TWM658564U - Electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

A electronic device configured to be coupled to a heat dissipation device includes a connecting interface, a power module, and a controller. connecting interface is configured to the heat dissipation module. The power module is coupled to the connecting interface and configured to provide power to the heat dissipation device when the heat dissipation device is coupled to the connecting interface. The controller is coupled to the connecting interface and the power module. When the controller determines the charger coupled to the heat dissipation device, the controller controls the heat dissipation device to receive power from the charger and stop power provided from the power module.

Description

Electronic devices

This disclosure relates to an electronic device.

At present, with the needs of the continuous development of society, portable electronic devices such as smart phones are becoming more and more popular. In order to protect the shell of the mobile phone and extend the service life of the mobile phone, the corresponding mobile phone cases are very popular. The mobile phones of the existing technology often heat up or even get hot during use, especially when people use the mobile phone to play games or answer the phone for a long time, the mobile phone is more likely to heat up, which seriously shortens the service life of the mobile phone, and even produces extreme events such as mobile phone explosion. In view of this, the industry has gradually developed a high-strength heat dissipation device that can be detachably installed on portable electronic devices according to needs.

However, this type of external heat sink is currently designed for situations with greater heat dissipation requirements and has a strong heat dissipation capacity. If it is not adjusted for the operating conditions of the mobile phone (for example, the device temperature), it is easy to cause the temperature of the mobile phone to be far below room temperature for a long time, increasing the risk of condensation and affecting battery life. In addition, this type of external heat sink is generally powered by an external charger, so it has greater restrictions on the use environment and is still very inconvenient for users.

The present disclosure provides an electronic device suitable for coupling with a heat sink, including a connection interface, a power module and a controller. The connection interface is suitable for coupling with the heat sink. The power module is coupled to the connection interface and is configured to provide power to the heat sink module for charging when the heat sink is coupled to the connection interface. The controller is coupled to the connection interface and the power module. When the controller determines that the charger is coupled to the heat sink, the controller controls the heat sink to receive the power provided by the charger and cuts off the power provided by the power module.

Based on the above, the electronic device disclosed herein can be coupled to a heat sink when there is a high demand for heat dissipation, and when the electronic device is coupled to the heat sink, the heat sink can be controlled. For example, the power module of the electronic device can provide power to the heat sink, and when the charger is coupled to the heat sink, the charger can be switched to provide power to the heat sink. In addition, the controller of the electronic device can control the heat sink to switch to a strong heat dissipation mode, a medium heat dissipation mode, or a weak heat dissipation mode according to the device temperature of the electronic device. Therefore, by controlling the heat sink through the electronic device, a suitable power source can be selected to effectively reduce the load of the power module of the electronic device, and a suitable heat dissipation mode can be switched according to the device temperature to enhance the heat dissipation effect of the electronic device.

100: Heat dissipation device

110: Heat dissipation module

112: Cooling fan

114: Refrigeration chip

1141: Cold end

1142: Hot end

115: Insulation section

116: Fin structure

130: Male connector

150:Frame

200: Electronic devices

210: Connection interface

220: Power module

230: Controller

240: Temperature sensor

250: Door cover structure

300: Charger

S110~S140, S210~S260: Steps

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a heat dissipation device installed in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG2 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a heat dissipation device installed in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a heat dissipation device and an electronic device component block according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a process of switching the power source of a heat dissipation device of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the process of switching the heat dissipation mode of a heat dissipation device of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The above-mentioned and other technical contents, features and effects of this disclosure will be clearly presented in the detailed description of each embodiment with reference to the following drawings. The directional terms mentioned in the following embodiments, such as "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", etc., are only referenced to the directions of the attached drawings. Therefore, the directional terms used are used for explanation, not for limiting this disclosure. In addition, in the following embodiments, the same or similar components will use the same or similar labels.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a heat sink installed on an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a heat sink installed on an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the heat sink 100 is detachably installed on an electronic device 200 (e.g., a smart phone). A person with ordinary knowledge in the relevant field should understand that the electronic device 200 may also be an electronic device with additional heat dissipation requirements such as a laptop, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a wearable device, etc. In one embodiment, the electronic device 200 may include a heating element, which is arranged in a housing space defined by a housing of the electronic device 200. In one embodiment, the heat generating element is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) of the electronic device 200 or other types of heat generating elements, and can be configured on a circuit board of the electronic device 200. The heat generating element can be thermally coupled to heat dissipating elements such as heat pipes and heat sinks.

