# US 12,010,821 B2 · Thermal diode device for a telematic control unit of a vehicle > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,010,821 B2 - Document ID: US12010821B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/434,910 - Filed: 2020-03-10 - Published: 2022-02-24 - Granted: 2024-06-11 - Earliest claimed: 2019-03-11 - Assignees: Continental Automotive GmbH - Applicants: Continental Automotive GmbH - Inventors: Jean-Philippe Boyer; Arnaud Dieudonne - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12010821B2 ## CPC - H05K 7/20854: {Heat transfer by conduction from internal heat source to heat radiating structure (H05K7/20863 takes precedence)} - G01K 1/14: Supports; Fastening devices; Arrangements for mounting thermometers in particular locations - G01N 25/18: by investigating thermal conductivity (by calorimetry G01N25/20; by measuring change of resistance of an electrically-heated body G01N27/18) - H10W 40/00: Arrangements for thermal protection or thermal control (integrated devices comprising arrangements for thermal protection H10D89/60) - H05K: PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS - G01K: MEASURING TEMPERATURE; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (radiation pyrometry G01J5/00) - G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q) - H10W: GENERIC PACKAGES, INTERCONNECTIONS, CONNECTORS OR OTHER CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10 ## Abstract A thermal diode device including an electronic unit to be cooled, a heat-dissipation medium, a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the heat-dissipation medium, and an actuator configured to thermally disconnect the electronic unit from the heat-dissipation medium if the temperature of the heat-dissipation medium is higher than a reference temperature, so as to inhibit any heat transfer between the heat-dissipation medium and the electronic unit, and to thermally connect the electronic unit to the heat-dissipation medium if the temperature of the heat-dissipation medium is lower than the reference temperature, so as to allow a conductive heat transfer between the electronic unit and the heat-dissipation medium. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A thermal diode device comprising a vehicle telematic control unit to be cooled, a roof, a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the roof, and an actuator configured to thermally disconnect the telematic control unit from the roof if the temperature of the roof is higher than a reference temperature, so as to inhibit any conductive heat transfer between the roof and the telematic control unit, and to conductively thermally connect the telematic control unit to the roof if the temperature of the roof is lower than the reference temperature, so as to allow a conductive heat transfer between the telematic control unit and the roof, the telematic control unit comprising an integral thermal pad providing a thermal interface between said telematic control unit and the roof when said telematic control unit and said roof are in physical contact, wherein the actuator comprises a spring connected between the roof and the thermal pad of the telematic control unit in order to exert on the thermal pad of the telematic control unit (1) a repulsive force that repulses said telematic control unit away from the roof, and an electromagnet attached to the roof in order to exert, when it is supplied with power, an attractive force on the thermal pad of the telematic control unit in the direction of the roof. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The device as claimed in claim 1, comprising a sensor of the temperature of the telematic control unit, the reference temperature being the temperature of the telematic control unit. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The device as claimed in claim 1, the reference temperature being equal to the temperature of the telematic control unit multiplied by a weighting coefficient designed to take into account the thermal dissipation specific to the actuator. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermal pad has a mechanical flexibility designed so that, under the effect of the repulsive force, in the absence of the attractive force exerted by the electromagnet (31), the thermal pad bends so as to separate from the roof and so that, under the effect of the attractive force which has a higher strength than the repulsive force, the thermal pad unbends so as to come into contact with the roof. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The device as claimed in claim 4, comprising a control module configured to: activate the electromagnet if the temperature of the roof is lower than the reference temperature, so that the electromagnet exerts the attractive force, of higher strength than the repulsive force exerted by the spring, on the telematic control unit, so as to conductively thermally couple the telematic control unit and the roof by putting them in physical contact, via the thermal pad, and deactivate the electromagnet if the temperature of the roof is higher than the reference temperature, so that the electromagnet does not exert any attractive force on the telematic control unit, the repulsive force exerted by the spring on the thermal pad of the telematic control unit allowing the telematic control unit and the roof to be conductively thermally decoupled by virtue of the presence of air between the telematic control unit and the roof. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor of the temperature of the roof is a thermocouple. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) A motor vehicle comprising a passenger compartment having a roof, an antenna arranged on the roof and a telematic control unit coupled to said antenna and arranged under the roof, said vehicle comprising a thermal diode device as claimed in claim 1.