HEAT SINK CORE MEMBER AND ITS FABRICATION PROCEDURE
A heat sink core member made by: preparing a predetermined mass of aluminum block, extruding the aluminum block through an extruding machine into a tubular body having one close end wall and then punch-cutting the outside wall of the tubular body to form a plurality of densely distributed and equally spaced vertical retaining grooves. Radiation fins can easily be affixed to the vertical retaining grooves of the tubular body to form a heat sink.
(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to heat sink fabrication technology and more particularly to a method of making a heat sink core member by extruding a predetermined mass of aluminum block into a tubular body having one close end wall and then punch-cutting the outside wall of the tubular body to form a plurality of densely distributed and equally spaced vertical retaining grooves for easy mounting of radiation fins.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
A radiation fin type heat sink generally comprises a tubular core member and a plurality of radiation fins. The radiation fins are radially spaced around the periphery of the tubular core member. Because the radiation fins are integrally formed with the periphery of the tubular core member, the fabrication of the heat sink is complicated, and the cost is high. Further, due to technical limitation, the radiation fins have a thick wall thickness. In consequence, the heat sink is heavy. Due to a limited number of radiation fins, the heat dissipation efficiency of this kind of heat sink is limited.
During application, the tubular core member is attached with its one end to the heat source (CPU or LED device). A heat pipe may be attached to enhance heat dissipation performance. Further, the tubular core member may be made in the shape of a round tube, rectangular tube or polygonal tube.
There are known heat sinks in which the radiation fins are soldered to the periphery of the tubular core member. However, it takes much time and labor to solder every radiation fin to the periphery of the tubular core member. Before soldering, an electroplating technique may be necessary so that different metal materials can be soldered together. Further, this fabrication procedure is not environmentally friendly. Further, solder-bonding will lower heat transfer efficiency. Further, a heat sink may be directly cut from a solid aluminum block. This method wastes much labor and time and will produce many waste materials, increasing the cost considerably.
Further, a heat sink core member may be directly extruded from an aluminum ingot. This method is to extrude an aluminum ingot into a tubular member having longitudinal grooves spaced around the periphery. The tubular member is than cut into tubular core members subject to the desired length. Radiation fins are than fastened to the longitudinal grooves of each tubular core member. This fabrication procedure still has drawbacks as follows:
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- 1. Due to technical limitations, the number of the longitudinal grooves of the extruded heat sink core member is limited, and therefore only a limited number of radiation fins can be fastened to the periphery of the heat sink core member. When the number of the longitudinal grooves is increased, the wall structure of the heat sink core member under extrusion may be damaged.
- 2. The finished heat sink core member is a hollow tubular member having two open ends. A plate member must be bonded to the heat sink core member to close its one end so that the blocked end of the heat sink core member can be attached to the heat source or used to support an attached member during application. However, because the plate member and the heat sink core member are not made integrally, a capillary effect will occur, lowering the heat transfer performance.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a heat sink core member and its fabrication procedure that eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art designs and techniques.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide a heat sink core member fabrication procedure for making a heat sink core member by means of preparing a predetermined mass of aluminum block, and then extruding the aluminum block through an extruding machine into a tubular body having one close end wall and then punch-cutting the outside wall of the tubular body to form a plurality of densely distributed and equally spaced vertical retaining grooves. Thus, radiation fins can easily be affixed to the vertical retaining grooves of the tubular body to form a high-performance heat sink.
Using the heat sink core member fabrication procedure for making a heat sink core member of this application, the finished heat sink core member has a close end wall. As a result, the invention prevents a capillary effect, thus effectively facilitating heat transfer.
In the heat sink core member fabrication procedure for making a heat sink core member of the present application, the punch-cutting step may include three substeps, i.e., the coarse punch-cutting substep to punch-cut the outside wall of said tubular body into a predetermined number of rough grooves, the fine punch-cutting substep to punch-cut each said rough groove into a fine groove, and the superfine punch-cutting substep to punch-cut each said fine groove. These substeps are performed automatically for facilitating the fabrication and saving the fabrication time and labor.
