JP2006234255A - Radiator and liquid cooling system comprising the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid cooling system comprising a radiator, not needing a large mounting space and being easily mounted. <P>SOLUTION: This radiator constituting the liquid cooling system of an electronic apparatus comprising a heat generating element in a housing, and allowing the liquid refrigerant to flow in from a cooling jacket 500 and release the generated heat to the external, is integrally composed of a heat radiating member (radiator portion) 100 releasing the heat from a surface by circulating the liquid refrigerant inside, an electric fan 200 for forcibly supplying cooling air to the heat radiating member (radiator portion), and a tank 400 for storing a part of the liquid refrigerant inside with a circulation pump 300 for circulating the liquid refrigerant in the liquid cooling system including a cooling jacket. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention includes a radiator structure suitable for efficient cooling of a liquid refrigerant, and further includes such a radiator. As an example, as represented by a personal computer, a server, or the like, a heating element is provided therein. The present invention relates to a liquid cooling system suitable for cooling a heat generating element in various electronic devices equipped with a semiconductor integrated circuit element.

  Conventionally, an electronic device typified by a personal computer or a server includes a semiconductor integrated circuit element typified by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), which is a heating element, inside the casing. Cooling is required to ensure the normal operation of the heating element. Conventionally, in order to realize such cooling, generally, a so-called heat sink, in which a heat transfer body integrally formed with fins is attached to the heat generating element in a thermally connected manner, and a so-called fan is provided that sends cooling air to the heat generating element. The air cooling system was used.

  However, in recent years, along with the miniaturization and high integration of the semiconductor integrated circuit elements, which are the heat generating elements, and the higher functionality, heat generation in the heat generating elements has increased, and the heat generating parts have become localized. For this reason, instead of the conventional air cooling type cooling system, for example, a liquid cooling type cooling system with high cooling efficiency using a refrigerant such as water has attracted attention and has been adopted.

  As a liquid cooling type cooling system that is used in the above-described electronic equipment and has a high cooling efficiency, for example, as known from the following Patent Document 1, generally, a so-called heat receiving ( A member called a “cooling” jacket is directly mounted, and on the other hand, a liquid refrigerant is passed through a flow path formed inside the heat receiving jacket. That is, the heat generated from the CPU is transmitted to the refrigerant flowing in the jacket, thereby cooling the heating element with high efficiency. In such a liquid cooling type cooling system, a heat cycle is usually formed with the cooling jacket as a heat receiving part. Specifically, a circulation pump for circulating the liquid refrigerant in the cycle, the liquid refrigerant A radiator that is a heat radiating part for radiating the heat of the outside to the outside, and further, if necessary, a refrigerant tank for storing liquid refrigerant provided in a part of the cycle, and these, for example, They are connected via a tube made of an elastic body such as a metal tube or rubber.

Further, according to the following Patent Document 2, a pump impeller is installed at the center of the flow path forming the heat radiating portion, and a fan is installed so that the pump impeller and the fan are driven by the same motor. Thus, an integrated fan, pump, and radiator is already known.
JP 2002-189535 A JP 2002-368471 A

  By the way, in the cooling system that actively circulates the liquid refrigerant in the cooling system, the heat of the liquid refrigerant is radiated to the outside in order to improve the cooling capacity particularly with the increase in the amount of heat generated in the heating element. For example, an electric fan is attached to a heat dissipating part, that is, a radiator to forcibly radiate heat.

  In addition, an example of the radiator and electric fan by a prior art is shown by attached FIG. 7 (a) and (b). In the radiator 50, a plurality of flow path pipes 53 are usually arranged between the upper and lower heads 51, 52, and a corrugated or bellows-like metal plate is finned between the flow path pipes 53. The fan 55 is attached to one surface thereof. The fan motor 56 that rotationally drives the fan 55 is normally fixed to the center of the fan 55.

  Further, in the prior art, in consideration of the speed distribution of the cooling air at the outlet of the fan 55, it is usually arranged at a position for sucking air through the radiator 50 as shown in FIG. It is common. Further, in order to equalize the pressure between the radiator 50 and the fan 55, a space is usually required. In particular, in the liquid refrigerant cooling apparatus including the radiator 50 and the fan 55 according to the prior art, the position of the fan motor 56 for rotationally driving the fan 55 becomes a so-called dead space. That is, as shown on the right side of FIG. 7B, the air flow rate becomes slow at the substantially central portion of the radiator 50, so that the cooling effect by the fan 55 is reduced. In addition, the code | symbol 57 of FIG.7 (b) has shown the pump provided separately from the radiator 50 for circulating the liquid refrigerant | coolant to the radiator 50 which forms a part of loop of a liquid cooling system.

