Fluid passage arrangement of a heat absorber for use in a liquid-cooling type cooling apparatus

Abstract

A fluid passage arrangement of a heat absorber for use in a liquid-cooling type cooling apparatus is disclosed to have a heat-absorber plate, and a cover plate covering the heat-absorber plate and defining with the heat-absorber plate a hermetically sealed chamber, the heat-absorber plate having upright partition strips that divide the sealed chamber into multiple partition zones that form a maze passage and are respectively divided into parallel passages by parallel fins. The partition strips and parallel fins lower the flowing speed of the heat-transfer fluid passing through the heat absorber and increase the contact area between the heat-transfer fluid and the heat absorber, increasing the heat energy absorbing effect of the heat absorber and the utilization of the cooling apparatus.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a heat absorber for use in a liquid-cooling type cooling apparatus for computer and more particularly, to the fluid passage arrangement of a heat absorber for liquid-cooling type cooling apparatus.

2. Description of Related Art

In a computer, the main heat-generating electronic device is the CPU. In order to effectively dissipate heat from the CPU of a computer, a cooling apparatus shall be used.

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional liquid-cooling type cooling apparatus for this purpose. This structure of liquid-cooling type cooling apparatus comprises a heat absorber 91, a liquid tank 92, and a heat sink 93. The heat absorber 91 is adapted to absorb heat from the CPU, for enabling absorbed heat energy to be transferred through a heat-transfer tube 94 to the heat sink 93. The liquid tank 92 is adapted to store a heat-transfer fluid.

The aforesaid heat absorber 91, as shown in FIG. 2, is comprised of a heat-absorber plate 911, a gasket 912, and a top cover plate 913. The heat-absorber plate 911 has a detoured fluid passage 910 formed in the top wall. The gasket 912 seals the detoured fluid passage 910, preventing leakage. The fluid passage 910 is a one-way fluid channel for forward flowing of the heat-transfer fluid. During flowing of the heat-transfer fluid, the contact area between the heat-transfer fluid and the fluid passage 910 is limited to the two opposite sidewalls of the fluid passage 910, therefore the heat-transfer fluid 910 can only absorb heat energy from the limited area of the two opposite sidewalls of the fluid passage 910. Further, because the heat-transfer fluid 910 keeps flowing in the fluid passage 910. When observing a particular location in the fluid passage 910, the fluid in such a particular location does not stay for long to effectively absorb heat energy from the heat-absorber plate 911. Therefore, the aforesaid heat absorber 91 is still not satisfactory in function.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide a fluid passage arrangement of a heat absorber for use in a liquid-cooling type cooling apparatus, which greatly improves the heat absorbing effect of the heat absorber, increasing the utilization of the whole cooling apparatus.

To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, the fluid passage arrangement of a heat absorber for use in a liquid-cooling type cooling apparatus is comprised of a heat-absorber plate, and a cover plate. The cover plate covers the heat-absorber plate, defining with the heat-absorber plate a hermetically sealed chamber. The cover plate has two through holes in communication between the sealed chamber and the outside space.

The sealed chamber comprises at least one partition strip, which divides the sealed chamber into at least two partition zones, and a plurality of parallel fins arranged in parallel in each of the at least two partition zones and defining in each of the at least two partition zones a plurality of parallel passages. Each of two adjacent ones of the at least two partition zones have one same side connected to each other to form a maze passage, which has a front and a rear end respectively connected to the through holes of the cover plate.

By means of the parallel fins and the parallel passages in each of the at least two partition zones, the contact area between the heat-transfer fluid and the heat absorber is greatly increased. Further, the design of the maze passage and the parallel passages in each of the at least two partition zones lowers the flowing speed of the heat-transfer fluid. When observing one particular location in the passages, it will be seen that the heat-transfer fluid has more time to absorb heat energy from the heat-absorber plate at such a particular location. Therefore, the invention greatly improves the heat energy connecting effect of the heat absorber, increasing the utilization of the cooling apparatus.

