US 5,440,450 AGranted

Housing cooling system

AssigneeNeXT, Inc.

InventorsTim O. Lau, Alexander Huang, Douglas P. Lo

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Abstract

A housing for a desk top personal computer incorporating a novel integrated cooling system. The housing features a cast magnesium chassis that acts as a heat sink that conductively absorbs heat from internal components. A recessed, rectangular, open-sided cooling channel is integrally formed in the bottom of the chassis. A fan is mounted to one end of the cooling channel. A series of fins running lengthwise extends down from the top of the channel. A power supply module, which dissipates heat from a conduction plate along its bottom, is mounted on the top side of the chassis directly above the channel. In operation, the fan draws air into the housing through a series of openings along the top back edge of the chassis. The air passes over the inside surfaces of the chassis, dissipating the relatively small amount of heat generated by the components mounted thereon and flows into the cooling channel. The air flows through the channel and across the surfaces of the fins extending down from the top of the channel, dissipating the heat generated by the power supply mounted directly above.

Claims10

Dependent claims

An apparatus for dissipating heat from an enclosure comprising:

an open-sided heat transfer channel recessed into and integrally formed with a first side of an enclosure and having an open side external to said enclosure, said open-sided heat transfer channel comprising:
a first opening disposed for receiving a cooling fluid within said enclosure and from outside said channel;
and
a second opening for exhausting said cooling fluid from said channel;
wherein said channel forms a closed-sided heat transfer passage when the open side of said channel is disposed to a surface;
and
heat transfer means for transferring heat from a heat generating source within said enclosure to said cooling fluid within said channel, said heat transfer means comprising;
a heat absorption surface comprising a metal plate connected to said heat generating source, said heat absorption surface within said enclosure disposed substantially adjacent to and in thermal communication with said heat transfer channel and said heat generating source;
and,
a heat dissipation surface comprising at least one fin extending within said heat transfer channel, said heat dissipation surface in thermal communication with said heat absorption surface disposed within said heat transfer channel;
an electric fan for moving said cooling fluid through said heat transfer channel, said fan mounted at an acute angle to a longitudinal axis of said heat transfer channel, said heat transfer channel having a substantially longitudinal shape.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.