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a heat sink and a component block of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Please refer to FIG1 to FIG3 at the same time. In one embodiment, the heat sink 100 is detachably mounted on the electronic device 200. When the electronic device 200 has a greater heat dissipation requirement, the heat sink 100 can be mounted on the housing of the electronic device 200 to dissipate heat. The heat sink 100 can be detachably mounted on the electronic device 200 via a frame 150. For example, in one embodiment, the frame 150 can be, for example, a back cover (such as a mobile phone back cover), which covers the housing of the electronic device 200 to provide protection for the electronic device 200 while cooling the electronic device 200. In one embodiment, the frame 150 may further include a driver (not shown). When the frame 150 is assembled on the electronic device 200, the driver is adapted to cooperate with the structure of the electronic device 200 to drive the door cover structure 250 of the electronic device 200 to open, so that the heat dissipation module 110 of the heat dissipation device 100 can dissipate heat inside the electronic device 200.

1 and 2 , in some embodiments, the heat dissipation module 110 is configured to be coupled to the electronic device 200 and may include a heat dissipation fan 112 and a cooling chip 114, wherein the cooling chip 114 includes a cold end 1141 and a hot end 1142 opposite to each other, and the cold end 1141 is used to be thermally coupled to the electronic device 200 to actively dissipate heat of the electronic device 200. In addition, the heat dissipation fan 112 is used to dissipate heat from the hot end 1142. In one embodiment, the heat dissipation device 110 may further include a fin structure 116 and a heat insulation portion 115. The fin structure 116 is disposed around the heat dissipation fan 112 and is thermally coupled to the hot end 1142 of the cooling chip 114, so that the heat energy generated by the hot end 1142 of the cooling chip 114 can be transferred to the fin structure 116 and can be dissipated through the heat dissipation fan 112. The heat insulation portion 115 is located between the cooling chip 114 and the heat dissipation fan 112, thereby preventing the heat generated by the hot end 1142 of the cooling chip 114 from being transferred upward (longitudinally) to the heat dissipation fan 112, so that the air inlet side of the heat dissipation fan 112 draws in hot air, resulting in poor waste heat circulation, affecting the heat dissipation efficiency of the electronic device 200. Of course, this embodiment is only used as an example, and the present disclosure does not limit the components and structural configuration of the heat dissipation device 100.

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a process of switching the power supply source of a heat dissipation device in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Please refer to FIG3 and FIG4 at the same time. In this embodiment, the electronic device 200 may include a connection interface 210, a power module 220 and a controller 230. The connection interface 210 is suitable for coupling with the heat dissipation device 100. In this embodiment, the connection interface 210 is, for example, a hardware connection interface (transmission port) that complies with the Type-C communication standard of the Universal Serial Bus (USB). The connection interface 210 includes a plurality of connection pins, which may include a ground pin, a configuration channel pin, and a data transmission pin. In this embodiment, the connection interface 210 may be a female connector of the Type-C communication standard of the USB. Accordingly, the heat sink 100 may include a male connector 130 of the USB Type-C communication standard to be inserted into the connection interface 210 to couple with the electronic device 200. In one embodiment, the heat sink 100 may further include another connector (e.g., a female connector of the USB Type-C communication standard) for the connector of the charger 300 to be inserted.

In the present embodiment, the power module 220 is coupled to the connection interface 210 and is configured to provide power to the heat sink module 110 for charging when the heat sink 100 is coupled to the connection interface 210. In the present embodiment, the power module 220 is used to provide power required by the electronic device and can provide power to the heat sink 100. Its power supply voltage is, for example, 8 volts, which can be supplied by a battery power in the electronic device 200, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, when the electronic device 200 is plugged into a charger (such as a power adapter), the power supply voltage can also be supplied by a DC power supply from the charger and/or a battery power supply. The controller 230 is, for example, a system on a chip (SoC) or other programmable general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), programmable controller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other similar components or a combination of the above components, and can be operated by executing a software program.

In this embodiment, the controller 230 couples the connection interface 210 and the power module 220. With such a configuration, when the heat sink 100 is coupled to the electronic device 200 via the connection interface 210, the controller 230 of the electronic device 200 can further control the heat sink 100 (e.g., power switching control and heat dissipation intensity control, etc.). Specifically, the method flow of the electronic device 200 switching the power supply source of the heat sink 100 can be shown in FIG. 4. First, step S110 is executed, and the controller 230 determines whether the charger 300 is coupled to the heat sink 100. In this embodiment, the controller 230 can determine whether the connector of the charger 300 is inserted into the connector of the heat sink 100 (e.g., the female connector of the USB Type-C communication standard).

