Heat-dissipating module

The non-provisional patent application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application with Ser. No. 61/521,612 filed on Aug. 9, 2011. This and all other extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

1. Field of Invention

The present disclosure relates to a heat-dissipating module and, in particular, to a heat-dissipating module applied to a circuit board.

2. Related Art

Since the trend of consuming products is toward thinner, the requirements to the heights or thicknesses of various components (e.g. the components on the circuit board) become more and more critical. The smaller heights or thicknesses of the components can fabricate the thinner electronic devices.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional heat-dissipating module 1 applied to a circuit board. The heat-dissipating module 1 comprises a conductive element 11 , two fixing elements 12 and a heat pipe 13 . The conductive element 11 contacts the electronic component on the circuit board, such as a CPU. The fixing elements 12 are connected to the conductive element 11 and screwed on the circuit board. The heat pipe 13 is disposed on the conductive element 11 for bringing the heat generated by the electronic component away.

Since the fixing elements 12 and the conductive element 11 are connected to each other, a stacked height H thereof is existed. This stacked height H prohibits the application of the heat-dissipating module 1 on the thin or ultra-thin electronic devices. Furthermore, when a component becomes thinner, the structural strength thereof is definitely weaker.

The present disclosure provides a heat-dissipating module that is thin and still has improved structural strength, so that it can be applied to thin products.

A heat-dissipating module is applied to a circuit board having an electronic element. The heat-dissipating module includes a plurality of connecting portions, a contacting portion, a folded portion and a heat pipe. The heat-dissipating module is connected to the circuit board by the connecting portions. A first surface of the contacting portion is contacted with the electronic element. The folded portion is connected to the contacting portion. The heat pipe is disposed on a second surface of the contacting portion.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional heat-dissipating module applied to a circuit board;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a heat-dissipating module applied to a circuit board according to a preferred embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIGS. 3 to 7 are schematic diagrams showing different aspects of the heat-dissipating module according to the preferred embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a heat-dissipating module 2 applied to a circuit board B according to a preferred embodiment of the disclosure. The applicable electronic device of the heat-dissipating module 2 is not limited in this invention. For example, the heat-dissipating module 2 can be applied to the thin or ultra-thin electronic devices such as ultrabook, tablet PC, smart phone, or the likes. In this embodiment, the heat-dissipating module 2 is applied to an ultrabook. Referring to FIG. 2 , the heat-dissipating module 2 is applied to a circuit board B. An electronic element E (e.g. a CPU) is disposed on the circuit board B.

The heat-dissipating module 2 includes a plurality of connecting portions 21 , a contacting portion 22 and a folded portion F 1 . Herein, the heat-dissipating module 2 is connected to the circuit board B by the connecting portions 21 . In various connection methods, the connecting portions 21 may have various structures. For example, the connecting portions 21 may include a screw hole for screwing or an embedded structure for embedding to the circuit board B. In this case, each of the connecting portions 21 includes a screw hole for screwing the heat-dissipating module 2 on the circuit board B. In addition, each of the connecting portions 21 is flexible, so that the connecting portion 21 can be flexibly connected to the circuit board B. In this embodiment, four connecting portions 21 are configured and extending from the four corners of the contacting portion 22 . In other embodiments, the number of the connecting portions 21 is not limited to four, and each of the connecting portions 21 may has different structure.

The contacting portion 22 includes a first surface 221 and a second surface 222 , which are disposed opposite to each other. The first surface 221 of the contacting portion 22 is configured to contact the electronic element E, so that the heat generated by the electronic element E can be conducted to the contacting portion 22 . In addition, the connecting portion 21 has a height difference with respect to the contacting portion 22 .

The folded portion F 1 is connected to the contacting portion 22 , and the contacting portion 22 is disposed between the folded portion F 1 and the electronic element E. In this embodiment, two folded portions. F 1 are configured to connect with two edges of the contacting portion 22 . The proper design of the folded portion F 1 can further improve the structural strength of the heat-dissipating module 2 and increase the heat conduction area.

In this embodiment, the connecting portions 21 , the contacting portion 22 and the folded portion F 1 are integrally formed as one piece. The heat-dissipating module 2 is made of thermo-conductive materials such as copper, aluminum, beryllium copper or the likes.

The heat-dissipating module 2 of this embodiment may have various types, which will be described herein below.

With reference to FIG. 3 , a heat-dissipating module 2 a includes a plurality of connecting portions 21 , a contacting portion 22 , a heat pipe P and at least a three-dimensional (3D) structure 23 . The 3D structure 23 is disposed between the connecting portions 21 and the contacting portion 22 . In this embodiment, four 3D structures 23 are configured and extending from the contacting portion 22 to the connecting portions 21 , respectively. The 3D structures 23 can be in any shape such as recesses or protrusions. The proper design of the 3D structure 23 can improve the structural strength of the heat-dissipating module 2 a , thereby increasing the product reliability and preventing the undesired elasticity fatigue.

In addition, the heat pipe P is disposed on the second surface 222 of the contacting portion 22 . The heat generated by the electronic element E is transferred to the heat pipe P through the contacting portion 22 , and then the heat pipe P can bring the heat transferred from the contacting portion 22 away. In more details, a fluid is filled in the heat pipe P for bringing the heat away by heat exchange. The folded portion F 1 is disposed adjacent to the heat pipe P, and the height of the folded portion F 1 is not larger than that of the heat pipe P.

With reference to FIG. 4 , a heat-dissipating module 2 b includes a plurality of connecting portions 21 , a contacting portion 22 , and a heat pipe P. At least one edge of the contacting portion 22 of the heat-dissipating module 2 b is configured with a bent portion BP 1 . In this embodiment, two edges of the contacting portion 22 of the heat-dissipating module 2 b are configured with a bent portion BP 1 , respectively. The proper design of the bent portion BP 1 can improve the structural strength of the heat-dissipating module 2 b and increase the heat conductive area.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the heat pipe P is located at the center of the contacting portion 22 . Of course, in other embodiments, the heat pipe P may be disposed at any position of the contacting portion 22 rather than the center position thereof. In addition, the heat pipe P of the heat-dissipating module 2 c as shown in FIG. 5 is located at one end of the contacting portion 22 , and the heat-dissipating module 2 c has only one folded portion F 2 .

With reference to FIG. 6 , a heat-dissipating module 2 d includes a plurality of connecting portions 21 , a contacting portion 22 , a heat pipe P, and a bent portion BP 2 . An edge of the folded portion F 3 of the heat-dissipating module 2 d is configured with a bent portion BP 2 . In this case, the bent portion BP 2 is disposed adjacent to the heat pipe P. The proper design of the bent portion BP 2 can improve the structural strength of the heat-dissipating module 2 d and increase the heat conductive area.

With reference to FIG. 7 , a heat-dissipating module 2 e includes a plurality of connecting portions 21 , a contacting portion 22 , and a heat pipe P. Each of edges of the folded portion F 4 of the heat-dissipating module 2 e is configured with a bent portion BP 3 . The proper design of the bent portions BP 3 can improve the structural strength of the heat-dissipating module 2 e and increase the heat conductive area.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.