Patent ID: 7085133

Claim:
An apparatus that uses a fluid cooling medium to cool a plurality of heat-producing devices arranged in a row along a generalized coordinate direction, with a space between each adjacent pair of devices, the apparatus comprising: in each space a partition that defines a boundary between a first plenum and a second plenum, the first plenum being used to carry cooling medium across an entrance and thence into a first heat-producing device located on a first side of the partition facing the first plenum, and the second plenum being used to carry cooling medium away from a second heat-producing device located on a second side of the partition facing the second plenum and thence across an exit, wherein the partition is disposed so that the first plenum becomes smaller in cross-sectional area as distance increases from the entrance, and the second plenum becomes larger in cross sectional area as distance decreases toward the exit, the cross sectional area of each plenum being substantially matched to local volumetric flow rate, so that pressure drop of fluid flowing in the plenums is reduced, and wherein the heat producing devices are chips, the chips being on circuit cards, the cards being in a horizontal plane so that said fluid cooling medium flows between said circuit cards from a first plenum to a second plenum.