Thermal module with temporary heat storage
AssigneeCompal Electronics, Inc.
InventorsShao-Tsu Kung, Chen-Hua Liu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A thermal module with temporary heat storage. The thermal module includes a heat storage, a heat absorber, a heat dissipater, and a heat pipe for rapidly transferring heat from the heat absorber to the heat dissipater. The heat storage includes a phase change material and is in contact with the heat pipe. When heat quantities generated by the system are greater than a predefined reasonable thermal target, heat in excess of the thermal target is temporarily absorbed into the heat storage through the melting of the PCM. When the heat quantities generated by the system are again less than the thermal target, the PCM re-freezes, releasing the stored heat to be dissipated normally.
Claims15
A thermal module for dissipating heat in a laptop computer, the thermal module comprising:
- a heat pipe for rapidly transferring heat;
- a heat absorber disposed at one end of the heat pipe for absorbing heat from a heat generating electrical component;
- a heat dissipater disposed at another end of the heat pipe for dissipating the heat;
- and
- a heat storage disposed at a section of the heat pipe between the heat absorber and the heat dissipater, the heat storage comprising a thermally and electrically insulated casing;
- wherein the electrically and thermally insulated casing allows the heat storage to be placed in unused gaps between existing system components without requiring additional space or system redesign.
A thermal module for dissipating heat in a laptop computer, the thermal module comprising:
- a heat generating electrical component;
- a heat sink capable of continuously dissipating a maximum of a predefined reasonable thermal target quantity of heat at a predefined temperature, the reasonable thermal target being less then a maximum quantity of heat generated by the electrical component under operating conditions;
- a heat pipe for transferring heat from the electrical component to the heat sink, one end of the heat pipe being in thermal contact with the heat generating electrical component, another end of the heat pipe being in thermal contact with the heat sink;
- a heat storage device fixed to the heat pipe between the heat generating electrical component and the heat sink;
- and
- a phase change material disposed within the heat storage device, an area of the phase change material being in flush contact with the heat pipe, the phase change material changing from solid state to a liquid state at approximately the predefined temperature.
A method for reducing the size of a heat sink in a laptop computer, the method comprising:
- generating heat with an electrical component;
- utilizing a heat pipe to transfer the heat from the heat generating electrical component to the heat sink;
- utilizing at least on gap between components of the laptop computer to hold a predetermined quantity of phase change material, the phase change material being at least partially enclosed by a thermally and electrically insulated casing, an area of the phase change material being in flush contact with the heat pipe between the heat sink and the heat generating electrical component;
- storing a portion of the heat in the phase change material during periods of high heat generation;
- and
- releasing the stored heat during periods of low heat generation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.