US20140202666A1

US20140202666A1 - Thermal module

Info

Publication number: US20140202666A1
Application number: US13/747,380
Authority: US
Inventors: Ching-Hsiang Cheng; Xue-Hui Liu
Original assignee: Asia Vital Components Co Ltd
Current assignee: Asia Vital Components Co Ltd
Priority date: 2013-01-22
Filing date: 2013-01-22
Publication date: 2014-07-24

Abstract

A thermal module for assembling with multiple heat sources includes at least one heat dissipation base seat, at least one first heat pipe and at least one first radiating fin assembly. The base seat has first insertion sections and a second insertion section in communication with each other. The heat sources are mated with the first insertion sections and the first heat pipe is mated with the second insertion section. Two ends of the first heat pipe respectively extend to the first insertion sections to attach to the heat sources. The first radiating fin assembly is attached to the first heat pipe. A second radiating fin assembly is further attached to the first heat pipe. The second radiating fin assembly extends to connect and assemble with the first radiating fin assembly. The thermal module can dissipate the heat of the multiple heat sources at the same time.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal module, which can dissipate the heat of multiple heat sources at the same time to achieve thermal homogeneity of the heat sources and lower the material cost and assembling cost.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the advance of sciences and technologies, the operation performances of electronic components have become higher and higher. Accordingly, higher and higher heat dissipation efficiency of the heat dissipation unit is required. The conventional heat dissipation unit generally employs a stack-type radiating fin assembly for increasing the heat dissipation efficiency. Moreover, various improved radiating fins have been continuously developed. It has become one of the most important topics in this field how to develop high-performance heat dissipation units. The heat dissipation unit is arranged on the electronic component for dissipating the heat generated by the electronic component. The heat dissipation unit generally includes a heat sink or a radiating fin assembly and a cooperative cooling fan for carrying away the heat. Furthermore, the radiating fins can be stringed with a heat pipe to transfer the heat to a remote section for dissipating the heat.
With a computer mainframe taken as an example, most of the heat is generated by the central processing unit (CPU) of the computer mainframe. In the case that the heat is not dissipated in time, the temperature of the CPU will rise to cause deterioration of the execution performance of the CPU. When the heat accumulates to an extent higher than the tolerance limit, the computer will crash or even burn out. Moreover, in order to solve the problem of electromagnetic radiation, the computer mainframe is generally enclosed in a computer case. Therefore, it has become a critical issue how to quickly dissipate the heat generated by the CPU and other heat generation components.
The current thermal module is composed of multiple heat dissipation components, which cooperate with each other to dissipate the heat. The heat dissipation components include heat pipe, heat sink and heat dissipation base seat. However, in general, multiple CPU or heat generation units are arranged inside the computer case. All these CPU or heat generation units will generate high heat in operation. These CPU or heat generation units are generally forward and backward arranged at intervals. In addition, each of the CPU or heat generation units is provided with a thermal module. A cooling fan is used to blow air to the thermal modules for carrying away the heat. However, after the airflow passes through the front end thermal module, the temperature of the airflow will apparently rise. It is known that the outgoing airflow of the front end thermal module is exactly the incoming airflow of the rear end thermal module. Accordingly, the incoming airflow at high temperature can hardly effectively dissipate the heat generated by the rear end CPU or heat dissipation unit. Therefore, it is necessary to additionally provide a cooling fan for the rear end thermal module or enhance the performance of the rear end thermal module so as to effectively dissipate the heat of the rear end thermal module. This will lead to increase of material cost and assembling cost. According to the above, the conventional thermal module has the following shortcomings:

1. The conventional thermal module cannot dissipate the heat of multiple heat generation units at the same time.
2. The material cost and assembling cost are higher.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a thermal module, which can dissipate the heat of multiple heat sources at the same time to achieve thermal homogeneity of the heat sources.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above thermal module, which can dissipate the heat of multiple heat sources at the same time to lower the material cost and assembling cost.
To achieve the above and other objects, the thermal module of the present invention is for assembling with multiple heat sources. The thermal module includes at least one heat dissipation base seat, at least one first heat pipe and at least one first radiating fin assembly.
The heat dissipation base seat has at least one first insertion section and at least one second insertion section in communication with the first insertion section. The first insertion section is mated with the heat sources. The first heat pipe is mated with the second insertion section. Two ends of the first heat pipe respectively extend to the first insertion section to attach to the heat sources. The first radiating fin assembly is disposed on the heat dissipation base seat and attached to the first heat pipe. A second radiating fin assembly is disposed on the first heat pipe. The second radiating fin assembly extends to connect and assemble with the first radiating fin assembly on the heat dissipation base seat. Accordingly, the thermal module can dissipate the heat of the multiple heat sources at the same time to achieve thermal homogeneity of the heat sources and lower the material cost and assembling cost.
According to the above, the present invention has the following advantages:

1. The thermal module of the present invention can dissipate the heat of multiple heat sources at the same time to achieve thermal homogeneity of the heat sources.
2. The thermal module of the present invention can dissipate the heat of multiple heat sources at the same time to lower the material cost and assembling cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of a first embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective assembled view of the first embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective exploded view of the first embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention, showing the application thereof;