  In addition, in the liquid cooling system according to the above-described prior art, a refrigerant tank may be provided as necessary, that is, in order to supplement and reduce the decrease in liquid refrigerant circulating inside through long-term use. In some cases, the radiator 50 was also provided separately as in the case of the pump 57.

  That is, as apparent from the above, the conventional cooling device for the liquid refrigerant composed of the radiator 50 and the fan 55 has a poor cooling effect, and the pump 57 and the refrigerant tank that together constitute the liquid cooling system are integrated. For this reason, when mounting such a liquid cooling system on the casing of an electronic device such as a personal computer or a server, a relatively large space (empty space) is required, and the mounting work becomes complicated. It was pointed out.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems in the prior art. Specifically, the present invention improves the cooling (heat dissipation) efficiency of the circulating liquid refrigerant, and the liquid cooling is performed inside the liquid refrigerant. It is possible to provide a new configuration of a radiator capable of integrating a pump and a refrigerant tank, which are other components constituting the system, as well as to provide such a new radiator without requiring a large installation space. An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid cooling system that can be easily mounted.

  According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above-described object, first, a radiator constituting a liquid example system of an electronic device provided with a heating element in a housing, the heat generated by the heating element is converted into a liquid refrigerant flowing inside. A radiator that flows in liquid refrigerant from a cooling jacket to be transmitted and releases heat to the outside; a heat radiating member (radiator portion) that causes the liquid refrigerant to flow inside and releases heat from the surface; and the heat dissipation An electric fan driven by a driving motor for forcibly supplying cooling air to a member (radiator section); and a circulation pump for circulating the liquid refrigerant in a liquid cooling system including the cooling jacket. The circulation pump is installed to face the electric motor for driving the electric fan, the heat dissipating member (radiator section), the electric fan, and the circulation fan. A radiator configured in one piece and a pump is provided.

  In the present invention, the radiator described above further includes a tank for storing a part of the liquid refrigerant circulating in the liquid cooling system therein, and the heat radiating member (radiator section) In addition to the electric fan and the circulation pump, it is preferable that the tank is also configured integrally. Further, in the radiator, the electric fan is constituted by an axial fan provided with a driving motor at a substantially central portion, and the heat radiating member (radiator portion) is configured such that the circulating pump or the circulating pump is combined with the circulating pump. It is preferable that the tank is arranged at a substantially central portion thereof, and the electric fan is attached to one surface of the heat radiating member (radiator portion) to be integrally formed.

  Further, in the present invention, in the radiator, the circulating pump can be driven simultaneously by the electric motor of the electric fan, or the rotation direction of the fan of the electric fan is caused by the cooling air generated thereby. The electric fan is set to go to the heat radiating member (radiator portion), or the heat radiating member (radiator portion) is provided with a liquid refrigerant flow pipe between a pair of heads arranged opposite to each other. It is preferable that a plurality of fins are attached and fins are attached between the flow pipes.

  In addition, according to the present invention, there is also provided a liquid cooling system for an electronic device provided with a heating element in a housing to achieve the above-described object: A cooling jacket that transmits heat to the liquid refrigerant that flows through the inside; a heat radiating member (radiator) that releases heat transferred to the liquid refrigerant to the outside of the device in the cooling jacket; and the cooling jacket and the heat dissipation A circulation pump for circulating the liquid refrigerant in a loop including a member (radiator portion), and the heat radiating member (radiator portion) is disposed at a substantially central portion of the heat radiating member (radiator portion). There is provided a liquid example system including an electric fan for forcibly supplying cooling air and configured integrally with the circulation pump.

  In the present invention, the liquid example system further includes a tank for storing a part of the liquid refrigerant circulating in the system therein, and the heat radiating member (radiator unit) In addition to the electric fan and the circulation pump, it is preferable that the tank is also integrated.

  According to the present invention described above, according to the radiator having a novel configuration that includes a pump and a refrigerant tank, which are other components constituting the liquid cooling system, and is integrally incorporated therein, the circulating liquid refrigerant In addition to improving the cooling (heat radiation) efficiency, it is possible to provide a liquid cooling system that does not require a large mounting space and that can be easily mounted.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, FIG. 1 attached herewith shows an exploded perspective view of an overall configuration of a radiator constituting a liquid cooling system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Note that this radiator cools the heat generating element by circulating a liquid refrigerant in an electronic device including a heat generating element (for example, a CPU) that generates heat inside the housing, such as a personal computer or a server. A so-called liquid cooling system that efficiently performs the above-described process is configured with a cooling jacket described later.

