Cooling apparatus for electronic apparatus

#Embodiments of the invention generally relate to the field of cooling of electronic apparatus. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to a cooling system that provides a liquid cooling system to transfer heat to an external surface of the electronic apparatus that is formed to improve heat transfer to the surrounding air.

#Over the past decade, there has been demand for electronic apparatus, including portable electronic apparatus such as laptop computers, with ever increasing data processing capabilities. The central processing units (CPUs) and other electronic components used in electronic apparatus are operating at increasing clock rates or otherwise being made to provide increased capabilities. The increase in processing capability is generally accompanied by an increase in heat dissipation.

#It may be necessary to provide a heat dissipating system in electronic apparatus to avoid damage to the electronic components from excessive operating temperatures. Portable electronic apparatus present a particular challenge for dealing with this increase in heat dissipation because of the limited size of the portable electronic apparatus and requirements for low noise and low power consumption of the cooling apparatus. Thus it is desirable to provide a cooling apparatus that is compact, quiet, and efficient.

#Features and advantages of embodiments of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description in which:

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary electronic apparatus that includes an embodiment of the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the exemplary electronic apparatus of FIG. 1 from a second viewpoint.

#Embodiments of the invention set forth in the following detailed description generally relate to a cooling system that includes a subsystem with a liquid coolant to transfer heat to an external surface of the electronic apparatus. The external surface is formed to improve heat transfer to the surrounding air. Herein, at least one embodiment of the invention relates to a cooling system with a bottom portion of a body that is formed to improve heat transfer from the liquid coolant to the surrounding air. One embodiment of the invention relates to a cooling system that uses a forced air system to move air over the bottom portion of the body to improve heat transfer from the liquid coolant to the surrounding air.

#In the following description, certain terminology is used to describe certain features of one or more embodiments. For instance, an “electronic apparatus” is defined as a product with electronic components in a body. In this detailed description, for clarity sake and for illustrative purposes only, the electronic apparatus will be illustrated as a portable laptop computer. Embodiments of the invention may be utilized in a variety of electronic apparatus including, but not limited or restricted to personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, digital cameras, video cameras, navigation systems, and the like.

#Herein, terms of geometric orientation and relationship such as “up,” “down,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “vertical,” and “horizontal” are used in a conventional sense as would be applied to a particular apparatus in a typical operating orientation or as may be shown in the Figures. It will be appreciated that embodiments of the invention may be used with small, portable apparatus that may be readily placed in any of a wide variety of overall orientations and that such apparatus may have more than one typical operating orientation. Changes in the overall orientation of a apparatus will, of course, alter the terms of geometric orientation and relationship that would be applied to the apparatus in any given overall orientation. Terms of geometric orientation and relationship are used herein for clarity of description and should not be read as restrictive on the broad aspects of various embodiments of the invention.