FIG. 4 is a perspective exploded view of a second embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective assembled view of the second embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective exploded view of the second embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention, showing the application thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of a first embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective assembled view of the first embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention. The thermal module 1 of the present invention includes at least one heat dissipation base seat 11. In this embodiment, the thermal module 1 has two heat dissipation base seats 11. Each heat dissipation base seat 11 has a first insertion section 111 and two second insertion sections 112. In addition, each heat dissipation base seat 11 has a connection section 12. The connection sections 12 are connected with each other to assemble the two heat dissipation base seats 11 with each other. The second insertion sections 112 are formed on the connection sections 12. A first heat pipe 13 is disposed on the second insertion sections 112. Two ends of the first heat pipe 13 respectively extend to the first insertion sections 111 of the heat dissipation base seats 11. Two first radiating fin assemblies 14 are disposed on the first heat pipe 13 in positions where the heat dissipation base seats 11 are positioned respectively. The first radiating fin assemblies 14 are attached to the first heat pipe 13. A second radiating fin assembly 15 is disposed on the first heat pipe 13 in a position where the connection sections 12 are positioned. The second radiating fin assembly 15 is also attached to the first heat pipe 13. The second radiating fin assembly 15 extends to connect and assemble with the first radiating fin assemblies 14 on the heat dissipation base seats 11. In addition, two second heat pipes 16 are disposed on the second insertion sections 112 of the heat dissipation base seats 11. One end of the second heat pipe 16 extends to the first insertion section 111.
Please now refer to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. FIG. 3 is a perspective exploded view of the first embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention, showing the application thereof. The thermal module 1 is assembled with a circuit unit 2. In this embodiment, the circuit unit 2 has a heat source 21 in a forward position and another heat source 21 in a backward position. The first insertion sections 111 of the thermal module 1 are positioned according to the positions of the heat sources 21. Accordingly, the thermal module 1 is assembled with the circuit unit 2 with the heat sources 21 positioned in the first insertion sections 111. Two ends of the first heat pipe 13 extend to the first insertion sections 111 to attach to the heat sources 21. The first and second radiating fin assemblies 14, 15 attach to the first heat pipe 13. Accordingly, the first heat pipe 13 of the thermal module 1 serves to absorb the heat of the forward and backward heat sources 21 and transfer the heat to the first and second radiating fin assemblies 14, 15 to dissipate the heat. Therefore, the heat of multiple heat sources 21 can be dissipated at the same time to achieve thermal homogeneity of the heat sources 21. Moreover, no additional thermal module is needed so that the material cost and assembling cost are lowered. Furthermore, the second heat pipes 16 are disposed on the second insertion sections 112 of the heat dissipation base seats 11. The ends of the second heat pipes 16 extend to the first insertion sections 111. The first radiating fin assemblies 14 also attach to the second heat pipes 16 so as to enhance the heat dissipation effect for the heat sources 21.
Please now refer to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. FIG. 4 is a perspective exploded view of a second embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective assembled view of the second embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective exploded view of the second embodiment of the thermal module of the present invention, showing the application thereof. The second embodiment is partially identical to the first embodiment in structure and technical characteristic and thus will not be repeatedly described hereinafter. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the connection sections 12 of the heat dissipation base seats 11 are integrally connected with each other and the first and second radiating fin assemblies 14, 15 are also integrally formed. The first heat pipe 13 serves to absorb the heat of the forward and backward heat sources 21 and transfer the heat to the first and second radiating fin assemblies 14, 15 to dissipate the heat. Therefore, the thermal module 1 can dissipate the heat of multiple heat sources 21 at the same time to achieve thermal homogeneity of the heat sources 21 and lower the material cost and assembling cost.
The present invention has been described with the above embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications of the above embodiments in configuration and arrangement form can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A thermal module for assembling with multiple heat sources, the thermal module comprising:

at least one heat dissipation base seat having at least one first insertion section and at least one second insertion section in communication with the first insertion section, the first insertion section being mated with the heat sources;

at least one first heat pipe mated with the second insertion section, the first heat pipe extending to the first insertion section to attach to the heat sources; and

at least one first radiating fin assembly disposed on the heat dissipation base seat and attached to the first heat pipe.

2. The thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat dissipation base seat has a connection section connected with the heat dissipation base seat, the second insertion section being formed on the connection section, the first heat pipe being mated with the second insertion section of the connection section and extending to the first insertion section of the heat dissipation base seat.

3. The thermal module as claimed in claim 2, wherein the connection section of the heat dissipation base seat is integrally connected with the connection section of another heat dissipation base seat.

4. The thermal module as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one second heat pipe, the second heat pipe being mated with the second insertion section, one end of the second heat pipe extending to the first insertion section to attach to the heat source.

5. The thermal module as claimed in claim 3, wherein a second radiating fin assembly is disposed on the connection section, the second radiating fin assembly extending to connect and assemble with the first radiating fin assembly on the heat dissipation base seat.

6. The thermal module as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first and second radiating fin assemblies are integrally formed.

7. The thermal module as claimed in claim 5, wherein the second radiating fin assembly is disposed on the connection section and attached to the first heat pipe.

8. The thermal module as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first radiating fin assembly is disposed on the heat dissipation base seat and attached to the second heat pipe.