Cooling structure for a housing

A cooling structure for a housing is located on the side wall of the housing. The side wall has an air inlet and there is a cooling fan located in the air inlet. The cooling structure for a housing includes a cooling device and an air-sheltering mask. The cooling device includes a cooling chip, at least one cold part and at least one hot part. The cooling chip has a cold terminal and a hot terminal. The cold part is connected with the cold terminal of the cooling chip and located at one side of the cooling fan. The hot part is connected with the hot terminal of the cooling chip. The air-sheltering mask and the side wall form a receiving space for receiving the hot part. The air-sheltering mask forms an opening that is close to the rear side of the housing.

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Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cooling structure for a housing. In particular, this invention relates to a cooling structure for a housing having a cooling chip that can exhaust the heat.

2. Description of the Related Art

There are a plurality of circuit boards and electronic elements in the computer housing. When the computer operates, the electronic elements on the circuit boards in the computer housing, such as chips, ICs, generate heat so that the temperature in the computer housing arises. When the temperature in the housing surpasses the temperature specification of the electronic elements, the electronic elements will fail so that the computer is damaged. Therefore, a cooling fan is installed in the computer housing so that the heat generated from the electronic elements in the computer housing is exhausted to outside of the computer housing by utilizing the air flow generated by the cooling fan.

However, because the cooling fan of the prior art guides the external air into the computer housing and the temperature of the air may be not enough low, the cooling effect may be insufficient, especially when the temperature is high (such as in summer).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One particular aspect of the present invention is to provide a cooling structure for a housing that has a cooling chip so that the temperature in the housing can be lowered.

The cooling structure for a housing is located on the side wall of the housing. The side wall has an air inlet and there is a cooling fan located in the air inlet. The cooling structure for a housing includes a cooling device located on one side of the side wall, and an air-sheltering mask combined with the side wall.

The cooling device includes a cooling chip having a cold terminal and a hot terminal, at least one cold part connected with the cold terminal of the cooling chip and located at one side of the cooling fan, and at least one hot part connected with the hot terminal of the cooling chip.

The hot part is received between the air-sheltering mask and the side wall. The cold part is located at the out side of the air-sheltering mask. The air-sheltering mask forms an opening that is close to the rear side of the housing.

The present invention has the following characteristics. The present invention has the cooling chip so that the temperature in the housing can be rapidly lowered. Furthermore, the present invention is cooperated with the cooling fan of the housing so that it does not need to install another cooling fan and the required space is reduced.

For further understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following detailed description illustrating the embodiments and examples of the invention. The description is for illustrative purpose only and is not intended to limit the scope of the claim.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings included herein provide a further understanding of the invention. A brief introduction of the drawings is as follows:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the cooling structure for a housing of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is another exploded perspective view of the cooling structure for a housing of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the cooling device of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an assembly perspective view of the cooling device assembled with the air-sheltering mask of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the cooling device assembled with the air-sheltering mask of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of cross-section 6-6 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an assembly perspective view of the cooling structure for a housing of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a front view of the cooling structure for a housing of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of cross-section 8-8 in FIG. 8.

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 2. The cooling structure for a housing is located on the side wall 10 of the housing 100 (referring to FIG. 7). The side wall 10 has an air inlet 11 and there is a cooling fan 12 located in the air inlet 11. In the figure, the diameter of the fan leaves of the cooling fan 12 is 30 cm and is used as an example. However, the dimension of the cooling fan 12 is not limited to above.

The cooling fan 12 has an air-input terminal 121 that corresponds to the air inlet 11 and an air-out terminal 122 that corresponds to the air-input terminal 122 (referring to FIG. 9). The cooling structure for a housing includes a cooling device 20 and a air-sheltering mask 30.

Reference is made to FIGS. 3 and 6. The cooling device 20 is located on one side of the side wall 10, and includes a shell 21, a cooling chip 22, a first heat-conducting block 23, a second heat-conducting block 24, three cold parts 25, five hot parts 26, three first hot pipes 27, and five second hot pipes 28.

In this embodiment, the shell 21 has two pieces, and includes a first shell part 211 and a second shell part 212 assembled with the first shell part 211. The shell 21 has a first through hole 2111 and a second through hole 2121 that is respectively plugged by the first hot pipe 27 and the second hot pipe 28.

The cooling chip 22, the first heat-conducting block 23 and the second heat-conducting block 24 are received between the first shell part 211 and the second shell part 212 (the interior of the shell 21). The cooling chip 22 is parallel to the side wall 10.

