JP3014371B1 - Electronics - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an electronic device capable of efficiently cooling the inside of a housing without hindering a reduction in thickness. SOLUTION: A part of a plate-shaped heat spreader 46 which can contact a CPU 24 which is a heat generating component is used as a part of a fan housing 48b, and the heat spreader 46 and the centrifugal fan 48a are integrated and thinner than the thickness of the CPU 24. A centrifugal fan 48a having a fan housing 48b is arranged in parallel in the immediate vicinity of the CPU 24, and the inside of the electronic device including the CPU 24 is cooled by an airflow generated by the centrifugal fan.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to an improvement in an electronic device provided with a cooling device capable of performing efficient cooling without hindering reduction in thickness of the electronic device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the rapid development of the information society in recent years, the transmission and reception of various types of information have become active. As a result, opportunities to carry various kinds of information outside the office by carrying a computer or the like have increased. For example, a salesperson uses a small portable computer to create ordering materials and business records on the go, input and query data,
A presentation of a project created using a computer is regularly performed.

When the computer is carried for use outside the office as described above, it is needless to say that the computer is multifunctional and needs to be reduced in size, in particular, reduced in weight and thickness. When downsizing an electronic device such as a computer, it is necessary to minimize the dead space inside the housing, and internal components constituting the electronic device are densely arranged.

Incidentally, the internal components include many electronic components (heat generating components) that generate heat during operation. In this case, inside the housing of the electronic device, the flow of air may be interrupted due to the dense arrangement of the internal components, and the heat generated by the heat-generating component may be trapped inside and the electronic device may be heated. Each electronic component is set to an optimum operation temperature, and when used above this temperature, the possibility of malfunction or failure increases.

[0005] Therefore, a heat sink is arranged to avoid a partial rise in temperature, or a fan is arranged inside the electronic equipment,
A cooling device that discharges heated air from the inside of a housing and takes in outside air to cool the inside of the housing and a heat-generating component has been proposed.

[0006]

However, the adoption of the cooling device as described above hinders the miniaturization of electronic devices such as computers, especially the thinning thereof, and the arrangement space is limited. There is a problem that it is difficult to arrange a fan or a heat sink having the above inside the housing. In particular, recent portable computers are required to be thinner and have higher performance, and tend to be equipped with a CPU having a high processing speed. Since the high-speed CPU generates a large amount of heat at the time of operation and needs to sufficiently dissipate heat, the above-described problem has been prominent.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its object is to reduce the size, especially the thickness,
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device capable of performing efficient cooling.

[0008]

To SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, the present invention includes a heat generating component which heat is generated by electrically operated, is provided on the bottom side of the heat generating component, and the heat generating component An electrically connected substrate, a radiator connected to the upper surface side of the heat-generating component so as to be able to conduct heat, and diffusing and radiating heat from the heat-generating component; provided on the side, inner fan housing to have a thinner outer shape thickness before Symbol heat generating component
A fan that faces a gap formed between the fan housing and the opposing substrate.
Air is taken in through the opening formed in the housing
And a fan that leads to

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the heat radiating means has a projecting portion projecting from a side surface of the heat-generating component. The air sucked by the fan is collected between the protrusion and the substrate to form an air flow path for guiding the air to the fan.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the heat radiating means covers a space formed between the heat-generating component and a side surface of a fan housing of the fan, and the heat-generating component and the substrate are connected to each other. It is assumed that the heat dissipation plate forms an air flow path on the side of the heat-generating component with the side of the fan housing of the fan.

[0011] In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in addition to being arranged around the heat generating component,
An air flow path of the centrifugal fan is formed by components electrically connected to the substrate.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device comprising: a substrate; and a pin, the bottom surface of which is opposed to the substrate, and a gap is formed between the bottom surface and the substrate. A heat-generating component electrically connected to the heat-generating component, and a plate-shaped protruding portion connected to the upper surface of the heat-generating component and protruding toward the side surface of the heat-generating component. And a fan that is arranged on the side of the heat-generating component and generates an airflow between the substrate and the protruding portion.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings of the embodiments, the same reference numerals indicate the same configuration or a configuration having an equivalent function.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing main components of a portable computer (hereinafter, referred to as a notebook computer) 10 as an example of a thin electronic device having a cooling device according to the present embodiment. The notebook computer 1
0, the main board 1
4, DC / DC board 16, memory board 18, I /
O board 20, hard disk drive (HDD) 22, central processing unit (CPU) 24, PC card slot 26,
The microphone 28, the speaker 30, and the like are unitized and densely arranged. Also, the bottom 12 has
A battery pack 32 is also detachably provided. Here, the CPU 24 as a heat-generating component is electrically connected to the main board 14 as a board and the bottom side of the CPU 24.

