JP2001042973A - Cooling device for computer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cooling device which can be mounted even on a small- sized, thin notebook personal computer, has good cooling effect, and generates low noise by discharging air, heated by the heat generation of a CPU, to outside by using a cross flow fan. SOLUTION: The length of the impeller of the cross flow fan 1 is limited to the rigidity and number of the blades and the number of intermediate separators, but easily set almost about 10 times as large as the diameter and produce a wide wind differently from an axial flow fan and a flat fan. The air from the cross flow fan 1 is blown to a heat sink 10 mounted on a CPU 9. An electrothermal pad 11 is interposed between the CPU 90 and heat sink 10 so as to prevent an air layer from being interposed. The air is able to flow having small disturbance in one direction as shown by the arrow, so high- efficiency cooling is achieved. Consequently, the air need not be moved fast and the noise can be suppressed at low level.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a high-performance computer cooling device that generates a large amount of internal heat.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the performance of computers, especially personal computers, has been remarkably improved.
The amount of heat generated from U is large. On the other hand, the main body is required to be smaller and thinner, and in order to maintain stable operation, a cooling device for quickly releasing the large amount of generated heat to the outside has become very important. .

For cooling a computer, an electric heating pad, a heat sink, a heat pipe, a cooling fan, and the like are used alone or in combination. Among small and thin computers called notebook computers, high-performance personal computers that generate a large amount of heat generally use a cooling fan in combination with another method. However, until now, cooling fans that can be used for notebook computers have been limited to axial fans and flat fans.
All of them have a problem in cooling performance, and cannot be used in particular for thin type which has strong demands on the market. Therefore, there is a problem that the thin type has to use a CPU which generates a small amount of heat and is slightly inferior in performance. .

[0004] In the case of a desktop personal computer, in addition to cooling the entire housing with an axial fan, it is common to directly cool the CPU that generates the most heat with an axial fan or flat fan. In order to directly cool the CPU with the axial fan, it is necessary to sandwich a heat sink in the middle, and the overall thickness becomes large. Therefore, an axial fan cannot be used in such a manner in a notebook computer which is required to be as thin as possible.

FIG. 6 shows an example of using an axial fan in a notebook personal computer. The axial fan 19 is attached to the side of the notebook personal computer main body 16 to allow external air to pass through.
Although the overall cooling efficiency is good, it has to be indirect to the CPU generating the largest amount of heat. In addition, although notebook computers are becoming increasingly thinner, there is a drawback in that when an axial flow fan is mounted on the side, the thickness of the personal computer itself is determined by its size. If the fan is small, the air volume will be insufficient. The more fans you have, the more expensive
Originally, the PCMCI
A card device, floppy disk device, CD-ROM
Since many peripheral devices or connection devices such as devices, input / output ports for connecting peripheral devices, and infrared communication devices must be arranged, there is usually no room for arranging many axial fans.

FIG. 7 shows an example of using a flat fan. The flat fan 2 is placed on the CPU 9 via the heat transfer pad 11.
0 is attached. The flat fan 20 is formed by integrating an axial fan and a heat sink. Casing 2
The bottom plate 22, the ceiling plate 23, and the plate-shaped column 24 form a heat sink. The casing usually has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and air flows in from above and flows to the side. The opening provided on the side may be one side, but may be two or more sides. The cooling device using the flat fan 20 can be thinner than the case using an axial fan, but the performance as a heat sink must be limited and the cooling performance is unsatisfactory.

[0007] As shown in FIG.
The upper part of the notebook computer casing 1
Since the wall 6 is approaching and a keyboard (not shown) and the like are on the wall, there is no state where the outside air can be directly introduced. Therefore, the air entering the flat fan 20 must enter from a lateral direction through a very narrow gap 25 between the flat fan 20 and the notebook computer main body casing 16. This air naturally mixes with the exhaust air of the fan that has cooled the CPU and thus has to be used with very poor cooling efficiency. This is the same even when the flat fan is not mounted directly on the CPU but heat is transferred to another place using a heat pipe and then cooled by the flat fan.

Further, the flat fan generates heat by its own motor, which must be disposed immediately above the CPU, so that the local concentration of the heating element further progresses and the cooling efficiency is further lowered. The result is.

In the flat fan, there is a motor above the central portion of the CPU where the temperature is the highest, and the air flow does not pass through the central portion. Is causing lowering.

Although heat is generated from elements other than the CPU, the cooling method in which an axial fan or a flat fan is attached to the CPU only diffuses the heat of the CPU to other elements and absorbs the heat generated by the other elements. The result is to increase rather than to do.

In a cooling device using a flat fan, since the cooling efficiency is low, the air is agitated more than necessary, and accordingly, a loud noise is generated. Noise has become a major problem since notebook computers are placed close to the operator's ears.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a cooling device which can be mounted on a small and thin notebook personal computer and has high cooling efficiency and low noise.

[0013]

According to the present invention, air heated by heat generated by a CPU is removed to the outside by using a cross flow fan. By using a cross flow fan, air with a small cross section in the vertical direction and a large cross section in the horizontal direction can be evenly moved, so that heated air can be moved along the inner surface of the case of the computer body, thus saving space. To achieve a great cooling effect. In particular, it is suitable for a small and thin computer called a notebook personal computer which has been widely used in recent years.

