Coolant-cooled heat sink(s) with associated ultra-violet light assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12005148-B2
Application number	US-202117245356-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 30, 2021
Priority date	Apr 30, 2021
Publication date	Jun 11, 2024
Grant date	Jun 11, 2024

Abstract

Apparatuses and methods of fabrication are provided which include a coolant-cooled heat sink through which coolant passes to facilitate cooling the coolant-cooled heat sink, and an ultra-violet (UV) light assembly associated with the coolant-cooled heat sink for directing UV light towards an interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink across which the coolant passes. The UV light inhibits bacterial growth at the interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus to facilitate cooling one or more electronic components, the apparatus comprising:
a coolant-cooled heat sink through which coolant passes to facilitate cooling the coolant-cooled heat sink, the coolant-cooled heat sink including a base surface coupled to the one or more electronic components to facilitate cooling the one or more electronic components; and
an ultra-violet (UV) light assembly associated with the coolant-cooled heat sink to direct UV light towards an interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink across which the coolant passes, to inhibit bacterial growth on the interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the coolant-cooled heat sink includes a coolant-carrying compartment with a plurality of thermally-conductive fins disposed within the coolant-carrying compartment, and wherein the interior surface comprises one or more surfaces of the plurality of thermally-conductive fins disposed within the coolant-carrying compartment of the coolant-cooled heat sink.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the UV light assembly further comprises a UV light source to provide the UV light, and a control, the control being operatively coupled to control power to the UV light source, where a power level is set, at least in part, based on UV light intensity feedback received from a UV light sensor associated with the UV light source, the control powering the UV light source to produce the UV light for directing towards the interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the ultra-violet (UV) light assembly comprises:
a UV light source to provide the UV light; and
a lens coupled to the coolant-cooled heat sink and operatively positioned relative to the UV light source to direct the UV light towards the interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the lens is a collimating lens to direct collimated UV light towards the interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the coolant passes through the thermally-conductive fins disposed within the coolant-carrying compartment from a coolant inlet side of the thermally-conductive fins to a coolant outlet side of the thermally-conductive fins, and wherein the lens is disposed to direct the UV light towards the coolant inlet side of the thermally-conductive fins.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the UV light source comprises a first UV light source, and the lens comprises a first lens, and wherein the ultra-violet light assembly further comprises a second UV light source and a second lens, the second UV light source and the second lens being located to operatively direct UV light towards the coolant outlet side of the thermally-conductive fins disposed within the coolant-carrying compartment of the coolant-cooled heat sink.

8. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the ultra-violet (UV) light assembly further comprises:
a UV light source to provide the UV light; and
multiple UV light guides for directing the UV light towards the interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink, the multiple UV light guides extending into the coolant-cooled heat sink.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising a UV lens at an end of a UV light guide of the multiple UV light guides to facilitate directing the UV light towards the interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink.

10. An apparatus comprising:
a coolant-cooled heat sink through which coolant passes to facilitate cooling the coolant-cooled heat sink;
an ultra-violet (UV) light assembly associated with the coolant-cooled heat sink for directing UV light towards an interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink across which the coolant passes, the UV light inhibiting bacterial growth at the interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink; and
wherein the coolant comprises an anti-corrosion material, and the UV light assembly comprises a control, a dosage of the UV light directed towards the interior surface being controlled by the control of the UV light assembly to maintain the anti-corrosion material in the coolant above a set level for a specified operational lifetime.

11. An apparatus comprising:
multiple coolant-cooled heat sinks through which coolant passes to facilitate cooling the multiple coolant-cooled heat sinks; and
an ultra-violet (UV) light assembly associated with the multiple coolant-cooled heat sinks for directing UV light towards respective interior surfaces of the multiple coolant-cooled heat sinks across which the coolant passes, the UV light inhibiting bacterial growth at the respective interior surfaces of the multiple coolant-cooled heat sinks.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein each coolant-cooled heat sink of the multiple coolant-cooled heat sinks includes a coolant-carrying compartment with a plurality of thermally-conductive fins disposed within the coolant-carrying compartment, and wherein each interior surface comprises one or more surfaces of the plurality of thermally-conductive fins disposed within the coolant-carrying compartment of the respective coolant-cooled heat sink.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the coolant comprises an anti-corrosion material, and the UV light assembly comprises a control, a dosage of the UV light directed towards the respective interior surfaces being controlled by the control to maintain the anti-corrosion material in the coolant above a set level for a specified operational lifetime.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the ultra-violet (UV) light assembly comprises:
at least one UV light source to provide the UV light; and
multiple lenses, each lens being coupled to a respective coolant-cooled heat sink of the multiple coolant-cooled heat sinks, and being positioned relative to the UV light source to direct the UV light towards the respective interior surface of the coolant-cooled heat sink.

15. The apparatus of claim, 12 , wherein the ultra-violet (UV) light assembly comprises:
a UV light source to provide the UV light; and
multiple UV light guides coupled to one coolant-cooled heat sink of the multiple coolant-cooled heat sinks, and being positioned relative to the UV light source to direct the UV light towards the respective interior surface of the one coolant-cooled heat sink.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the multiple UV light guides comprise a first set of UV light guides, and wherein the UV light assembly further comprises a second set of UV light guides, the second set of UV light guides being coupled to another coolant-cooled heat sink of the multiple coolant-cooled heat sinks and being positioned relative to the UV light source to direct the UV light towards the respective interior surface of the other coolant-cooled heat sink, wherein the UV light source provides the UV light for at least two coolant-cooled heat sinks of the multiple coolant-cooled heat sinks.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the ultra-violet (UV) light assembly further comprises:
a UV light source to provide the UV light; and
a control operatively coupled to control power to the UV light source, where a power level is set by the control, at least in part, via UV light intensity feedback received from a UV light sensor associated with the UV light source, the control powering the UV light source to provide the UV light for directing towards the respective interior surfaces of the multiple coolant-cooled heat sinks.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Zhang Hongqing
• Lewison David J
• Pompeo Frank L
• Busby James
• Bunt Jay A
• Molinelli Acocella Joyce E
• Sunder Madhana
• Ellsworth Jr Michael J

Classifications

• A61L2202/11

  Apparatus for generating biocidal substances, e.g. vaporisers, UV lamps · CPC title

• A61L2202/14

  Means for controlling sterilisation processes, data processing, presentation and storage means, e.g. sensors, controllers, programs · CPC title

• H05K7/20763

  Liquid cooling without phase change · CPC title

• F21V29/59

  with forced flow of the coolant · CPC title

• A61L2/10 Primary

  Ultraviolet [UV] radiation · CPC title