The at least one partition strip and the parallel fins can be made directly upwardly protruded from the top face of the heat-absorber plate. This design makes the fabrication of the heat absorber easy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a conventional liquid-cooling type cooling apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a heat absorber according to the prior art.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a heat absorber made according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the heat absorber shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a heat absorber made according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a heat absorber made according to the aforesaid manufacturing process comprises a heat-absorber plate 1, and a top cover 2. The top cover 2 covers the heat-absorber plate 1, defining with the, heat-absorber plate 1 a hermetically sealed chamber 10. The top cover 2 has two through holes 21, 22 in communication between the sealed chamber 10 and the atmosphere.

The heat-absorber plate 1 is made of a copper plate, comprising a top face 11, three partition strips 3 upwardly protruded from the top face 11 and suspended in the sealed chamber 10. The three partition strips 3 divide the sealed chamber 10 into four partition zones 41˜44. Each of two adjacent ones of the four partition zones 41˜44 have one same side connected to each other, thereby forming a maze passage 4. Further, parallel fins 31 are arranged in each of the four partition zones 41˜44, defining a plurality of parallel passages 411˜441. The parallel fins 31 are upwardly protruded from the top face 11 of the heat-absorber plate 1. The maze passage 4 has a front end 401 and a rear end 402 respectively connected to the two through holes 21, 22 of the top cover 2.

The heat-transfer fluid used in the liquid-cooling type cooling apparatus using the aforesaid heat absorber passes in or out of the sealed chamber 10 through the through hole 21 or 22. When entered the sealed chamber 10, the heat-transfer fluid flows in the parallel passages 411˜441 to contact and absorb heat from the parallel fins 31. Because the heat-transfer fluid touches the surface of the parallel fins 31 when passing through the heat absorber, the contact area between the heat-transfer fluid and the heat absorber is greatly increased. Therefore, the heat-transfer fluid effectively absorbs heat energy from the heat absorber.

Further, when passing through the parallel passages 411˜441, the flowing speed of the heat-transfer fluid is reduced due to the effect of the parallel fins 31 and the three partition strips 3. When observing one particular location in the passages 411˜441, it will be seen that the heat-transfer fluid has more time to absorb heat energy from the heat-absorber plate 1 at such a particular location. Therefore, the invention greatly improves the heat energy connecting effect of the heat absorber, increasing the utilization of the cooling apparatus.

Further, the three partition strips 3 and the parallel fins 31 are directly protruded from the top face 11 of the heat-absorber plate 1. This design facilitates the fabrication of the heat-absorber plate by way of conventional processing techniques.

FIG. 5 shows a heat absorber made according to the second embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the heat-absorber plate 5 has a bottom flange downwardly protruded from the bottom face 50 thereof, forming a heat absorbing zone 51 adapted to absorb heat energy from a heat generating electronic device (not shown). This design enables the heat absorber to be accurately secured to the heat generating electronic device without interfering with other electronic component parts around the heat generating electronic device that are relatively taller than the heat generating electronic device.

Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

1. A fluid passage arrangement of a heat absorber for use in a liquid-cooling type cooling apparatus, comprising a heat-absorber plate, and a cover plate covering said heat-absorber plate and defining with said heat-absorber plate a hermetically sealed chamber, said cover plate having two through holes in communication between said sealed chamber and the outside space, wherein:

said sealed chamber comprises at least one partition strip, said at least one partition strip dividing said sealed chamber into at least two partition zones, and a plurality of parallel fins arranged in parallel in each of said at least two partition zones and defining in each of said at least two partition zones a plurality of parallel passages, each of two adjacent ones of said at least two partition zones having one same side connected to each other to form a maze passage, said maze passage having a front and a rear end respectively connected to the through holes of said cover plate.

2. The fluid passage arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heat-absorber plate has a top face; said at least one partition strip is upwardly protruded from said top face of said heat-absorber plate.

3. The fluid passage arrangement as claimed in claim 2, wherein said parallel fins are upwardly protruded from the top face of said heat-absorber plate.

4. The fluid passage arrangement as claimed in claim 1, therein said heat-absorber plate further comprises a bottom flange downwardly protruded from a bottom face thereof, forming a heat absorbing zone attachable to a heat generating electronic device for absorbing heat energy.

5. The fluid passage arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heat-absorber plate is a copper plate member.