Top chamber cavities for center-pinned actuators

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11796262-B2
Application number	US-202117367057-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 2, 2021
Priority date	Dec 6, 2019
Publication date	Oct 24, 2023
Grant date	Oct 24, 2023

Abstract

A flow chamber, a cooling system and a method are described. The flow chamber includes an upper chamber including a top wall, an actuator, and a lower chamber. The actuator is located distally from the top wall. The lower chamber receives fluid from the upper chamber when the actuator is actuated. The top wall includes at least one cavity therein. The cooling system utilizes cooling cells including the flow chamber. The method includes driving the actuator at a frequency that directs fluid through the flow chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flow chamber, comprising:
an upper chamber including a top wall having a thickness;
an actuator located distally from the top wall; and
a lower chamber, the actuator being between the lower chamber and the upper chamber, the upper chamber being between the actuator and the top wall, the lower chamber receiving a fluid from the upper chamber when the actuator is activated to undergo vibrational motion;
wherein the top wall includes at least one cavity therein, the at least one cavity extending through only a portion of the thickness of the top wall, the at least one cavity being configured to mitigate a pressure increase in a portion of the upper chamber due to the vibrational motion of the actuator.

2. The flow chamber of claim 1 , further comprising:
a support structure; and
wherein the actuator includes a central region and a perimeter, the actuator being supported by the support structure at the central region, at least a portion of the perimeter being unpinned, the actuator being configured to undergo the vibrational motion when activated to drive the fluid from the upper chamber to the lower chamber.

3. The flow chamber of claim 2 , wherein the top wall includes at least one vent therein, the actuator being between the top wall and the lower chamber, the fluid being drawn into the upper chamber through the at least one vent when the actuator undergoes the vibrational motion.

4. The flow chamber of claim 3 , wherein the upper chamber has a length corresponding to an odd integer multiplied by a wavelength divided by four, the wavelength being an acoustic wavelength for a frequency of the vibrational motion, frequency of the vibrational motion corresponding to a structural resonance for the actuator and to an acoustic resonance for the upper chamber having the length.

5. The flow chamber of claim 2 , further comprising:
an orifice plate having at least one orifice therein, the orifice plate forming a bottom wall of the lower chamber, the lower chamber being between the actuator and the bottom wall, the actuator being activated to drive the fluid through the at least one orifice.

6. The flow chamber of claim 5 , wherein at least one of the actuator has a recessed region therein or the orifice plate has an additional cavity therein.

7. A flow chamber, comprising:
an upper chamber including a top wall, the top wall having at least one cavity therein;
an actuator located distally from the top wall;
a lower chamber, the actuator being between the lower chamber and the upper chamber, the upper chamber being between the actuator and the top wall, the lower chamber receiving a fluid from the upper chamber when the actuator is activated to undergo vibrational motion; and
a support structure, the actuator including a central region and a perimeter, the actuator being supported by the support structure at the central region, at least a portion of the perimeter being unpinned, the actuator being configured to undergo the vibrational motion when activated to drive the fluid from the upper chamber to the lower chamber;
wherein the actuator includes an anchored region and a cantilevered arm, the anchored region being fixed to the support structure, the cantilevered arm extending outward from the anchored region and including a step region, at least one extension region, and an outer region, the step region extending outward from the anchored region having a step thickness, the at least one extension region extending outward from the step region and having at least one extension thickness less than the step thickness, and the outer region extending outward from the extension region having an outer thickness greater than the extension thickness.

8. The flow chamber of claim 2 , wherein the at least one cavity has a length of at least 0.25 and not more than ⅔ multiplied by a free portion length of a free portion of the actuator.

9. A cooling system, comprising:
a plurality of cooling cells, each of the plurality of cooling cells including an upper chamber, a cooling element and a lower chamber, the upper chamber including a top wall having a thickness, the cooling element being located distally from the top wall, the cooling element being between the lower chamber and the upper chamber, the upper chamber being between the cooling element and the top wall, the lower chamber receiving a fluid from the upper chamber when the cooling element is activated to undergo vibrational motion;
wherein the top wall includes at least one cavity therein, the at least one cavity extending through only a portion of the thickness of the top wall and being configured to mitigate a pressure increase in a portion of the upper chamber due to the vibrational motion of the cooling element.

10. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of cooling cells further includes:
a support structure; and wherein the cooling element includes a central region and a perimeter, the cooling element being supported by the support structure at the central region, at least a portion of the perimeter being unpinned, the cooling element being configured to undergo the vibrational motion when activated to drive the fluid from the upper chamber to the lower chamber.

11. The cooling system of claim 10 , wherein the top wall includes at least one vent therein, the cooling element being between the top wall and the lower chamber, the fluid being drawn into the upper chamber through the at least one vent when the cooling element undergoes the vibrational motion.

12. The cooling system of claim 11 , wherein the upper chamber has a length corresponding to an odd integer multiplied by a wavelength divided by four, the wavelength being an acoustic wavelength for a frequency of the vibrational motion, frequency of the vibrational motion corresponding to a structural resonance for the cooling element and to an acoustic resonance for the upper chamber having the length.

13. The cooling system of claim 10 , wherein each of the plurality of cooling cells further includes:
an orifice plate having at least one orifice therein, the orifice plate forming a bottom wall of the lower chamber, the lower chamber being between the cooling element and the bottom wall, the cooling element being activated to drive the fluid through the at least one orifice.

14. The cooling system of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the cooling element has a recessed region therein or the orifice plate has an additional cavity therein.

15. A cooling system, comprising:
a plurality of cooling cells, each of the plurality of cooling cells including an upper chamber, a cooling element, a support structure, and a lower chamber, the upper chamber including a top wall, the top wall including at least one cavity therein, the cooling element being located distally from the top wall, the cooling element being between the lower chamber and the upper chamber, the upper chamber being between the cooling element and the top wall, the lower chamber receiving a fluid from the upper chamber when the cooling element is activated to undergo vibrational motion;
wherein the cooling element includes a central region and a perimeter, the cooling element being supported by the support structure at the central region, at least a portion of the perimeter being unpinned, the cooling element being configured to undergo the vibrational motion when activated to drive the fluid from the upper chamber to the lower chamber; and
wherein the cooling element includes an anchored region and a cantilevered arm, the anchored region being fixed by the support structure, the cantilevered arm extending out

Assignees

• Frore Systems Inc

Inventors

• Mukundan Vikram
• Ganti Suryaprakash
• Yalamarthy Ananth Saran
• Madhavapeddy Seshagiri Rao
• Sathyamurthy Prabhu
• Rayapati Narayana Prasad

Classifications

• H10W40/43

  by flowing gases, e.g. forced air cooling · CPC title

• F28F13/10 Primary

  by imparting a pulsating motion to the flow, e.g. by sonic vibration · CPC title

• F28D2021/0028

  for cooling heat generating elements, e.g. for cooling electronic components or electric devices · CPC title

• G06F1/203

  for portable computers, e.g. for laptops · CPC title

• G06F2200/201

  Cooling arrangements using cooling fluid · CPC title