JPH11325764A - Cooling device for electron element - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce cost, in a cooling device for an electron element constituted to have a fan. SOLUTION: An electron element 3 to generate heat is arranged in a casing 1 and a fan 11 to feed the heat of the electron element 3 to the external part of the casing 1 for discharge is provided. In a so formed cooling device for an electronic element, A closed circulation passage 6 filled with a heating medium W flowing by a specific gravity difference occasioned by a temperature change is arranged in the casing 1 in a posture pointing to a vertical direction. The electron element 3 is arranged at a part of the closed circulation passage 6 such that heat is emitted and received. Further, the electron fan 11 feeds air to a part above the part, where the electron element 3 is arranged, of the closed circulation passage 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooling device configured to cool an electronic element by discharging heat of an electronic element disposed inside a case to the outside of the case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of computers, the output of electronic elements such as an arithmetic processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as a CPU) has been increased with increasing functions and processing speed. Therefore, various proposals have been made for the cooling device. As an example, in the past, CPUs provided inside personal computer cases
There is a cooling device having a configuration in which one end of a heat pipe is connected to the heat pipe, the other end of the heat pipe is connected to a heat sink, and a microfan that supplies air to the heat sink is further provided.

Therefore, according to this cooling device, the CPU
Heat is transferred to the heat sink by the working fluid of the heat pipe, and the heat is discharged to the outside of the PC case together with the airflow generated by the micro fan, so that the CPU can be reliably prevented from overheating. There is an advantage that heat does not stay inside the PC case.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional cooling apparatus, there is a problem that the cost of the entire apparatus increases because a heat pipe is used as a means for supplying heat of the CPU to the heat sink.

That is, in the heat pipe, it is necessary to enclose a condensable fluid compatible with the container material in a sufficiently degassed state in a manufacturing process thereof, and then perform seasoning for discharging non-condensable gas from the container itself. There is. This is because the presence of the non-condensable gas inside the container deteriorates both the heat transport capacity and the service life. In addition, the heat pipe is provided with a wick made of, for example, a metal mesh or a multi-groove as a means for reliably returning the working fluid from the end on the condensing section side to the end on the evaporating section side of the container. And there are many factors that increase the cost as a whole. With the use of the heat pipe having a relatively high unit price as described above, the cost of the conventional cooling device is increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a personal computer cooling device that can reduce the cost.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an electronic device which generates heat inside a housing and transfers the heat of the electronic device to the outside of the housing. In a cooling device for an electronic device equipped with a fan that sends and discharges air toward the air conditioner, a closed circulation path filled with a heat medium that flows with a specific gravity difference due to a temperature change is vertically oriented inside the housing. And the electronic element is provided so as to be able to exchange heat with a part of the closed circuit, and the fan is directed toward a portion of the closed circuit that is higher than the part where the electronic element is provided. It is characterized by being provided to supply air.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the air in the housing is discharged to the outside of the housing after the air in the housing comes into contact with the above-mentioned portion of the closed circuit by operating the fan.
When the electronic element generates heat, the heat is transmitted to the heat medium via the closed circuit. That is, the heat medium is heated at a portion of the closed circuit where the electronic element is provided.
Since the heat medium having received the heat has a small specific gravity, it moves upward in the closed circuit and radiates heat in the portion of the closed circuit cooled by the fan. That is, heat is taken away by the airflow of the fan.
The heat medium that has dissipated moves downward because of its large specific gravity. Accordingly, the entire heat medium in the closed circulation path naturally circulates in a certain direction.

[0009] When the heat medium moves in one direction without phase change, the heat of the electronic element is transferred to the fan and then transferred to the outside of the housing by the air flow. As a result, overheating of the electronic element is prevented.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The examples shown in these figures are examples for a desktop personal computer.
The personal computer case 1 corresponding to the housing of the present invention is a rectangular hollow container formed of a plastic panel or a metal panel. A substrate 2 is provided on the bottom inside the personal computer case 1 in a posture parallel to the bottom.