  As is clear from the figure, this radiator is a member having a high thermal conductivity, such as a metal such as copper or aluminum, between a pair of headers 101 and 101 arranged vertically opposite to each other. A plurality of pipes 102 are arranged in parallel with each other and arranged at equal intervals, and between these pipes 102, as in the case of metals such as copper and aluminum, the heat conductivity is high. For example, a heat dissipating member (radiator portion) 100 made of a member and having a corrugated fin 103 attached thereto is provided. In addition to the heat radiating member (radiator portion) 100, the radiator includes a so-called electric fan 200 on one surface (the back surface in the drawing) of the heat radiating member (radiator portion). In this figure, the electric fan 200 is shown separated from the heat radiating member (radiator portion) 100. However, as will be shown later, one of the surfaces is brought into contact with each other to be integrally formed. Yes. Reference numeral 104 in the figure denotes a hole formed in a corner portion of the heat radiating member (radiator portion) 100 in order to insert a coupling member such as a screw when the electric fan 200 is integrally formed. It is.

  As is clear from the figure, the electric fan 200 is formed so that a circular ventilation path 202 is formed at the center of a plate-shaped case 201 having a substantially rectangular outer shape, and is positioned at the approximate center of the ventilation path. The so-called axial fan 203 is attached. Reference numeral 204 in the figure is an electric motor for rotationally driving the axial fan 203, and reference numeral 205 indicates the rotation output shaft. Reference numeral 206 denotes a support member for arranging and fixing the axial fan 203 and the electric motor 204 in the central portion of the ventilation path 202. Similarly to the heat dissipation member (radiator portion) 100, the electric fan 200 also has insertion holes 207 formed at four corners thereof.

  Returning to the heat radiating member (radiator portion) 100 again, in the present invention, a part of the heat radiating member (radiator portion) 100 is further circulated with a liquid refrigerant, which also constitutes a part of the liquid cooling system. The pump 300 and / or the refrigerant tank 400 are also integrated. The circulation pump 300 is a liquid driving circulation pump for driving the liquid refrigerant in the liquid cooling system to circulate in the loop. On the other hand, the refrigerant tank 400 has, for example, a sufficient amount of liquid refrigerant to maintain the cooling capacity necessary for the liquid cooling system in consideration of leakage of the liquid refrigerant to the outside over a product warranty period of 5 years. It is a tank for storing refrigerant (for example, water or water in which propylene glycol or the like is mixed with a predetermined ratio of antifreeze liquid). Reference numeral 401 in the figure denotes a pipe connecting the upper header 101 of the heat radiating member (radiator section) 100 and the refrigerant tank 400, and 402 denotes a pipe connecting the refrigerant tank 400 and the circulation pump 300. Yes.

  As described above, the heat dissipating member (radiator unit) 100 in which the electric fan 200, the circulation pump 300, and the refrigerant tank 400 are integrally formed includes a cooling jacket that constitutes a liquid cooling system by the discharge port 105 and the suction port 106. Connected to. The state at this time is shown in FIG. 4, the same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 500 in the figure indicates the cooling jacket described above, and reference numeral 600 indicates the cooling jacket. For example, a heating element such as a CPU is shown in contact with the lower surface of the substrate via, for example, heat transfer grease. Further, reference numerals 501 and 502 in the figure indicate piping tubes for connecting the discharge port 105 and the suction port 106 of the heat radiating member (radiator section) 100 to the cooling jacket 600. In addition, as these piping tubes, metal tubes are generally used, but in particular, a tube made of an elastic body with little refrigerant permeation from the wall surface, such as butyl rubber, is used for the movable part. Has been.

  Next, FIG. 2 attached includes a front view, a side sectional view, and a right side view of FIG. 1 of the radiator (when viewed from the left side of FIG. 1) whose internal configuration is illustrated in FIG. Shows the rear view. Here again, the same components as shown in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals. Then, the flow of the liquid refrigerant flowing in and out in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 (b) is as follows in the heat radiating member (radiator portion) 100 as shown by the arrow in FIG. 2 (c). It flows in such a route. That is, the suction port 106 → the lower header 101 → the pipe 102 → the upper header 101 → the pipe 401 → the refrigerant tank 400 → the pipe 402 → the circulation pump 300 → the discharge port 105.