As described in
The heat sink core member fabrication procedure includes the steps of:
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- (1) preparing a predetermined mass of aluminum block 1;
- (2) extruding the aluminum block 1 through an extruding machine into a tubular body 10 having one close end wall 11; and
- (3) punch-cutting the outside wall of the tubular body 10 to form a plurality of densely distributed and equally spaced vertical retaining grooves 12.
As described in
Further, during the extrusion step, vertical ribs 13 are formed on the inside wall of the tubular body 10 (see
Further, the tubular body 10 can be made in any of a variety of shapes and dimensions. For example, the tubular body 10 can be shaped like a round tube as shown in
Further, the radiation fins 200 to be fastened to the tubular body 10 can be made in any of a variety of shapes and sizes. However, the radiation fins 200 must be configured for press-fitting into or riveting to the vertical retaining grooves 12.
Further, the vertical retaining grooves 12 may be variously configured. Preferably, the outside wall of the tubular body 10 is so punch-cut that a first protruding portion 121 and a second protruding portion 122 are formed and disposed along two opposite lateral sides of each vertical retaining groove 12. After one radiation fin 200 is inserted into one vertical retaining groove 12, the adjacent first protruding portion 121 is deformed in the direction toward the adjacent second protruding portion 121 to have the radiation fin 200 be firmly seized in between the first protruding portion 121 and the second protruding portion 122 (see
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A heat sink core member fabrication procedure, comprising the steps of:
- (a) preparing a predetermined mass of aluminum block;
- (b) extruding said aluminum block through an extruding machine into a tubular body having one close end wall; and
- (c) punch-cutting the outside wall of said tubular body to form a plurality of densely distributed and equally spaced vertical retaining grooves.
2. The heat sink core member fabrication procedure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step (c) comprises a coarse punch-cutting substep to punch-cut the outside wall of said tubular body into a predetermined number of rough grooves, a fine punch-cutting substep to punch-cut each said rough groove into a fine groove, and a superfine punch-cutting substep to punch-cut each said fine groove.
3. The heat sink core member fabrication procedure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step (b) extrudes said aluminum block through an extruding machine into a tubular body having one close end wall and a plurality of vertical ribs on the inside wall thereof.
4. The heat sink core member fabrication procedure as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a substep of making a plurality of mounting holes on said vertical ribs after said step (b) and before said step (c).
5. The heat sink core member fabrication procedure as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a substep of making a plurality of mounting holes on said close end wall of said tubular body after said step (b) and before said step (c).
6. The heat sink core member fabrication procedure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tubular body is in a shape of a round tube.
7. The heat sink core member fabrication procedure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tubular body is in a shape of a rectangular tube.
8. A heat sink core member comprising a tubular body, a close end wall located on one end of said tubular body, and a plurality of vertical retaining grooves equally spaced around the periphery of said tubular body for the mounting of one radiation fin in each said vertical retaining groove.
9. The heat sink core member as claimed in claim 8, wherein said tubular body comprises a plurality of first protruding portions and a plurality of second protruding portions respectively extending along said vertical retaining grooves at two opposite sides.
10. The heat sink core member as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a plurality of vertical ribs axially formed on an inside wall of said tubular body and a mounting hole located on one end of each said vertical rib.
11. The heat sink core member as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a plurality of mounting holes located on said close end wall.
12. The heat sink core member as claimed in claim 8, wherein said tubular body is in a shape of a round tube.
13. The heat sink core member as claimed in claim 8, wherein said tubular body is in a shape of a rectangular tube.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 20, 2010
Publication Date: Feb 23, 2012
Inventor: Tsung-Hsien HUANG (I-Lan Hsien)
Application Number: 12/885,573
International Classification: F28F 21/08 (20060101); B21D 53/02 (20060101);