Further, a palm rest 40 having a keyboard 36 and a pointing pad 38 is disposed on the cover 34 which can be engaged with the bottom 12. The keyboard 36 and the palm rest 40 are openable and closable, so that the replacement of the HDD 22 and the battery pack 32, the maintenance of various components, the addition of a memory, and the like can be easily performed by opening and closing.

A liquid crystal display (L) is provided on the bottom 12.
CD) 42 is connected to the bottom 12 so as to be openable and closable. The LCD 42 and the bottom 12 are connected to each other by an LCD to prevent a hinge mechanism, a connection cable, and the like connecting the two from being exposed on the surface, and to prevent dust or the like from entering the housing from the connection. Cap 4
4 are arranged. The above-described internal components are connected to each other by connection means such as a flexible cable and a socket.

The features of the present embodiment are that heat generated by the heat-generating components disposed inside the housing of the thin electronic device is efficiently diffused, and the diffused heat and the heat of the heat-generating components are quickly transmitted to the housing. In addition to having a cooling device including the fan-integrated heat spreader 46 that discharges to the outside of the body, the fan-integrated heat spreader 46 has a shape that does not hinder the thinning of a thin electronic device, and is disposed.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the heat spreader 46. In FIG. 2, the surface facing the bottom 12 in FIG. 1 is shown on the front surface. The heat spreader 46 serving as the heat radiating means has a plate shape formed of a material having good heat conductivity, for example, aluminum or copper.
It has a protruding portion 46a protruding from the side of the U24. A fan unit 48 having a built-in centrifugal fan 48a is integrally fixed on the surface on the side to which the CPU 24 is connected, and on the above-mentioned protrusion 46a. As shown in the enlarged conceptual diagram of FIG. 3, the fan unit 48 includes a heat spreader 46 having a part (upper side) of a fan housing 48b.
And the motor 48c of the centrifugal fan 48a.
Are arranged so that their rotation axes are substantially orthogonal to the heat spreader 46. When the centrifugal fan 48a rotates,
Facing the main board 14 in the fan housing 48b
The surrounding air is sucked from the formed opening 48b1 and the like as shown by the arrow A, and the bottom 12 is sucked by the arrow B as shown by the arrow B.
The air sucked toward the exhaust port 50 (see FIG. 1) formed at the bottom is discharged.

As shown in FIG. 3, the heat spreader 46 having the fan unit 48 has a heat-generating component whose one side (the front side in FIG. 2) is disposed inside the housing. CP fixed on substrate 14
It is connected to the upper surface side of U24 so as to be able to transfer heat,
The CPU 24 is positioned so that the fan unit 48 is located between the exhaust port 50 formed in the bottom 12 and the CPU 24.
And a centrifugal fan 48a (fan unit 48) are arranged in parallel. The surface of the fan housing 48b connected to the heat spreader 46 is connected to the heat spreader 46 so that heat can be transmitted thereto, and in combination with the heat spreader 46, can serve as a heat radiating means or a heat radiating plate.

