Patent Publication Number: US-2010126709-A1

Title: Heat Dissipating Module

Description:
This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 97145994, filed Nov. 27, 2008, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a heat dissipating module and, more particularly, to a heat dissipating module composed of multiple heat dissipating units. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Nowadays, a heat dissipating module such as a heat dissipating fin used in a chip usually has multiple sheet-shaped structures to facilitate the heat dissipation. Since the manufacturing mode of extrusion facilitates the fast manufacturing and mass production, most heat dissipating modules are manufactured by extrusion dies. 
     However, when the distance between two adjacent fins is small, the pass rate of the heat dissipating modules is easy to reduce, and the heat dissipating modules may even unable to go into mass production. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides heat dissipating units in different shapes which are easy to be manufactured by extrusion dies. For example, they are heat dissipating units made of different materials, or their colors are different. The heat dissipating units are connected to each other via their connecting portions to form a heat dissipating module having a complex or changeable structure. 
     According to an aspect of the invention, a heat dissipating module is provided. The heat dissipating module includes a first heat dissipating unit and a second heat dissipating unit. The first heat dissipating unit has a first connecting portion. The second heat dissipating unit has a second connecting portion corresponding to the first connecting portion. The second connecting portion is connected to the first connecting portion tightly to form the heat dissipating module in the invention. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, a heat dissipating module is provided. The heat dissipating module includes a first heat dissipating unit and a second heat dissipating unit. The first heat dissipating unit has a first connecting portion. The second heat dissipating unit has a second connecting portion corresponding to the first connecting portion. The second connecting portion and the first connecting portion are connected to each other in an embedding mode to form the heat dissipating module in the invention. 
     According to still another aspect of the invention, a heat dissipating module is provided. The heat dissipating module includes a first heat dissipating unit and a second heat dissipating unit. The first heat dissipating unit has a first connecting portion. The second heat dissipating unit has a second connecting portion corresponding to the first connecting portion. The second connecting portion is connected to the first connecting portion with glue in a sticking mode to form the heat dissipating module in the invention. 
     These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing the heat dissipating module according to a first embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view diagram showing the heat dissipating module in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing the heat dissipating module according to a second embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a side view diagram showing the heat dissipating module in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5A  is a schematic diagram showing the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion in another embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 5B  is a schematic diagram showing the connecting mode in which the first connecting portion is connected to the second connecting portion. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , it is a schematic diagram showing the heat dissipating module according to a first embodiment of the invention. The heat dissipating module  100  includes a first heat dissipating unit  102  and a second heat dissipating unit  104 . The heat dissipating module  100  may be used at a heat source to dissipate heat generated by the heating unit. The heating unit is, for example, a chip on a motherboard. The first heat dissipating unit  102  and the second heat dissipating unit  104  are usually made of metal such as aluminum. In the embodiment, the first heat dissipating unit  102  is, for example, a heat dissipating plate, and the second heat dissipating unit  104  is, for example, a heat dissipating fin. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the first heat dissipating unit  102  has a first connecting portion  106 . The second heat dissipating unit  104  has a second connecting portion  108  corresponding to the first connecting portion  106 . The first connecting portion  106  may be designed to be a recess, and the second connecting portion  108  may be designed to be a protrusion corresponding to the first connecting portion  106 . The second connecting portion  108  is connected to the first connecting portion  106  tightly. The second heat dissipating unit  104  may be fixed to the first heat dissipating unit  102  via the second connecting portion  108 . 
     The first heat dissipating unit  102  and the second heat dissipating unit  104  may be made of different kinds of metals, and their colors and shapes also may be different to form various changeable heat dissipating modules  100 . 
     The first heat dissipating unit  102  and the second heat dissipating unit  104  may be connected to each other in an embedding mode. For example, the second connecting portion  108  may be connected to the first connecting portion  106  in an embedding mode, and the embedding process may be finished by simple tools. Thus, when the first connecting portion  106  is connected to the second connecting portion  108 , a tight fitting effect may be achieved by designing the internal diameter of the first connecting portion  106  to be smaller than the external diameter of the second connecting portion  108 . Thus, the second heat dissipating unit  104  is assembled to the first heat dissipating unit  102  firmly. 
     Although the first connecting portion  106  and the second connecting portion  108  in the embodiment are designed to be a recess and a protrusion, respectively, in other embodiments, the first connecting portion  106  also may be a protrusion, and the second connecting portion  108  may be a recess. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , it is a side view diagram showing the heat dissipating module in  FIG. 1 . Although a section of the first connecting portion  106  in the embodiment is arc-shaped, in actual application, the section of first connecting portion  106  may be designed to be arc-shaped or polygon-shaped. The section shape of the second connecting portion  108  is designed to correspond to that of the first connecting portion  106 , and this may maximize the contacting area of the second connecting portion  108  and the first connecting portion  106  to achieve better connecting effect. 
     In addition, the connecting space between the first connecting portion  106  and the second connecting portion  108  may be filled with sticky glue (not shown) to improve the connecting effect of the first heat dissipating unit  102  and the second heat dissipating unit  104 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , it is a schematic diagram showing the heat dissipating module according to a second embodiment of the invention. The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that, in the second embodiment, the first heat dissipating unit  202  is composed of a heat dissipating plate  210  and a fin assembly  212 . The heat dissipating plate  210  and the fin assembly  212  may be integrally formed. 