Next, step S120 is executed to determine whether the supply voltage of the charger 300 meets the preset specification. Specifically, when the controller 230 determines that the charger 300 is coupled to the heat sink 100, the controller 230 communicates with the charger 300 through the transmission data pin of the connection interface 210 to determine whether the supply voltage of the charger 300 meets the preset specification. When the supply voltage meets the preset specification, the controller 230 controls the heat sink 100 to receive the power provided by the charger 300. Further, the controller 230 can identify whether the specifications of the charger 300, such as the manufacturer and supply voltage, meet the preset specific specifications based on the information provided by the charger 300. If the controller 230 determines that the power supply voltage of the charger 300 does not meet the preset specification, it executes step S140 to receive the power provided by the power module 220 of the electronic device 200 and cut off the power provided by the charger 300.

If the controller 230 determines that the power supply voltage of the charger 300 meets the preset specification, step S130 is executed to receive the power provided by the charger 300 and cut off the power provided by the power module of the electronic device 200, that is, the power supply source of the heat sink 100 is switched from the electronic device 200 to the charger 300. It should be noted that this embodiment is only used as an example for illustration, and in other embodiments, step S120 can also be omitted, that is, after the controller 230 determines that the charger 300 is coupled to the heat sink 100, step S130 is executed to receive the power provided by the charger 300 and cut off the power provided by the power module of the electronic device 200. If the controller 230 determines that the charger 300 is not coupled to the heat dissipation device 100, it executes step S140 to receive the power provided by the power module 220 of the electronic device 200.

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a process of switching the heat dissipation mode of a heat dissipation device of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG3 and FIG5, the electronic device 200 further includes a temperature sensor 240 for sensing the device temperature of the electronic device 200. The controller 230 is coupled to the temperature sensor 240 to switch the heat dissipation module 110 to a strong heat dissipation mode, a medium heat dissipation mode or a weak heat dissipation mode according to the device temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 240. Specifically, the higher the device temperature, the controller 230 can switch the heat dissipation module 110 to a stronger heat dissipation mode to improve the heat dissipation efficiency of the heat dissipation module 110.

In some embodiments, the stronger the heat dissipation mode of the heat dissipation module 110, the higher the power supply voltage of the power provided to the heat dissipation module 110. For example, when the heat dissipation module 110 is in the strong heat dissipation mode, the power provided to the heat dissipation module 110 has a first power supply voltage, when the heat dissipation module 110 is in the medium heat dissipation mode, the power provided to the heat dissipation module 110 has a second power supply voltage less than the first power supply voltage, and when the heat dissipation module 110 is in the weak heat dissipation mode, the power provided to the heat dissipation module 110 has a third power supply voltage less than the second power supply voltage.

Specifically, the method flow of the electronic device 200 switching the heat dissipation mode of the heat dissipation device 100 can be shown in FIG5 . First, step S210 is executed, and the controller 230 determines whether the charger 300 is coupled to the heat dissipation device 100. When the controller 230 determines that the charger 300 is coupled to the heat dissipation device 100, step S220 is executed, and the controller 230 switches the heat dissipation module 110 to a strong heat dissipation mode, a medium heat dissipation mode, or a weak heat dissipation mode according to the device temperature of the electronic device 200. For example, when the device temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 240 is less than 35 degrees Celsius, the controller 230 switches the heat dissipation module 110 to a weak heat dissipation mode, when the device temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 240 is greater than or equal to 35 degrees Celsius and less than or equal to 40 degrees Celsius, the controller 230 switches the heat dissipation module 110 to a medium heat dissipation mode, and when the device temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 240 is greater than 40 degrees Celsius, the controller 230 switches the heat dissipation module 110 to a strong heat dissipation mode. Of course, the above temperature range is only for illustration, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, since the maximum power supply voltage that the electronic device 200 can provide is generally lower than the maximum power supply voltage that the charger 300 can provide, if the power module 220 of the electronic device 200 is used to charge the heat sink 100, the heat sink 100 is not supported to execute the strong heat sink mode. In other words, when the power module 220 of the electronic device 200 is used to charge the heat sink 100, the controller 230 will only switch the heat sink 100 between the medium heat sink mode and the weak heat sink mode according to the device temperature of the electronic device 200.

Under this premise, if the heat sink 100 is originally coupled to the charger 300 to charge using the supply voltage of the charger 300, and the heat sink 100 is in the strong heat sink mode, if the charger 300 is unplugged from the heat sink 100 and the heat sink 100 is charged by the electronic device 200, it may cause an abnormality due to insufficient supply voltage provided by the electronic device 200. In view of this, when the controller 230 determines that the charger 300 is unplugged from the heat sink 100, step S230 is executed, and the controller 230 determines whether the heat sink module 110 is in the strong heat sink mode. If yes, then execute step S240, the controller 230 first switches the heat dissipation module 110 to the medium heat dissipation mode, and then execute step S250, the controller 230 controls the heat dissipation device 100 to receive the power provided by the power module 220 of the electronic device 200. If the controller 230 determines that the heat dissipation module 110 is not in the strong heat dissipation mode, there is no need to switch the heat dissipation mode, and step S260 can be directly executed, the controller 230 controls the heat dissipation device 100 to receive the power provided by the power module 220.

