US20090183863A1

US20090183863A1 - Connecting Structure for Connecting Heat Radiation Fins

Info

Publication number: US20090183863A1
Application number: US12/017,038
Authority: US
Inventors: Cheng-Kun Shu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-01-20
Filing date: 2008-01-20
Publication date: 2009-07-23

Abstract

A connecting structure for connecting heat-radiation fins comprises a plurality of heat-radiation fins each having a heat conductive portion with both edges folded into wing portions. The wing portions of the respective heat-radiation fins are different in width, and the heat-radiation fins are classified into narrow and wide heat-radiation fins, between each narrow heat-radiation fin and wide heat-radiation fin is connected a connecting fin, each wing portion of the respective heat-radiation fins and the connecting fins is defined with receiving apertures, an outer portion of the respective receiving apertures extends outward to form a connecting portion to be received in a corresponding receiving aperture of a neighboring fin. The connecting fins are provided with receiving apertures and connecting portions which are sized corresponding to that of neighboring narrow and wide heat-radiation fins.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connecting structure for heat-radiation fins, and more particularly to the connection design of a connecting fin which allows for quick and stable connection of various heat-radiation fins of different widths, which is used as a heat-radiation structure in heat generating electronic elements of a computer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To meet the heat-radiation requirement of high performance electronic elements, most of the current heat sinks for heat-generating electronic elements used in computer generally comprise heat conductive pipes, heat-radiation fins and a heat conductive base, which are used to quick dissipate the heat by the electronic elements. In other words, the factors, such as the connection design and the contact tightness between the heat conductive pipes, the heat-radiation fins and the heat conductive base, have direct influence on the heat radiation efficiency of the electronic elements. Hence, the fin structures with improved contact tightness would improve the heat-dissipation efficiency of the heat sink made from them. The current heat sink structure made by various engaging or locking methods is inconvenient to manufacture and costs a lot of manufacturing time.
Therefore, a new structure design for heat-radiation fins was disclosed in CN Pat. No. 2891607, which provides different heat-radiation intervals in such a manner that the wing portions of the heat-radiation fins are designed to have different widths, and the heat-radiation fins have various sized engaging grooves and hooks. The wide wing portions have relatively big engaging grooves and hooks, while the narrow wing portions have small engaging grooves and hooks, such design will cause inconvenience when assembling the heat-radiation fins with wide wing portions to the narrow heat-radiation fins with narrow wing portions since their engaging grooves and hooks are different in size and will be difficult to effectively engage with one another, causing unexpected looseness. Therefore, such a heat-radiation structure usually needs to cooperate with a fan to perform heat dissipation. However, the fan will produce a lot of vibration with high frequency during operation, which will cause serious damage to the heat-radiation fins the engagement of which has already been unstable, and as a result, the heating radiation structure has a very short service life.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a connecting structure for heat-radiation fins, wherein a connecting fin is connected between heat-radiation fins of different widths, the engaging and locking structures of the connecting fin have the same size and shape as that of the neighboring narrow and wide heat-radiation fins, so that the narrow heat-radiation fins 10 and the wide heat-radiation fins 20 can be connected more easily and quickly, and can form various guiding passages 50A, 50B with different widths, which can meet different heat radiation requirements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an assembly view of a connecting structure for heat-radiation fins in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial exploded view of the connecting structure for heat-radiation fins in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the connecting structure for the narrow heat-radiation fins in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the connecting structure for the wide heat-radiation fins in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view in accordance with the present invention showing the connecting fin which is connected from the wide heat-radiation fin toward to the narrow heat-radiation fin; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view in accordance with the present invention showing the connecting fin which is connected from the narrow heat-radiation fin toward the wide heat-radiation fin.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a heat-radiation fin assembly and its connection structure in accordance with the present invention comprise: a plurality of heat-radiation fins 10, 20 with different widths assembled together, the heat-radiation fins 10 are narrower than the heat-radiation fins 20. The present invention is characterized in that: between the two heat- radiation fins 10 and 20 are disposed a connecting fin 30, 40 which is sized and shaped corresponding to the neighboring heat- radiation fins 10 and 20 for the purpose of quick connection and engagement.
As shown in FIG. 1, the narrow heat-radiation fins 10 are superposed one upon another to form narrow guiding passages 50A, and the wide heat-radiation fins 20 are superposed one upon the other to form wide guiding passages 50B. The wide heat-radiation fin 20 is connected to the narrow heat-radiation fin 10 via a connecting fin 30 which narrows down from the wide heat-radiation fin 20 toward the narrow heat-radiation fin 10, and the narrow heat-radiation fin 10 is connected to the wide heat-radiation fin 20 via a connecting fin 40 which gradually widens from the narrow heat-radiation fin 10 to the wide heat-radiation fin 20.
The connecting structure between the heat- radiation fins 10 and 20 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the structures of the connecting fins 30 and 40 are as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Each of the fins 10, 20, 30 and 40 includes an elongated heat conductive portion 11, 21, 31, 41, and both long edges of the conductive portion 11, 21, 31, 41 are folded 90 degrees upward to form two wing portions 12, 22, 32, 42. At each folding portion between the heat conductive portion 11, 21, 31, 41 and the wing portions 12, 22, 32, 42 is formed a vertical short stopping portion 13, 23, 33, 43 which extends from the heat conductive portion 11, 21, 31, 41 and is vertical to the wing portions 12, 22, 32, 42. Each of the heat-radiation fins 10, 20 and the connecting fins 30, 40 is provided with protrusive reverse T-shaped connecting portions 14, 24, 34, 44 which extend toward the neighboring fins 10, 20, 30, 40. Between each stopping portion 13, 23, 33, 43 and the corresponding connecting portion 14, 24, 34, 44 is formed a reverse T- shaped receiving aperture 15, 25, 35 and 45.
The width of the wing portions 11 of the narrow heat-radiation fins 10 is relatively narrow, as shown in FIG. 3, each wing portion 11 of the narrow heat-radiation fins 10 includes connecting portions 14 and receiving apertures 15 which are sized to meet the width of the wing portion 11. The wing portions 21 of the wide heat-radiation fins 20 are wider than the wing portions 11 of the narrow heat-radiation fins 10, as shown in FIG. 4. The connecting portions 24 and the receiving apertures 25 of the wing portions 21 of the wide heat-radiation fins 20 are relatively longer than that of the narrow heat-radiation fins 10.
There are two types of connecting fins: the connecting fin 30 is connected from the wide heat-radiation fin 20 toward to the narrow heat-radiation fin 10, as show in FIG. 5, while the connecting fin 40 is connected from the narrow heat-radiation fin 10 toward the wide heat-radiation fin 20, as shown in FIG. 6.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, the wing portions 32 of the connecting fins 30 are equal in width to the wing portions 22 of the wide heat-radiation fins 20, and the receiving apertures 35 in the wing portions 32 are equal in size to the connecting portions 24 of the wide heat-radiation fins 20. The connecting portions 34 projecting from the wing portions 32 toward the receiving apertures 15 of the narrow heat-radiation fins 10 are the same in size and shape as the receiving apertures 15, so that the wide heat-radiation fins 20 can be directly connected to the narrow heat-radiation fins 10 by the connecting fins 30.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 6, the connecting fin 40 which is connected from the narrow heat-radiation fin 10 toward the wide heat-radiation fin 20 is designed contrary to the connecting fin 30. The wing portions 42 of the connecting fin 40 have the same width as the wing portions 12 of the narrow heat-radiation fins 10, the receiving apertures 45 of the wing portions 42 have the same size as the connecting portions 14 of the narrow heat-radiation fins 10, and the connecting portions 44 of the wing portions 42 are also the same in shape and size as the receiving apertures 25 of the wide heat-radiation fins 20, so that the narrow heat-radiation fins 10 can be connected to the wide heat-radiation fins 20 directly by the connecting fins 40.
The connecting portions 14, 24, 34, 44 of the respective fins 10, 20, 30, 40 are received in the corresponding receiving apertures 15, 25, 35, 45 in such a manner that the stopping portion 13, 23, 33, 43 at the bottom of the respective receiving apertures 15, 25, 35, 45 are engaged against the back surface of the connecting portions 14, 24, 34, 44. The height of the stopping portion 13, 23, 33, 43 is equal to the thickness of the connecting portions 14, 24, 34, 44, so that the connecting portions 14, 24, 34, 44 can be restricted substantially, and the accordingly the respective fins 10, 20, 30, 40 can be assembled together easily and quickly.
With the connecting fins 30 and 40, the narrow heat-radiation fins 10 and the wide heat-radiation fins 20 can be connected more easily and quickly, and can form various guiding passages 50A, SOB with different widths, which can meet different heat radiation requirements.
While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A connecting structure for connecting heat-radiation fins, comprising:

