Patent Publication Number: US-2009229808-A1

Title: Heat-conducting assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a heat-conducting assembly, and in particular to a heat-conducting assembly that is applicable to electronic products. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     With the development of science and technology, electronic products and electronic elements are made more and more compact with a light weight. Accordingly, heat dissipation of an electronic product or electronic element becomes an important issue. Insufficient heat dissipation not only affects the operation of the electronic product or the electronic element, but also affects its lifetime. Thus, it is an important issue for those skilled in this field to improve the heat dissipation. 
     A common electronic product, such as an industrial computer, is provided therein with a heat-generating element, a heat-dissipating plate and a heat-conducting assembly. The heat-conducting assembly is located between the heat-generating element and the heat-dissipating plate. The bottom surface of the heat-conducting assembly abuts the heat-generating element, and its top surface abuts the heat-dissipating plate. Via this arrangement, the heat generated by the heat-generating element can be conducted to the heat-dissipating plate for subsequent heat dissipation. Since the industrial computers can be designed into various standards, the pitch between the heat-generating element and the heat-dissipating plate will be different (or the pitch between the heat-generating element and the heat-dissipating element will be changed due to design tolerances among various standards). Thus, it is necessary to design various heat-conducting assemblies for the respective standards. 
     The heat-conducting assembly is constituted of a heat-conducting block made of copper or aluminum. After the heat-conducting block is made into a final product based on the desired pitch between the heat-generating element and the heat-dissipating plate, this heat-conducting block cannot be applied to other kinds of industrial computers in which the pitch between the heat-generating element and the heat-dissipating plate is different. However, in manufacturing, a slight tolerance may be inevitably generated between individual electronic products. Thus, the heat-conducting block cannot be adjusted finely to compensate for the slight tolerance of pitch. As a result, if the heat-conducting block is larger than the pitch, it cannot be used. On the other hand, if the heat-conducting block is smaller than the pitch, gaps will be generated so as to affect the heat-conducting effect. 
     In view of the above, the present Inventor proposes a reasonable and novel structure based on delicate researches and expert principles. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is to provide a heat-conducting assembly. With a first heat-conducting block, a second heat-conducting block and an elastic element, the total height of the first and second heat-conducting blocks can be adjusted freely between a heat-generating element and a heat-dissipating plate, so that the first and second heat-conducting blocks can abut tightly the heat-generating element and the heat-dissipating plate respectively. Via this arrangement, the heat generated by the heat-generating element can be conducted to the heat-dissipating plate efficiently, thereby increasing the heat-conducting efficiency of the heat-conducting assembly. 
     The present invention is to provide a heat-conducting assembly mounted between a heat-generating element and a heat-dissipating plate. The heat-conducting assembly is constituted of a base, a first heat-conducting block, a second heat-conducting block and an elastic element. The base is attached on the heat-generating element. The first heat-conducting block is provided on the base. The first heat-conducting block has a first slope and a fixing groove. The second heat-conducting block abuts on the heat-dissipating plate. The second heat-conducting block has a second slope and a locking groove. The second slope is slidingly disposed on the first slope. The elastic element has a fixed end and a buckling end formed on one side of the fixed end. The fixed end is fixed in the fixing groove, and the buckling end is buckled into the locking groove. 
     Furthermore, the present invention is to provide a heat-conducting assembly mounted between a heat-generating element and a heat-dissipating plate. The heat-conducting assembly is constituted of a base, a first heat-conducting block, a second heat-conducting block, a fixing element and an elastic body. The base is attached on the heat-generating element. The first heat-conducting block is provided on the base. The first heat-conducting block has a first slope and a fixing hole penetrating the first slope. The second heat-conducting block abuts on the heat-dissipating plate. The second heat-conducting block has a second slope and a restricting groove corresponding to the fixing hole. The second slope is slidingly disposed on the first slope. The fixing element penetrates the restricting groove and the fixing hole to be fixed onto the first heat-conducting block. The elastic body has an abutting end and a compressed end formed on the other end of the abutting end. The abutting end abuts in the restricting groove, and the compressed end is fixed on the fixing element. 
