Patent ID: 6535603
Filing Date: 2003-03-18
Classification: H05K

Abstract:
A passively cooled repeater housing for use in a telecommunication network's wire transmission local loop outside plant to house a plurality of standardized repeater modules that generate waste heat, the repeater housing comprising:an environmental enclosure comprising a base and a cylindrical dome cover with a sidewall, wherein the cover of the environmental enclosure is removable to provide field replaceable, plug-in access to the repeater modules and is sealable to the base of the environmental enclosure; a plurality of thermal sleeves which mount the plurality of repeater modules, wherein each of the plurality of thermal sleeves comprises: a thermal collection element that forms a thermal interface with a repeater module in order to collect waste heat from the repeater module; a thermal distribution element having at least one surface placed in close proximity to the cover's sidewall and having an arcuate shape that conforms to a portion of an inner surface of the cover's sidewall; and a thermal transfer element providing thermal conduction from the collection element to the distribution element; and an actuator mechanism coupled to each of the plurality of thermal sleeves to move the sleeves radially outward to urge the arcuate surface of each distribution element against the inner surface of the cover's sidewall in order to form a thermal interface with the sidewall to distribute waste heat over the sidewall and transfer the waste heat through the sidewall to the surrounding ambient air.