Patent Publication Number: US-2009223652-A1

Title: Heat dissipating module

Description:
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. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     With the progress of the electronic science and technology, functions of an electronic product become more and more complicated and powerful. The operating speed of an internal microprocessor of the electronic product should become quicker and quicker to deal with heavy system operating workloads. However, when the operating speed of the microprocessor continuously increases, heat generated in the operating process also continuously increases. Therefore, when manufacturers design the electronic product, heat dissipation should be considered. 
     As far as a notebook computer is considered, since it is light, slim, short, small, and portable, internal components are generally arranged closely. Thus, heat generated by each component (in particular, a central processing unit) accumulates quickly. The heat dissipation problem is not well dealt with, the system may be down, and the internal components may even be burned. Therefore, the heat dissipation efficiency has a crucial effect on the performance of the notebook computer. 
     Generally speaking, in the notebook computer, a combination of a fan and a heat dissipating part is used on an electronic component whose heat needs to be dissipated such as a central processing unit to achieve heat dissipation.  FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a conventional heat dissipating module  10 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the heat dissipating module  10  includes a case  12 , a fan  14 , a locking device  15 , a heat dissipating part  16 , and a filter structure  17 . The case  12  has an air outlet  18 . The fan  14  is installed in the case  12 . The locking device  15  is used to dispose the filter structure  17  on the case  12 . The heat dissipating part  16  is located at the air outlet  18 , and the heat dissipating part  16  has parallel dissipating fins  20 . When the electronic component operates to generate heat, the heat dissipating module  10  drives air to flow to the air outlet  18  by the rotation of the fan  14  and quickly dissipates the heat generated from the electronic component by heat conduction of the heat dissipating part  16 . Since airflow generated in the heat dissipation process may drive internal dust, dust is accumulated on the heat dissipating part  16  after the notebook computer has operated for a long time. That is, much dust adheres to the heat dissipating fins  20  of the heat dissipating part  16 , which reduces heat dissipation of the heat dissipating module  10 . To improve the above situation, the heat dissipating part  16  may be detached directly to remove dust, or the locking device  15  may be utilized to dispose the filter structure  17  downward on the case  12  to reduce dust adhering to the heat dissipating fins  20 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . However, the heat dissipating part  16  is not easy to detach, and only after the locking device  15  is detached, the filter structure  17  may be detached from the case  12 . Therefore, both of the above methods have a troublesome detaching process. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One objective of the invention is to provide a heat dissipating module capable of detaching a dust removal device. 
     The embodiment of the invention discloses a heat dissipating module. The heat dissipating module includes a case, a fan, a heat dissipating part, at least one first fastening device, and a dust removal device. The case has a first air opening and a second air opening. The fan is installed in the case, and it is used to guide an air flow through the first air opening and the second air opening. The heat dissipating part is located at the second air opening. The first fastening device is located at the second air opening and disposed between the case and the heat dissipating part. The dust removal device has at least one side arm. The side arm has a second fastening device that is capable of attaching to and detaching from the first fastening device. 
     There 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 of a conventional heat dissipating module; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a heat dissipating module according to a first embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a heat dissipating module according to a second embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a heat dissipating module according to a third embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a heat dissipating module according to a fourth embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a heat dissipating module  50  according to a first embodiment of the invention. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the heat dissipating module  50  includes a case  52 , a fan  54 , a heat dissipating part  56 , at least one first fastening device  58 , and a dust removal device  60 . The case  52  has a first air opening  62  and a second air opening  64 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the first air opening  62  is substantially perpendicular to the second air opening  64 . The fan  54  is installed in the case  52 , and it is used to guide an air flow from the first air opening  62  to the second air opening  64  or from the second air opening  64  to the first air opening  62 . The heat dissipating part  56  is located at the second air opening  64 , and it is used to dissipate heat absorbed by the air flowing through the second air opening  64 . The first fastening device  58  is located at the second air opening  64  and disposed between the case  52  and the heat dissipating part  56 . Preferably, the first fastening device  58  and the case  52  are integrally formed. The dust removal device  60  includes a filter  66  and at least one side arm  68 . The side arm  68  has a second fastening device  70  that is capable of attaching to and detaching from the first fastening device  58 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the second fastening device  70  may be a T-shaped slider rail, and the first fastening device  58  may be a slideway that corresponds to the T-shaped slider rail. Thus, the dust removal device  60  may be fastened in the case  52  by a combination of the first fastening device  58  and the second fastening device  70 . The fastening relationship between the first fastening device  58  and the second fastening device  70  is detachable. When the filter  66  has much dust to affect the heat dissipation effect of the heat dissipating module  50 , a user only needs to raise the dust removal device  60  upward to separate the second fastening device  70  from the first fastening device  58 . Thus, the dust removal device  60  may be detached easily, and the user may clean the filter of the detached dust removal device  60  to remove the dust. Furthermore, the slider rail structure of the second fastening device  70  is not limited herein, and it may be slider rail structures with other shapes, which depends on requirements of a practical application. 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a heat dissipating module  100  according to a second embodiment of the invention. The elements of the second embodiment whose reference numbers are the same with that of the elements of the first embodiment have the same functions or relative positions. Therefore, they are not described for a concise purpose. The difference between the heat dissipating module  100  and the heat dissipating module  50  of the first embodiment lies in the design of the dust removal device. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the heat dissipating module  100  includes a toothed hook dust removal device  102 . Thus, when detaching the toothed hook dust removal device  102  according to the above flow path, a user can detach the dust removal device and remove dust adhering to the heat dissipating fins  20  at the same time. In addition, the filter  66  may be disposed on the toothed hook dust removal device  102  to improve the situation that dust accumulates on the heat dissipating fins  20 . 
