Metalized plastic housing enclosure heat sink
AssigneeAptiv Technologies AG
InventorsKesav Kumar Sridharan, Navneet Gupta, Scott Brandenburg, David Zimmerman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Thermal management and shielding techniques for a radar device of a vehicle, the radar device having a radar transceiver circuit and a radar-transmissive radome, include a housing formed of a thermally-conductive plastic material and configured to receive and provide shield grounding to the radar transceiver circuit, and a metal layer applied to an inner surface of the housing to provide for thermal spreading of heat energy generated by the radar transceiver circuit.
Claims18
A thermal management and shielding system for a radar device of a vehicle, the radar device including a radar transceiver circuit and a radar-transmissive radome, the thermal management and shielding system comprising:
- a housing formed of a thermally-conductive plastic material and configured to (i) receive the radar transceiver circuit and (ii) provide shield grounding to the radar transceiver circuit;
- and
- a metal layer applied to an inner surface of the housing to provide for thermal spreading of heat energy generated by the radar transceiver circuit,
- wherein:
- the housing includes a first dimple and a second dimple on the inner surface spaced apart from each other and located underneath the radar transceiver circuit, and
- the metal layer includes a protrusion disposed in a space between the first dimple and the second dimple.
A thermal management and shielding method for a radar device of a vehicle, the radar device having a radar transceiver circuit and a radar-transmissive radome, the thermal management and shielding method comprising:
- providing a housing formed of a thermally-conductive plastic material and configured to (i) receive the radar transceiver circuit and (ii) provide shield grounding to the radar transceiver circuit;
- and
- applying a metal layer to an inner surface of the housing to provide for thermal spreading of heat energy generated by the radar transceiver circuit,
- wherein:
- the housing includes a first dimple and a second dimple on the inner surface spaced apart from each other and located underneath the radar transceiver circuit,
- the metal layer includes a protrusion disposed in a space between the first dimple and the second dimple.
A method of manufacturing and assembling a radar device for a vehicle, the method comprising:
- providing a radar transceiver circuit defining a surface topography and a perimeter;
- providing a radar-transmissive radome configured to protect the radar transceiver circuit;
- injection molding a thermally-conductive plastic material in a mold to form a housing including a first dimple and a second dimple and configured to (i) receive the radar transceiver circuit and (ii) to provide shield grounding to the radar transceiver circuit, wherein the mold is defined:
- (i) based on the surface topography of the radar transceiver circuit, and
- (ii) to create the first dimple and the second dimple spaced apart from each other and located underneath the radar transceiver circuit;
- applying a metal layer to an inner surface of the housing to provide for thermal spreading of heat energy generated by the radar transceiver circuit, wherein the metal layer is formed by (i) plating copper, followed by (ii) plating nickel, followed by (iii) vapor deposition of silver or aluminum, wherein the metal layer includes a protrusion disposed in a space between the first dimple and the second dimple;
- and
- packaging the radar transceiver circuit within the housing and then covering the radar transceiver circuit with the radar-transmissive radome to form the radar device,
- wherein packaging the radar transceiver circuit is performed by at least one of:
- a human assembler, or a robotic assembler.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.