Then, the exhaust port of the cross flow fan is extended to form a heat sink, and the lower surface of the heat sink portion is attached to the CPU.
To cool the CPU. By forming such a heat sink, heated air in a narrow space above the CPU can be positively moved.

Further, by molding the casing of the cross flow fan integrally with the case of the personal computer main body, the mounting work becomes unnecessary and the entire size can be reduced.

Further, the intake and / or exhaust port of the cross flow fan can be formed at the bottom of the case of the computer main body. Since the cross flow fan can efficiently flow air in the right angle direction, there is no need to exhaust air in a linear direction unlike a conventional axial fan, and a new air supply / exhaust passage can be formed.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention can be divided into various forms according to the method of mounting a cross flow fan. There are a configuration in which the casing of the cross flow fan is formed separately from the main body, and a configuration in which the casing is formed integrally with the main body. The length of the impeller may be short in which only the CPU is cooled, or long in the axial direction for cooling including other elements. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings based on examples.

[0018]

1 shows an impeller 2 of a cross flow fan used in the present invention. Blade 3 is held in place by separators 4 and 5, supported by shafts 6 and 7, and rotated by a motor (not shown). The length of the impeller is limited by the rigidity and number of blades 3 and the number of intermediate separators (not shown), but it is easy to make the diameter about 10 times the diameter. Differently, you can make a wide wind. FIG. 2 shows the cross flow fan 1 in which the impeller 2 is put in a casing 8. Air flows like an arrow.

FIG. 3 shows the air flowing out of the cross flow fan 1.
The state where it is spraying on the heat sink 10 attached to the CPU 9 is shown. A heat transfer pad 11 is provided between the CPU 9 and the heat sink 10 to prevent an air layer from intervening.
Is inserted. As shown by the arrow, air can flow in one direction with little turbulence, so it can be cooled with high efficiency, so it is not necessary to move air quickly and noise can be kept at a low level . Instead of attaching the heat sink 10 directly to the CPU 9, the heat of the CPU 9 can be taken out to another place by a heat pipe (not shown), and the heat sink 10 and the cross flow fan 1 can be installed there.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the heat sink 12 for mounting the CPU 9 is formed integrally with the casing 14 of the cross flow fan 13. Since heat is transmitted not only to the heat sink portion 12 but also to the entire casing 14, higher cooling efficiency can be obtained. Also, as the number of parts is reduced, assembly becomes easy.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which the casing of the cross flow fan is formed integrally with the casing 16 of the notebook personal computer main body 15. When the casing 16 is made of a metal such as magnesium, the casing 16 can be integrated with the heat sink. In this case, heat generated by the CPU can be diffused to the casing having a large area, so that extremely high cooling efficiency can be obtained.

Although the intake port 17 in FIG. 5 is provided on the bottom surface of the notebook personal computer main body casing 16, it can of course be provided on the side surface. However, in general, a PCMCIA card device, a floppy disk device, a CD-ROM device, a peripheral device connection input / output port,
Since many peripheral devices or connection devices such as an infrared communication device must be arranged, the side surface cannot be used as an air inlet in many cases. Or, even if an intake port can be made, often only a small space can be taken. In that respect, the bottom surface does not become an operation portion, and can be relatively freely arranged. Since the bottom surface of the personal computer is not stable when it is flat, the personal computer has legs 18 in most cases and often floats from the desk, and it is easy to inhale air from the bottom surface. In addition, it is of course possible to provide an intake port on both the bottom surface and the side surface. Although the above description has been made with respect to the intake port, the same applies to the exhaust port for discharging the air flowing through the inside of the notebook computer to the outside of the notebook computer.

[0023]

According to the present invention, a CPU having the highest performance can be mounted on a thin notebook personal computer and can be used with low noise. Of course, C of desktop personal computer
It can also be used efficiently for cooling PU.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an impeller of a cross flow fan used in a cooling device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a cross flow fan used in the cooling device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a cross flow fan of the present invention, a CPU, and a heat sink.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an example in which a cross flow fan and a heat sink are integrally manufactured.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an example in which the casing of the transverse fan and the casing of the notebook computer main body are integrated.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an example in which an axial fan is attached to a side surface of a notebook personal computer main body.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view in which a flat fan is attached to a CPU.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cross flow fan 2 Cross flow fan impeller 3 Blade 4 Separator 5 Separator 6 Axis 7 Axis 8 Casing 9 CPU 10 Heat sink 11 Heat transfer pad 12 Heat sink 13 Cross flow fan 14 Casing 15 Notebook personal computer main body 16 Laptop personal computer main body casing 17 Intake Mouth 18 Leg 19 Axial fan 20 Flat fan 21 Casing 22 Bottom plate 23 Ceiling plate 24 Column 25 Gap

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A computer cooling device configured to remove air heated by heat generated by a CPU using a cross flow fan to the outside. 2. The computer cooling device according to claim 1, wherein a heat sink is formed by extending an exhaust port of the cross flow fan, and a lower surface of the heat sink portion is fixed to an upper surface of the CPU to cool the CPU. . 3. The computer cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the casing of the cross flow fan is formed integrally with the casing of the computer main body. 4. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the intake port and / or the exhaust port of the cross flow fan are formed at the bottom of a case of the computer main body.
4. The cooling device for a computer according to claim 3.