The amount of heat generated during operation of the CPU 24 increases in proportion to the performance enhancement. The CPU 2
In order to guarantee the good operation of the fourth embodiment, it is necessary to cool the CPU 24 efficiently and quickly so that the temperature is lower than the recommended operation temperature (for example, about 70 ° C.). In the case of the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, since the heat spreader 46 has a plate shape having a large spread,
Part of the heat generated at 24 is indicated by arrow C,
It is transmitted to the heat spreader 46 and diffused by the heat spreader 46. And heat spreader 4
The cooling air 6 is cooled by the airflow generated by the centrifugal fan 48a, used for cooling, and the heated air is exhausted from the exhaust port 50 as described above. Similarly, as shown by an arrow D, heat transmitted from the CPU 24 to the main board (substrate) 14 is also cooled by the airflow generated by the centrifugal fan 48a, used for cooling, and the heated air is exhausted from the exhaust port 50. . Furthermore, the air heated around the CPU 24 is also quickly changed by the airflow generated by the centrifugal fan 48a.
It is transferred to the exhaust port 50 side, discharged to the outside of the housing, and
Cooling around 24 is also provided. The upper surface of the heat spreader 46 (the upper surface in FIG. 1) is
, So that heat can be radiated from the heat spreader 46 to the keyboard 36. Further, if necessary, a heat pipe or the like may be formed in the heat spreader 46 so as to efficiently diffuse heat.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a predetermined gap (in the present embodiment, two spaces) is provided between the lower surface of the fan housing 48b of the fan unit 48 and the main board 14 on which the CPU 24 is mounted. About 0.5 to 3.0 mm)
Is formed so that the thickness of the centrifugal fan 48a and the fan housing 48b is smaller than the thickness of the CPU 24, so that air from the inside of the housing can be efficiently sucked. Thus, the centrifugal fan 48a having the fan housing 48b thinner than the CPU 24 is
Of the fan unit 48
Can efficiently cool the inside of the housing without hindering the thinning of the notebook computer 10.

Further, the cross-sectional area of the flow path of the air sucked by the centrifugal fan 48 is limited by being narrowed to the predetermined gap. Therefore, the air flowing through the gap formed between the fan housing 48b and the main board 14 is accelerated, and the air flow on the main board 14 is faster than when the air is opened without the gap. In particular, the fan housing 48b restricts the flow of air, thereby accelerating the air passing on the facing surface 14a of the centrifugal fan 48 of the main board 14. Therefore, the ability to cool the opposed surface 14a of the centrifugal fan is significantly improved. In addition, the air passes on the side closer to the main board 14 near the opening 48b1 of the fan housing 48b, that is, on the opposing surface 14a of the centrifugal fan of the main board 14. Therefore, the heat spreader 46
And the main board 14 can be efficiently cooled,
The cooling efficiency of the CPU 24 is improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, the fan housing 48b, the CPU 24, the heat spreader 46, and the main board 14 are used to move the airflow of the air sucked by the centrifugal fan 48 to the side of the CPU 24 facing the centrifugal fan. The path 54a is formed. The air flowing through the air passage 54a is supplied to the heat spreader 46, the main board 1
4, and the side surface of the CPU 24 can be cooled at the same time, and the cooling efficiency can be improved. In particular, the fan housing 48b, the CPU 24, the heat spreader 46,
And an air flow passage 54 surrounding the four sides by the main board 14
By forming a, the cross-sectional area of the air flow path is limited, and the air sucked by the centrifugal fan 48 is accelerated as described above. Therefore, CPUs that were conventionally difficult to cool
The twenty-four side surfaces can be efficiently cooled, and the overall cooling capacity can be increased.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the II plane of FIG. 4, and shows a plate-like projection 46b which is a part of the heat spreader 46 and projects toward the side of the CPU 24. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the present embodiment, the CP
U24, main board 14, and heat spreader 46
The air passage 54b of the air sucked by the centrifugal fan 48 is formed on the side surface of the CPU 24 by using the protrusion 46b. The air flowing through the air passage 54b can simultaneously cool the heat spreader 46, the main board 14, and the side surface of the CPU 24, thereby improving the cooling efficiency. In particular, both the CPU 24 and the centrifugal fan 48 are provided between the heat spreader 46 and the main board 14, and the centrifugal fan 48 sucks the air in the air flow passage 54b, so that the air flows efficiently to the side of the CPU 24. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently cool the side surface of the CPU 24, which is difficult to cool in the related art.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a wall is formed by other components 52a to 52g arranged around the CPU 24, which is a heat-generating component, and an air flow path 54 is formed. ing. The air passage 54 preferably extends to a position near the bottom 12 where the microphone 28 and the like are arranged so that unheated air can be transferred from a position as far as possible from the CPU 24 as a heat-generating component. The air flow passage 54 sucks air from a position away from the CPU 24 as shown by an arrow E in FIG. 4, thereby improving the cooling efficiency. At this time, the cooling efficiency is determined by the flow rate of the air, but the flow velocity of the air can be increased by reducing the width of the air flow path 54. In this case, even in the same centrifugal fan 48a, the heating component CP
Since the residence time of the heated air around the U24 can be shortened and the air can be quickly exhausted, the CP with the air having a high flow velocity can be used.
Not only can the side surface of the U24 be efficiently cooled, the temperature rise gradient inside the housing can be smoothed, and the overall cooling efficiency can be improved. As described above, since the air flow passage 54 is formed by the components arranged around the heat-generating component, there is no need for a special flow passage component or the like. As a result, good cooling can be performed without hindering the thinning of the housing. When the air flow path 54 is formed, if a rim or the like is formed on the bottom 12 or the heat spreader 46, an air flow path for obtaining a more efficient air flow can be formed. The formation method of the air flow path 54 can be appropriately selected in consideration of, for example, an increase in the weight of the entire personal computer 10.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 6 is a side view showing a part of the inside of the ten housings of the notebook personal computer according to the present embodiment. Here, the other overall configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment. The CPU 24a is electrically connected to the main board 14 via a plurality of pins 24a1, and is connected with a gap provided between the bottom surface and the main board 14. The upper surface of the CPU 24a is connected to the heat spreader 46, and is cooled by diffusing heat to the heat spreader 46.