A CPU 3 corresponding to an electronic element of the present invention is disposed on the upper surface of the substrate 2 in FIG. A microchannel 4 made of a metal block having the same shape as the upper surface of the CPU 3
Are mounted in close contact. The side portions of the microchannel 4 that are opposed to the left and right in FIG.
A large number of rectangular holes 5 penetrating to the other side are formed. Further, on the left and right side surfaces in FIG. 2 of the microchannel 4, that is, the surface on which the opening of the hole 5 is formed,
The open end of the circulation path 6 communicates with each hole 5 and is attached in a state where liquid tightness is ensured. That is, a substantial part of the circulation path 6 is formed by the microchannel 4. Therefore, a part of the circulation path 6 and C
The PU 3 and the PU 3 can exchange heat with each other.

The circulation path 6 has, for example, a closed structure formed of a tube made of plastic or copper having a circular cross section, and an appropriate liquid is filled therein as a heat medium W. That is, the heat medium W is sealed in the circulation path 6 in a filled state. The circulation path 6 is arranged in a posture in which the whole is raised in the thickness direction of the personal computer case 1, that is, a posture in which a part of the pipeline is located above the microchannel 4. In this specific example, the lower left corner of the circulation path 6 in FIG. 1 is arranged slightly higher than the lower right corner in order to force the circulation direction of the heat medium W to the left.

The circulation path 6 is disposed in a state of passing through a gap between parts (not shown) provided inside the personal computer case 1, that is, a so-called dead space. Further, if necessary, the outer peripheral portion of a portion of the circulation path 6 that does not contact the microchannel 4 and a heat sink 7 described later may be covered with heat insulation. With such a configuration, the heat is released into the internal space of the personal computer case 1. Heat can be reduced.

A heat sink 7 is provided near the upper right corner of the circulation path 6 in FIG. That is, the mounting position of the heat sink 7 is CP
The position is higher than U3. Specifically, the heat sink 7 includes a substantially flat base 9 and a plurality of thin fins 10 provided in parallel on the upper surface of the base 9. Further, a large number of holes 8 penetrating to the other side surface portion are formed in the side surface portions of the base 9 which face up and down in FIG. On the surface of the base 9 where the opening of the hole 8 is formed, that is, on the side surface facing up and down in FIG. 3, the opening end of the circulation path 6 communicates with each hole 8 and has liquid tightness. Each is attached in a secured state. That is, the heat sink 7 forms a substantial part of the circulation path 6. The heat sink 7
Each thin fin 10 is arranged in a posture facing the front side in FIG. 1 and horizontally.

A small fan 11 is provided inside the personal computer case 1 near the heat sink 7.
More specifically, this fan 11 is an axial fan 11 having a configuration in which a blade 13 that is driven to rotate inside a housing 12 is provided. The fan 11 has an opening on the discharge portion 14 side facing the heat sink 7. Are located. That is, when the fan 11 is operated, the air inside the personal computer case 1 that has entered the housing 12 from the suction part 15 passes between the thin fins 10 via the discharge part 14, and then the personal computer case 1 Is sent out through an exhaust hole (not shown).

Next, the operation of the cooling device configured as described above will be described. By operating the fan 11, the air in the personal computer case 1 passes between the thin fins 10 of the heat sink 7 and the personal computer case 1
Flows out of the building. When a personal computer is used, the CPU 3 generates heat due to the energization of the personal computer, and this heat is transmitted to a part of the circulation path 6 via the micro channel 4.
That is, the heat medium W is heated at a portion of the circulation path 6 provided in the hole 5.

Since the heat medium W that has received the heat has a low specific gravity, it moves toward the lower left corner and the upper left corner of the circulation path 6 in FIG. 1 and radiates heat to the base 9 of the heat sink 7. . Since the heat medium W that has radiated has a large specific gravity, it moves toward the lower right corner of the circulation path 6 in FIG. It is warmed again. That is, when the heat medium W is partially heated by the CPU 3, the entire heat medium W automatically circulates counterclockwise automatically, and the heat of the CPU 3 is transferred to the heat sink 7 by this circulation.

