GB2410617A

GB2410617A - Tube heatsink

Info

Publication number: GB2410617A
Application number: GB0400202A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jonathan David Cadd
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-01-07
Filing date: 2004-01-07
Publication date: 2005-08-03
Also published as: GB0400202D0

Abstract

A heatsink for an electronic component comprises a heat conducting base 01 with at least one tube 02 thereon. In use heated air can flow upwards through the entire length of the tube away from the component.

Description

A Heatsink The invention relates to the removal of heat from electronic

circuits by means of a heatsink.

At present heatsinks tend to be poorly designed and there are no straightforward design techniques to make a heatsink that can dissipate very large amounts of heat without using active cooling devices. Many heatsinks currently available operate at high temperature since they are very inefficient and don't fully exploit the natural convection current effect using gravity to take heat away. The main purpose of a heatsink is to remove unwanted heat and keep a component below a temperature at which it would be destroyed. If a heatsink cannot keep its temperature below a maximum design limit because it is too small, active cooling must be used to prevent damage to the components it is intended to keep cool.

Active cooling devices are in the form of large fans and water cooling pipes and pumps.

The main problems with these techniques are their reliability, and the noise that is produced. If the active cooling technique fails, then a very expensive piece of hardware could be ruined due to overheating, above the 70 degree Centigrade limit for semiconductors. A common example of where heatsinks use active cooling, because of the lack of heatsink design is the desktop PC.

The noise level produced by fans cooling the processor, the switch mode power supply and now graphic cards in personal computers is very annoying. Long periods of exposure to unnecessary noise such as cooling fans is a health risk. The enjoyableness of the PC is reduced considerably when playing games, watching DVD's or programming.

Dust builds up on the electronic boards in the long term when using fan cooling, which produces extra maintenance. Nobody sells a silent cooling solution for the desktop PC at the present time, which does not require any long term maintenance.

The invention solves the problem of being able to dispose of very high power levels of heat to the environment without the use of any electrical or mechanical active cooling device. The invention will show how a heatsink can be designed to operate continuously at maximum power and stay at a temperature of around 40 degrees Centigrade, when used at room temperature conditions. The invention will operate completely silently, since there are no moving parts, and no electrical power is used and will not create dust problems. The reliability of the heatsink design also increases its potential commercial use in many critical applications that have to operate continuously everyday. The invention is very useful for applications such as heat conductors where high levels of heat are being physcally moved to a more convienient place where it can be dealt with more effectively.

The invention is used to dissipate a specific quantity of heat in Watts into the environment by natural convection alone, without any active cooling device used to speed up the process. A specific heatsink design must be tested on an individual basis to know its full power rating and a final temperature of 40 degrees Centigrade.

The invention bases the heatsink design around a solid heat conductor 01, and a number of solid heat conductive tubes or hollow structures 02 firmly attached together so as to conduct heat between all of the parts readily. The heat conductor 01 is used to move heat from an electronic component towards the tubes and / or hollow structures 02 that will remove the waste heat efficiently into the environment.

The tube diameter and length are not critical so the heatsink can be engineered to suit the application. A heatsink could use a single tube, or it could use many tubes to function. The heatsink should be practically tested to determine the amount of heat it could dissipate safely.

Heat is conducted between each of the tubes 02 and the heat conduction plate 01.

The tubes 02 are mechanically supported in the vertical position in line with gravity 06.

Heat is removed from the tubes 02 by means of a convection current 04 which is encouraged to travel vertically upward by having a gas tight wall all the way around.

Air can flow freely 04 throughout the entire interior structure of each tube 02 at all times. Light is able to pass through all of the tubes 02 without obstruction 03.

After several seconds of applying heat from an electronic component 07 the temperature of the heat conduction plate 01 begins to rise significantly. Heat will conduct from the bottom of the tubes upward towards the top of the tubes. The air freely residing inside the tubes 08 will warm up and rapidly expand. The density of the air inside the tubes 08 will decrease compared to the air outside and below the tubes 09. A stream of hot air will flow upward 04 taking with it unwanted heat. Unwanted heat flows upward 05 and no physical object hinders the natural convection airflow.

Mechanical support can be given to the top of each tube to prevent bending damage, provided nothing interfere with the airflow 04.

A specific example of the invention will now be shown in the drawing Fig 1.

Fig 1 shows a side view of seven copper tubes 02 pressed into a copper heat conduction plate 01.

Heat is conducted between each of the seven tubes 02 and the heat conduction plate 01.

Heat is applied evenly at both ends 07 to the copper heat conduction plate 01. After several seconds of applying heat from an electronic component the temperature of the copper heat conduction plate 01 begins to rise significantly. Heat 07 will conduct from the bottom of the tubes 02 upward towards the top of the tubes. The air freely residing inside the tubes 08 will warm up and rapidly expand. The density of the air inside the tubes 08 will decrease compared to the air outside and below the tubes 09. A stream of hot air will flow upward 04 taking with it unwanted heat. Unwanted heat flows upward and no physical object hinders the natural convection airflow.

Heat will be removed continuously from the heatsink by the environmental air.

Referring to the drawing Fin 1 the heatsink comprises: - Copper heat conduction plate 01.

- Seven copper air convection tubes 02.

- A mechanical assembly showing a through hole allowing light to pass unimpeded 03.

- Heated air will try to rise directly upward inside the tubes 04.

- No restriction on the heated air to move freely upward 05.

- The force of gravity acting on the environment 06.

- Heat is applied from an electrical component 07.

- Air freely residing inside the tubes 08.

- Air residing around the exterior of the tubes 09.

- The tubes outside diameter of(lSmm) 10.

- The tubes inside diameter (13mm) 11.

- The tubes length of (250mm) 12. - 4

Claims

1. A heatsink consisting essentially of a heat conductor that is thermally attached to and physically supports a heat conductive tube like sturcture in the vertical position to allow heated air to freely flow upward throughout the entire internal tube structure's length to remove heat.

2. A heat conductive tube like structure as claimed in Claim 1 is a heat conductive structure that will prevent the heated air from within the tube to escape sideways, the heated air is only allowed to rise upward using the force of gravity.

3. A heat conductive tube like structure as claimed in Claim 1 can be made to take the form of, a single tube, a number of tubes, a cast component having a tube like shape or a tube fabricated from sheet material.

4. A heatsink as claimed in Claim I consists of one or more parts which are constructed from heat conductive materials such as copper, aluminium, brass, iron, steel, or any other solid material that will achieve the same purpose.

5. A tube like structure as claimed in Claim 1 can consist of a straight tube, a curved tube, or any other tube like structure that is able to promote cold air to freely enter the bottom and expel heated air out from the top of the tube using the force of gravity alone.