Heat management arrangement, method of manufacturing and electronic device

Abstract

The present invention provides a heat management arrangement for an electronic device, in particular for a handheld electronic device. The heat management arrangement comprises an active cooling means comprising a heat sink and at least one airflow channel configured for convective heat transport to an environment by an airflow. Furthermore, the heat management arrangement comprises a passive cooling means configured to be arranged between the heatsink and a surface of the electronic device and comprising a highly heat conductive substance. The passive cooling means is configured to contact the surface of the electronic device and to enhance heat conduction between the surface of the electronic device and the heat sink. In addition or alternatively, the passive cooling means is configured to enhance heat conduction between the surface of the electronic device and the airflow channel. Furthermore, the invention provides a corresponding method of manufacturing such a heat management arrangement on an electronic device and a corresponding electronic device.

Claims

1. A heat management arrangement for an electronic device, comprising: an active cooling means comprising a heat sink and at least one airflow channel configured for convective heat transport to an environment by an airflow, and a passive cooling means configured to be arranged between the heatsink and a surface of the electronic device and comprising a highly heat conductive substance, wherein the passive cooling means is configured to contact the surface of the electronic device and to enhance heat conduction between the surface of the electronic device and the heat sink and/or the airflow channel.

2. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the airflow channel is formed as a groove in a surface of the heatsink.

3. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein a metal sheet is arranged between the highly heat conductive substance and the surface of the electronic device.

4. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein a plurality of airflow channels is provided in the surface of the heatsink.

5. The arrangement of claim 4, wherein the airflow channels are arranged in parallel to each other, at least in a contact area of the passive cooling means.

6. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the highly heat conductive substance is a thermal pad.

7. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the active cooling means comprises a chimney fluidically coupled with the airflow channel.

8. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the active cooling means comprises a first end and a second end and is configured to establish a thermal gradient between the first end and the second end to create a natural airflow through the at least one airflow channel.

9. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the active cooling means comprises an active air flow acceleration element configured to create a forced airflow through the at least one airflow channel.

10. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the at least one airflow channel is oriented in a direction perpendicular to a direction of heat conduction through the passive cooling means.

11. A method of manufacturing a heat management arrangement on an electronic device, comprising the steps of: Arranging a passive cooling means comprising a highly heat conductive substance on a surface of the electronic device such that the passive cooling means is in contact with the surface of the electronic device; Arranging an active cooling means comprising a heat sink on the surface of the electronic device such that the passive cooling means is arranged between the heatsink and the surface of the electronic device, wherein the active cooling means comprises at least one airflow channel configured for convective heat transport from the heatsink to an environment by an airflow; and Thermally coupling the passive cooling means and the active cooling means to allow enhanced heat conduction between the surface of the electronic device and the heat sink and/or the airflow channel.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the active cooling means is arranged such that the at least one airflow channel is oriented in a direction substantially parallel to the surface of the electronic device.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the airflow channel is formed as a groove in a surface of the heatsink, wherein the active cooling means is arranged such that the surface of the heatsink is oriented towards the surface of the electronic device.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising a step of arranging a metal sheet between the highly heat conductive substance and the surface of the electronic device.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the highly heat conductive substance is a thermal pad, which is arranged directly on the surface of the electronic device.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the active cooling means comprises an active air flow acceleration element and the method comprises a step of arranging the active air flow acceleration element fluidically coupled to the at least one airflow channel, such that a forced airflow through the at least one airflow channel can be created.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the active cooling means is arranged such that the at least one airflow channel is oriented in a direction substantially perpendicular to a direction of heat conduction through the passive cooling means.

18. An electronic device, comprising: a surface impinged with heat from a heat generating element; a heat management arrangement comprising an active cooling means with a heat sink and at least one airflow channel configured for convective heat transport from the heatsink to an environment by an airflow, and a passive cooling means arranged between the heatsink and a surface of the electronic device and comprising a highly heat conductive substance, wherein the passive cooling means is in contact with the surface of the electronic device and configured for enhanced heat conduction between the surface and the heat sink and/or the airflow channel.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the at least one airflow channel is oriented in a direction substantially parallel to the surface of the electronic device.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein the at least one airflow channel is formed as a groove in a surface of the heatsink, wherein the surface of the heatsink is oriented facing towards the surface of the electronic device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] For a more comprehensive understanding of the invention and the advantages thereof, exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail in the following description with reference to the accompanying drawing figures, in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

[0041] FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a heat management arrangement for an electronic device;

[0042] FIG. 2 is a schematic heat flow of an electronic device;

[0043] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an electronic device according to another embodiment; and

[0044] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an electronic device according to yet another embodiment.

