Patent Description:
As the use of information and communication devices for vehicles, including navigation devices, black boxes, and high-pass terminals increases, recently produced vehicles are equipped with power outlets to ensure stable supply of power to the information and communication devices.

For example, in small vehicles, the power outlet is installed in a form of a cigarette lighter with a power outlet function to increase installation space efficiency thereof and reduce a cost. In mid-size vehicles, the power outlet is installed in the center fascia, the console box, the trunk, etc. in a form of a power outlet separate from the cigarette lighter.

A recently produced vehicle includes a USB (Universal Serial Bus) adapter for the vehicle via which an external device such as a portable electronic device or a portable storage device is connected to the vehicle to supply power or transmit data.

In particular, the USB adapter is installed for the vehicle, which has separate charging and data transmission/reception paths so that the external device can be charged at a high speed and large data can be transmitted quickly.

However, in the USB adapter for the vehicle capable of high-speed charging and large-capacity data transmission, a larger amount of heat is generated during the charging and/or data transmission process, thereby affecting the performance and lifespan of the device.

For example, when a printed circuit board on which components such as integrated circuits, condensers, inductors, and resistors are mounted overheats, charging efficiency may decrease or malfunction may occur, and in severe cases, the components may be damaged.

<CIT> provides a USB adapter, which comprises a shell provided with a USB mounting hole, a light-transmitting identification part used for identifying the USB mounting hole is arranged at the periphery of the USB mounting hole, and the shell comprises an accommodating space. The USB interface is mounted on the USB mounting hole and is accommodated in the accommodating space. The circuit board is contained in the containing space, an LED lamp is electrically connected to the circuit board, and the LED lamp corresponds to the light-transmitting identification part in position so that the light-transmitting identification part can transmit light for display. And the light-transmitting identification part performs light-transmitting display under the action of the light source of the LED lamp, so that a user can quickly find and identify the USB interface, and the product experience is enhanced.

<CIT> relates to an electronic control unit including: a housing which has an opening opened at one side of the housing; a printed circuit board which is accommodated in the housing and has electronic control elements mounted on the printed circuit board in order to perform a control operation; and a connector which is connected with the printed circuit board and coupled to the opening of the housing, in which a pressure correcting means, which connects an interior of the housing and an exterior of the housing and corrects pressure in the housing, is provided in the connector.

This Summary is not intended to identify all key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used alone as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

The present invention is intended to solve the problems of the prior art as described above. A purpose of the present invention is to provide a USB adapter for a vehicle that can effectively dissipate the heat generated in power supply and data transmission.

Purposes in accordance with the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned purpose. Other purposes and advantages in accordance with the present invention as not mentioned above may be understood from following descriptions and more clearly understood from embodiments in accordance with the present invention. Further, it will be readily appreciated that the purposes and advantages in accordance with the present invention may be realized by features and combinations thereof as disclosed in the claims.

One aspect of the present invention provides a Universal Serial Bus, USB, adapter for a vehicle, the USB adapter comprising: a casing installed at a center fascia or a console box of the vehicle, wherein one surface thereof is open; a printed circuit board received inside the casing, wherein a USB port is mounted at one end of the printed circuit board and a receptacle is mounted at the other end thereof; and a heat dissipation member configured to transfer heat generated during power supply and data transmission to the casing, such that the casing dissipates the heat out of the USB adapter. The ceiling and bottom of the casing have heat dissipation pins protruding toward the printed circuit board. The heat dissipation pins are formed at positions corresponding to components mounted on the printed circuit board, but protrude at different heights depending on the height of the components so that the gap with the components is always constant. The heat dissipation member is interposed between the components and the heat dissipation pins.

In one implementation, the heat dissipation member is made of an elastic material to improve a contact area between the heat dissipation member and the component mounted on the printed circuit board and a contact area between the heat dissipation member and the heat dissipation pin.

In one implementation, the heat dissipation member is made of a thermally conductive silicone resin composition containing a thermally conductive filling material.

In one implementation, the thermally conductive silicone resin composition has a thermal conductivity in a range of <NUM> to 10W/mk.

