Patent Publication Number: US-2023136407-A1

Title: Liquid cooling module and electronic device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a liquid cooling module and, more particularly, to a liquid cooling module with a replaceable fin structure and an electronic device equipped with the liquid cooling module. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     As the speed and performance of an electronic component (e.g. central processing unit) in a server increase, more and more servers use a liquid cooling module to dissipate heat from the electronic component to improve heat dissipating efficiency. Referring to  FIG.  1   ,  FIG.  1    is a perspective view illustrating a heat dissipating base  30  of the prior art. As shown in  FIG.  1   , the fins  32  are formed on the heat dissipating base  30  integrally. In general, a liquid cooling module has the heat dissipating base  30  shown in  FIG.  1    and the heat dissipating base  30  is attached on an electronic component. Heat generated by the electronic component is conducted to the fins  32  of the heat dissipating base  30  and then dissipated by a cooling liquid passing through the fins  32 . Since the heat dissipating base  30  with the fins  32  is made of a material with high thermal conductivity, the manufacturing and material cost is high. During the development of the server, it is usually necessary to manufacture the heat dissipating base  30  with the fins  32  of different shapes for the electronic component with different power to test the heat dissipating efficiency. Consequently, a large number of heat dissipating bases  30  with the fins  32  of different shapes need to be manufactured, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost and the development cycle. 
     Summary of the Invention 
     The invention provides a liquid cooling module with a replaceable fin structure and an electronic device equipped with the liquid cooling module, so as to solve the aforesaid problems. 
     According to an embodiment of the invention, a liquid cooling module comprises a heat dissipating base, a replaceable fin structure and a cover. The heat dissipating base comprises a substrate and the substrate has a fin accommodating region. The replaceable fin structure comprises a plurality of fins. The replaceable fin structure is detachably disposed on the fin accommodating region. The cover is disposed on the substrate and covers the replaceable fin structure. 
     According to another embodiment of the invention, an electronic device comprises a casing, an electronic component and a liquid cooling module. The electronic component is disposed in the casing. The liquid cooling module is disposed in the casing. The liquid cooling module comprises a heat dissipating base, a replaceable fin structure and a cover. The heat dissipating base is disposed on the electronic component. The heat dissipating base comprises a substrate and the substrate has a fin accommodating region. The replaceable fin structure comprises a plurality of fins. The replaceable fin structure is detachably disposed on the fin accommodating region. The cover is disposed on the substrate and covers the replaceable fin structure. 
     As mentioned in the above, the replaceable fin structure of the invention is detachably disposed on the fin accommodating region of the heat dissipating base. Thus, the invention can rapidly replace the replaceable fin structure with the fins of different shapes for the electronic component with different power to test the heat dissipating efficiency. Accordingly, the heat dissipating base does not need to be remanufactured, thereby effectively reducing the manufacturing cost and the development cycle. Furthermore, since the replaceable fin structure is an independent component with small volume and few processing restrictions, the arrangement and shape of the fins of the replaceable fin structure can be more diversified to satisfy various heat dissipating requirements. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view illustrating a heat dissipating base of the prior art. 
         FIG.  2    is a perspective view illustrating a liquid cooling module according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG.  3    is a sectional view illustrating an electronic device equipped with the liquid cooling module shown in  FIG.  2   . 
         FIG.  4    is an exploded view illustrating the liquid cooling module shown in  FIG.  2   . 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective view illustrating the liquid cooling module shown in  FIG.  2    from another viewing angle. 
         FIG.  6    is an exploded view illustrating the liquid cooling module shown in  FIG.  5   . 
         FIG.  7    is a perspective view illustrating three replaceable fin structures with fins of different shapes. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS.  2  to  7   ,  FIG.  2    is a perspective view illustrating a liquid cooling module  14  according to an embodiment of the invention,  FIG.  3    is a sectional view illustrating an electronic device  1  equipped with the liquid cooling module  14  shown in  FIG.  2   ,  FIG.  4    is an exploded view illustrating the liquid cooling module  14  shown in  FIG.  2   ,  FIG.  5    is a perspective view illustrating the liquid cooling module  14  shown in  FIG.  2    from another viewing angle,  FIG.  6    is an exploded view illustrating the liquid cooling module  14  shown in  FIG.  5   , and  FIG.  7    is a perspective view illustrating three replaceable fin structures  142  with fins of different shapes. 