     The second heat dissipating unit  204  includes, for example, a first sub-fin  214 , a second sub-fin  216  and a third sub-fin  218 . In the embodiment, the heat dissipating plate  210  has a first connecting portion  206  which is similar to that in  FIG. 1 . The first sub-fin  214  has a second connecting portion  208  which is similar to that in  FIG. 1 . The first sub-fin  214  is fixed to the heat dissipating plate  210  of the first heat dissipating unit  202  via the connection of the first connecting portion  206  and the second connecting portion  208 . The second sub-fin  216  is disposed at the other end of the first sub-fin  214  opposite to the second connecting portion  208 . The third sub-fin  218  is disposed at the other end of the second sub-fin  216  opposite to the end where the second sub-fin  216  is connected to the first sub-fin  214 . According to the characteristic disclosed in the invention, an outermost fin of the fin assembly  212  may have a connecting portion where the second connecting portion  208  of the first sub-fin  214  also may be fixed to. The connecting position of the first heat dissipating unit  202  and the second heat dissipating unit  204  may not be limited. 
     Furthermore, the appearance of the heat dissipating module  200  is complex. However, in the method of the embodiment, the complex heat dissipating module may be disassembled to be multiple parts. In the embodiment, the heat dissipating module  200  is disassembled to be a first heat dissipating unit  202  and a second heat dissipating unit  204 . Thus, an extrusion die of the heat dissipating module  200  in the embodiment is relatively easy to design, and this may avoid that the regional area of the mould is so thin that the structure has a poor rigid. Thus, the defective rate of the extruded heat dissipating module decreases. 
     Furthermore, as shown in  FIG. 4 , it is a side view diagram showing the heat dissipating module in  FIG. 3 . If the heat dissipating module  200  is manufactured by an extrusion die, the second sub-fin  216  gets close to the fin assembly  212  at area A where the distance between the second sub-fin  216  and the fin assembly  212  is the shortest. Thus, the extruded heat dissipating module has a low pass rate and poor quality. In the embodiment, the first heat dissipating unit and the second heat dissipating unit are connected to each other in a proper mode such as an embedding or sticking mode, and this may avoid that when the distance between two adjacent fins is small, the pass rate of the heat dissipating module is easy to be low, and even the mass production cannot be realized. Therefore, in the embodiment, the heat dissipating module  200  in the embodiment has the advantages such as high quality and high pass rate. In addition, the lifespan of the extrusion die is long, and the maintaining fee is low. This makes the product quantity increase and the manufacturing cost decrease greatly. 
     In the embodiment, the dissipating module may be divided into multiple heat dissipating units to be manufactured individually. Thus, the designer does not need to worry about the manufacture of the heat dissipating module having a creative appearance or a special function. For example, the heat dissipating module may be designed to have a mark or a logo, and it is easy to be achieved. 
     In addition, the connecting mode of the heat dissipating module may not be limited to be an embedding mode. For example, corresponding to the fixing mode for connecting the first heat dissipating unit  102  and the second heat dissipating unit  104 , the connecting mode also may be a sticking mode. As shown in  FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B ,  FIG. 5A  is a schematic diagram showing the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion in another embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 5B  is a schematic diagram showing the connecting mode in which the first connecting portion is connected to the second connecting portion. As shown in  FIG. 5A , the heat dissipating module  300  includes a first heat dissipating unit  302  and a second heat dissipating unit  304 . The first heat dissipating unit  302  has a first connecting portion such as a recess  306 . The second heat dissipating unit  304  has a second connecting portion such as a connecting surface  308  corresponding to the bottom surface of the recess  306 . As shown in  FIG. 5B , the connecting surface  308  is fixed in the recess  306  using glue  310  to achieve the effect of fixing the first heat dissipating unit  302  to the second heat dissipating unit  304 . 
     Furthermore, the mode in which the first connecting portion is connected to the second connecting portion is not limited in the embodiment. As long as the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion are connected to each other to make the first heat dissipating unit fixed with the second heat dissipating unit, the connecting mode is the proper mode disclosed in the invention. 
     The heat dissipating module disclosed in the embodiment has multiple advantages, and parts of them are illustrated hereinbelow. 
     (1) The first heat dissipating unit and the second heat dissipating unit may be made of different materials, or their colors may be different to compose various dissipating modules. 
     (2) The first connecting portion and the second connecting portion are easy to be tightly assembled to each other. For example, the embedding mode is easy to achieve by simple tools. 
     (3) The first connecting portion and the second connecting portion not only have the effect of connecting the first heat dissipating unit and the second heat dissipating unit, but also provide the heat dissipating function. 
     (4) The heat dissipating module may be designed to have multiple heat dissipating units, and each heat dissipating unit may be manufactured in an extruding mode without being limited in the two heat dissipating units disclosed in the embodiment. Thus, the heat dissipating module in the invention may be designed to have a complex appearance, such as a mark or a logo, which may be achieved by manufacturing in an extruded mode. 
     (5) In manufacturing the extruded heat dissipating module in the embodiment, the decrease of the pass rate of the heat dissipating module which results from the small distance between the two adjacent fins may be avoided. Therefore, the heat dissipating module in the embodiment has a high pass rate, and the quality is good. In addition, the lifespan of the extrusion die increases, and the maintaining fee decreases. Thus, the product quantity increases. 
     Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, the disclosure is not for limiting the scope of the invention. Persons having ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and changes without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments described above.