In one implementation, not forming part of the present invention, the heat dissipation member fills an inside of the casing so as to surround at least a portion of the printed circuit board. In one implementation, the heat dissipation member is made of a thermally conductive silicone resin composition containing a thermally conductive filling material. In one implementation, the thermally conductive silicone resin composition has a thermal conductivity in a range of <NUM> to 10W/mk.

In one implementation, the casing is made of a thermally conductive material capable of dissipating the heat transferred through the heat dissipation pad out of the adapter.

In one implementation, the thermally conductive material includes a thermally conductive plastic material.

In one implementation, the thermally conductive material includes an aluminum material.

The USB adapter for the vehicle according to the present invention as configured as described above has the heat dissipation member inside the casing to effectively dissipate the heat generated from the printed circuit board, thereby prevent a decrease in charging efficiency and device malfunction due to the heat during the power supply and data transmission, and preventing the components mounted on the printed circuit board from being damaged by the heat, thereby improving durability thereof.

In addition to the effects as described above, specific effects in accordance with the present invention will be described together with following detailed descriptions for carrying out the invention.

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements, and as such perform similar functionality. Further, descriptions and details of well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of the description. Furthermore, in the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding. However, it will be understood that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention. Examples of various embodiments are illustrated and described further below. It will be understood that the description herein is not intended to limit the claims to the specific embodiments described. On the contrary, it is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may include within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

A shape, a size, a ratio, an angle, a number, etc. disclosed in the drawings are illustrative, and the present invention is not limited thereto. The same reference numerals refer to the same elements herein. Further, descriptions and details of well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of the description. Furthermore, in the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding. However, it will be understood that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the present invention. It will be further understood that the terms "comprise", "comprising", "include", and "including" when used in this specification, specify the presence of the stated features, integers, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, operations, elements, components, and/or portions thereof. Expression such as "at least one of" when preceding a list of elements may modify the entirety of list of elements and may not modify the individual elements of the list. When referring to "C to D", this means C inclusive to D inclusive unless otherwise specified.

Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section described below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In addition, it will also be understood that when a first element or layer is referred to as being present "on" or "beneath" a second element or layer, the first element may be disposed directly on or beneath the second element or may be disposed indirectly on or beneath the second element with a third element or layer being disposed between and connected to the first and second elements or layers. It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being "connected to", or "coupled to" another element or layer, it may be directly on, connected to, or coupled to the other element or layer, or one or more intervening elements or layers may be present. In addition, it will also be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being "between" two elements or layers, it may be the only element or layer between the two elements or layers, or one or more intervening elements or layers may also be present.

Further, as used herein, when a layer, film, region, plate, or the like may be disposed "on" or "on a top" of another layer, film, region, plate, or the like, the former may directly contact the latter or still another layer, film, region, plate, or the like may be disposed between and connected to the former and the latter. As used herein, when a layer, film, region, plate, or the like is directly disposed "on" or "on a top" of another layer, film, region, plate, or the like, the former directly contacts the latter and still another layer, film, region, plate, or the like is not disposed between and connected to the former and the latter. Further, as used herein, when a layer, film, region, plate, or the like may be disposed "below" or "under" another layer, film, region, plate, or the like, the former may directly contact the latter or still another layer, film, region, plate, or the like may be disposed between and connected to the former and the latter. As used herein, when a layer, film, region, plate, or the like is directly disposed "below" or "under" another layer, film, region, plate, or the like, the former directly contacts the latter and still another layer, film, region, plate, or the like is not disposed between and connected to the former and the latter.

In one example, when a certain embodiment may be implemented differently, a function or operation specified in a specific block may occur in a sequence different from that specified in a flowchart. For example, two consecutive blocks may be actually executed at the same time. Depending on a related function or operation, the blocks may be executed in a reverse sequence.

The features of the various embodiments of the present invention may be partially or entirely combined with each other, and may be technically associated with each other or operate with each other. The embodiments may be implemented independently of each other and may be implemented together in an association relationship.

Spatially relative terms, such as "beneath," "below," "lower," "under," "above," "upper," and the like, may be used herein for ease of explanation for illustrating one element or feature's relationship to another element or feature as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or in operation, in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, when the device in the drawings may be turned over, elements described as "below" or "beneath" or "under" other elements or features would then be oriented "above" the other elements or features. Thus, the example terms "below" and "under" may encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented, for example, rotated <NUM> degrees or at other orientations, and the spatially relative descriptors used herein should be interpreted accordingly.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.