a plurality of heat-radiation fins each having a heat conductive portion with both edges folded into wing portions, the wing portions of the respective heat-radiation fins being different in width, and the heat-radiation fins being classified into narrow and wide heat-radiation fins, between each narrow heat-radiation fin and wide heat-radiation fin being connected a connecting fin, each wing portion of the respective heat-radiation fins and the connecting fins being defined with receiving apertures, an outer portion of the respective receiving apertures extending outward to form a connecting portion to be received in a corresponding receiving aperture of a neighboring fin;

the connecting fins being provided with receiving apertures and connecting portions for engaging with that of neighboring narrow and wide heat-radiation fins.

2. The connecting structure for connecting heat-radiation fins as claimed in claim 1, wherein a width of the respective wing portions of the narrow heat-radiation fins is narrower than that of the wide heat-radiation fins, each wing portion of the narrow heat-radiation fins includes connecting portions and receiving apertures which are sized to meet the width of the wing portion of the narrow heat-radiation fin, the wing portions of the wide heat-radiation fins are wider than the wing portions of the narrow heat-radiation fins, the connecting portions and the receiving apertures of the wing portions of the wide heat-radiation fins are longer than that of the narrow heat-radiation fins.

3. The connecting structure for connecting heat-radiation fins as claimed in claim 2, wherein the connecting fins are classified into two types: one type of connecting fin is connected from the wide heat-radiation fin toward to the narrow heat-radiation fin, and the other type of connecting fin is connected from the narrow heat-radiation fin toward the wide heat-radiation fin.

4. The connecting structure for connecting heat-radiation fins as claimed in claim 3, wherein wing portions of the connecting fins are equal in width to the wing portions of the wide heat-radiation fins, and the receiving apertures in the wing portions of the connecting fins are equal in size to the connecting portions of the wide heat-radiation fins, the connecting portions projecting from the wing portions of the connecting fins toward the receiving apertures of the narrow heat-radiation fins are the same in size and shape as the receiving apertures of the narrow heat-radiation wing portions.

5. The connecting structure for connecting heat-radiation fins as claimed in claim 3, wherein wing portions of the connecting fins have the same width as the wing portions of the narrow heat-radiation fins, the receiving apertures of the wing portions of the connecting fins have the same size as the connecting portions of the narrow heat-radiation fins, and the connecting portions of the wing portions of the connecting fins are also the same in shape and size as the receiving apertures of the wide heat-radiation fins.