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US 9,806,503 B2Granted
Gas filled subsea electronics housing with spring engaged heat sink
AssigneeOneSubsea IP UK Limited
InventorsMarkus Leonard Hansen, Audun Magne Askeland
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Heat sinks that cool electronics are mounted within a subsea housing or vessel. Springs are used to provide pressure between the heat sinks and a vessel wall. Vessel wall deformation caused by external seawater pressure is absorbed by the springs, which maintain a pre-load force according to the spring characteristics. The mechanism also allows for rack mounting of the electronics without the need for manual access in the relatively compact vessel or housing.
Claims20
A subsea electronics housing, comprising:
- a gas-filled internal volume at least partially defined by a housing wall;
- one or more heat generating electronics modules positioned within the volume;
- one or more heat sinks in thermal communication with the one or more electronics modules;
- one or more spring mechanisms arranged and configured to, when engaged, apply force against the one or more heat sinks to hold the one or more heat sinks in thermal communication with the housing wall;
- and
- a spring engagement mechanism configured to selectively engage at least one of the spring mechanisms thereby causing it to apply force against one or more of the heat sinks towards the housing wall and to selectively disengage the at least one of the spring mechanisms thereby causing it to reduce force against the one or more of the heat sinks towards the housing wall.
3 more elements
A method for deploying electronics in a subsea location, comprising:
- at a surface location placing one or more heat sinks and one or more heat generating electronics modules configured to be in thermal communication with the one or more heat sinks within a subsea electronics housing;
- at a surface location sealing the subsea electronics housing thereby forming a gas-filled internal volume at least partially defined by a housing wall;
- engaging one or more spring mechanisms so as to apply force that holds the one or more heat sinks in thermal communication with the housing wall;
- and
- deploying the sealed electronics housing to the subsea location while maintaining the electronics modules in the gas-filled internal volume.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.