the power output electrode 12. As the fuel cell unit 5, various fuel cells such as a solid oxide fuel cell are known, but any fuel cell that emits water during the reaction can be used here. In this type of fuel cell, water generated during the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen is guided by a supply means to a radiator 7 provided above the heat generating component 4. That is, the water generated in the fuel cell unit 5 is guided to the water guide pipe 8 connected to the drain pipe 6, and the water guide pipe 8
To the radiator 7 arranged above the heat-generating component 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the radiator 7 is made of a metal plate or the like having good heat conductivity such as an aluminum plate, and has a water retention member 13 for absorbing and holding water such as a nonwoven fabric attached to one surface thereof. . Water guided from the fuel cell unit 5 via the water guide pipe 8 is supplied to the water retaining member 1.
No water drops because it is absorbed by 3. Since the heat-generating component 4 is provided on the surface opposite to the radiator 7 to which the water retention member 13 is attached, heat from the heat-generating component 4 is released by the radiator 7. At this time, the radiator 7
Is heated by the heat from the heat-generating product 4 to evaporate the water permeating the water retaining member 13 and, at the time of this evaporation, take large heat from the radiator 7. By the way, since water requires about 538 Kcal heat of vaporization to evaporate 1 ml, it is possible to release heat corresponding to this calorific value. Therefore, the heat from the heat-generating component 4 can be efficiently radiated into the air or the heat-generating component 4 can be cooled with a simple configuration via the radiator 7. In addition, since the power is supplied from the fuel cell unit 5 while the notebook personal computer 1 is turned on, the fuel cell unit 5 generates water. Since the amount of water is proportional to the amount of power consumption, when the power consumption increases and a large amount of heat is required, the amount of supplied water increases, and a large heat radiation effect can be obtained. On the other hand, when the notebook computer 1 is stopped, no water is generated because it does not consume electricity. However, even if a small amount of water is generated due to the standby power of the notebook computer 1, evaporation occurs due to the outside temperature. As a result, there is no possibility that water will accumulate and drop and wet the surrounding area. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment, it is not necessary to provide a mechanism for stopping generated water from being supplied to the water retention member 13 when the notebook computer 1 is stopped, and the structure is simple. As can be seen from this description, the fuel cell unit 5 is mounted on a portable device such as the notebook personal computer 1, and water generated from the fuel cell unit 5 is used for cooling the heat generating component 4. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently cool the heat-generating component 4 by the water generated by utilizing the characteristics of the fuel cell unit 5 as the power supply. In the above-described embodiment, the water retaining member 13 such as a nonwoven fabric is attached to the surface of the radiator 7, but the surface of the metal plate constituting the radiator 7 has low tension, that is, surface tension is generated. If such processing is not performed, it is possible to supply water directly to the metal plate itself of the radiator 7. For example, one of the effective means is to cut a thin groove on the surface of the metal plate of the radiator so as to keep water with surface tension.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the fuel cell unit 5 is mounted on the portable device. By providing the fuel cell unit 5 and a heat radiating device utilizing water generated therein, a small and efficient heat radiating effect can be expected. As described above, the heat radiating device according to the present invention can radiate heat from the heat-generating parts by positively utilizing water as a by-product in the fuel cell unit, and can radiate heat with small size and light weight. Efficient heat radiation can be performed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a notebook computer employing a heat radiating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a fuel cell unit of the notebook computer shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a radiator of the notebook computer shown in FIG. 1; [Description of Signs] 2 Main body storage section 4 Heat generating component 5 Fuel cell unit 6 Drain pipe 7 Radiator 8 Water guide pipe 13 Water retaining member

Claims (1)

Claims 1. A fuel cell unit that obtains a DC power supply and generates water by reacting oxygen and hydrogen via an electrolyte, and a device that is operated by power supplied from the fuel cell unit. In a heat radiating device for radiating heat generated from a heat generating component of the device, a heat radiator is provided on the heat generating component, and a supply unit for supplying water generated during operation of the fuel cell unit is provided on the heat radiator. A heat radiator characterized by the above-mentioned.