Patent Abstract:
A liquid-cooled heat dissipation module for circularly dissipating heat from a heat source. The liquid-cooled heat dissipation module includes a base, a rotor supported by the base and having a hub, a first magnetic part, and a pump having a second magnetic part and a fixed seat. The fixed seat is coupled to the base and has a space to receive the second magnetic part. When the first magnetic part is rotating along with the rotor, the second magnetic part is driven by a magnetic interaction between the first and second magnetic parts so as to generate a circular flow of the working fluid in the pump.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     The invention relates to a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module, and in particular to a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module integrally formed by a fan and a pump.  
         [0002]     With the evolution of CPU or electronic component placement techniques, high performance and efficient data calculation can be obtained. A large amount of heat, however, is continuously generated due to high-frequency oscillation or electromagnetic effects generated by operation of the CPU or electronic components. Inefficient heat dissipation leads to CPU or electronic component breakdown and burnout. In general, a heat sink is disposed on a heat source, and a fan or impeller is used to dissipate heat from the heat sink.  
         [0003]     Heat from a CPU of a high-level system, however, cannot be efficiently dissipated by an air cooling system, and requires a water-cooling system or similar. A pump is required to circulate low-temperature and high-temperature water in the system.  
         [0004]     In  FIG. 1 , a conventional water-cooled heat dissipation system designed for a CPU  12  of a high-level system includes a copper seat  11 , a pump  13 , two conduits  14 / 14 ′, a heat sink  15  comprising a heat pipe  151  and a plurality of fins  152 , and a fan  16 . The bottom of the copper seat  11  is attached to the CPU  12  to absorb heat generated from CPU  12 . The water of low temperature in the conduit  14  is transmitted to an S-shaped passage of the copper seat  11  by the pump  13 , inflows into a right-side inlet and outflows from a left-side outlet of the copper seat  11  to absorb heat from the CPU  12 . The heated water in the conduit  14 ′ is transmitted to a heat pipe  151  of the heat sink  15  by the pump  13 , and a plurality of fins  152  absorb heat from the heated water in the conduit  14 ′. The fan  16  blows the fins  152  to dissipate heat thereon to the exterior, to reduce the temperature of the water in the conduit  14 ′. Thus, the cooled water in the conduit  14 ′ circulates to the copper seat  11  to absorb heat from the copper seat  11  again.  
         [0005]     The fan  16  and the pump  13  of the above-described water-cooled heat dissipation system are respectively actuated-by a motor. In  FIG. 1B , a motor for driving the pump  13  includes a silicon-steel stator  131  and a magnetic ring  132 . The silicon-steel stator  131  and the magnetic ring  132  are conventionally separated by a waterproofing method to form a plastic layer  133  and a safe-rotation clearance therebetween.  
         [0006]     The conventional water-cooled system has several drawbacks including: increased clearance between the rotor and stator; reduced torque; difficulties in installation of the water and exhaust gas; complicated assembly requiring many components; and the large space and volume requirements. Thus, assembly of the water-cooled system is time-consuming and costly.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0007]     The invention provides a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module integrally including a fan and a pump actuated by a single motor, to reduce cost and volume and simplify the structure.  
         [0008]     A liquid-cooled heat dissipation module includes: a base; a rotor supported by the base and having a hub; a first magnetic part disposed on a top of the hub; and a pump comprising a second magnetic part and a fixed seat, wherein the fixed seat coupled to the base includes a space for receiving the second magnetic part. When the first magnetic part rotates along with the rotor, a magnetic force is generated between the first and second magnetic parts to rotate the second magnetic part, thereby circulating the working fluid in the pump.  
         [0009]     Preferably, the rotor further includes a metallic housing, and the first magnetic part is disposed in a space between an inner top surface of the hub and a top surface of the metallic housing.  
         [0010]     Preferably, the rotor further includes a metallic housing, and the top of hub has an opening to receive the first magnetic part supported by the metallic housing.  
         [0011]     The liquid-cooled heat dissipation module further includes a frame to receive the base and the rotor therein. The fixed seat is connected to the frame by locking, engaging, riveting, adhesion or ultrasonic fusion.  
         [0012]     The pump further includes a cover connected to the fixed seat to form a space therebetween, and the second magnetic part is disposed in the space between the cover and the fixed seat. An O-ring is disposed at an intersection between the chassis and the cover.  
         [0013]     The pump further includes a central hole to receive a bearing and a wearing piece, and a shaft of the pump supported by the bearing is fixed on the fixed seat. The bearing and the shaft of the pump is made of ceramic material. The second magnetic part includes a guide blade and a magnetic ring and the pump further has an inlet and an outlet, so that the working fluid inflowing through the inlet passes through the outlet when the guide blade and the magnetic ring are rotated with respect to the shaft of the pump. The guide blade has a radially straight structure or a curved structure.  
