Patent ID: 7836939

Claim:
A thermally conducting rotary joint, comprising: a first substrate having a first side surface; a second substrate having a first side surface, said first substrate being rotatably coupled to said second substrate and said first side surface of said first substrate is disposed adjacent to the first side surface of said second substrate; a plurality of first fin rings defined concentrically on said first side surface of said first substrate; a plurality of second fin rings defined concentrically on a first side surface of said second substrate, said plurality of second fin rings configured to interleave with said plurality of first fin rings and move relative to said plurality of first fin rings, said plurality of second fin rings being oriented adjacent to and substantially parallel to said plurality of first fin rings with a gap defined by and disposed between said plurality of first fin rings and said plurality of second fin rings, said plurality of first fin rings and said plurality of second fin rings defining a thermal path between said first substrate and said second substrate; at least a first port defined in the second substrate configured for delivering moving air to said gap, wherein said gap is unobstructed in both the clockwise direction and the counter-clockwise direction from said first port, to provide distribution of said moving air in both the clockwise direction and the counter-clockwise direction around said plurality of first fin rings and said plurality of second fin rings; and wherein each of said plurality of first fin rings and said plurality of second fin rings has a predetermined height and the predetermined height is varied between said adjacent first and second fin rings to vary the radial leak rate of the moving air.