     Therefore, via the heat-conducting assembly of the present invention, the poor contact of the heat-conducting block in prior art caused by the tolerance of pitch between the heat-generating element and the heat-dissipating plate and in turn the deterioration of heat-conducting efficiency of the heat-conducting block can be avoided. Thus, the present invention indeed improves the heat-conducting efficiency and has industrial applicability. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an assembled perspective view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view (I) showing an operating state of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view (II) showing an operating state of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view (III) showing an operating state of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a view showing the second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a view showing the third embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic view (I) showing an operating state of  FIG. 7 ; and 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic view (II) showing an operating state of  FIG. 7 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The characteristics and technical contents of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the following preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that the drawings are illustrative only but not to limit the scope of the present invention. 
     First Embodiment  
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  5 . The heat-conducting assembly of the present invention is mounted in an electronic product  70 . The electronic product  70  comprises a frame  71 , a heat-conducting plate  72  located above the frame  71 , a motherboard  73  provided on the frame  71 , and a heat-generating element  74  located on the motherboard  73 . The heat-conducting assembly is constituted of a base  10 , a first heat-conducting block  20 , a second heat-conducting block  30 , and an elastic element  40 . 
     The base  10  is attached on the heat-generating element  74 . The base  10  comprises a plurality of through-holes  11  for allowing a plurality of positioning pieces  12  to pass through respectively. The positioning piece  12  may be a pin or bolt. The base  10  can be formed into an L shape. The base  10  can be formed differently based on the number and positions of the heat-generating elements  74 , so that the base  10  can be applied to conduct the heat of a plurality of heat-generating elements  74 . In this way, the heat conduction can be performed to conform to the economic benefits. 
     The first heat-conducting block  20  is provided on the base  10 . The first heat-conducting block  20  can be formed integrally with the base  10 . Alternatively, the first heat-conducting block  20  and the base  10  can be formed separately and then both members are assembled together. The first heat-conducting block  20  has a first slope  21  and a fixing groove  22  located on one side of the first slope  21 . The angle between the first slope  21  and the base  10  is in a range from 0 to 90 degrees. In the present embodiment, the angle between the first slope  21  and the base  10  is preferably 45 degrees, so that the first heat-conducting block  20  of the same volume can have a larger area of first slope  21  to increase the area for heat conduction. The first heat-conducting block  20  is a trapezoid or triangular body. The cross section of the fixing groove  22  is formed into a U shape. 
     The second heat-conducting block  30  abuts on the heat-dissipating plate  72 . The second heat-conducting block  30  has a second slope  31  and a locking groove  32  located on one side of the second slope  31 . The second slope  31  is slidingly disposed on the first slope  21 , so that the first heat-conducting block  20  and the second heat-conducting block  30  can slide with respect to each other to generate a vertical relative displacement. The second heat-conducting block  30  is also a trapezoid body or triangular body. The cross section of the locking groove  32  is formed into a U shape or circular. 
     The elastic element  40  has a fixed end  41  and buckling ends  42  formed on both ends of the fixed end  41 . The fixed end  41  is fixed into the fixing groove  22 . The buckling ends  42  are buckled into the locking groove  32 . The elastic element  40  may be an elastic piece. 
     It should be understood that the electronic product  70  is an industrial computer, desktop computer, notebook computer or server. The heat-generating element  74  is a CPU, semiconductor packaging, chip or other electronic elements that generate high heat. Furthermore, the heat-dissipating plate  72  may be a heat-dissipating fin, heat pipe, metallic casing or the combination of the heat pipe and the heat-dissipating fins via the metallic casing. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 3 to 5 . When the heat-conducting assembly of the present invention is to be mounted in an electronic product  70 , the base  10  fixed with the first heat-conducting block  20  is attached to the heat-generating element  74 . With the positioning pieces  12  passing through the through-holes  11  and a plurality of holes  75  located on the motherboard  73 , the base  10  can be fixed on the motherboard  73 . At this time, the buckling ends  42  of the elastic element  40  are buckled in the locking groove  32 , so that the first and second slopes  21 ,  31  of the first and second heat-conducting blocks  20 ,  30  contact with each other. In this way, the fixed end  41  of the elastic element  40  is received in the fixing groove  22  with the second heat-conducting block  30  being disposed on the first heat-conducting block  20 . At this time, if an abutting portion  33  on the second heat-conducting block  30  is pressed, the second heat-conducting block  30  can slide on the first heat-conducting block  20  to generate a vertical relative displacement, thereby increasing or reducing the distance between the abutting portion  33  and the base  10 . Finally, the heat-dissipating plate  72  is combined on the frame  71  with the heat-dissipating plate  71  tightly abuts the abutting portion  33  of the second heat-conducting block  30 . 
