Abstract:
A heat dissipating module comprises at least one substrate and a heat dissipating layer. The substrate has a first surface and a second surface. The heat dissipating layer is disposed on the second surface. At least one heat generating device is electrically connected to the first surface, and the heat dissipating module is disposed on a main board uprightly. The heat dissipating module is advantageous for shortening the manufacturing time, raising the efficiency of automated production, decreasing the assembling cost and further achieving high heat dissipating efficiency.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 102108130 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Mar. 7, 2013, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates to a heat dissipating module and, in particular, to a heat dissipating module that is compacted and is improved in heat dissipating efficiency. 
         [0004]    2. Related Art 
         [0005]    With the progress of electronic industry, the electronic devices are demanded with higher operational speed and efficiency, but the accompanying heat dissipation also becomes a serious problem. If the heat dissipation is not solved appropriately, the operational performance and stability will be lowered down, and even the electronic apparatus is damaged or becomes worse in efficiency. In order to make the electronic apparatus operate normally, a heat dissipating device is often installed on the electronic device that will generates heat during the operation, for dissipating the generated heat. 
         [0006]    Besides, due to the improved technology, the electronic apparatus is compacted more and more for portability, and the micro-electronic device therein is also reduced in size. Therefore, the accumulated heat in a unit area in the electronic apparatus is increased, and thus the heat dissipating apparatus capable of high heat dissipating efficiency is really required. Moreover, because the micro-electronic device has a smaller size, a large-type heat dissipating device is unsuitable for being disposed thereon. Besides, the heat dissipating device also occupies some room of the electronic apparatus. 
         [0007]    In the conventional art, a heat dissipating sheet is used as the main heat dissipating device, disposed on the power component of a mother board or circuit board for the heat dissipation. However, disposing the heat dissipating device to the motherboard having complex power components or to the circuit board having a complex circuit not only increases the manufacturing time but also provides limited heat dissipation effect. Furthermore, in a system having more components or complex structure, the disposition space and heat dissipation effect must be considered together, so the design of the heat dissipating device and entire configuration must become more complicated, and therefore the manufacturing time and cost are definitely increased. Moreover, a conventional heat generating device and heat dissipating device are connected to each other mainly by screwing, and such connection way will increase the manufacturing time and is unfavorable for automation. 
         [0008]    Therefore, it is an important subject to provide a heat dissipating module that can be improved in heat dissipating efficiency, and can decrease the production time and cost just through a simple design and configuration. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    In view of the foregoing subject, an objective of this invention is to provide a heat dissipating module that can be improved in heat dissipating efficiency, and can decrease the production time and cost just through a simple design and configuration. 
         [0010]    To achieve the above objective, a heat dissipating module according to the invention comprises at least one substrate and a heat dissipating layer. The substrate has a first surface and a second surface. The heat dissipating layer is disposed on the second surface. At least one heat generating device is electrically connected to the first surface, and the heat dissipating module is disposed on a main board uprightly. 
         [0011]    In one embodiment, the heat dissipating module further comprises at least one wire disposed on the first surface or the second surface. 
         [0012]    In one embodiment, the substrate has at least one pin whereby the substrate is inserted into the main board. 
         [0013]    In one embodiment, the wire is electrically connected to the heat generating device and the pin. 
         [0014]    In one embodiment, the substrate is an aluminum substrate. 
         [0015]    In one embodiment, the substrate further has at least one copper foil layer. 
         [0016]    In one embodiment, the heat dissipating layer has at least one foot portion whereby the heat dissipating layer is inserted into the main board. 
         [0017]    In one embodiment, the heat dissipating layer is made by metal material. 
         [0018]    In one embodiment, the metal material includes copper, aluminum, nickel, gold, silver or their alloys. 
         [0019]    In one embodiment, the substrate and the heat dissipating layer are connected to each other by locking, screwing, riveting, or surface mount technology (SMT). 
         [0020]    In one embodiment, the heat dissipating device is a surface mount device (SMD). 
         [0021]    In one embodiment, the heat dissipating layer has a plurality of fins. 
         [0022]    In one embodiment, the heat dissipating module further comprises a heat conductive insulation layer disposed between the substrate and the heat dissipating layer. 
