JP2007032869A - Cooling device and cooling method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small and silent cooling device for a heating component, particularly for a heating component of an electronic device. <P>SOLUTION: The cooling device has a first heat exchange means comprising a first intake for taking in a refrigerant, and a first takeout port for taking out the refrigerant, and taking out the refrigerant taken in from the first intake and having cooled the heating component, from the first takeout port; a second heat exchange means comprising a second intake for taking in the refrigerant taken out of the first takeout port, and a second takeout port for taking out the refrigerant, and cooling the refrigerant taken in from the second intake; and a refrigerant circulating means for allowing the refrigerant to circulate through the first heat exchange means and the second heat exchange means. The second heat exchange means which is a radiator for cooling the refrigerant, comprises a fan and a cooling cartridge. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling device and a cooling method related to a heat generating component, particularly a heat generating component of an electronic device.

  In homes, offices, libraries, etc., personal computers that operate with quiet sounds, so-called silent personal computers, will become increasingly demanded in the future as the operating speed of the CPU increases. Also, in AV equipment, printers, copiers, etc., it is necessary to operate quietly and suppress heat generation. Conventionally, for example, in order to cool a CPU of a PC, it has been performed by a method of air cooling using a heat sink and a cooling fan.

  However, in these devices, there is a limit to cooling the heat-generating parts only with a heat sink and a cooling fan. The cooling fan is made smaller and a cooling device using liquid cooling is introduced as a cooling device with quiet sound during operation. Has begun.

  For example, as the CPU's performance has increased, the amount of heat generated by the CPU has increased. Therefore, in addition to the cooling fan, a silent personal computer of the type that cools the CPU with the water cooling jacket by attaching a water cooling device connected to the water cooling jacket attracts attention. Has been.

  As a known technique related to the above, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 01-269113, water, which is a first refrigerant for cooling a heat generating component, is used as a heat exchanger in a water cooling method for a heat generating component of an electronic device. A cooling system that cools with water as the second refrigerant is disclosed.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-253439 shows an example in which a circulating cooling water is air-cooled by a fan attached to a radiator unit by a water cooling system of a CPU such as a PC.

However, the water-cooling cooling devices shown in these known examples have a problem that the radiator becomes large because the cooling water heated by the heat-generating parts is cooled by the radiator. Furthermore, in order to reduce the size of the radiator, it is necessary to attach a powerful cooling fan to the radiator.
JP-A-01-269113 JP 2004-253439 A

  The present invention has the above-mentioned two problems, namely, the problem that the radiator becomes large because the cooling water heated by the heat-generating parts is cooled by the radiator, and the radiator is powerfully cooled to reduce the size of the radiator. It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple technique for solving the conflicting problem that there is a problem in operating with a quiet sound when a fan is attached.

  The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is a cooling device for a heat generating component, and includes a first intake port for taking in a refrigerant and a first outlet port for taking out the refrigerant taken in from the first intake port. First heat exchanging means for cooling the heat-generating component by the refrigerant introduced by the first conduit connected to the first intake port and taking out the refrigerant from the first intake port; and the first intake unit. A second intake port for taking in the refrigerant taken out by a second conduit connected to the outlet; and a second intake port for taking out the refrigerant taken in from the second intake port, and taking in from the second intake port Second heat exchange means for cooling the refrigerant, and refrigerant circulation means for circulating the refrigerant through the first heat exchange means and the second heat exchange means, and the second heat exchange means. Cools the refrigerant The radiator a heat sink is a cooling device which is characterized by comprising a cooling cartridge.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, for example, a copper water cooling jacket is used as the first heat exchange means, and the flat surface of the water cooling jacket is brought into contact with the surface of the CPU. Using cooling water as a coolant flowing in the water cooling jacket, one end of each of two copper pipe conduits for guiding the cooling water flowing in the water cooling jacket is connected to the inlet and outlet of the water cooling jacket, and the other end of each conduit Is connected to the inlet and outlet of the cooling water passing through the radiator. Cooling water circulates between the water-cooling jacket and the radiator by arranging a pump for circulating the cooling water along the route.

  Here, the copper cooling cartridge containing cold water is brought into close contact with the outer surface of the radiator, for example, the surface of a normal radiator is provided with radiating fins, but a flat portion is provided in part to cool it. Apply heat conduction grease to the flat part of the outer surface of the cartridge to make it in close contact, or float or sink a cooling cartridge containing cold water in the radiator's coolant to cool the radiator's coolant. Cool the cooling water passing through the radiator. In this way, if the chilled water cartridge containing the chilled water is made detachable from the radiator, the cooling water can be cooled by the chilled water cartridge without operating the cooling fan of the radiator for a certain period of time. Since the cooling fan of the radiator is stopped, a quiet time is secured.