[0045] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate particular embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention and many of the attendant advantages of the invention will be readily appreciated as they become better understood with reference to the following detailed description.

[0046] It will be appreciated that common and/or well understood elements that may be useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are not necessarily depicted in order to facilitate a more abstracted view of the embodiments. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily illustrated to scale relative to each other. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps in an embodiment of a method may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrences while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used in the present specification have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study, except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0047] With reference firstly to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a heat management arrangement 1 for an electronic device is illustrated schematically in a sectional view.

[0048] The heat management arrangement 1 is for example configured for a handheld electronic device 10, which is schematically symbolised in FIG. 1 by dashed lines. However, the heat management arrangement 1 is not limited to handheld devices and may be applied for example also to standalone electronic devices or other kinds of electronic devices.

[0049] The heat management arrangement 1 comprises an active cooling means 2. The active cooling means 2 comprises a heat sink 3, which is, only schematically, symbolized in FIG. 1 by a rectangular block. The heat sink may, for example, comprise a metal body and may have any suitable body form different from such a block. In addition, the heat sink may comprise typical surface enhancing features for heat exchange at outer surfaces, such as lamellas, ribs or the like.

[0050] Furthermore, the active cooling means comprises at least one airflow channel 4. The airflow channel 4 is schematically symbolized in FIG. 1 with a rectangular groove in the block, but may have any other suitable form, such as for example a plurality of grooves, one or more rounded grooves, one or more round holes, or other typical channel forms suitable for an airflow channel.

[0051] The airflow channel 4 is configured for convective heat transport from the heatsink 3 to an environment by an airflow through the channel. Therefore, the airflow channel 4 is in thermal contact with the heatsink.

[0052] The active cooling means may further comprise a means for moving air (see FIG. 4), in particular an active air flow acceleration element, such as a fan module, for generating an airflow through the airflow channel 4.

[0053] The heat management arrangement 1 further comprises a passive cooling means 5. The passive cooling means is configured to be arranged between the heatsink 3 and a surface 6 of the electronic device.

[0054] The passive cooling means comprises a highly heat conductive substance 7, such as for example a thermal pad or thermal paste. It is preferably configured to be in direct contact with the surface 6 of the electronic device.

[0055] The passive cooling means is further configured for enhanced heat conduction between the surface 6 of the electronic device and the heat sink 3 and/or the airflow channel 4. Accordingly, it is in thermal contact with at least one of the heat sink 3 and the airflow channel 4.

[0056] With reference now also to FIG. 2 of the drawings, a schematic heat flow of an electronic device 10 is shown.

[0057] The electronic device 10 comprises a surface 6 impinged with heat from a heat generating element 11. The surface may, for example, form part of an outer housing of the electronic device, to which the heat management arrangement of FIG. 1 is attached.

[0058] A method of manufacturing such a heat management arrangement on an electronic device therefore comprises a first step of arranging the passive cooling means comprising the highly heat conductive substance on a surface of the electronic device such that the passive cooling means is in contact with the surface of the electronic device. Another step is arranging also the active cooling means comprising the heat sink and the at least one airflow channel on the surface of the electronic device such that the passive cooling means is arranged between the heatsink and the surface of the electronic device. Furthermore, the method comprises the step of thermally coupling the passive cooling means and the active cooling means to allow enhanced heat conduction between the surface of the electronic device and at least one of the heat sink and the airflow channel.

[0059] Accordingly, the passive cooling means 5 is in contact with the surface 6 of the electronic device 10 and configured for enhanced heat conduction between the surface 6 and the heat sink 3 and/or the airflow channel 4.

[0060] The heat generating element may be for example a CPU (central processing unit), GPU (graphics processing unit) or any other electronic component that in use generates considerable heat.

[0061] Heat generated by the heat generating element 11 is transported inside the electronic device to the surface 6 by at least one heat transport mechanism 15 symbolised by waved lines, which comprises at least one of conduction, convection and radiation.

[0062] The passive cooling means is in contact with the surface 6, such that the heat is transported from the surface 6 through the passive cooling means by heat conduction 16, symbolized in FIG. 2 by arrows.

[0063] The passive cooling means 5 conducts the heat to the heat sink 3 and the airflow channel 4. The airflow channel 4 is formed as a groove in a surface of the heatsink 3. The surface of the heatsink 3 is oriented facing towards the surface 6 of the electronic device 10. This means, in the present example, the at least one airflow channel 4 is oriented in a direction substantially parallel to the surface 6 of the electronic device 10. In this way, the at least one airflow channel 4 is oriented in a direction perpendicular to a direction of heat conduction through the passive cooling means 5.