The present disclosure provides a USB adapter for a vehicle that connects an external device such as a portable electronic device or a portable storage device to the vehicle to supply power or transmit data thereto. In particular, the present disclosure provides a USB adapter for a vehicle that can effectively dissipate heat generated during power supply and data transmission.

The USB adapter for the vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described referring to <FIG>.

A USB adapter <NUM> for a vehicle according to the present embodiment includes a casing <NUM>, a printed circuit board <NUM> provided inside the casing <NUM>, and a heat dissipation member <NUM> for dissipating heat generated during power supply and data transmission.

The casing <NUM> is a portion that constitutes an exterior appearance of the USB adapter <NUM> for a vehicle, and is a kind of a housing that surrounds and protects the printed circuit board <NUM> on which a USB port <NUM>, a receptacle <NUM>, and various components <NUM> are mounted.

The casing <NUM> of the present embodiment has a multi-stage rectangular parallelepiped shape extending in one direction, and is composed of an upper casing <NUM> and a lower casing <NUM> that may be assembled with each other in a separable manner from each other as needed.

The inside of the casing <NUM> is hollow to allow the printed circuit board <NUM> to be received therein. Through-holes <NUM> and <NUM> are formed in front and rear surfaces of the casing <NUM>, respectively. In this regard, the USB port <NUM> for connection to an external device (not shown) is located in the through-hole <NUM> formed in the front surface of casing <NUM>. The receptacle <NUM> for connection to the vehicle (not shown) is located in the through-hole <NUM> formed in the rear surface of the casing <NUM>.

Multiple heat dissipation pins <NUM> are disposed inside the casing <NUM>. The heat dissipation pins <NUM> are used to dissipate, to the outside, the heat generated from the various components <NUM> mounted on the printed circuit board <NUM> during power supply and data transmission. The heat dissipation pins <NUM> protrude from an inner wall of the casing <NUM> toward the printed circuit board <NUM> and come into contact with a heat dissipation member <NUM>, which will be described later.

In one example, the casing <NUM> of the present embodiment is made of a thermally conductive material to effectively dissipate the heat transferred through the plurality of heat dissipation pins <NUM>. That is, during the power supply and data transmission, the heat generated from the various components <NUM> mounted on the printed circuit board <NUM> is transferred to the casing <NUM> through the heat dissipation member <NUM> and the heat dissipation pins <NUM> and is then emitted to the outside. Thus, when the casing <NUM> is made of the thermally conductive material, the heat may be dissipated effectively.

For this purpose, the casing <NUM> may be made of a thermally conductive plastic material or an aluminum material.

The thermally conductive plastic material may be produced by adding a thermally conductive compound to an engineering plastic, and may have a thermal conductive ability equal to that of a metal. In this regard, adjusting an additive added thereto may allow thermally conductive plastics of different thermal conductivities to be produced depending on need.

Furthermore, the aluminum material is not only thermally conductive, but is also lightweight, and may be formed using a die casting method, resulting in high productivity. In particular, a surface protection effect thereof may be improved when the aluminum material is surface-treated by applying an anodizing process using surface oxidation characteristics thereto.

In another example, in the present embodiment, the casing <NUM> is illustrated as having the structure in which the upper and lower casings are assembled with each other in the separable manner. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. The casing may have a shape of a hollow pipe that may accommodate the printed circuit board <NUM> therein.

The printed circuit board <NUM> refers to a board on which circuits for power supply and data transmission are printed.

The USB port <NUM> is mounted at one end of the printed circuit board <NUM> and connects to an external device (not shown). The receptacle <NUM> is mounted at the other end thereof and connects to the vehicle (not shown).

Furthermore, the components <NUM> such as integrated circuits, condensers, inductors, and resistors that constitute the circuits for power supply and data transmission may be mounted on an upper surface and a lower surface of the printed circuit board <NUM>.

The heat dissipation member <NUM> is used to transfer the heat generated during power supply and data transmission to the casing <NUM> which in turn dissipates the same to the outside.

