Patent ID: 8910706

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a heat sink configured to be coupled to a heat-generating component, said heat sink including a cooling chamber containing a cooling fluid, said cooling chamber having a heat conducting wall configured to be thermally coupled to said heat-generating component, and said cooling fluid in a liquid state over a desired range of operating temperatures to conduct heat away from said heat-generating component; a plurality of extendable tubes attached to said heat sink in parallel, each of said extendable tubes having a port end that opens into said cooling chamber and a sealed end that projects away from said cooling chamber, each of said extendable tubes extending in about a same direction to an extended position when filled with said cooling fluid and retracting in about a same direction to a retracted position when emptied of said cooling fluid; at least one baffle dividing said cooling chamber into a plurality of compartments, wherein each of said compartments is associated with a different group of said plurality of extendable tubes, wherein a first group of extendable tubes includes at least three extendable tubes of the plurality of extendable tubes; and a pump system located within said heat sink, the pump system including one or more solenoid pumps in fluidic communication with each of said compartments to selectively direct said cooling fluid from at least one of said compartments to said first group of extendable tubes associated with said compartment to extend said extendable tubes of the first group to the extended position while selectively leaving at least one other group of extendable tubes associated with another compartment of said plurality of compartments in the retracted position.