FIG. 7 shows the notebook computer 10 shown in FIG.
It is a front view in a housing. An air flow path 54c formed by the bottom surface of the CPU 24a and the main board 14 and passing between the bottom surface of the CPU 24a and the main board 14 and serving as a passage of the air F sucked by the centrifugal fan 48 is shown.

Next, the operation will be described. First, CP
The point that the heat generated in U24a is transmitted to the heat spreader 46 and the main board 14 and the CPU 24a is cooled is as described in the first embodiment.

The operation will now be described focusing on the air passage 54c. When the centrifugal fan 48 is driven, the opening 48
Air is sucked from b1 and discharged to the exhaust port. At this time, the heat spreader 46 attached to the upper surface of the CPU 24a suppresses the flow of air flowing from the upper surface side of the CPU 24a. Therefore, the intake port of the air sucked by the centrifugal fan 48 is regulated by the heat spreader 46 and the main board 14, and the air F passes through the bottom surface of the CPU 24 a, which is originally difficult to pass air, and the air F
Sucked in 8.

Here, the air flow passage 54c through which the air F passes is:
Main board 14, bottom surface of CPU 24a, and CPU
The pin 24a1 is surrounded by the pin 24a1. Therefore,
The main board 14, the bottom of the CPU 24a, and
The pins 24a1 of the CPU 24a can be cooled at the same time. In particular, since the pin 24a1 is made of a material having good heat conductivity, and the number of pins 24a1 has increased remarkably in recent years, a predetermined cooling effect can be expected. Further, the cooling effect described in the first embodiment can be obtained at the same time.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to efficiently cool the CPU 24a, which is a heat-generating component, and to reduce the thickness of the electronic device. In particular, the CPU 24a has an effect that the side surface, the top surface, and the bottom surface are efficiently cooled.

In FIG. 6, the main board 14 extends below the centrifugal fan 48. However, if the cooling effect of the air passage 54c is sufficient, the main board 14
Does not need to extend directly below the centrifugal fan 14,
A portion directly below the centrifugal fan 14 may form an air flow path between the bottom surface of the notebook computer housing, that is, the bottom 12 and the fan housing 48b.

When the CPU 24a, which is an integrated circuit, is connected to a board via a socket, the CPU 24a
The heat-generating component can be constituted by the socket a and the socket, and an air flow path can be formed between the bottom surface of the socket and the substrate. Further, a board is constituted by the main board 14 and the socket directly attached thereto, and the upper surface of the socket and the CPU 24a are formed.
An air flow path can also be formed between them. Further, the heat spreader 46 and the centrifugal fan 48 need not be integrally formed as long as the air flow path 54c can be formed.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the notebook personal computer 10 has been described as an example of a thin electronic device. However, a similar configuration is applicable to an electronic device that requires thinning (miniaturization). By employing the same, the same effect can be obtained. In the present embodiment, the CPU 24 is taken as an example of the heat-generating component. However, the same configuration as that of the present embodiment can be applied to other heat-generating components, and the heat-generating component can be efficiently cooled. It can be carried out. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a configuration in which one fan unit 48 is integrated with the heat spreader 46 has been described, but a plurality of fan units 48 may be integrally fixed as necessary.