Then, after the heat dissipation device 100 receives the power provided by the power module 220 of the electronic device 200, the controller 230 can switch the heat dissipation module 110 to the medium heat dissipation mode or the weak heat dissipation mode according to the device temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 240. For example, when the device temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 240 is less than 40 degrees Celsius, the controller 230 switches the heat dissipation module 110 to the weak heat dissipation mode, and when the device temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 240 is greater than or equal to 40 degrees Celsius, the controller 230 switches the heat dissipation module 110 to the medium heat dissipation mode. Of course, the above temperature range is only for illustration, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In summary, the electronic device disclosed herein can be coupled to a heat sink when there is a high demand for heat dissipation, and when the electronic device is coupled to the heat sink, the heat sink can be controlled. For example, the power module of the electronic device can provide power to the heat sink, and when the charger is coupled to the heat sink, the charger can be switched to provide power to the heat sink. In addition, the controller of the electronic device can control the heat sink to switch to a strong heat dissipation mode, a medium heat dissipation mode, or a weak heat dissipation mode according to the device temperature of the electronic device. Therefore, by controlling the heat sink through the electronic device, a suitable power source can be selected to effectively reduce the load of the power module of the electronic device, and a suitable heat dissipation mode can be switched according to the device temperature to enhance the heat dissipation effect of the electronic device.

100: Heat dissipation device

110: Heat dissipation module

112: Cooling fan

116: Fin structure

150:Frame

200: Electronic devices

250: Door cover structure

Claims (10)

An electronic device, suitable for coupling with a heat sink, comprises: a connection interface, suitable for coupling with the heat sink; a power module, coupled with the connection interface, and configured to provide power to the heat sink module of the heat sink for charging when the heat sink is coupled with the connection interface; and a controller, coupled with the connection interface and the power module, when the controller determines that a charger is coupled to the heat sink, the controller controls the heat sink to receive the power provided by the charger and cuts off the power provided by the power module. An electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein when the controller determines that the charger is not coupled to the heat sink, the controller controls the heat sink to receive the power provided by the power module. An electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the heat dissipation module includes a cooling chip and a heat dissipation fan, the cooling chip includes a cold end and a hot end opposite to each other, the cold end is used for thermal coupling with the electronic device, and the heat dissipation fan is used for dissipating heat from the hot end. The electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the connection interface further includes a data transmission pin. When the controller determines that the charger is coupled to the heat sink, the controller communicates with the charger through the data transmission pin to determine whether the power supply voltage of the charger meets the preset specification. When the power supply voltage meets the preset specification, the controller controls the heat sink to receive the power provided by the charger. An electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the electronic device further comprises a temperature sensor for sensing the device temperature of the electronic device. An electronic device as described in claim 5, wherein the controller is coupled to the temperature sensor to switch the heat dissipation module to a strong heat dissipation mode, a medium heat dissipation mode, or a weak heat dissipation mode according to the device temperature sensed by the temperature sensor. An electronic device as described in claim 6, wherein when the heat dissipation module is in the strong heat dissipation mode, the power provided to the heat dissipation module has a first supply voltage, when the heat dissipation module is in the medium heat dissipation mode, the power provided to the heat dissipation module has a second supply voltage less than the first supply voltage, and when the heat dissipation module is in the weak heat dissipation mode, the power provided to the heat dissipation module has a third supply voltage less than the second supply voltage. As described in claim 6, when the controller determines that the charger is coupled to the heat dissipation device, the controller switches the heat dissipation module to the strong heat dissipation mode, the medium heat dissipation mode or the weak heat dissipation mode according to the temperature of the device. As described in claim 6, when the controller determines that the charger is unplugged from the heat sink, the controller determines whether the heat sink module is in the strong heat sink mode. If so, the controller switches the heat sink module to the medium heat sink mode and then controls the heat sink to receive the power provided by the power module. If not, the controller controls the heat sink to receive the power provided by the power module. An electronic device as described in claim 9, wherein after the controller controls the heat dissipation device to receive the power provided by the power module, the controller switches the heat dissipation module to the medium heat dissipation mode or the weak heat dissipation mode according to the temperature of the device.

Images