         [0014]     The second magnetic part further includes a magnetic body and a plastic material covering the magnetic body to form a plastic-covered magnetic body. The second magnetic part has a plastic-magnet mixture integrally formed by injection molding.  
         [0015]     A clearance is formed between the first magnetic part and the second magnetic part, and an axially or radially magnetic attraction force generated between the first magnetic part and the second magnetic part actuates the pump. An axially or radially magnetic attraction force is generated between the first magnetic part and the second magnetic part. The first magnetic part and the second magnetic part respectively includes a magnet-charging area having a pole number greater than two. The magnet-charging area of the first magnetic part corresponds to the magnet-charging area of the second magnetic part, and a staggered angle is formed between the magnet-charging area of the first magnetic part and the magnet-charging area of the second magnetic part.  
         [0016]     The liquid-cooled heat dissipation module further includes a heat sink circumferentially disposed around the pump and comprising a central hole  81  for receiving the pump therein. The fixed seat is fixed on the heat sink.  
         [0017]     The liquid-cooled heat dissipation module further includes a conductive seat attached to a heat source fro conducting heat generated by the heat source to the pump. The conductive seat comprises a chassis, a cover and a passage, wherein the passage includes a concentrically vortex structure or an inside-outwardly extending spiral structure. The passage on the chassis is formed by milling. The cover covering the chassis and the passage is integrally formed by injection molding. An O-ring is disposed at an intersection between the chassis and the cover.  
         [0018]     Preferably, the rotor includes a motor, DC fan, or AC fan.  
         [0019]     The invention provides another liquid-cooled heat dissipation module, including a base, a rotor supported by the base, comprising a shaft extending outwardly from the base at one end thereof, a first magnetic part disposed on an extruded portion of the shaft, and a pump including a second magnetic part and a fixed seat coupled to the base to form a first space to receive the first magnetic part. When the first magnetic part rotates with respect to the rotor, a magnetic force is generated between the first and second magnetic parts to rotate the second magnetic part, thereby circulating the working fluid in the pump.  
         [0020]     The first magnetic part includes a magnet-conductive iron sheet and a magnetic ring attached to the magnet-conductive iron sheet. The liquid-cooled heat dissipation module further includes a copper sleeve for installing the magnet-conductive iron sheet and the magnetic ring on the shaft. Thus, the magnet-conductive iron sheet and the magnetic ring and the copper sleeve are synchronically rotated by the shaft.  
         [0021]     The pump further includes a cover connected to the fixed seat to form a second space to receive the second magnetic part.  
         [0022]     Preferably, a clearance is formed between the first magnetic part and the second magnetic part, and an axially or radially magnetic attraction force generated between the first magnetic part and the second magnetic part actuates the pump.  
         [0023]     The invention provides another liquid-cooled heat dissipation module. This liquid-cooled heat dissipation module includes: a base having a recess; a rotor supported by the base including a first magnetic part; and a pump including a second magnetic part disposed in the recess. When the first magnetic part of the rotor rotates, a magnetic force is generated between the first and second magnetic parts to rotate the second magnetic part, circulating the working fluid in the pump. Preferably, an axially or radially magnetic attraction force is generated between the first magnetic part and the second magnetic part. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0024]     The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0025]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic diagram of a conventional water-cooled heat dissipation system for a CPU of a high-level system.  
         [0026]      FIG. 1B  is a sectional view of a pump of the water-cooled heat dissipation system of  FIG. 1A .  
         [0027]      FIG. 2A  is a schematic sectional view of the first embodiment of a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module of the invention.  
         [0028]      FIG. 2B  is a schematic plan view of the distribution of the magnet-charging area of a first magnetic ring and a second magnetic ring of  FIG. 2A .  
         [0029]      FIG. 3A  is a schematic sectional view of the second embodiment of a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module of the invention.  
         [0030]      FIG. 3B  is a schematic plan view of the distribution of the magnet-charging area of a first magnetic ring and a second magnetic ring of  FIG. 3A .  
         [0031]      FIG. 4  is a schematic sectional view of the third embodiment of a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module of the invention.  
         [0032]      FIG. 5  is a schematic sectional view of the fourth embodiment of a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module of the invention.  
         [0033]      FIG. 6  is a schematic sectional view of the fifth embodiment of a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module of the invention.  
         [0034]      FIG. 7  is a top view of a pump of the invention.  
         [0035]      FIG. 8  is a schematic view of a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module of the invention for a CPU of a high-level system.  
         [0036]      FIG. 9A  is a schematic sectional view of a conductive seat of  FIG. 8 .  