As shown in <FIG>, the heat dissipation member <NUM> may be embodied as a heat dissipation pad with a predetermined thickness. The heat dissipation member <NUM> is attached to vertical ends of the components <NUM> such as the integrated circuits, the condensers, the inductors, and the resistors mounted on the printed circuit board <NUM>, and comes into contact with the heat dissipation pins <NUM> when assembling the casing <NUM>.

The heat dissipation member <NUM> may be made of a thermally conductive silicone resin composition containing a thermally conductive filling material to effectively dissipate the heat generated during power supply and data transmission. In this regard, the thermally conductive silicone resin composition has a thermal conductivity of <NUM> to 10W/mk.

The heat dissipation member <NUM> as described above directly contacts the components <NUM> such as the integrated circuit, the condenser, the inductor, and the resistor mounted on the printed circuit board <NUM> and thus transfers the heat generated from the components <NUM> to the casing <NUM>.

A USB adapter for a vehicle according to another embodiment not forming part of the present invention will be described with referring to <FIG>.

The casing <NUM> is a portion that constitutes the exterior appearance of the USB adapter <NUM> for a vehicle, and is a kind of housing that surrounds and protects the printed circuit board <NUM> on which a USB port <NUM>, a receptacle <NUM>, and various components <NUM> are mounted.

An inside of the casing <NUM> is hollow so that the printed circuit board <NUM> may be installed therein. Through-holes <NUM> and <NUM> are formed in a front surface and a rear face of the casing <NUM>, respectively.

In this regard, a USB port <NUM> for connection to an external device (not shown) is located in the through-hole <NUM> formed in the front surface of the casing <NUM>. The receptacle <NUM> for connection to the vehicle (not shown) is located in the through-hole <NUM> formed in the rear surface of the casing <NUM>.

In one example, the casing <NUM> of the present embodiment is made of a thermally conductive material to effectively dissipate the heat generated during power supply and data transmission. In other words, the heat generated from the printed circuit board <NUM> during power supply and data transmission is transferred to the casing <NUM> through the heat dissipation member <NUM> and then is discharged to the outside. For this reason, when the casing <NUM> is made of the thermally conductive material, the heat may be effectively dissipated.

In another example, in the present embodiment, the casing <NUM> is illustrated as having the structure in which the upper and lower casings are assembled with each other in the separable manner. However, the present disclosure is not necessarily limited thereto. The casing may have a shape of a hollow pipe that may accommodate the printed circuit board <NUM> therein.

As shown in <FIG>, the heat dissipation member <NUM> is formed to surround the components <NUM> such as the integrated circuit, the condenser, the inductor, and the resistor mounted on the printed circuit board <NUM>. This is because a lot of heat is generated from the components <NUM> during power supply and data transmission.

The heat dissipation member <NUM> as described above may fill the inside of the casing <NUM> in a molding form and may quickly and effectively transfer the heat generated from all of the components <NUM>, such as the integrated circuits, the condensers, the inductors, and the resistors mounted on the printed circuit board <NUM> to the casing <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A Universal Serial Bus, USB, adapter (<NUM>) for a vehicle, the USB adapter comprising:
a casing (<NUM>) configured to be installed at a center fascia or a console box of the vehicle, wherein one surface thereof is open; and
a printed circuit board (<NUM>) received inside the casing (<NUM>), wherein a USB port (<NUM>) is mounted at one end of the printed circuit board (<NUM>) and a receptacle (<NUM>) is mounted at the other end thereof;
wherein the USB adapter (<NUM>) is characterized in that:
it further comprises a heat dissipation member (<NUM>) configured to transfer heat generated during power supply and data transmission to the casing (<NUM>), such that the casing (<NUM>) dissipates the heat out of the USB adapter (<NUM>),
the ceiling and bottom of the casing (<NUM>) have heat dissipation pins (<NUM>) protruding toward the printed circuit board (<NUM>),
the heat dissipation pins (<NUM>) are formed at positions corresponding to components (<NUM>) mounted on the printed circuit board (<NUM>), but protrude at different heights depending on the height of the components (<NUM>) so that the gap with the components (<NUM>) is always constant, and
the heat dissipation member (<NUM>) is interposed between the components (<NUM>) and the heat dissipation pins (<NUM>), and where the heat dissipation member <NUM> has a predetermined thickness and is attached to vertical ends of the components <NUM> and comes into contact with the heat dissipation pins <NUM> when assembling the casing <NUM>.