|Publication number||US7984754 B2|
|Application number||US 11/668,567|
|Publication date||Jul 26, 2011|
|Filing date||Jan 30, 2007|
|Priority date||Jun 12, 2003|
|Also published as||DE10326458A1, DE10326458B4, US7185696, US20040250990, US20070125517|
|Publication number||11668567, 668567, US 7984754 B2, US 7984754B2, US-B2-7984754, US7984754 B2, US7984754B2|
|Original Assignee||Phoenix Contact Gmbh & Co. Kg|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (31), Referenced by (1), Classifications (9), Legal Events (1)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/863,565, filed Jun. 8, 2004, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,185,696, which application claims priority to German patent application DE 103 26 458.2, filed Jun. 12, 2003, the subject matters of both applications of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a cooling element for heat dissipation in one or more electronic components, consisting of a heat-dissipating metal element and a spring that serve to press the electronic component against the metal element.
German utility model DE 296 12 437 U1 describes a cooling element for an electronic component, consisting of a metal element and of a passage opening to receive the electronic component. Through the insertion of a leaf spring, the electronic component is brought into thermal contact with a wall of the metal element. The drawback here is that, in an additional assembly step, the spring has to be subsequently inserted into the opening that receives the electronic component.
German patent application DE 197 29 851 A1 describes a cooling element consisting of a metal element in which the thermal contact with the electronic component is achieved by means of a leaf spring. This leaf spring, however, functions like a clamping spring and it pulls the electronic component towards the outer wall of the metal element. The assembly of such a cooling element is impractical when conventional electronics housings are used since the electronic component to be cooled has to project out of the electronics housing in order to be brought into thermal contact with the cooling element.
An aspect of the present invention is to provide a cooling element for one or more electronic components arranged next to or behind each other, including a heat-dissipating metal element and at least one pressure means whereby, in a simple manner, one or more electronic components to be cooled are brought into thermal contact with the cooling element.
In an embodiment, the present invention provides a cooling element for one or more electronic or electromechanical components. The cooling element includes a metal element defining a receiving space and a receiving groove associated with the receiving space. The receiving space has an inner wall and is configured to receive an electronic or electromechanical component by an insertion of the electronic or electromechanical component in an insertion direction. The receiving groove has a longitudinal axis lying transverse to the insertion direction. An elongated spring is disposed in the receiving groove so that a longitudinal axis of the spring lies parallel to the longitudinal axis of the receiving groove and so that the spring is deformed by the insertion of the electronic or electromechanical component. A return force of the spring urges the inserted electronic or electromechanical component against an inner wall of the receiving space in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the spring.
The invention will be described below based on exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings, in which:
The present invention provides a cooling element for one or more electronic components. The cooling element includes a metal element defining a receiving opening configured to receive electronic component and defining a receiving bore associated with the receiving opening; and a spring disposed in the receiving bore so as to urge the electronic component against an inner wall of the receiving opening.
The present invention also provides a method for establishing thermal contact between one or more electronic components and a cooling element for heat dissipation. The method includes disposing a spring in a receiving bore of the metal element; and inserting an electronic component into a receiving opening of the metal element so that the electronic component is urged against an inner wall of the receiving opening by a radial return force of the spring.
The metal element of the cooling element has one or more slit-shaped receiving openings for one or more electronic components that are to be cooled in each receiving opening. In its lengthwise extension, each receiving opening has a receiving bore that holds a helical spring and that runs parallel to the lengthwise extension. The receiving bore is arranged in such a way that it is open on the lengthwise side towards the receiving opening. The receiving bore is arranged in such a way that the lateral opening faces in the direction of the electronic component. A helical spring is placed into the receiving bore and a radial partial section of said spring projects into the opening for receiving the electronic component. When the electronic component is inserted into the receiving opening in the cooling element, the radial return force of the helical spring presses the electronic component against the opposite inner wall of the receiving opening. Advantageously, several electronic components next to each other in the receiving opening can be simultaneously brought into thermal contact with the cooling element. This is the case, for instance, when the cooling element is mounted on a printed circuit board in which the electronic components to be cooled are positioned in such a way that they match the receiving openings and can thus be inserted simultaneously into the receiving openings. The helical spring is essentially only deformed where the electronic component is pressed against the cooling element, so that a virtually uniform pressing force is ensured for each electronic component. In another embodiment, for purposes of pressing the electronic component against the cooling element, springs that have a tubular, radial action, or else permanently flexible plastic cylinders or rubber cylinders can be used.
In an embodiment of the cooling element, several receiving openings with the appertaining receiving bores can be provided.
The metal element is preferably made of extruded metal since the receiving openings for one or more electronic components can be designed as a continuous shaft in the lengthwise direction. The receiving bore for the cylindrical spring runs in the axial direction parallel to the continuous shaft that runs in the longitudinal direction for the opening for receiving one or more electronic components. Another advantage of the invention is that the length and height of the receiving opening can be dimensioned in such a way that electronic components of different sizes can be inserted into the receiving opening. Another advantage of the cooling element according to the invention is that several electronic components to be cooled are inserted simultaneously into one or more receiving openings. In this context, the spring(s) is/are preferably placed or slid into the receiving bore(s) prior to the insertion of the electronic components to be cooled.
In an embodiment, two opposite extensions of the metal element form side walls on the side of the component insertion guide of the cooling element, as a result of which these side walls serve as spacers relative to a printed circuit board.
The cooling element according to the invention is not limited to heat dissipation for electronic components since other applications such as heat dissipation for electromechanical components such as, for example, relays or solenoid valves, are also included.
List of Reference Numerals
1 cooling element
2 metal element
4 receiving opening for an electronic component
5 inner wall
6 side wall
7 cooling fins
8 spring space for a spring
9 first radial partial section of the spring space
10 second radial partial section of the spring space
11 electronic component
12 printed circuit board
13 bottom of the cooling element
16 lateral opening
17 helical spring
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|Citing Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US20110100598 *||May 5, 2011||Gommel Frank||Cooling arrangement|
|U.S. Classification||165/185, 165/80.3|
|International Classification||H01L23/40, H05K7/20, F28F7/00, H01L23/36|
|Cooperative Classification||H01L23/40, H01L2924/0002|