  Further, if the cartridge is replaced with a cartridge containing cold water at an appropriate time, the cooling water is cooled by a cooling fan with a quiet operation sound without using a powerful cooling fan.

  Furthermore, if the temperature of the cooling water sent to the water cooling jacket is kept below a certain temperature mainly by the second heat exchanger, the cooling fan of the PC that blows air on the first heat exchanger operates gently. By setting it as a fan, the noise by the fan concerning a 1st heat exchanger and a 2nd heat exchanger is reduced. In this way, the noise level is selected in accordance with the purpose, and the noise level in a certain time zone is lowered compared to other time zones.

  According to the present invention, by providing an exchangeable cooling cartridge in the radiator portion that is normally air-cooled, the cooling fan is stopped until the cooling cartridge is warmed to obtain a quiet time zone, and the cooling cartridge has been warmed At that time, the CPU is cooled by rotating the cooling fan. In particular, when the cooling cartridge according to the present invention is floated or immersed in the cooling liquid in the radiator, the cooling liquid is rapidly cooled, so that the refrigerant can be cooled in a shorter time.

  As described above, in the present invention, unlike the conventional air-cooled heat radiator, since the replaceable cooling cartridge is provided, a quiet environment can be obtained in a certain time zone, or depending on the season, or electronic equipment This is useful not only when the installation location is changed and placed in an environment where the room temperature is high, but also when it is desired to cool in a shorter time.

  The invention according to claim 2 of the present invention is the cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the radiator further includes a fan.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the radiator is provided with a cooling fan together with the cooling cartridge. The environment is kept to a low noise level.

  The invention according to claim 3 of the present invention is characterized in that the radiator includes an internal conduit for allowing the refrigerant to pass inside the radiator and a coolant for cooling the refrigerant via the internal conduit. The cooling device according to claim 1 and claim 2.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the present invention is applied to a sealed radiator that contains a coolant, for example, a flat surface is formed on a part of the outer surface of the radiator that is not exposed to the wind of the cooling fan. Then, the outer surface of the copper cooling cartridge having the flat surface is brought into close contact with each other, or is applied after heat conductive grease is applied thereto. In this way, by closely contacting the cooling cartridge containing the cold water from the outside of the radiator, the cooling liquid inside the radiator is cooled from the outside of the radiator, and the heat of the heat generating components passing through the internal conduit is absorbed. The refrigerant is cooled.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the cooling device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the refrigerant is cooled by immersing the cooling cartridge in the cooling liquid.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, for example, by providing a radiator having a structure in which a copper cooling cartridge containing cold water is floated or immersed in the cooling liquid of the radiator, the cooling liquid can be cooled by the cooling cartridge. This is done efficiently, and as a result, the heat of the refrigerant passing through the copper conduit placed in the coolant of the radiator is absorbed.

  The invention according to claim 5 of the present invention is a method for cooling a heat generating component, wherein the heat generating component is cooled by a refrigerant introduced from a refrigerant intake port of the first cooling unit, and the first heat exchange step is performed. A second heat exchanging step of cooling the refrigerant by taking the refrigerant taken out from the refrigerant outlet of the cooling unit into a second cooling unit which is a radiator having a cooling cartridge and a fan; A refrigerant circulation step for circulating the first cooling unit and the second cooling unit, and the second heat exchange step further stops the fan when the temperature at a predetermined position is lower than the predetermined temperature. Cooling the cooling liquid of the radiator with the cooling cartridge, and when the temperature at the predetermined position is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, the cooling cartridge More cooling the cooling liquid of the radiator, and a cooling method characterized by comprising the step of operating the fan.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the first cooling unit includes, for example, a liquid cooling type cooling unit, and the refrigerant that has passed through the cooling unit and absorbed the heat of the heat-generating component is used as the second cooling unit. It is circulated so that it is guided and cooled and sent again to the first cooling unit. The second liquid cooling unit includes a radiator having an air-cooled cooling fan and a cooling cartridge containing a cooling liquid. The cooling cartridge is in contact with the outer surface of the radiator with good thermal conductivity, or inside the radiator. It is structured to float or sink in the coolant.

  And the surface temperature of the conduit at the inlet / outlet of the cooling water passing through the radiator, the temperature of the coolant at a predetermined location in the radiator, or the predetermined temperature of the first cooling unit, not limited to the radiator, for example, the cooling jacket By setting the observation temperature at a predetermined position using the surface temperature or the like, the cooling cartridge can be effectively replaced as a reference.