         [0023]    In one embodiment, the heat conductive insulation layer is made by aluminum oxide, beryllium oxide, silicon carbide, silicon nitride or boron nitride. 
         [0024]    As mentioned above, in the heat dissipating module according to this invention, the heat generating devices, such as chips, control units or other electronic components, which should be disposed on the main board, are disposed on the substrate (e.g. aluminum circuit board) so that the main board can spare more room for the circuit layout. More importantly, since the heat dissipating layer is connected to the substrate, the main board needn&#39;t spare much room for the disposition of the heat dissipating module and thus the utility rate of the space is increased a lot. Besides, the heat dissipating layer has the foot portion whereby the heat dissipating layer is locked to the main board, so that the heat dissipating module is firmer. And even better, since the heat dissipating layer is fixed to the main board, the area contributing to the heat dissipation effect is increased, providing a better heat dissipating effectiveness. 
         [0025]    Furthermore, the heat dissipating module according to the invention can further include a heat conductive insulation layer. Thereby, the disposition room of the devices or circuits on the substrate is increased and the heat dissipating efficiency is also enhanced. In other words, the heat dissipating module can have a substrate of single-layout or double-layout. In comparison with the prior art, when applied to an electronic apparatus, the heat dissipating module of the invention can make the electronic apparatus have more disposition room for the devices, and can effectively enhance the heat dissipating efficiency of the electronic apparatus. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0026]    The invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and accompanying drawings, which are given for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: 
           [0027]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic exploded diagram of a heat dissipating module according to a preferred embodiment of this invention; 
           [0028]      FIG. 1B  is a schematic perspective diagram of the heat dissipating module in  FIG. 1A ; 
           [0029]      FIG. 2  is a schematic exploded diagram of anther heat dissipating module according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
           [0030]      FIG. 3  is a schematic exploded diagram of anther heat dissipating module according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; and 
           [0031]      FIG. 4  is a schematic exploded diagram of a variation of the heat dissipating module having a different heat dissipating layer according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0032]    The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements. 
         [0033]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic exploded diagram of a heat dissipating module according to a preferred embodiment of this invention, and  FIG. 1B  is a schematic perspective diagram of the heat dissipating module in  FIG. 1A . As shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , the heat dissipating module  1  includes at least one substrate  11  and a heat dissipating layer  12 . The heat dissipating module  1  can be disposed on a main board (not shown) uprightly. In detail, the heat dissipating module  1  is disposed on the main board by the method of pin through hole (PTH) or surface mount technology (SMT). The main board can be a motherboard, but is not limited thereto. The above-mentioned connection method (PTH or SMT) can be understood by those skilled in the art, and therefore is not described here for conciseness. As below, the components and structure of the heat dissipating module  1  will be illustrated. 
         [0034]    The substrate  11  is an aluminum substrate. At least one heat generating device E is electrically connected to the substrate  11 , and four heat generating devices E are shown in this embodiment for example. The substrate  11  has a first surface  111  and a second surface  112 , and the heat generating device E is disposed on the first surface  111  by SMT. The heat generating device E can be an active component, such as a transistor, but is not limited thereto. The heat generating device E denotes a device that will generate heat during the operation. Disposing the heat generating device E on the substrate  11  by SMT can bring some advantages of decreasing the required components, simplifying the manufacturing process and facilitating the automation. 
         [0035]    In this embodiment, the substrate  11  is a printed circuit board (PCB), which has a circuit pattern including a plurality of wires  114  formed by etching a copper foil layer. However, the invention is not limited thereto. In a practical case, the substrate can be a module board or a package substrate for example. In detail, the first surface  111  and second surface  112  of the substrate  11  are coated each with a copper foil layer that is then etched to form the circuit pattern electrically connecting to the heat generating devices E disposed on the substrate  11 . In this embodiment, since the heat generating devices E are only disposed on the first surface  111 , the circuit pattern is at least disposed on the first surface  111 . In other words, the wires  114  can be only disposed on the first surface  111 . In other embodiments, the heat generating devices or the circuit pattern can be disposed on the opposite surfaces of the substrate  11 . 
