Graphite thermal cable and method for implementing same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11248852-B2
Application number	US-202016921328-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 6, 2020
Priority date	Jul 6, 2020
Publication date	Feb 15, 2022
Grant date	Feb 15, 2022

Abstract

A system may include a thermal source, a thermal sink and heat-rejecting media comprising a thermal cable, the thermal cable comprising a main length comprising a flexible graphite layer rolled into a cylindrical shape covered on the outside thereof by a thermally-insulating layer of the same cylindrical shape, a first termination at which the flexible graphite layer thermally couples to the thermal source, and a second termination at which the flexible graphite layer thermally couples to the thermal sink.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a thermal source;
a thermal sink; and
heat-rejecting media comprising a thermal cable, the thermal cable comprising:
a main length comprising a flexible graphite layer rolled into a cylindrical shape covered on the outside thereof by a thermally-insulating layer of the same cylindrical shape;
a first termination at which the flexible graphite layer thermally couples to the thermal source; and
a second termination at which the flexible graphite layer thermally couples to the thermal sink.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cylindrical shape comprises one of a circular cylindrical shape and a spiraled cylindrical shape.

3. The system of claim 1 , the thermal cable further comprising a strain relief member mechanically coupled to the thermally-insulating layer to provide mechanical strain relief to the thermal cable.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein a termination comprising one of the first termination and the second termination is thermally and mechanically coupled to a thermally-conductive cap interfaced between the termination and one of the thermal source and the thermal sink.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the thermally-conductive cap comprises at least one of a mounting feature and an alignment feature to mechanically couple the thermally-conductive cap to one of the thermal source and the thermal sink.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the thermally-insulating layer covers the flexible graphite layer within at least one of the first termination and the second termination.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the thermally-insulating layer comprises aerogel.

8. A thermal cable comprising:
a main length comprising a flexible graphite layer rolled into a cylindrical shape covered on the outside thereof by a thermally-insulating layer of the same cylindrical shape;
a first termination at which the flexible graphite layer is configured to thermally couple to a thermal source; and
a second termination at which the flexible graphite layer is configured to thermally couple to a thermal sink.

9. The thermal cable of claim 8 , wherein the cylindrical shape comprises one of a circular cylindrical shape and a spiraled cylindrical shape.

10. The thermal cable of claim 8 , the thermal cable further comprising a strain relief member mechanically coupled to the thermally-insulating layer to provide mechanical strain relief to the thermal cable.

11. The thermal cable of claim 8 , wherein a termination comprising one of the first termination and the second termination is thermally and mechanically coupled to a thermally-conductive cap configured to interface between the termination and one of the thermal source and the thermal sink.

12. The thermal cable of claim 11 , wherein the thermally-conductive cap comprises at least one of a mounting feature and an alignment feature configured to mechanically couple the thermally-conductive cap to one of the thermal source and the thermal sink.

13. The thermal cable of claim 8 , wherein the thermally-insulating layer covers the flexible graphite layer within at least one of the first termination and the second termination.

14. The thermal cable of claim 8 , wherein the thermally-insulating layer comprises aerogel.

15. A method for forming a thermal cable comprising:
rolling a flexible graphite layer into a cylindrical shape covered on the outside thereof by a thermally-insulating layer of the same cylindrical shape to form a main length of the thermal cable;
forming a first termination at which the flexible graphite layer is configured to thermally couple to a thermal source; and
forming a second termination at which the flexible graphite layer is configured to thermally couple to a thermal sink.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the cylindrical shape comprises one of a circular cylindrical shape and a spiraled cylindrical shape.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising mechanically coupling a strain relief member to the thermally-insulating layer to provide mechanical strain relief to the thermal cable.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising thermally and mechanically coupling a termination comprising one of the first termination and the second termination to a thermally-conductive cap configured to interface between the termination and one of the thermal source and the thermal sink.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the thermally-conductive cap comprises at least one of a mounting feature and an alignment feature configured to mechanically couple the thermally-conductive cap to one of the thermal source and the thermal sink.

20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising covering the flexible graphite layer with the thermally-insulating layer within at least one of the first termination and the second termination.

21. The method of claim 15 , wherein the thermally-insulating layer comprises aerogel.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Embleton Steven
• North Travis C

Classifications

• Y02E40/60

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• H05K7/20254

  Cold plates transferring heat from heat source to coolant · CPC title

• H05K7/20281

  Thermal management, e.g. liquid flow control · CPC title

• H02G15/00

  Cable fittings · CPC title

• H02G1/14

  for joining or terminating cables · CPC title