HEAT DISSIPATION MODULE

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 95124449, filed Jul. 5, 2006. All disclosure of the Taiwan application is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a heat dissipation module. More particularly, the present invention relates to a heat dissipation module having a thermal medium cap.

2. Description of Related Art

In the field of the heat dissipation module for electronic devices, in order to reduce the thermal contact resistance between a heat sink and a heat-generating electronic device, a thermal medium of good thermal conductivity is usually coated on the bottom of the heat sink, and the heat sink contacts the heat-generating electronic device via the thermal medium. The gap between the heat sink and the heat-generating electronic device is filled up by the thermal medium, such that the heat generated by the heat-generating electronic device is effectively conducted to the heat sink through the thermal medium and then is transferred to the external environment by convection, so as to achieve the effect of heat dissipation. However, during the transport or assembling of the heat sink, the thermal medium coated on the bottom of the heat sink is easy to be scraped or contaminated by dust. As a result, after the heat sink is assembled to the heat-generating electronic device, the effect of thermal conductivity between the heat sink and the heat-generating electronic device is greatly decreased due to the scrape or contamination to the thermal medium.

A heat dissipation module is provided in a conventional art, which has a heat sink and a thermal medium cap. The thermal medium cap is adhered to the bottom of the heat sink through an adhesive disposed at a portion of the cover thereof, so as to cover the thermal medium coated on the bottom of the heat sink, thereby preventing the thermal medium from being scraped or contaminated.

However, when the thermal medium cap is assembled to the heat sink, the thermal medium cap must be adhered to the bottom of the heat sink by manually coating the adhesive to cover the thermal medium, for example, using adhesive tapes, double-sided adhesive tapes or other methods to fix the cap onto the body of the heat sink, which consumes plenty of manpower cost. Moreover, the material cost of the adhesive also causes an increase of the product cost of the heat dissipation module. In another aspect, during the transport or assembling of the heat sink, the thermal medium cap is likely to release as the adhesive is not strong enough, such that the thermal medium may be scraped or contaminated. Therefore, when the heat sink is assembled to the heat-generating electronic device, the thermal conductivity effect between the heat sink and the heat-generating electronic device is greatly decreased, and even the heat-generating electronic device may be damaged as a result of poor heat dissipation effect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the present invention is to provide a heat dissipation module, so as to solve the problems in the conventional art.

In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a heat dissipation module, which comprises a heat sink, a thermal medium, and a thermal medium cap. The heat sink is suitable to be disposed on a heat source, and has a plurality of grooves. The thermal medium is disposed on a surface of the heat sink contacting the heat source. In addition, the thermal medium cap has a cover and a plurality of fixing portions extending from the cover. The thermal medium is covered by the cover, and the fixing portions penetrate the grooves.

In the heat dissipation module of the present invention, the thermal medium cap has a cover and a plurality of fixing portions extending from the cover, wherein the thermal medium is covered by the cover, so as to prevent the thermal medium from being scraped or contaminated. The fixing portions penetrate the grooves of the heat sink to fix the thermal medium cap onto the heat sink. Thereby, the manufacturing cost of the heat dissipation module is reduced and the problem of the releasing of the thermal medium cap caused by the insufficient adhesiveness in the conventional art is solved.

In order to make the aforementioned and other objectives, features and advantages of the present. invention comprehensible, preferred embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a combination view of a heat dissipation module according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is an exploded view of the heat dissipation module in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the heat dissipation module in FIG. 1A assembled to a heat source on a circuit board after the thermal medium cap is detached.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the connection between the locking bracket and the seat in FIG. 1B.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1A is a combination view of a heat dissipation module according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is an exploded view of the heat dissipation module in FIG. 1A. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the heat dissipation module in FIG. 1A assembled to a heat source on a circuit board after the thermal medium cap is detached. Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2, a heat dissipation module 100 of the present embodiment mainly comprises a heat sink 110, a thermal medium 120, and a thermal medium cap 130.

The aforementioned heat sink 110 is suitable to be disposed at the heat source 12 on a circuit board 10, so as to dissipate heat from the heat source 12. The thermal medium 120 is disposed on a surface 110a of the heat sink 110 contacting the heat source. For example, the circuit board 10 is the mother board of a computer, and the heat source 12 is the central processing unit (CPU).

It should be noted that the heat sink 110 of the present embodiment has a plurality of grooves 110b, and the thermal medium cap 130 is fixed onto the heat sink 110 through the grooves 110b, so as to prevent the thermal medium 120 from being scraped by human errors or contaminated by dust.