  As is clear from FIG. 2A, the electric fan 200 has a driving motor 204 that rotationally drives the axial fan 203 attached to a substantially central portion of the ventilation path 202, while FIG. c) As is clear from the above, in the heat dissipating member (radiator portion) 100, the heat dissipating portion composed of the pipe 102 and the fin 103 is not formed at the substantially central portion. A refrigerant tank 400 is attached and configured. In other words, the circulation pump 300 and the refrigerant tank 400 are arranged in a portion corresponding to the drive motor 204 portion of the electric fan 200, that is, a portion that has conventionally been a dead space.

  As a result, almost all of the cooling air formed by the electric fan 200 passes through the piping 102 and the heat radiating portion of the fin 103 constituting the heat radiating member (radiator portion) 100, so that it is dead as in the prior art. Space is not created and more efficient cooling by the radiator is possible. In addition, the circulation pump 300 and the refrigerant tank 400 disposed in the substantially central portion of the heat radiating member (radiator portion) 100 are formed of, for example, a metal such as copper or aluminum or another material having high thermal conductivity. According to this, although it is slight, a cooling effect is obtained by a part of the cooling air formed by the electric fan 200, which is preferable.

  In the above-described radiator, the heat dissipating member (radiator portion) 100, the electric fan 200, the circulation pump 300, and the refrigerant tank 400 may be integrated, or may be configured as separate members. Good. In this case, it is not necessary to make the entire radiator according to the required cooling performance, and the combination of members having the required performance may be changed for each member. Therefore, there is an advantage that the members can be shared and the cost can be reduced.

  In the attached FIG. 3, the flow of cooling air that is formed by the electric fan 200 and is supplied to the heat radiating member (radiator section) 100 in the configuration of the radiator described above is indicated by white arrows. That is, in the radiator according to the present invention, the rotation direction (or shaft) of the driving motor 204 of the electric fan 200 is set in the direction opposite to the flow of the cooling air in the prior art shown in FIG. The direction of inclination of the blades of the flow fan 203 is set. In this way, by allowing the cooling air to flow from the electric fan 200 toward the heat radiating member (radiator unit) 100, the cooling air can be generated at a higher speed than the conventional technology of FIG. Thus, the heat can be supplied to the heat radiating member (radiator section) 100, and this also enables more efficient cooling by the radiator.

  Further, an electric fan may be added and disposed before and after the heat radiating member (radiator portion), and cooling air may be flowed by a push-pull method. In the prior art, as shown in FIG. 7B, a space is required between the pull-side electric fan and the heat radiating member (radiator portion), whereas in the present invention, the pull-side electric fan and the heat radiating member are radiated. A member (a radiator part) can also be arranged in close proximity. In other words, the features of higher heat dissipation by increasing the speed of the cooling air and space saving of installation can be manifested more remarkably.

  The radiator described in detail above constitutes a liquid cooling system together with the cooling jacket 400 that transmits the heat generated by the heating element to the liquid refrigerant flowing inside as described in FIG. 4. For example, an example applied to a main part of a desktop personal computer is shown in FIG.

  First, as shown in the figure, the main body portion of a desktop personal computer includes a casing 700 formed by forming a metal plate in a cubic shape, and the front panel portion 701 includes various types of power switches. In addition, a driver device 702 for driving various external information recording media such as a floppy disk (registered trademark), a CD, and a DVD is provided in the front surface. It arrange | positions so that the panel part 701 may be opened. Reference numeral 703 in the figure indicates a storage unit provided in the housing 700, for example, a hard disk device. Further, reference numeral 704 in the figure indicates a lid that covers the casing 700.

  On the other hand, an electronic circuit unit 705 having a liquid cooling system according to the present invention is disposed on the back side of the casing 700. Reference numeral 706 in the figure denotes the driver device 702, the memory from the commercial power source. A power supply unit for supplying desired power to each unit including the unit 703 and the electronic circuit unit 705 is shown. And in this electronic circuit part 705, said cooling jacket 500 is attached on heat generating elements, such as CPU, and as mentioned above, the electric fan 200, the circulation pump 300, and the refrigerant | coolant tank 400 are integrated. A heat radiating member (radiator portion) 100 (a radiator as a whole) is attached to the back side of the housing 700.

