US20120152495A1

US20120152495A1 - Liquid cooling device

Info

Publication number: US20120152495A1
Application number: US13/036,045
Authority: US
Inventors: Zeu-Chia Tan
Original assignee: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd
Priority date: 2010-12-17
Filing date: 2011-02-28
Publication date: 2012-06-21
Also published as: TW201228570A

Abstract

A liquid cooling device includes a heat dissipating module and a container thermally connected to the heat dissipating module. The heat dissipating module includes a chamber, a first liquid inlet accessing the chamber and a first liquid outlet accessing the chamber. The container includes a liquid feeding channel and a liquid releasing channel isolated from each other. The liquid feeding channel accesses the chamber via the first liquid inlet. The liquid releasing channel accesses the chamber via the first liquid outlet. Heat absorbed by the heat dissipating module is taken away by a coolant successively flowing through the liquid feeding channel, the first liquid inlet, the chamber, the first liquid outlet and the liquid releasing channel.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to heat dissipating devices, and particularly to a liquid cooling device for electronic devices.
2. Description of Related Art
In electronic devices, for example a rack mount server, a storage device or a desktop computer, a typical air cooled heat dissipation system usually includes a heat sink thermally connected to a heat generating component of the electronic device, and a fan for creating airflow to air cool the heating generating component. However, for larger heat generating components/systems such as a container data center, the heat dissipating effect of the air cooling mechanism is inadequate and unsatisfactory.
Therefore, what is needed is an improved heat dissipating system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a liquid cooling device in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the liquid cooling device in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section of the liquid cooling device in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made to the drawings to describe the present liquid cooling device in detail.
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a liquid cooling device 100 for cooling heat generating components of electronic devices, according to an exemplary embodiment, includes a plurality of heat dissipating modules 10 and a container 20 attaching to all of the heat dissipating modules 10. The plurality of dissipating modules 10 is adapted for absorbing heat from the plurality of electronic components simultaneously. In this embodiment, there are four heat dissipating modules 10, and thus the liquid cooling device can cool four electronic components simultaneously.
Each of the heat dissipating modules 10 includes a cover plate 11, a heat sink 12 and a base 13. The cover plate 11 is coupled to the base 13, and thus define a chamber 14 therebetween receiving the heat sink 12.
The cover plate 11 has a rectangular shape. A first liquid inlet 111 and a first liquid outlet 112 are defined on the cover plate 11. The first liquid inlets 111 and the first liquid outlet 112 is a through hole of the cover plate 11. In this embodiment, the first liquid inlet 111 and the first liquid outlet 112 each have a rectangular profile and are respectively located at opposite lateral sides of the cover plate 11.
The base 13 has a rectangular box-like configuration with an opening 130 opposing the cover plate 11. The opening 130 has a shape and size approximately the same as that of the cover plate 11. As such, the cover plate 11 covers the opening 130 of the base 13 to define the chamber 14 therebetween. In this embodiment, the opening 130 has a rectangular profile, and the base 13 has a hollow and cuboid configuration with a rectangular bottom 131 opposite to the opening 130.
The heat sink 12 is received in the chamber 14 and fixed on the bottom 131. The heat sink 12 includes a plurality of fins 121 and a plurality of passages 122 defined between each two adjacent fins 121. In this embodiment, the plurality of fins 121 are parallelly aligned along a width of the bottom 131, each of the plurality of fins 121 has a length slightly smaller than that of the bottom 131, and the plurality of fins 121 each have a height slightly less than that of the chamber 14. In a further embodiment, each of the plurality of passages extends along a direction parallel to a connection line between the first liquid inlet and the first liquid outlet.
Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the container 20 is located above the heat dissipating modules 10 and thermally contacts the cover plates 11 of the plurality of heat dissipating modules 10.
The container 20 includes a hollow and cuboid body 21. The body 21 further includes a liquid feeding port 22, a liquid releasing port 23, a bottom plate 24, a top plate 25, side plates 26 and a partition board 27.
The bottom plate 24 has a shape the same as the top plate 25, and the bottom plate 24 has a size equal to that of the top plate 25. The side plates 26 extend from a periphery of the bottom plate 24 to a periphery of the top plate 25. Thereby, the bottom plate 24, the top plate 25 and the side plates 26 cooperatively define an inner space (not labeled). In this embodiment, the side plates 26 extend upright from the periphery of the bottom plate 24 to the periphery of the top plate 25.
The partition board 27 is located inside the inner space of the container 20. The partition board 27 has a height equal to a distance between the bottom plate 24 and the top plate 25. The partition board 27 has a length equal to that of the bottom plate 24 and the top plate 25. Thereby, the inner space of the container 20 is divided into a liquid feeding channel 28 and a liquid releasing channel 29 isolated from each other. In this embodiment, the liquid feeding channel 28 and the liquid releasing channel 29 each have a profile centrosymmetric to each other.
The liquid feeding port 22 is located at one end of the liquid feeding channel 28 and acts as an entrance for the coolant. The liquid feeding port 22 accesses the liquid feeding channel 28. The liquid releasing port 23 is configured at one end of the liquid releasing channel 29 to act as an exit of the coolant. The liquid releasing port 23 accesses the liquid releasing channel 29. The liquid feeding port 22 and the liquid releasing port 23 can be formed on a common side wall 26, on two respective side walls 26, or on the top plate 25. In this embodiment, the liquid feeding port 22 and the liquid releasing port 23 are formed on two respective side walls 26 of the container 20. In a further embodiment, the liquid feeding port 22 and the liquid releasing port 23 are respectively located on opposite side walls 26 of the container 20.
The bottom plate 24 is thermally connected to all of the cover plates 11. The bottom plate 24 includes an array of second liquid inlets 241 accessing the liquid feeding channel 28, and an array of second liquid outlets 242 accessing the liquid releasing channel 29. The second liquid inlets 241 are formed corresponding to the first liquid inlets 111 of the plurality of heat dissipating modules 10, and the second liquid outlets 242 are formed corresponding to the first liquid outlets 112 of the plurality of heat dissipating modules 10. In this embodiment, there are four second liquid inlets 241 and four second liquid outlets 242.
When assembled, the cover plates 11 are fixed on the bottom plate 24 with the second liquid inlets 241 respectively aligned with the first liquid inlets 111, and the second liquid outlets 242 respectively aligned with the first outlet inlets 112. In this embodiment, heights of the heat dissipating modules 10 are different from each other, and thus the bottoms 131 of the heat dissipating modules 10 are at different levels. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the heat dissipating modules 10 can have the same height, and the bottoms 131 of the heat dissipating modules 10 can be at the same level.
The liquid feeding channel 28 accesses the chambers 14 via the first liquid inlets 111 and the second liquid inlets 241. The liquid releasing channel 29 accesses the chambers 14 via the first liquid outlets 112 and the second liquid outlets 242. In this embodiment, the second liquid inlet 241 and the second liquid outlet 242 each have a rectangular profile. In a further detail embodiment, the second liquid inlet 241 has a size equal to that of the first liquid inlet 111, and the second liquid outlet 242 has a size equal to that of the second liquid inlet 112.
When the liquid cooling device 100 is coupled to an electronic device, the bottoms 131 of the plurality of heat dissipating modules 10 the can be thermally connected to different heat generating components with different heights. As such, heat produced by the heat generating components can be transferred to the heat sink 12 respectively via one of the bottoms 131 of the bases 13.
When performing a cooling function, the liquid cooling device 100 can be applied together with a pump (not illustrated) and a coolant (not illustrated), such as water. The pump is connected with the liquid feeding channel 28 by the liquid feeding port 22, thereby injecting the coolant into the liquid feeding channel 28 via the liquid feeding port 22. The coolant flows into the chamber 14 via the second liquid inlets 241 and the first liquid inlets 111, and successively flows into the liquid releasing channel 29 via the first liquid outlets 112 and the second liquid outlets 242. When passing through the chamber 14, the coolant takes away the heat transferred to the heat sink 12 from the heat generating components. Finally the liquid releasing channel 29 releases the coolant to an exterior of the container 20. It is to be noted that, the released coolant can be transported into the pump and recycled by the pump.
It is to be noted that, the liquid cooling device 100 can be equipped with a single heat dissipating module 10 for simplified and minimized configuration. The liquid cooling device 100 can also be equipped with more heat dissipating modules 10 for enhanced heat dissipating effect thereof. It is also to be noted that, the heat dissipating effect of the liquid cooling device 100 can also be enhanced by adding more liquid inlets and liquid outlets to increase coolant flow velocity.
It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are intended to illustrate rather than limit the disclosure. Variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the spirit of the disclosure as claimed. The above-described embodiments illustrate the scope of the disclosure but do not restrict the scope of the disclosure.

