# US 12,004,322 B2 · Cold plate with uniform plenum flow > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,004,322 B2 - Document ID: US12004322B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/134,383 - Filed: 2020-12-26 - Published: 2022-06-30 - Granted: 2024-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2020-12-26 - Assignees: International Business Machines Corporation - Applicants: International Business Machines Corporation - Inventors: Mark D. Schultz; Pritish Ranjan Parida - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12004322B2 ## CPC - H05K 7/20254: {Cold plates transferring heat from heat source to coolant} - F28F 3/12: Elements constructed in the shape of a hollow panel, e.g. with channels {(F28D1/02, F28D1/03 take precedence)} - H10W 40/47: by flowing liquids, e.g. forced water cooling - B33Y 80/00: Products made by additive manufacturing - F28F 9/0248: {Arrangements for sealing connectors to header boxes} - F28F 2200/00: Prediction; Simulation; Testing - H05K: PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS - F28F: DETAILS OF HEAT-EXCHANGE AND HEAT-TRANSFER APPARATUS, OF GENERAL APPLICATION (water and air traps, air venting F16) - H10W: GENERIC PACKAGES, INTERCONNECTIONS, CONNECTORS OR OTHER CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10 - B33Y: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING ## Abstract A cold plate apparatus includes walls that surround an active volume adjacent to an inlet plenum; the walls include an inlet opening at one end of a top side of the inlet plenum and a plenum opening between the inlet plenum and the active volume. Also included is a blocker that partially separates the inlet plenum from the active volume. The blocker is structurally configured to preferentially redirect flow from the inlet plenum into the active volume. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A cold plate apparatus comprising: walls that surround an active volume adjacent to an inlet plenum, wherein the walls include an inlet opening at one end of a top side of the inlet plenum and a plenum opening between the inlet plenum and the active volume, wherein the walls comprise a top plate, a bottom plate, and a stack of at least three intermediate plates between the top plate and the bottom plate; and a blocker that partially separates the inlet plenum from the active volume, wherein the blocker is structurally configured to preferentially redirect flow from the inlet plenum into the active volume; wherein portions of the at least three intermediate plates form a deflector that protrudes from an outer wall of the inlet plenum toward the active volume, and wherein a bottommost of the intermediate plates protrudes further toward the active volume than does a topmost of the intermediate plates. ### Claim 2 A cold plate apparatus comprising: walls that surround an active volume adjacent to an inlet plenum, wherein the walls include an inlet opening at one end of a top side of the inlet plenum and a plenum opening between the inlet plenum and the active volume; and a blocker that partially separates the inlet plenum from the active volume, wherein the blocker is structurally configured to preferentially redirect flow from the inlet plenum into the active volume; wherein the blocker blocks more of the plenum opening near a bottom side of the plenum opening opposite the inlet opening than is blocked near a top side of the plenum opening near the inlet opening; wherein the blocker comprises a plurality of N fingers extending from the inlet opening along the inlet plenum, a lowest finger being longest and an uppermost finger being shortest; and wherein the lowest finger is a length L, the uppermost finger is a length L/N, and each finger ascending from lowest to uppermost is L/N shorter than a next lower finger. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the blocker blocks more of the plenum opening near the one end of the inlet plenum than is blocked further from the inlet opening along the inlet plenum. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the blocker blocks more of the plenum opening near a bottom side of the plenum opening opposite the inlet opening than is blocked near a top side of the plenum opening near the inlet opening. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the blocker comprises a plurality of fingers extending from a bottom side of the plenum opening toward a top side of the plenum opening, a finger closest to the inlet opening being longest and a finger furthest from the inlet opening being shortest. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The apparatus of claim 5, wherein each finger is separated from a neighboring finger by a gap. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the blocker separates the inlet plenum from the active volume across at least ten percent of a segment of the plenum opening, wherein the segment is at least ten percent of the area of the plenum opening. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the inlet plenum in normal operation encloses a first region immediately adjacent to the inlet opening, a second region downstream from the first region, and a third region downstream from the second region, and the deflector is in the second region. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each intermediate plate is between 0.2 and 0.5 millimeter (mm) thick and the interior volume is between 1.5 and 3.0 mm deep.