After the cooling chip 22 is conducted with power, a cold terminal 221 and a hot terminal 222 are generated (referring to FIG. 3). The cold terminal 221 and the hot terminal 222 are respectively located at the front side and the rear side of the cooling chip 22. The first heat-conducting block 23 and the second heat-conducting block 24 are respectively located at the cold terminal 221 and the hot terminal 222 of the cooling chip 22.

A flexible plate 213 is respectively located between the first shell part 211 of the shell 21 and the first heat-conducting block 23 and the second shell part 212 and the second heat-conducting block 24 so that the first heat-conducting block 23 and the second heat-conducting block 24 respectively tightly contact the cold terminal 221 and the hot terminal 222 of the cooling chip 22.

In this embodiment, the cold parts 25 and the hot parts 26 are cooling fins, but not limited to above. The cold parts 25 and the hot parts 26 are radially disposed and are respectively located at one side of the cooling fan 12 that is close to the air-output terminal 122 along the air direction of the cooling fan 12 (referring to FIG. 9). The cold parts 25 and the hot parts 26 are parallel to the side wall 10, and are located at the same plane to form a thin structure.

One end of each of the first hot pipes 27 is connected with the surface of the first heat-guiding block 23 to connect the cold terminal 221 of the cooling chip 22. The second end of the first hot pipe 27 extends along a direction that is parallel to the side wall 10 and is connected with the cold part 25 so that the cold part 25 connects the cold terminal 221 of the cooling chip 22 via the first hot pipe 27 and the first heat-guiding block 23.

One end of each of the second hot pipes 28 is connected with the surface of the second heat-guiding block 24 to connect the hot terminal 222 of the cooling chip 22. The second end of the second hot pipe 28 extends along a direction that is parallel to the side wall 10 and is connected with the hot part 26 so that the hot part 26 connects the hot terminal 222 of the cooling chip 22.

The air-sheltering mask 30 is hollow and has an enclosing wall 31. The enclosing wall 31 has a plurality of openings 32 that are plugged by the first hot pipes 27. The enclosing wall 31 is located between the cold parts 25 and the hot parts 26 (referring to FIG. 4) to separate the cold parts 25 and the hot parts 26.

At the edge of the air-sheltering mask 30, there is a plurality of installing portions 33. The air-sheltering mask 30 is combined with the side wall 10 (referring to FIG. 7) via the installing portions 33 by a screwing way or other fastening ways. The air-sheltering mask 30 has an opening 34 that is close to the rear side of the housing 100(referring to FIG. 7) for exhausting the air.

Reference is made to FIGS. 7˜9. When the cooling structure for a housing is assembled, the shell 21 of the cooling device 20 is assembled with the air-sheltering mask 30 via a screwing way or other fastening ways (referring to FIG. 2).

The air-sheltering mask 30 and the side wall 10 form a receiving space A (referring to FIG. 9). The opening 34 of the air-sheltering mask 30 links with the receiving space A. The hot part 26 is received in the receiving space A. The cold part 26 is located at outside of the air-sheltering mask 30.

When the cooling structure for a housing is operated, the cold terminal 221 of the cooling chip 22 cooperates with the first heat-conducting block 23, the first hot pipes 27 and the cold parts 25 to generate cold air around the cold parts 25.

The hot terminal 222 of the cooling chip 22 cooperates with the second heat-conducting block 24, the second hot pipes 28 and the hot parts 26 so that the heat generated from the cooling chip 22 is conducted to the hot parts 26.

When the cooling fan is rotated, part of the air flow generated by the cooling fan 12 directly passes through the cold parts 25 due to the air-sheltering mask 30. Thereby, the cold air is directly blown into the housing 100 so that the temperature in the housing 100 is substantially reduced. The cooling effect is excellent.

At this time, the other air flow generated by the cooling fan 12 blows the hot parts 26 to guide the heat of the hot parts 26 to the heat-exhausting hole (not shown in the figure) located at the rear side of the housing 100 via the opening 34 of the air-sheltering mask 30 and to exhaust the heat to outside of the housing 100.

In above embodiment, the cooling fan 12 blows both the cold parts 25 and the hot parts 26 to exhaust heat, but not limited to above.

Furthermore, the side wall 10 also can has another cooling fan (not shown in the figure) around the air inlet 11 so that the cold parts 25 are located at one side of the cooling fan 12 along the direction of the air flow of the cooling fan 12 and the hot parts 26 are located at one side of another cooling fan along the direction of the air flow of another cooling fan. The two cooling fans respectively blow the cold parts 25 and the hot parts 26 to increase the cooling efficiency.