     As shown in  FIG.  3   , the electronic device  1  comprises a casing  10 , an electronic component  12  and a liquid cooling module  14 . The electronic device  1  may be a computer, a server or other electronic devices according to practical applications. The electronic component  12  and the liquid cooling module  14  are disposed in the casing  10 . The liquid cooling module  14  is disposed on the electronic component  12  to dissipate heat from the electronic component  12 . The electronic component  12  may be a central processing unit or other electronic components according to practical applications. In general, the electronic device  1  may be further equipped with some necessary hardware and software components for specific purposes, such as circuit board, memory, power supply, applications, communication module, etc., and it depends on practical applications. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  2  to  6   , the liquid cooling module  14  comprises a heat dissipating base  140 , a replaceable fin structure  142 , a cover  144 , a resilient member  146 , a sealing ring  148  and a plurality of fixing members  150 . The heat dissipating base  140  is disposed on the electronic component  12 . The heat dissipating base  140  comprises a substrate  1400 , a first fixed fin structure  1402  and a second fixed fin structure  1404 . Furthermore, the substrate  1400  has a fin accommodating region  1406 . The first fixed fin structure  1402  extends from the substrate  1400  and is adjacent to a side of the fin accommodating region  1406 . The second fixed fin structure  1404  extends from the substrate  1400  and is adjacent to another side of the fin accommodating region  1406 . Thus, the fin accommodating region  1406  is located between the first fixed fin structure  1402  and the second fixed fin structure  1404 . In this embodiment, the first fixed fin structure  1402  and the second fixed fin structure  1404  may be formed on the heat dissipating base  140  integrally. It should be noted that, in another embodiment, the heat dissipating base  140  may not comprise the first fixed fin structure  1402  and/or the second fixed fin structure  1404 . That is to say, the first fixed fin structure  1402  and the second fixed fin structure  1404  may be selectively disposed on the heat dissipating base  140  according to practical applications. 
     The replaceable fin structure  142  is detachably disposed on the fin accommodating region  1406  of the heat dissipating base  140 . In this embodiment, the replaceable fin structure  142  comprises a plurality of fins  1420 , wherein each of the fins  1420  may be strip, square or circular. As shown in  FIG.  7   , this embodiment may provide three replaceable fin structures  142  with the fins  1420  of different shapes. It should be noted that the number of the replaceable fin structures  142  and the arrangement and shape of the fins  1420  may be determined according to practical applications, so the invention is not limited to the embodiment shown in the figure. 
     The resilient member  146  is disposed between the replaceable fin structure  142  and the cover  144 . The cover  144  is disposed on the substrate  1400  of the heat dissipating base  140  and covers the replaceable fin structure  142  and the resilient member  146 . In this embodiment, the resilient member  146  may be made of rubber or other resilient materials. The sealing ring  148  is disposed between the substrate  1400  of the heat dissipating base  140  and the cover  144 . In this embodiment, the sealing ring  148  may be an O-ring. The fixing members  150  are used to fix the substrate  1400  of the heat dissipating base  140  to the cover  144 . In this embodiment, the fixing members  150  may be screws. 
     To assemble the liquid cooling module  14 , a user may dispose the replaceable fin structure  142  on the fin accommodating region  1406  of the heat dissipating base  140  first. Then, the user may dispose the resilient member  146  on the replaceable fin structure  142  and dispose the sealing ring  148  on the substrate  1400  of the heat dissipating base  140 . Finally, the user may insert the fixing members  150  into the through holes  1408  of the substrate  1400  and fix the fixing members  150  to the fixing holes  1440  of the cover  144 . Consequently, the assembly of the liquid cooling module  14  is finished. After the assembly of the liquid cooling module  14  is finished, the cover  144  compresses the resilient member  146  downward, such that the resilient member  146  tightly forces the replaceable fin structure  142  on the substrate  1400  of the heat dissipating base  140 . In addition, the invention may further utilize the elastic deformation of the resilient member  146  to absorb the assembly tolerance between the components, such that the replaceable fin structure  142  is completely fixed on the substrate  1400  of the heat dissipating base  140 . The sealing ring  148  is used to seal a gap between the substrate  1400  of the heat dissipating base  140  and the cover  144 . 
     Moreover, the cover  144  comprises a liquid inlet  1442  and a liquid outlet  1444 . After the assembly of the liquid cooling module  14  is finished, the fin accommodating region  1406  of the heat dissipating base  140  is located between the liquid inlet  1442  and the liquid outlet  1444 . In other words, the invention may utilize the space between the liquid inlet  1442  and the liquid outlet  1444  to dispose the replaceable fin structure  142 . As shown in  FIG.  3   , a cooling liquid (not shown) flows into the liquid cooling module  14  from the liquid inlet  1442  of the cover  144 , flows through the first fixed fin structure  1402 , the replaceable fin structure  142  and the second fixed fin structure  1404 , and then flows out of the liquid cooling module  14  from the liquid outlet  1444  of the cover  144 . 
     When a user wants to replace the replaceable fin structure  142 , the user only needs to disassemble the fixing members  150 , the cover  144  and the resilient member  146  sequentially. Accordingly, the user can rapidly replace the replaceable fin structure  142  with the fins  1420  of different shapes for the electronic component  12  with different power to test the heat dissipating efficiency. 
     As mentioned in the above, the replaceable fin structure of the invention is detachably disposed on the fin accommodating region of the heat dissipating base. Thus, the invention can rapidly replace the replaceable fin structure with the fins of different shapes for the electronic component with different power to test the heat dissipating efficiency. Accordingly, the heat dissipating base does not need to be remanufactured, thereby effectively reducing the manufacturing cost and the development cycle. Furthermore, since the replaceable fin structure is an independent component with small volume and few processing restrictions, the arrangement and shape of the fins of the replaceable fin structure can be more diversified to satisfy various heat dissipating requirements. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the liquid cooling module and the electronic device of the invention may be applied to a server, wherein the server may not only be applied to artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing, but also be used as a 5G server, a cloud server or an Internet of Vehicles server. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.