  Here, the number of observation points is not limited to one, and may be a plurality of points. The refrigerant may be liquid or gaseous. In short, the substance is sufficient to pass through the conduit.

  In general, according to the present invention, the cooling water heated by the heat-generating component is air-cooled by the radiator, so that the radiator becomes large-scale, and a powerful cooling fan is added to the radiator to reduce the size of the radiator. When installed, it can solve the conflicting problem of operating with quiet sound.

  In the present invention, unlike the conventional air-cooled radiator, since it has a replaceable cooling cartridge, a quiet environment can be obtained in a certain time zone, or depending on the season or the installation location of the electronic device In addition to being placed in an environment where the room temperature is high, it is also effective when it is desired to cool within a short time.

  FIG. 2 shows a conventional example. The surface of the CPU 1 built in the PC is in contact with the water cooling jacket 2. The CPU 1 that generates heat during operation is cooled by the cooling water passing through the pipe 3 provided in the water cooling jacket 2, and the CPU 1 is cooled by the fan 4. The The cooling water passing through the water cooling jacket 2 circulates through the pump 5, the cooling water tank 6, and the radiator 7 provided in the cooling water path. The pump 5 forcedly circulated the cooling water in the path, the cooling water tank 6 absorbed expansion and contraction due to the temperature change of the cooling water by the internal air layer, and the radiator 7 was warmed by passing through the water cooling jacket 2. The cooling water is cooled by the coolant 8 inside the radiator 7. In order to cool the coolant 8 warmed by the cooling water, a radiator fin (not shown) is provided on the outer surface of the radiator 7, and the fan 9 applies air to the radiator fin to blow the coolant 8. Forced air cooling from outside of 7. Moreover, in order to detect the temperature of the circulating cooling water, for example, the temperature sensor 10 is attached to the inside of the cooling water tank 6 and the temperature sensor 11 is attached to the surface of the water cooling jacket 2. Among conventional electronic devices, some computers called silent PCs cool a CPU that generates heat during the operation of the computer. The fan 4 forcibly air-cooling the water-cooling jacket 2 from the outside includes an electronic device that also serves as a fan (not shown) that cools other components inside the computer.

  As the operating speed of the computer increases and the temperature rises due to the heat generated by the CPU, a liquid cooling type cooling method is used in combination with the air cooling type instead of the conventional air cooling type. Forced air cooling with a fan is inexpensive and has been used in the past, but if a powerful fan is used to enhance the air cooling effect, noise during operation will be greater. In addition to air cooling by a fan, when a water cooling system in which a water cooling jacket and a radiator are circulated is used in combination, a cooling effect that is greater than the case of using only an air cooling system by a fan and a small noise during operation can be used.

  However, as the operating speed of computers further increases, a small fan with low noise during operation is not sufficient, and a better method is required.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the device according to the invention. FIG. 1 shows a CPU 1, a water cooling jacket 2, a pipe 3, a fan 4, a pump 5, a cooling water tank 6, a temperature sensor 10, and a temperature sensor 11 shown in the conventional example of FIG. Omitted.

  FIG. 1 shows a radiator 100 according to the present invention which is different from FIG. The radiator 100 contains a cooling liquid 101 inside, a fan 102 is attached to the outside of the radiator 100 to forcibly cool the radiator 100 from the outside, and the cooling cartridge 103 is immersed in the cooling liquid 101. The cooling liquid 101 is, for example, water, and the cooling cartridge 103 has a cylindrical copper tank outer surface and is formed with a male screw on the outer peripheral portion, stores cold water inside, and supplies and drains cold water with a handle and a cap on the top. It has a mouth (not shown). A female screw that is paired with a screw on the outer periphery of the cooling cartridge 103 is formed on the radiator 100 (not shown), and the cooling cartridge 103 is soaked in the radiator 100 while being rotated from the upper side of the figure. It has become. When the outer wall of the copper plate having good heat conductivity is immersed in the cooling liquid 101 of the radiator 100, the heat of the warmed cooling liquid 101 is absorbed by the cold water inside the cooling cartridge 103 through the outer wall of the copper plate. Heated cooling water flowing through the pipe 3 having a large contact area with the cooling liquid inside the radiator 100 is efficiently cooled within a short time by the cooling cartridge 103 having the above-described structure.

  The temperature and flow rate of the cooling water are appropriately adjusted by the temperature at a predetermined location measured by the temperature sensor 10 and the temperature sensor 11 and the flow rate of the cooling water circulating in the pipe 3 by the pump 5.

  FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment according to the present invention. In the figure, the structure of the radiator part which is a main part is shown. The left side is a plan view seen from above, and the right side is a side view seen from the right side. The radiator 200 is provided with a radiation fin on a part of its outer surface (not shown). The radiator 200 stores the coolant 201, and an internal conduit 202 is bent in the coolant 201. One end of the internal conduit 202 is connected to IN 203 which is a part for taking cooling water into the radiator 200 from the outside, and the other end is connected to OUT 204 which is a part for taking cooling water from the radiator 200 to the outside. In the present embodiment, a cooling cartridge / slide guide 206 for sliding and fixing a flat outer surface of a copper cooling cartridge 205 storing cold water on a flat portion of the outer surface of the radiator 200 is provided. Further, a fan 207 that is forcedly cooled from the outside is provided. Here, the fan 207 sends air to the outer surface of the cooling cartridge 205, but the fan 207 may be provided on the opposite surface of the drawing or may be provided on both.

  FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment according to the present invention. In the figure, the structure of the radiator part which is a main part is shown, and the upper cover (not shown) of the radiator is removed for explanation. The left side is a plan view seen from above, and the right side is a side view seen from the right side. The radiator 300 is provided with radiation fins on a part of the outer surface (not shown), the coolant 300 is stored inside the radiator 300, and an internal conduit 302 is bent in the coolant 301. One end of the internal conduit 302 is connected to the IN 303 which is a part for taking cooling water into the radiator 300 from the outside, and the other end is connected to OUT 304 which is a part for taking out the cooling water from the radiator 300 to the outside. In the present embodiment, a lid (not shown) provided on the radiator 300 is removed, and a cooling cartridge 305 made of copper containing cold water is immersed in the cooling liquid 301 inside the radiator 300, or It comes to float. In the figure, an example in which the cooling cartridge 305 is immersed below the coolant level 307 is shown. Further, a fan 306 that is forcedly cooled from the outside is provided. Here, the fan 306 sends air to one outer surface of the radiator 300, but the fan 306 may be provided on both sides of the drawing.

An embodiment of a cooling device according to the invention Conventional example First embodiment according to the present invention Second embodiment according to the present invention

Explanation of symbols

1 CPU
2 Water cooling jacket 3 Pipe 4, 9, 102, 207, 306 Fan 5 Pump 6 Cooling water tank 7, 100, 200, 300 Radiator 8, 101, 201, 301 Coolant 10, 11 Temperature sensor 103, 205, 305 Cooling cartridge
202, 302 Internal conduit 203, 303 IN
204, 304 OUT
206 Cooling cartridge slide guide 307 Cooling liquid level

Claims (5)

A cooling device for heat-generating parts,
A first intake port for taking in the refrigerant and a first take-out port for taking out the refrigerant taken in from the first intake port, and generating heat by the refrigerant taken in by a first conduit connected to the first intake port First heat exchanging means for cooling parts and taking out the refrigerant from the first outlet;
A second inlet for taking in the refrigerant taken out by a second conduit connected to the first outlet, and a second outlet for taking out the refrigerant taken in from the second inlet; Second heat exchanging means for cooling the refrigerant taken in from the intake port;
The refrigerant has refrigerant circulation means for circulating the first heat exchange means and the second heat exchange means;
The second heat exchange means is a radiator that cools the refrigerant, and the radiator includes a cooling cartridge.   The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the radiator further includes a fan.   The cooling device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the radiator includes an internal conduit for allowing the refrigerant to pass through the radiator and a coolant for cooling the refrigerant via the internal conduit.   4. The cooling device according to claim 1, further comprising a structure for cooling the refrigerant by immersing the cooling cartridge in the cooling liquid. A method of cooling a heat generating component,
A first heat exchanging step of cooling the heat generating component with a refrigerant taken in from a refrigerant intake port of the first cooling unit;
A second heat exchanging step of cooling the refrigerant by taking the refrigerant taken out from the refrigerant outlet of the first cooling unit into a second cooling unit which is a radiator including a cooling cartridge and a fan;
A refrigerant circulation step in which the refrigerant circulates through the first cooling unit and the second cooling unit;
The second heat exchange step further includes
When the temperature at the predetermined position is lower than the predetermined temperature, the fan is stopped and the cooling liquid of the radiator is cooled by the cooling cartridge;
When the temperature at the predetermined position is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, the cooling method includes cooling the coolant of the radiator with the cooling cartridge and operating the fan.

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