         [0037]      FIG. 9B  is a top view of a passage of the conductive seat of  FIG. 8 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0038]     In  FIG. 2A , a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module of the first embodiment of the invention includes a fan  2  and a pump  3 . The fan  2  includes a rotor  21  having a shaft  211 , and a base  22  used to support the rotor  21  The shaft  211  of the rotor  21  extends outwardly from the bottom of the base  22  at one end thereof. Preferably, the rotor  21  can be a motor, DC fan, or AC fan.  
         [0039]     The pump  3  includes a fixed seat  31 , a first magnetic part  33  comprising a magnet-conductive iron sheet  32  and a magnetic ring  33  attached to the magnet-conductive iron sheet  32 , a copper sleeve  34 , a bearing  35 , a wearing piece  36 , a shaft  37 , a plastic cover  38 , and a second magnetic part  39  having a guide blade  391  and a magnetic ring  392 . The bearing  35  and the shaft  37  of the pump  3  is preferably made of ceramic material. The second magnetic part  39  is spaced from the first magnetic part  33  with a clearance.  
         [0040]     The fixed seat  31  attached to the bottom of the base  22  is disposed on an inlet or an outlet of the fan  2 . The fixed seat  31  is connected to the frame  26  by screwing, locking, engaging, riveting, adhesion, ultrasonic fusion, or the other methods. A first space formed between one side of the fixed seat  31  and the base  22  is used to receive the first magnetic part  33  therein. The magnet-conductive iron sheet  32  and the magnetic ring  33  are installed on the shaft  211  by the copper sleeve  34  so that the magnet-conductive iron sheet  32  and the magnetic ring  33  and the copper sleeve  34  are synchronically rotated by the shaft  211 .  
         [0041]     A central hole  81  located inside of the pump  3  receives the bearing  35  and the wearing piece  36 , and a shaft  37  of the pump  3  supported by the bearing  35  is fixed on an opposite side of the fixed seat  31 . The cover  38  of the pump  3  connected to the fixed seat  31  by screwing, locking, engaging, riveting, adhesion or ultrasonic fusion, to form a second space therebetween to receive the second magnetic part  39  therein. A working fluid, such as water, inflows into an inlet  40  of the pump  3  and outflows from an outlet  41  of the pump  3 .. An O-ring  43  is disposed at an intersection between the cover  38  and the fixed seat  31 , preventing leakage of the working fluid.  
         [0042]     It should be noted that the fan  2  and the pump  3  of this embodiment are actuated by a single motor to reduce cost and simplify the structure. In  FIG. 2B , when the motor is actuated, a common power transmitted to the first magnetic part  33  via the shaft  211  to synchronously drive the guide blade  391  of the pump  3  to rotate through an axially or radially magnetic attraction force between the first magnetic part  33  and the second magnetic part  39 , thereby continuously circulating the working fluid. In this embodiment, the axially or radially magnetic attraction force is generated between the first magnetic part  33  and the second magnetic part  39 , and the first magnetic part  33  and the second magnetic part  39  respectively functions as a magnet-charging area having a pole number greater than two. Thus, the magnet-conductive iron sheet  32  and the magnetic ring  33  of the first magnetic part  33  and the second magnetic part  39  can be divided into four magnet-charging areas.  
         [0043]     By aligning the magnet-charging area (N polarization) of the magnetic ring  33  of the first magnetic part  33  to the magnet-charging area (S polarization) of the second magnetic part  39 , a staggered angle is formed between the magnet-charging area of the first magnetic part  33  and the magnet-charging area of the second magnetic part  39  to rotate the second magnetic part  39  with respect to the first magnetic part  33  and to rotate the guide blade  391 .  
         [0044]     Additionally, an axially or radially magnetic attraction force can be formed between the first magnetic part  33  and the second magnetic part  39 . In  FIG. 3A , a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module of the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the magnet-conductive iron sheet  32  and the magnetic ring  33  of the first magnetic part  33  and the second magnetic part  39  are radially distributed, the first magnetic part.  33  has an outer diameter smaller than that of the second magnetic part  39 , and the second magnetic part  39  is disposed on the outside of the first magnetic part  33 .  FIG. 3B  shows the distribution of the magnetic areas of the magnetic ring  33  and the second magnetic part  39 .  
         [0045]     In  FIG. 4 , a liquid-cooled heat dissipation module of the third embodiment differs from the first and second embodiments in that the first magnetic part  33  is omitted, the base  22  further includes a recess  221  inwardly formed on the fan  2  to receive the second magnetic part  39  of the pump  3  therein, and a magnetic ring  23  of the motor inside the fan  2  elongates to be radially arranged with respect to the magnetic ring  392  to generate a radially magnetic force. Not only can the magnetic ring  23  interact with the silicon-steel stators and coils to drive the fan  2  to rotate but interact with the second magnetic part  39  to rotate the guide blade  391  of the pump  3  through the radially magnetic force generated therebetween.  