The cooling structure for a housing of the present invention has the following characteristics:

1. The present invention has the cooling chip so that the temperature in the housing can be rapidly lowered. Furthermore, the present invention is cooperated with the cooling fan of the housing so that it does not need to install another cooling fan and the required space is reduced.

2. The present invention utilizes the cooling fan located at the side wall of the housing to guide the heat generated from the cooling chip to the rear side of the housing and exhaust the heat. Therefore, no opening is required for exhausting the heat.

3. The present invention can cooperate with a cooling fan having a large dimension. It utilizes the characteristic of the cooling fan having a large air-exhausting flow so that the heat can be rapidly exhausted via the rear side of the housing. The cooling fan merely needs to be operated at a low rotation speed. The noise can be substantially reduced and the heat can be rapidly exhausted.

The description above only illustrates specific embodiments and examples of the invention. The invention should therefore cover various modifications and variations made to the herein-described structure and operations of the invention, provided they fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the following appended claims.

Claims

1. A cooling structure for a housing, located on a side wall of the housing, the side wall has an air inlet and there is a cooling fan located in the air inlet, comprising:

a cooling device located on one side of the side wall, comprising:
a cooling chip having a cold terminal and a hot terminal;
at least one cold part connected with the cold terminal of the cooling chip and located at one side of the cooling fan; and
at least one hot part connected with the hot terminal of the cooling chip; and
an air-sheltering mask fixed to the side wall, wherein the hot part is located between the air-sheltering mask and the side wall, the cold part is located outside the air-sheltering mask, and the air-sheltering mask has an opening that is close to a rear side of the housing.

2. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling device is assembled with the air-sheltering mask.

3. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling device further comprises at least one first hot pipe and at least one second hot pipe, one end of the first hot pipe is connected with the cold terminal of the cooling chip, a second end of the first hot pipe extends along a direction that is parallel to the side wall and is connected with the cold part, one end of the second hot pipe is connected with the hot terminal of the cooling chip, and a second end of the second hot pipe extends along a direction that is parallel to the side wall and is connected with the hot part.

4. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 3, wherein the cooling device further comprises a first heat-conducting block and a second heat-conducting block, the first heat-conducting block and the second heat-conducting block are respectively located at the cold terminal and the hot terminal of the cooling chip, and one end of each of the first hot pipe and the second hot pipe is respectively connected with the first heat-conducting block and the second heat-conducting block.

5. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 4, wherein the cooling device further comprises a shell, the cooling chip, the first heat-conducting block and the second heat-conducting block are located in the shell, two flexible plates are located between the cooling device and the first heat-conducting block and the second heat-conducting block, respectively, so that the first heat-conducting block and the second heat-conducting block tightly contact the cold terminal and the hot terminal of the cooling chip.

6. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling chip is parallel to the side wall.

7. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cold part and the hot part are parallel to the side wall, and the cold part and the hot part are located in the same plane.

8. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 7, wherein the cooling device comprises a plurality of cold parts and a plurality of hot parts, and the cold parts and the hot parts are radially disposed.

9. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling device comprises a plurality of cold parts and a plurality of hot parts, and the cold parts and the hot parts are radially disposed.

10. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cold part and the hot part are located at one side of the cooling fan along the direction of the air flow of the cooling fan.

11. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 1, wherein an edge of the air-sheltering mask has a plurality of installing portions for combining with the side wall.

12. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air-sheltering mask and the side wall form a receiving space, the hot part is received in the receiving space, and the opening of the air-sheltering mask links with the receiving space.

13. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air-sheltering mask has an enclosing wall, the enclosing wall is located between the cold part and the hot part for separating the cold part and the hot part, the enclosing wall has at least one opening for being plugged with the first hot pipe.

14. The cooling structure for a housing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cold part is located at one side of the cooling fan along a direction of the air flow of the cooling fan, the side wall has a second cooling fan around the air inlet, and the hot part is located at one side of the second cooling fan along a direction of the air flow of the second cooling fan.

Patent History
Publication number: 20090223239
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 10, 2008
Publication Date: Sep 10, 2009
Inventor: Chun-Ju Lin (Taoyuan City)
Application Number: 12/073,745
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: With Electrical Component Cooling (62/259.2)
International Classification: F25D 23/00 (20060101);