The heat of the CPU 3 transmitted to the base 9 is transmitted to each of the thin fins 10 and is also carried out of the personal computer case 1 by an air flow. as a result,
The CPU 3 is cooled to prevent overheating. Also, heat does not stay inside the PC case 1.

As described above, according to the cooling device having the above configuration,
As means for supplying the heat of the CPU 3 to the heat sink 7, a circulation path 6 in which a heat medium W is simply filled in a tube is employed. That is, the circulation path 6 does not include any special means for returning the radiated heat medium W to the heat absorbing portion of the circulation path 6, and discharges non-condensable gas from the tube and the heat medium W in the manufacturing process. The unit cost is lower than that of a heat pipe because it has a simple configuration that does not require it. Therefore, in the cooling device having the above configuration, it is possible to reduce the cost as a whole.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The example shown in this figure is an example applied to a notebook personal computer. The same members as those in the above specific example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.
The personal computer case 1 is a thin rectangular hollow container,
On one edge on the upper end side of the personal computer case 1, a display 16 is provided which is opened and closed with respect to the personal computer case 1 by being rotated about a rotation axis (not shown). The display 16 is a flat hollow container having a screen 17 on one surface. Therefore, in this specific example, the personal computer case 1 and the display 16
Correspond to the housing of the present invention.

In the vicinity of the bottom inside the personal computer case 1,
The substrate 2 is provided horizontally, and a CPU 3 is mounted on the upper surface of the substrate 2. In this CPU 3,
A part of the circulation path 6 is arranged via the microchannel 4 so as to be able to exchange heat. The circulation path 6 extends from the vicinity of the rotation axis to the outside of the personal computer case 1 and is disposed inside the display 16 near the upper edge in FIG. That is, as the display 16 is opened and closed, the height difference between the lowest portion and the highest portion of the circulation path 6 changes.

The circulation path 6 is, for example, a flexible synthetic resin tube or a metal corrugated pipe filled with an appropriate heat medium W, so that the circulation path 6 itself is not damaged. The opening and closing operation of the display 16 can be performed without any trouble. Further, a heat sink 7 is attached to an upper portion of the circulation path 6 provided inside the display 16 so as to be able to exchange heat. A fan 1 for cooling the heat sink 7 is provided near the heat sink 7 inside the display 16.
1 is provided.

Therefore, according to the specific example shown in FIG. 4, the cost can be reduced and the CPU 3 can be prevented from being overheated, as in the specific example shown in FIG. In addition, compared to the specific example shown in FIG.
Since the space above the PU 3 is large, there is an advantage that the degree of freedom in the layout of the circulation path 6 and the arrangement of the heat sink 7 is improved.

In each of the above embodiments, an example in which the present invention is applied to a personal computer is described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may be applied to a workstation, a server, or a tower type personal computer. .

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the closed circulation path filled with the heat medium flowing with the specific gravity difference due to the temperature change is placed inside the housing in the vertical direction. In addition to being provided, an electronic element is provided so as to be able to exchange heat with a part of the closed circuit, and a fan sends air toward an upper portion of the closed circuit from a portion where the electronic element is provided. Since the unit cost for supplying the heat of the electronic element to the airflow of the fan is lower than that of the conventional heat pipe, the cost of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a specific example in which a cooling device of the present invention is applied to a desktop personal computer.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an assembled state of a tube and a microchannel.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a fan and a heat sink.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing another specific example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... PC case, 3 ... CPU, 4 ... Microchannel, 6 ... Circulation path, 7 ... Heat sink, 11
... Fan, 16 ... Display, W ... Heat medium.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Katsuo Eguchi 1-5-1, Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo Inside Fujikura Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tan Nuen 1-5-1, Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo Stock Company Inside Fujikura

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cooling device for an electronic element, comprising: an electronic element that generates heat inside a housing; and a fan that sends and discharges heat of the electronic element to the outside of the housing. A closed circulation path filled with a heat medium flowing at a specific gravity difference due to a temperature change is provided inside the housing in a vertically oriented posture, and the electronic element receives and transfers heat to a part of the closed circulation path. The cooling device for an electronic device, wherein the fan is provided so as to be able to supply air to a portion of the closed circuit that is higher than a portion where the electronic device is provided. .