     Therefore, via the first heat-conducting block  20 , the second heat-conducting block  30  and the elastic element  40 , the total height of the first and second heat-conducting blocks  20 ,  30  can be adjusted freely between the heat-generating element  74  and the heat-dissipating plate  72 , while the first and second heat-conducting blocks  20 ,  30  can abut tightly onto the heat-generating element  74  and the heat-dissipating plate  72  respectively. In this way, the heat generated by the heat-generating element  74  can be conducted to the heat-dissipating plate  72  efficiently, thereby increasing the heat-conducting efficiency of the heat-conducting assembly of the present invention. 
     Second Embodiment  
     Please refer to  FIG. 6 . The difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment lies in that the elastic element  40  is a torsion spring  43  for providing a larger elastic force. Via this arrangement, the heat-conducting assembly of the present invention can abut tightly between the heat-generating element  74  and the heat-dissipating plate  72  to conduct the heat generated by the heat-generating element  74  to the heat-dissipating plate  72 . 
     Third Embodiment  
     Please refer to  FIG. 7 . The heat-conducting assembly of the present invention is mounted between a heat-generating element  74  and a heat-dissipating plate  72 . The heat-conducting assembly is constituted of a base  10 , a first heat-conducting block  20 , a second heat-conducting block  30 , a fixing element  50  and an elastic body  60 . 
     The base  10  is attached on the heat-generating element  74 . The base  10  comprises a plurality of through-holes  11  for allowing a plurality of positioning pieces  12  to pass through respectively. 
     The first heat-conducting block  20  is disposed on the base  10 . The first heat-conducting block  20  can be formed integrally with the base  10 . Alternatively, the first heat-conducting block  20  and the base  10  can be formed separately and then both members are assembled together. The first heat-conducting block  20  has a first slope  21  and a fixing hole  24  penetrating the first slope  21 . The fixing hole  24  is a screw hole. 
     The second heat-conducting block  30  abuts on the heat-dissipating plate  72 . The second heat-conducting block  30  has a second slope  31 , a through groove  34  penetrating the second slope  31  and provided to correspond to the fixing hole  24 , and a restricting groove  35  penetrating one side surface of the second heat-conducting block  30  and provided to correspond to the through groove  34  and the fixing hole  24 . The second slope  31  is slidingly disposed on the first slope  21 . The shape of each the restricting groove  35  and the through groove  34  can be elongate. 
     The fixing element  50  passes through the restricting groove  35  and the fixing hole  24  and is fixed to the first heat-conducting block  20 . The fixing element  50  is a bolt. 
     The elastic body  60  has an abutting end  61  and a compressed end  62  formed on the other end of the abutting end  61 . The abutting end  61  abuts in the restricting groove  35 , and the compressed end  62  is fixed to the fixing element  50 . The elastic body  60  is a compression spring. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 8 and 9 . When the present invention is in use, the first and second slopes  21 ,  31  of the first and second heat-conducting blocks  20 ,  30  are brought into contact with each other. Then, the sliding displacement of the first heat-conducting block  20  on the second heat-conducting block  30  can be adjusted, so that the fixing hole  24  on the first heat-conducting block  20  can correspond to the through groove  34  and the restricting groove  35  of the second heat-conducting block  30 . Then, the elastic body  60  is put on the fixing element  50 . The fixing element  50  with the elastic body  60  put thereon is locked into the fixing hole  24  via the restricting groove  35  and the through groove  34 , so that the second heat-conducting block  30  can be disposed on the first heat-conducting block  20 . By means of the elastic force provided by the elastic body  60 , the second heat-conducting block  30  subjected to the elastic force can be adjusted to slide vertically on the first heat-conducting block  20 . Therefore, the present embodiment can achieve the same effect as that of the previous embodiments. 
     According to the above, the present invention can improve the heat-conducting efficiency and solve the drawbacks of prior art. Therefore, the present invention really has industrial applicability.