Thermal management system
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorVictor M. Vitale
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A thermal management system is described. The thermal management system being well suited for electronic devices having limited size and operational components that produce excess heat. The thermal management system includes a thermal transport mechanism formed of material having anisotropic thermal conducting properties such that heat is transported from a heat source to a heat sink using a directed heat path. The directed heat path provided by regions having a first thermal conductivity embedded within a substrate characterized as having a second thermal conductivity that is less than the first thermal conductivity.
Claims17
An electronic device having a heat source, the electronic device comprising:
- a housing that defines an internal volume, the housing carrying the heat source within the internal volume;
- and
- a heat transport mechanism carried by the housing within the internal volume and in thermal contact with the heat source, the heat transport mechanism comprising:
- a first layer of graphite comprising a first region in thermal contact with the heat source and having a first thickness and a second region having a second thickness less than the first thickness, wherein the first layer of graphite forms a parallel heat path that allows heat to flow from the first region to the second region in a direction generally parallel with a plane of the first layer of graphite,
- a second layer of graphite displaced from the first layer in a transverse direction generally perpendicular to the plane of the first layer, the second layer of graphite separated from the first layer of graphite by an interfacial layer disposed between the first layer of graphite and the second layer of graphite, and
- a thermal insert located in an opening in the interfacial layer and in thermal contact at least with the second region of the first layer of graphite forming a transverse heat path that allows heat to flow away from the heat source in the transverse direction generally away from the first layer of graphite,
- wherein the second region provides a preferred heat path to conduct heat from the heat source to the second layer.
A thermal management system for transporting heat from a heat source, comprising:
- a first layer of graphite that provides a first heat transport path, the first heat transfer path allowing heat to flow in a direction that is generally parallel to a plane of the first layer, wherein the first layer includes a first region and a second region having a higher thermal conductivity than the first region;
- a thermal insert in contact with the second region and providing a second heat transport path allowing heat to flow in a direction that is generally perpendicular to the plane of the first layer;
- a second layer of graphite that provides a third heat transport path, the third heat transport path allowing heat to flow in a direction that is generally parallel to a plane of the second layer;
- an interfacial layer formed of a thermally insulating adhesive material disposed between the first layer and the second layer, the adhesive material securing the first layer to the second layer, the interfacial layer comprising a thermal via that accommodates the thermal insert and allows heat to flow between the first layer and the second layer along a defined heat path.
A method of manufacturing a thermal management system, the method comprising:
- identifying a location of a thermal via at a layer of graphite, the layer of graphite having a preferred thermal path parallel to a plane defined by the layer of graphite;
- placing a thermal insert formed of silicon carbide (SiC) at the location of the thermal via, the thermal insert providing a preferred thermal path that is perpendicular to the plane defined by the layer of graphite;
- and
- bonding the thermal insert between the layer of graphite and an additional layer of graphite using an adhesive that forms an interfacial layer between the layer of graphite and the additional layer of graphite,
- wherein the layer of graphite includes a first region having a first thickness and a second region having a second thickness that is less than the first thickness, and wherein the location of the thermal via corresponds with the second region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.