Particularly, in the present embodiment, the thermal medium cap 130 has a cover 132 and a plurality of fixing portions 134. The cover 132 covers the thermal medium 120. The fixing portions 134 extending from the cover 132 are disposed at both sides of the cover 132, wherein the position of the fixing portions 134 corresponds to that of the grooves 110b of the heat sink 110, such that the fixing portions 134 can penetrate the grooves 110b. Moreover, the cover 132 further comprises a top wall 132a and at least one side wall 132b, wherein the top wall 132a and the side walls 132b constitute a covering space 132c for covering the thermal medium 120.

In the present embodiment, the material of the thermal medium cap 130 is a plastic material, and the thermal medium cap 130 can be formed by punching a plastic material sheet or by inject molding. In other words, the cover 132 and the fixing portions 134 are integrated into one piece. Definitely, in other embodiments, the material of the thermal medium cap 130 can be other materials that are deformable and have good restoring force. In addition, the cover 132 and the fixing portions 134 can also be formed by folding or bonding.

Furthermore, as the material of the thermal medium cap 130 of the present embodiment is a plastic material, the thermal medium cap 130 is easily plastic-deformed temporarily under a force, thereby facilitating the fixing portions 134 successfully penetrating the grooves 110b. After the applied force is removed, the thermal medium cap 130 returns to the original state, such that the fixing portions 134 are engaged in the grooves 110b, and thus the thermal medium 120 is covered by the cover 132.

In order to detach the thermal medium cap 130 from the heat sink 110, it is only required to apply a force to the thermal medium cap 130 on the heat sink 110 to temporarily plastic deform the profile of the thermal medium cap 130, i.e. the fixing portions 134 are released from the grooves 110b, such that the thermal medium cap 130 can be departed from the heat sink 110. In particular, the thermal medium cap 130 of the present embodiment has the advantages of being easily assembled to and disassembled from the heat sink 110.

In view of the above, the heat sink 110 mainly comprises a seat 112 contacting the heat source 12, a fin set 114, a plurality of heat pipes 116, and a locking bracket 118. The locking bracket 118 is fixed onto the seat 112 via a plurality of locking elements 118a (with reference to FIG. 3), and the heat sink 110 is fixed onto the heat source 12 through the locking between the locking bracket 118 and the circuit board 10. In the present embodiment, the thermal medium 120 is disposed on a surface 112a of the seat 112 contacting the heat source 12. One end 116a of each of the heat pipes 116 is connected to the seat 112, and the fin set 114 is disposed at the other end 116b of each of the heat pipes 116. Moreover, the grooves 110b are disposed at the side edges of the locking bracket 118, and the fixing portions 134 can penetrate the grooves 110b, such that the thermal medium cap 130 is fixed onto the heat sink 110. Definitely, the components of the heat sink 110 are not limited in the present embodiment. That is, in other embodiments, the heat sink 110 can be disposed on the heat source 12 by another fixing device, and the grooves 110b can be disposed at another position of the seat 112 or heat sink 110, such that the fixing portions 134 of the thermal medium cap 130 can penetrate through the grooves 110b.

In view of the above, the heat sink of the present invention has a plurality of grooves. The fixing portions of the thermal medium cap penetrate the grooves of the heat sink, and the cover covers the thermal medium, so as to prevent the thermal medium from being scraped by human errors or contaminated by dust. Compared with the conventional art, the heat dissipation module of the present invention has the following advantages.

1. As the thermal medium cap provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention is directly fixed onto the heat sink through the engagement between the fixing portions and the grooves without any adhesive materials, the heat dissipation module of the present invention has a low material cost.

2. The thermal medium cap of the present invention is directly fixed onto the heat sink through the engagement between the fixing portions and the grooves. Therefore, when the thermal medium cap is assembled to the heat sink, the additional manpower to coat the adhesive is not required. In other words, the heat dissipation module of the present invention has a low labor cost.

3. As the thermal medium cap of the present invention is directly fixed onto the heat sink through the engagement between the fixing portions and the grooves, the thermal medium cap has the advantages of being easily assembled to and disassembled from the heat sink.

4. As the thermal medium cap of the present invention is directly fixed onto the heat sink through the engagement between the fixing portions and the grooves, the thermal medium cap can be steadily disposed on the heat sink, so as to prevent the thermal medium from being scraped by human errors or contaminated by dust, and thus avoid the problem of the releasing of the thermal medium cap in the conventional art.

Though the present invention has been disclosed above by the preferred embodiments, they are not intended to limit the present invention. Anybody skilled in the art can make some modifications and variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protecting range of the present invention falls in the appended claims.