[0035]

As it is evident from the foregoing description, according to the electronic apparatus of the present invention, a heat generating component which heat is generated by electrically operated, is provided on the bottom side of the heat generating component, the heat generating component
A board electrically connected to said thermally transferable connected to the upper surface of the heat-generating component, a heat radiating means for thermally diffusing the heat radiation from the heat generating component, the heat generating component is connected in the radiation means provided on the surface side, built in the fan housing to have a thinner outer shape thickness before Symbol heat generating component
A fan, wherein the fan housing faces a gap formed between the fan housing and the opposing substrate.
And a fan that draws air from the opening formed in the device and guides the air to the exhaust port, so that the heat-generating component is cooled through the heat radiating means and the substrate, thereby obtaining an electronic device with good cooling efficiency. And the thickness of the electronic device can be reduced.

Further, the heat radiating means has a projecting portion projecting to a side surface of the heat-generating component. The projecting portion, the heat-generating component, and the substrate allow the air sucked by the fan to flow to the projecting portion. Since the air flow path which is collected between the substrate and the fan is formed, the cooling efficiency of the heat radiating means and the substrate can be improved.

The heat radiating means covers a space formed between the heat-generating component and the fan housing of the fan, and is formed on the side of the heat-generating component by the heat-generating component, the substrate, and the fan housing of the fan. Since the heat radiating plate forms the air flow path, the heat generating component, the substrate, and the heat radiating component can be efficiently cooled.

Further, since the air flow path of the centrifugal fan is formed by the components arranged around the heat-generating component and electrically connected to the substrate, the number of components can be reduced and the cooling efficiency can be reduced. Higher electronic devices can be obtained.

Further, the substrate and the bottom face face the substrate,
As a gap is formed between the bottom surface and the substrate,
A heat-generating component electrically connected to the substrate via pins, and a plate-shaped protruding portion connected to the upper surface of the heat-generating component and protruding toward the side surface of the heat-generating component; An electronic device having good cooling efficiency can be obtained because it includes a heat radiating unit that radiates heat and a fan that is arranged on a side surface side of the heat generating component and generates an airflow between the substrate and the protruding portion. In addition, the thickness of the electronic device can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of main components of a notebook computer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the back side (CPU contact side) of the heat spreader according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view around a fan unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a surface side (keyboard contact side) of the heat spreader according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line II of the plan view shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view around a fan unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a CPU according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 10 portable computer (thin electronic device), 14 main board (substrate), 24 CPU (heating component), 46
Heat spreader, 48a Centrifugal fan, 48b Fan housing, 52a-52g Components.

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] A heat generating component which heat is generated by 1. A operates electrically is provided on the bottom side of the heat generating component, and the substrate to be the heat generating component and electrically connected to the upper surface of the heat generating component is connected in a heat transfer, a heat radiation means for diffusing radiated heat from the heat generating component, the heat generating component is provided to the connected side in the heat dissipating means, a pre-Symbol thinner outer shape than the thickness of the heat generating component be possessed
A fan built in a fan housing,
An opening formed in the fan housing facing a gap formed between the fan housing and the substrate facing the fan housing;
An electronic device equipped with a fan that draws air from it and guides it to the exhaust port . 2. The heat radiating means has a projecting portion projecting to a side surface of the heat-generating component, and the projecting portion, the heat-generating component, and the substrate cause the air sucked by the fan to flow to the projecting portion. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein an air flow path is formed between the substrate and the air passage to guide the air to the fan. 3. The heat dissipating means covers a space formed between the heat generating component and a fan housing side surface of the fan, and the heat generating component side surface includes the heat generating component, the substrate, and the fan housing side surface of the fan. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a radiator plate that forms an air flow path on a side. 4. A component disposed around the heat-generating component and electrically connected to the substrate,
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein an air flow path of the centrifugal fan is formed. 5. A substrate, and a heat-generating component electrically connected to the substrate via pins so that a bottom surface faces the substrate and a gap is formed between the bottom surface and the substrate. A heat-dissipating unit that is connected to the upper surface of the heat-generating component, has a plate-shaped protrusion protruding toward the side surface of the heat-generating component, and diffuses and radiates heat from the heat-generating component; And a fan that generates an airflow between the substrate and the protrusion.