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US 10,309,692 B2Granted
Self-heating thermal interface material
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsEric J. Campbell, Joseph Kuczynski, Kevin A. Splittstoesser, Timothy J. Tofil
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A self-heating thermal interface material (TIM) may be formed using heating components dispersed within the TIM. The heating components may produce heat when the TIM is compressed. The heating components may be formed from microcapsules and the microcapsules may contain exothermic reactants. The reactants may be isolated from contact within the microcapsule until a compressive force is applied.
Claims7
A self-heating thermal interface material (TIM), the self-heating TIM comprising:
- a TIM;
- and
- at least one heat producing component dispersed within the TIM, wherein the at least one heat producing component further comprises:
- at least one first microcapsule, the at least one first microcapsule having an outer shell, the outer shell forming a boundary between the TIM and contents of the at least one first microcapsule, the outer shell configured to sustain application of a compressive force without rupturing;
- at least one first reactant and an at least one second reactant contained within the outer shell;
- and
- at least one isolating structure within the outer shell, the at least one isolating structure preventing the at least one first reactant and the at least one second reactant from coming into contact when the compressive force is not applied, the at least one isolating structure configured to rupture when the compressive force is applied, the rupturing causing the at least one first reactant and the at least one second reactant to come into contact, the contact producing an exothermic reaction, the heat from the exothermic reaction transferring to the TIM.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.