[0064] An airflow through the airflow channel 4 provides for convective heat transport 17 through the channel 4, as symbolized by crosses indicating the flow direction along the channel axis, which is oriented into the drawing plane.

[0065] With reference now also to FIG. 3 of the drawings, a perspective view of an electronic device 10 according to a further embodiment is shown.

[0066] Again, the heatsink 3 is schematically shown as a rectangular block, but may have any other suitable form. In the depicted example, the active cooling means 2 comprises a plurality of airflow channels 4. Only as an example, six rectangular airflow channels 4 are depicted, which are oriented in parallel to each other. Of course, the number, dimension and form of airflow channels 4 can be any suitable number, dimension and form, depending on the use case.

[0067] Similar to the embodiment of FIG. 2, the airflow channels 4 are formed as grooves in a surface 8 of the heatsink 3, which surface 8 is oriented towards the surface 6 of the electronic device 10. Furthermore, the airflow channels 4 are oriented in a direction substantially parallel to the surface 6 of the electronic device 10.

[0068] As a difference to FIG. 2, the heat management arrangement 1 additionally comprises a metal sheet 9, which is arranged between the highly heat conductive substance 7 of the passive cooling means 5 and the surface 8 of the heat sink 3 and the channels 4 of the active cooling means 2. The highly heat conductive substance 7 is configured as a thermal pad and the metal sheet 9 is configured as a copper sheet. Therefore, a high heat exchange rate of the highly heat conductive substance 7 with the heat sink 3 and the airflow channels 4 is provided due to low thermal resistance. On the other hand, the shape of the thermal pad is maintained even, despite the grooved surface attached thereto. This is achieved by the copper sheet, which prevents the thermal pad from being locally squeezed or pressed into the airflow channels 4.

[0069] In manufacturing such a heat management arrangement 10, a step of arranging the metal sheet 9 between the highly heat conductive substance 7 and the surface 8 of the electronic device 1 is additionally provided.

[0070] The active cooling means 2 comprises a first end 12 and a second end 13, between which the airflow channels 4 extend. The active cooling means 2 at the second end 13 extends beyond the passive cooling means 5. In this way, it is configured to establish a thermal gradient between the first end 12 and the second end 13. Of course, in other embodiments, also other measures would be possible to establish a thermal gradient, such as additional cooling measures or the like.

[0071] The thermal gradient creates a natural airflow through the at least one airflow channel 4. Especially, this effect can be enhanced by providing a chimney at one end, which is fluidically coupled with the airflow channels.

[0072] Finally, referring to FIG. 4 of the drawings, a perspective view of an electronic device according to another embodiment is shown.

[0073] According to this embodiment, the active cooling means 2 comprises an active air flow acceleration element 14. This is schematically symbolized by a rectangular block and may, for example, be formed as a fan module and comprise a fan for propelling air.

[0074] The air flow acceleration element 14 is fluidically coupled to the airflow channels 4. In this way, a forced airflow through the airflow channels 4 is created.

[0075] In manufacturing such a heat management arrangement, an additional step of arranging the active air flow acceleration element fluidically coupled to the airflow channels is provided such that a forced airflow through the at least one airflow channel can be created.

[0076] Although specific embodiments of the invention are illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations exist. It should be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are examples only and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration in any way. Rather, the foregoing summary and detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing at least one exemplary embodiment, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents. Generally, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific embodiments discussed herein.

[0077] It will also be appreciated that in this document the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “include”, “including”, “contain”, “containing”, “have”, “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to be understood in an inclusive sense, such that the process, method, device, apparatus or system described herein is not limited to those features or parts or elements or steps recited but may include other elements, features, parts or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Furthermore, the terms “a” and “an” used herein are intended to be understood as meaning one or more unless explicitly stated otherwise. Moreover, the terms “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on or to establish a certain ranking of importance of their objects.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0078] 1 heat management arrangement [0079] 2 active cooling means [0080] 3 heat sink [0081] 4 airflow channel [0082] 5 passive cooling means [0083] 6 surface [0084] 7 highly heat conductive substance [0085] 8 surface [0086] 9 metal sheet [0087] 10 electronic device [0088] 11 heat generating element [0089] 12 first end [0090] 13 second end [0091] 14 air flow acceleration element [0092] 15 heat transport mechanism [0093] 16 heat conduction [0094] 17 convective heat transport