     Afterwards,  FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a heat dissipating module  150  according to a third embodiment of the invention. The elements of the third embodiment whose reference numbers are the same with that of the elements of the first embodiment have the same functions or relative positions. Therefore, they are not described for a concise purpose. The difference between the heat dissipating module  150  and the heat dissipating module  50  of the first embodiment lies in the design of the dust removal device and the fastening device. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the heat dissipating module  150  includes a dust removal device  152 , a first fastening device  154 , a case  52 , a fan  54 , and a heat dissipating part  56 . The dust removal device  152  has at least one handle  156  and at least one side arm  158 . The dust removal device  152  further includes a pulling component  160  and a filter  66 . The pulling component  160  is disposed on the dust removal device  152 . The side arm  158  has a second fastening device  162  that is capable of attaching to and detaching from the first fastening device  154 . The first fastening device  154  and the case  52  are integrally formed, and the first fastening device  154  has an indentation portion  164 . The handle  156  has a protrudent portion  166  for locking with the indentation portion  164 . In addition, the first fastening device  154  may be a ␣-shaped slideway, and the second fastening device  162  may be a slider that corresponds to the shape of the first fastening device  154 . Thus, the dust removal device  152  may be fastened to the case  52  by locking the indentation portion  164  with the protrudent portion  166  and fastening the first fastening device  154  with the second fastening device  162 . If a user wants to detach the dust removal device  152  from the heat dissipating module  150 , the user only needs to press the handle  156  to loose the protrudent portion  166  from the indentation portion  164  and utilize the pulling component  160  to raise the dust removal device  152  upward to separate the second fastening device  162  of the dust removal device  152  from the first fastening device  154  of the case  52 . Thus, the dust removal device  152  may be detached easily. 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a heat dissipating module  200  according to a fourth embodiment of the invention. The elements of the fourth embodiment whose reference numbers are the same with that of the elements of the third embodiment have the same functions or relative positions. Therefore, they are not described for a concise purpose. The difference between the heat dissipating module  200  and the heat dissipating module  150  of the third embodiment lies in the installing position of the fastening device. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the first fastening device  154  is disposed at a lateral side  202  of the heat dissipating part  16 . The dust removal device  152  may be fastened to the heat dissipating part  56  by locking the indentation portion  164  of the first fastening device  154  with the protrudent portion  166  of the handle  156  of the dust removal device  152  and fastening the first fastening device  154  with the second fastening device  162 . Thus, when a user wants to detach the dust removal device  152  from the heat dissipating module  200 , the user only needs to press the handle  156  to loose the protrudent portion  166  from the indentation portion  164  and utilize the pulling component  160  to raise the dust removal device  152  upward to separate the second fastening device  162  of the dust removal device  152  from the first fastening device  154  of the heat dissipating part  56 . Thus, the dust removal device  152  may be detached easily. 
     The numbers of the fastening device and the handle mentioned in the above embodiments are not limited to be one. That is, another fastening device or another handle which is used to fasten the dust removal device may be additionally disposed at the other lateral side that corresponds to the position of the fastening device and the handle. Thus, when a user wants to detach the dust removal device from the heat dissipating module, he or she only needs to press two handles of the dust removal device to loose the protrudent portions from the indentation portions on the two sides. Then, the user can utilize the pulling component to raise the dust removal device upward along the rails of the fastening devices on the two sides to detach the dust removal device easily. Furthermore, the positions of the indentation portion and the protrudent portion in the embodiment may be interchangeable. That is, the handle may have an indentation portion, and the fastening device may have a protrudent portion. 
     In the invention, the fastening relationship of the fastening devices and the locking relationship of the indentation portion and the protrudent portion are utilized to achieve the objective of simple assembly and detachment. Thus, when dust adheres to the heat dissipating part after the heat dissipating module is used for a long time, a user only needs to raise the dust removal device upward to easily detach the dust removal device. Then, the user can clean the detached dust removal device. After cleaning the dust removal device, the user can assemble the dust removal device on the heat dissipating module again along the fastening rail of the fastening device. 
     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.