  As is apparent from this figure, when the liquid cooling system according to the present invention is actually incorporated into an electronic device, the cooling jacket 500 is attached on the heating element. Then, the above-described radiator, which is configured integrally with other necessary components other than the cooling jacket, is attached in the vicinity of the air intake hole or slit provided on the back side of the housing 700. That is, basically, the attachment can be completed in a short time by a simple operation of only performing the above two operations. Although not shown here, it goes without saying that air intake holes or slits are formed on the back side of the housing 700.

  Further, here, the electric fan 200 is used to take in air outside the casing 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the radiator is disposed in the reverse direction, so The air may be blown out.

  In the embodiment described above, the circulation pump 300 itself includes a drive source such as an electric motor and rotates an internal impeller to pressurize and drive the liquid refrigerant. It was described as circulating in the system cycle. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings, in the modified example of the circulating pump 300 ′, the rotary impeller 306 is provided in the pump case 305. However, the rotary impeller 306 is not provided with an electric motor. The rotation output shaft 205 of the electric motor 204 constituting the electric fan 200 may be fitted to the rotation shaft. According to this, since the electric motor 204 can be used not only for rotationally driving the fan 203 but also as a rotational drive source of the circulation pump 300 ′, the radiator as a whole can be reduced in size, weight, and further. The manufacturing cost can be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an overall configuration of a radiator constituting a cooling system for an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the front view, side surface sectional view, and back view for showing the above-mentioned radiator. It is sectional drawing which shows the flow of the cooling air in the said radiator. It is a figure which shows the structure of the liquid cooling system which becomes this invention including the said radiator. It is a partially expanded perspective view which shows the state which incorporated the liquid cooling system containing the said radiator in the electronic device. It is a partially expanded cross-sectional perspective view for showing the modification of the circulation pump of the radiator of the said invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the radiator and cooling fan in a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

100 Heat dissipation member (radiator part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Header 102 Piping 103 Fin 105 Discharge port 106 Suction port 200 Electric fan 203 Axial fan 204 Electric motor 300 Circulation pump 400 Refrigerant tank

Claims (8)

In the radiator that constitutes the liquid cooling system of the electronic equipment having the heating element in the housing,
A heat radiating member for allowing the liquid refrigerant to flow inside and releasing heat of the heat generating element from the surface; an electric fan driven by a driving motor for forcibly supplying cooling air to the heat radiating member; and the liquid A circulation pump that circulates the liquid refrigerant in a cooling system, the circulation pump being installed opposite to the electric motor for driving the electric fan, and the heat dissipation member, the electric fan, and the circulation pump. A radiator characterized by a single structure.   2. The radiator according to claim 1, further comprising a tank for storing a part of the liquid refrigerant circulating in the liquid example system therein, and in addition to the heat radiating member, the electric fan, and the circulation pump. Furthermore, the radiator characterized in that the tank is also integrally formed.   3. The radiator according to claim 1, wherein the electric fan is configured by an axial fan including a drive motor at a substantially central portion, and the heat radiating member includes the circulation pump or the circulation pump. A radiator comprising: the tank arranged at a substantially central portion thereof; and the electric fan attached to one surface of the heat radiating member.   The radiator according to claim 1, wherein the circulation pump is also driven by the electric motor of the electric fan at the same time.   2. The radiator according to claim 1, wherein a rotation direction of the fan of the electric fan is set so that cooling air generated thereby is directed from the electric fan toward the heat radiating member. 3.   The radiator according to claim 1, wherein the heat dissipating member is provided with a plurality of liquid refrigerant flow pipes between a pair of heads arranged to face each other, and fins are provided between the flow pipes. A radiator characterized by being mounted. In the liquid cooling system for electronic equipment with heating elements in the housing,
A heat radiating member for allowing the liquid refrigerant to flow inside and releasing heat of the heat generating element from the surface; an electric fan driven by a driving motor for forcibly supplying cooling air to the heat radiating member; and the liquid A radiator configured integrally with a circulation pump that circulates refrigerant and is installed opposite to the electric motor for driving the electric fan;
A cooling jacket that is thermally connected to the heating element and transmits the heat generation to a liquid refrigerant that flows through the heating element;
A liquid cooling system, wherein the radiator and the cooling jacket are connected by piping.   8. The liquid cooling system according to claim 7, wherein the radiator further includes a tank for storing a part of the liquid refrigerant circulating in the system, and the electric fan and the circulation pump. A liquid cooling system in which the tank is also integrated.

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