Claims

1. A liquid cooling device, comprising:

a heat dissipating module for absorbing heat, the heat dissipating module comprising a chamber, a first liquid inlet communicating with the chamber and a first liquid outlet communicating with the chamber; and

a container joined to the heat dissipating module, the container comprising a liquid feeding channel and a liquid releasing channel isolated from each other, the liquid feeding channel communicating with the chamber via the first liquid inlet, the liquid releasing channel communicating with the chamber via the first liquid outlet, heat absorbed by the heat dissipating module being capable of taking away by a coolant successively flowing through the liquid feeding channel, the first liquid inlet, the chamber, the first liquid outlet and the liquid releasing channel.

2. The liquid cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the heat dissipating module comprises a heat sink received in the chamber, and the heat sink comprises a plurality of fins and a plurality of passages defined between each two adjacent fins.

3. The liquid cooling device according to claim 2, wherein each of the passages extends along a direction parallel to a connection line between the first liquid inlet and the first liquid outlet.

4. The liquid cooling device according to claim 3, wherein the heat dissipating module comprises a rectangular box-like base with an opening and a cover plate covering the opening to define the chamber therebetween, the heat sink is fixed on the base.

5. The liquid cooling device according to claim 4, wherein the first inlet and the first outlet are configured on opposite sides of the cover plate.

6. The liquid cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the container comprises a partition board inside an inner space of the container, and the partition board divides the inner space into the liquid feeding channel and the liquid releasing channel.

7. The liquid cooling device according to claim 6, wherein the liquid feeding channel and the liquid releasing channel each have a profile centrosymmetric to each other.

8. The liquid cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the container comprises a second liquid inlet and a second liquid outlet, the second liquid inlet intercommunicates the liquid feeding channel and the first liquid inlet, and the second liquid outlet intercommunicates the liquid releasing channel and the first liquid outlet.

9. The liquid cooling device according to claim 8, wherein the container comprises a bottom plate, a top plate opposite to the bottom plate, and side plates extending from a periphery of the bottom plate to a periphery of the top plate, the bottom plate, the top plate and the side plates cooperatively define an inner space.

10. The liquid cooling device according to claim 9, wherein the second liquid inlet and the second liquid outlet are configured on the bottom plate.

11. The liquid cooling device according to claim 10, wherein the container further comprises a partition board inside the inner space of the container, and the partition board dividing the inner space into the liquid feeding channel and the liquid releasing channel.

12. The liquid cooling device according to claim 11, wherein the liquid feeding channel and the liquid releasing channel each have a profile centrosymmetric to each other.