         [0036]    The heat dissipating layer  12  is made by metal material, and here for example, is made by aluminum. However, other metals, such as the metal capable of high heat conduction, e.g. copper, aluminum, nickel, gold, silver or their alloys, can be used as the material of the heat dissipating layer  12 . 
         [0037]    In this embodiment, the heat dissipating layer  12  is an aluminum plate shaped like a rectangle, disposed on the second surface  112  of the substrate  11 . In other words, the heat dissipating layer  12  and the heat dissipating devices E are disposed on the opposite surfaces of the substrate  11 , respectively. The heat dissipating layer  12  is connected to the substrate  11  by rivets, but this invention is not limited thereto. Other ways, such as locking or screwing also can be used in the invention for connecting the heat dissipating layer  12  and the substrate  11 . 
         [0038]    The substrate  11  has a pin  113 , which is used to fix the substrate  11  to the main board. In detail, a plurality of the pins  113  are made on the substrate  11 , a plurality of positioned holes are correspondingly made on the main board, and thus the pins  113  can pass through the positioned holes for fixing the substrate  11  to the main board. Furthermore, a solder paste can be used to further connect the substrate  11  and the main board. In this embodiment, the pins  113  of the substrate  11  are electrically connected to the heat generating devices E through the wires  114 . The pins  113  also can have a circuit layout. Through the connection between the pins  113  and the main board, the substrate  11  and the heat generating devices E can be electrically connected to the main board. The heat dissipating layer  12  has a foot portion  123  whereby the heat dissipating layer  12  can be fixed to the main board. Likewise, a plurality of positioned holes are correspondingly made on the main board for accommodating the foot portion  123  of the heat dissipating layer  12 . By both of that the substrate  11  is connected to the heat dissipating layer  12  and that the pins  113  of the substrate  11  and the foot portion  123  of the heat dissipating layer  12  are connected to the main board, the connection stability and strength between the heat dissipating module  1  and the main board are enhanced. 
         [0039]    Heat dissipating layer  12  is an aluminum plate with the size and shape both similar to the substrate  11 . In this embodiment, since the pins  113  of the substrate  11  are configured with the functions of the firmness with the main board and the connection with the wire, the portion of the pins  113  of the substrate  11  is slightly larger than the corresponding portion of the heat dissipating layer  12 , and the whole substrate  11  is also slightly larger than the heat dissipating layer  12 . However, this invention is not limited thereto. 
         [0040]    Besides, because the heat dissipating layer  12  and the substrate  11  are respectively configured with the foot portion  123  and the pins  113 , they can be fixed to the main board independently. Thereby, the substrate  11  and the heat dissipating layer  12  can be replaced by the ones of different size or shape, according to the various applied electronic apparatuses. That is, the heat dissipating module of this invention has adjustable components, thereby helping the reduction of the assembly cost and the facilitation of the manufacturing process. 
         [0041]    Through the all above-mentioned configuration, the substrate  11  is capable of carrying the heat generating devices E and conducting the heat generated by the heat generating devices E to the heat dissipating layer  12  that is connected to the substrate  11 . Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the substrate  11  and the heat dissipating layer  12  are similar to each other in size and each shaped like a rectangle, they have a larger area than the heat generating devices E disposed on the substrate  11 . Therefore, they can evenly dissipate the heat generated by the heat generating devices E. 
         [0042]      FIG. 2  is a schematic exploded diagram of anther heat dissipating module according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the heat dissipating module  2  of this embodiment has similar structure and technical features with the above embodiment, but differently, it further includes a heat conductive insulation layer  23 . The heat conductive insulation layer  23  is disposed between the substrate  21  and the heat dissipating layer  22 , and is made by aluminum oxide for example. By such configuration, the second surface  212  of the substrate  21  contacting the heat conductive insulation layer  23  can be configured with at least one heat generating device E or a circuit layout, so that the number of the heat generating devices E of the whole heat dissipating module  2  is increased. Besides the insulation property, the heat conductive insulation layer  23  also has high thermal conductivity, and thus can improve the heat dissipation efficiency on the heat generating devices E. The heat conductive insulation layer  23  can be made by other material of high thermal conductivity, such as beryllium oxide, silicon carbide, silicon nitride or boron nitride. However, the invention is not limited thereto. 