         [0046]     Although the pump  3  in the above-described embodiments is disposed at the bottom (where an inlet is presumed to be) of the base  22 , it can be disposed at the other side (where an outlet is presumed to be) of the fan  2 , i.e., opposite to the bottom of the base  22 .  
         [0047]     In  FIG. 5 , the fourth embodiment differs from the above-described embodiments in that the first magnetic part  33  is disposed in a space between an inner top surface of the hub  24  and a top surface of the metallic housing  25 ; the fixed seat  31  of the pump  3  disposed on the outlet of the frame  26  of the fan  2  is securely locked on the frame  26  of the fan  2 , or the fixed seat  31  of the pump  3  can be fixed on the associated heat sink; the second magnetic part  39  is disposed in a concavity defined by the fixed seat  31  and the cover  38 . Other structures are identical to those of the above-described embodiments, so the detailed descriptions are omitted. When the first magnetic part  33  is rotated along with the shaft  211 , the second magnetic part  39  is synchronously rotated by the axially or radially magnetic attraction force generated between the first and second magnetic parts  33  and  39  so that the working fluid in the pump  3  can be continuously circulated to dissipate heat.  
         [0048]     In  FIG. 6 , the fifth embodiment differs from the fourth embodiment in that an opening is formed on a top the hub  24  to receive the first magnetic part  33  therein to be supported by the metallic housing  25 .  
         [0049]     In all above-described embodiments, the guide blade  391  and the magnetic ring  392  can be individually manufactured and then assembled to form the second magnetic part  39 . Alternatively, the second magnetic part  39  can be a magnetic body covered with a plastic material to form a plastic-covered magnetic body, or the second magnetic part  39  can be a plastic-magnet mixture integrally formed by injection molding.  
         [0050]     The guide blade  391  can be formed as a radially straight shape, or a curved shape in  FIG. 7 . When the working fluid inflows into the inlet  40  of the pump  3 , the working fluid is centrifugally transmitted to the periphery and collectively output from an outlet  41  of the pump  3 .  
         [0051]     In the actual application, the liquid-cooled heat dissipation module of the above-described embodiments can be adopted to be use with a heat sink and a conductive seat attached to a heat source to conduct heat generated from the heat source to the pump.  
         [0052]     As shown in  FIG. 8 , the heat sink  8  includes a central hole  81 , a plurality of fins  82  and a heat pipe  83  disposed between the fins  82 . The central hole  81  receives the pump  3  therein, i.e., the heat sink  8  is circumferentially disposed around the pump  3 .  
         [0053]     In  FIGS. 9A and 9B , the conductive seat  9  comprises a chassis  91 , a cover  92  and a dissipative passage. 910 . The dissipative passage  910  has a concentrically vortex structure or an inside-outwardly extending spiral structure. The dissipative passage  910  can be formed on the chassis  91  by milling, or the dissipative passage  910  can be integrally formed on the cover  92  by injection molding. An O-ring  93  is disposed between the chassis  91  and the cover  92 . When the working fluid at low temperature enters the dissipative passage  910  via the inlet  921  of the cover  92 , the working fluid absorbing heat from the heat source  12  is expelled via the outlet  922  to the inlet  40  of the heat sink  4 .  
         [0054]     When the working fluid absorbing heat from the CPU  12  at high temperature inflows into the inlet  40  of the pump  3  and outflows from the outlet  41  of the pump  3  by the guide blade  391  of the pump  3 , the heated working fluid is transmitted to the heat pipe  83  connected to the outlet  41 , and the fins  82  absorb heat from the heated working fluid in the heat pipe  83 .  
         [0055]     The fan  2  blows the fins  82  and the heat pipe  83  to dissipate heat accumulated thereon to the exterior, reducing the temperature of the working fluid in the heat pipe  83 . Thus, the cooled working fluid in the heat pipe  83  is transmitted to a conduit  5 , circulating to the dissipative passage  910  of the conductive seat  9  disposed on the CPU  12  to absorb heat therefrom.  
         [0056]     The invention provides the fan  2  and the pump  3  actuated by a single motor, to reduce the manufacturing cost, simplify the structure and decrease the occupied space. Further, due to the fan  2  and the pump  3  being integrally formed, the conventional waterproof design between the silicon-steel stator and the magnetic ring can be omitted, while leaving the safe-rotation clearance, to increase performance and efficient of the motor.  
         [0057]     While the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but, on the contrary, is intended to accommodate various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5