Top chamber cavities for center-pinned actuators

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12320595-B2
Application number	US-202318370732-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2023
Priority date	Dec 6, 2019
Publication date	Jun 3, 2025
Grant date	Jun 3, 2025

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 including a central region and a perimeter;
a lower chamber receiving a fluid from the upper chamber when the actuator is activated;
a support structure; and
wherein the top wall includes at least one cavity therein, the at least one cavity extending though a portion of the thickness of the top wall, and wherein the actuator is supported by the support structure at the central region, at least a portion of the perimeter being completely unpinned from the support structure, the actuator being configured to undergo vibrational motion when activated to drive the fluid from the upper chamber to the lower chamber.

2. The flow chamber of claim 1 , wherein the actuator includes an anchored region and a cantilevered arm, the anchored region being fixed by 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.

3. The flow chamber of claim 1 , wherein the top wall includes at least one vent therein, the actuator being between the top wall and the lower chamber.

4. The flow chamber of claim 1 , wherein the at least one cavity is configured to mitigate a pressure increase in the upper chamber due to vibrational motion of the actuator.

5. The flow chamber of claim 1 , further comprising:
an orifice plate having at least one orifice therein, the orifice plate forming a bottom wall of the lower chamber, the actuator being activated to drive the fluid through the at least one orifice.

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

7. The flow chamber of claim 1 , wherein the at least one cavity is configured to reduce a back pressure for a flow of the fluid through the flow chamber generated by vibrational motion of the actuator.

8. The flow chamber of claim 1 , wherein the actuator includes an anchored region and a cantilevered arm, the anchored region being fixed by the support structure, the cantilevered arm extending outward from the anchored region.

9. 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 having a thickness, the cooling element being located distally from the top wall and including a central region and a perimeter, the lower chamber receiving a fluid from the upper chamber when the cooling element is activated;
wherein the top wall includes at least one cavity therein, the at least one cavity extending though a portion of the thickness of the top wall, and wherein the cooling element is supported by the support structure at the central region, at least a portion of the perimeter being completely unpinned from the support structure, the cooling element being configured to undergo vibrational motion when activated to drive the fluid from the upper chamber to the lower chamber.

10. The cooling system of claim 9 , 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 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.

11. 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 cooling element being activated to drive the fluid through the at least one orifice.

12. The cooling system of claim 11 , wherein the cooling element has a recessed region therein and/or the orifice plate has an additional cavity therein.

13. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the top wall includes at least one vent therein, the cooling element being between the top wall and the lower chamber.

14. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one cavity is configured to mitigate a pressure increase in the upper chamber due to vibrational motion of the cooling element.

15. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one cavity is configured to reduce a back pressure for a flow of the fluid through the cooling system generated by vibrational motion of the cooling element.

16. The cooling system of claim 9 , 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 outward from the anchored region.

17. A flow chamber, comprising:
an upper chamber including a top wall;
an actuator located distally from the top wall and including a central region and a perimeter;
a support structure; and
a lower chamber receiving a fluid from the upper chamber when the actuator is activated;
wherein the top wall includes at least one cavity therein, the at least one cavity being configured to mitigate a pressure increase in the upper chamber due to vibrational motion in the actuator and to prevent backflow out of the upper chamber through the at least one cavity, and wherein the actuator is supported by the support structure at the central region, at least a portion of the perimeter being completely unpinned from the support structure, the actuator being configured to undergo vibrational motion when activated to drive the fluid from the upper chamber to the lower chamber.

18. The flow chamber of claim 17 , wherein the at least one cavity is configured to reduce a back pressure for a flow of the fluid through the flow chamber generated by vibrational motion of the actuator.

19. The flow chamber of claim 17 , wherein the actuator has a recessed region therein.

20. The flow chamber of claim 17 , wherein the actuator includes an anchored region and a cantilevered arm, the anchored region being fixed by the support structure, the cantilevered arm extending outward from the anchored region.

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

• H05K7/2049

  Pressing means used to urge contact, e.g. springs · CPC title

• G06F2200/201

  Cooling arrangements using cooling fluid · CPC title

• G06F1/203

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

• F28D2021/0028

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