Modular heat sink stack

In an enclosure housing electrical and electronic components mounted on a plurality of printed circuit boards installed within sidewalls of the enclosure in proximity to one another, heat sink apparatus for dissipating heat generated by the components comprising:

• a heat conductive plate assembly inserted between adjacent boards, each said plate assembly including a base section and a plate extending from said base section between adjacent boards for heat generated by said components to be convected and radiated at said plates and conducted away from said components by the plates;
• and,
• a pouch positioned between each side of each plate and one of said adjacent boards, each pouch containing a liquid heat sink material absorbing the heat generated by said components and said pouch transferring said heat to its associated plate for said plate to further conduct the heat absorbed by each pouch away from said components thereby to increase the efficiency of heat transfer away from said components and prevent component damage resulting from overheating;
• and,
• a pouch of liquid heat sink material fitted between said plate assembly and at least one of said sidwalls enclosure.

A heat sink structure for use in an enclosure housing electrical and electronic components mounted on a plurality of printed circuit boards installed within sidewalls of the enclosure in a stacked configuration, the heat sink structure dissipating heat generated by the components and comprising:

• a plurality of heat conductive plate assemblies, each said plate assembly including a base section and a plate extending from said base section, said plate assemblies arranged together in a stacked configuration for said stack of plate assemblies to interfit with said stack of printed circuit boards with a plate to be between adjacent boards and with a plate to the outside of said boards located at each end of stack of printed circuit boards for heat generated by said components to be convected and radiated at said plates and conducted away from said components by the plates, said stack of plate assemblies and stack of printed circuit boards being fitted together in an interdigitated configuration;
• a plurality of pouches each of which contains a liquid heat sink material, one of said pouches being installed between each side of each board and the plate located between adjacent boards or to the outside of the boards forming each end of said stack of boards, said pouches absorbing the heat generated by said components and said pouches transferring said heat to their associated plates for said plates to further conduct the heat absorbed by each pouch away from said components thereby to increase the efficiency of heat transfer away from said components and prevent component damage resulting from overheating;
• and,
• a pouch fitted between a base of said stack of plates and at least one of said of said enclosure to dissipate heat to the atmosphere through said sidewall.

A heat transfer apparatus for dissipating heat generated by electrical and electronic components mounted on a plurality of printed circuit boards assembled into a PC/104 stack comprising:

• heat conductive plates interdigitated with said printed circuit boards, said plates being heated by the heat generated by said components and conducting the heat away from said components;
• a heat conductive base connected to said plates and acting as a heat sink for the heat transferred by said plates from said components;
• thermal interface media fitted between said plates and said boards for heat generated by said components to be conducted through said media to said plates to increase the efficiency of heat transfer away from said components and prevent damage to the components caused by overheating;
• and,
• a thermal interface medium fitted between said base and at least one sidewall of an enclosure containing said PC/104 stack to dissipate the heat to the atmosphere through said sidewall.

A modular heat sink assembly dissipating heat generated by electrical and electronic components mounted on printed circuit (PC) boards installed within an enclosure in a stacked configuration whereby as one or more additional PC boards are added to the stack, or one or more PC boards are removed from the stack, the heat sink assembly can be readily modified to effectively dissipate the heat for the number of PC boards now comprising the stack, the assembly comprising:

• a plurality of interconnecting heat conductive plate assemblies each of which includes a base section and a plate extending from said base section, said plate being inserted between adjacent PC boards for heat generated by said components to be directed at said plate and conducted away from said components by said plate;
• and,
• a pouch positioned between each side of a plate and one of the adjacent PC boards between which the plate is inserted, each pouch containing a liquid heat sink material absorbing heat generated by said components and said pouch transferring the heat to its associated plate for said plate to further conduct the heat absorbed by each pouch away from said components thereby to increase the efficiency of heat transfer away from said components and prevent component damage resulting from overheating;
• an additional heat conductive plate assembly being interconnected with the current heat plate assemblies when a new PC board is added to the stack, and additional pouches being positioned between each side of a plate and one of the adjacent PC boards between which the plate is inserted, or one of the heat conductive plate assemblies being removed, together with one or more of the pouches when a PC board is removed from the stack.