         [0043]    To be noted, when the opposite surfaces of the substrate  21  of the heat dissipating module  2  are both configured with the heat generating devices E, the heat conductive insulation layer  23  needs to have the same size as the substrate  21  for achieving the complete heat conduction and insulation. 
         [0044]      FIG. 3  is a schematic exploded diagram of anther heat dissipating module according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the heat dissipating module  3  of this embodiment has similar structure and technical features with the heat dissipating module  1 , but differently, a first surface  321  of the heat dissipating layer  32  is configured with an insulation effect. In this embodiment, the first surface  321  of the heat dissipating layer  32  is covered by a ceramic material, and has properties of high thermal conductivity and insulation. So, like the above-mentioned heat dissipating module  2 , the first surface  311  and second surface  312  of the substrate  31  can be both configured with the heat generating devices E or wires  314 . Thereby, the manufacturing process can be facilitated and the heat dissipation efficiency can be enhanced, and even better, the size of the heat dissipating module can be decreased. Furthermore, because the thermal expansion coefficient and high heat-resistant capability of the ceramic material approximate those of the semiconductor material, this invention can solve the problems of thermal strain and high temperature process in a practical application. To be noted, in this embodiment, the insulation effect can be provided by many ways or materials. For example, the first surface  321  of the heat dissipating layer  32  is coated with an appropriate material so as to achieve both of the insulation and heat dissipation. However, this invention is not limited thereto. 
         [0045]      FIG. 4  is a schematic exploded diagram of anther heat dissipating module having a different heat dissipating layer according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the heat dissipating module  4  of this embodiment has similar structure and technical features with the heat dissipating module  1 , but differently, the heat dissipating layer  42  further includes a plurality of heat dissipating fins F to provide a further heat dissipating effect. The heat dissipating fins F are disposed on the second surface  422  of the heat dissipating layer  42  away from the substrate  41 . The heat dissipating fins F are separated from each other in parallel on the heat dissipating layer  42 . The number, size and arrangement of the heat dissipating fins F are not limited herein. For example, the heat dissipating fins F can be separated from each other inclinedly or perpendicularly, according to the structure of the applied electronic apparatus, configuration of other heat dissipating components and entire heat dissipating requirement. 
         [0046]    In this embodiment, the heat dissipating fins F and the heat dissipating layer  42  are integrally formed. In other embodiments, the heat dissipating fins F can be connected to the heat dissipating layer  42  by embedding, locking, fastening or adhering, for example. 
         [0047]    To be noted, the heat dissipating module of this invention can further include other heat dissipating devices, such as a fan, for enhancing the whole heat dissipation effectiveness. In a practical application, it can be designed according to the structure of the applied electronic apparatus, configuration of other heat dissipating components and entire heat dissipating requirement. 
         [0048]    In summary, in the heat dissipating module according to this invention, the heat generating devices, such as chips, control units or other electronic components, which should be disposed on the main board, are disposed on the substrate (e.g. aluminum circuit board) so that the main board can spare more room for the circuit layout. More importantly, since the heat dissipating layer is connected to the substrate, the main board needn&#39;t spare much room for the configuration of the heat dissipating module and thus the utility rate of the space is increased a lot. Besides, the heat dissipating layer has the foot portion whereby the heat dissipating layer is locked to the main board, so that the heat dissipating module is firmer. And even better, since the heat dissipating layer is fixed to the main board, the area contributing to the heat dissipation effect is increased, providing a better heat dissipating effectiveness. 
         [0049]    Furthermore, the heat dissipating module according to the invention can further include a heat conductive insulation layer. Thereby, the disposition room of the devices or circuits on the substrate is increased and the heat dissipating efficiency is also enhanced. In other words, the heat dissipating module can have a substrate of single-layout or double-layout. In comparison with the prior art, when applied to an electronic apparatus, the heat dissipating module of the invention can make the electronic apparatus have more disposition room for the devices, and can effectively enhance the heat dissipating efficiency of the electronic apparatus. 
         [0050]    Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.