Heat module

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016003261-A1
Application number	US-201514629874-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 24, 2015
Priority date	Jul 4, 2014
Publication date	Jan 7, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

The fan includes an impeller, a motor, and a housing. The housing includes a side wall portion and a lower plate portion. at least one of the lower plate portion and an upper plate portion arranged to cover an upper side of the impeller includes an air inlet. The upper plate portion, the side wall portion, and the lower plate portion are arranged to together define an air outlet on a lateral side of the impeller. At or near an opposite end of the heat pipe, the heat pipe includes a contact portion arranged to be in contact with one of an upper surface of the lower plate portion and a lower surface of the upper plate portion. A longitudinal direction of at least a portion of the heat pipe extends at an angle with respect to the air outlet.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A heat module comprising:
a fan; and a heat pipe arranged to be in thermal contact with a heat source at or near one end thereof, and arranged to be in thermal contact with the fan at or near an opposite end thereof; wherein the fan includes:
an impeller including a plurality of blades arranged in a circumferential direction about a central axis extending in a vertical direction;
a motor arranged to rotate the impeller; and
a housing arranged to accommodate the impeller and the motor;
the housing includes:
a side wall portion arranged to cover a lateral side of the impeller, and including at least one opening each of which opens into an exterior space outside of the fan, each of the at least one opening extending over a circumferential extent; and
a lower plate portion arranged to be in contact with the side wall portion, and arranged to support the impeller through the motor such that the impeller is rotatable;
at least one of the lower plate portion and an upper plate portion arranged to cover an upper side of the impeller includes an air inlet; the upper plate portion, the side wall portion, and the lower plate portion are arranged to together define an air outlet on the lateral side of the impeller; the air outlet is a plane parallel to the central axis and including one of an edge of the upper plate portion, a pair of edges which are circumferential ends of the opening of the side wall portion, and an edge of the lower plate portion that is the closest to the central axis; at or near the opposite end of the heat pipe, the heat pipe includes a contact portion arranged to be in contact with one of an upper surface of the lower plate portion and a lower surface of the upper plate portion; and a longitudinal direction of at least a portion of the heat pipe extends at an angle with respect to the air outlet.

2 . The heat module according to claim 1 , wherein, in a plan view, at least a portion of the contact portion is arranged in an area surrounded by a first imaginary tangent, a second imaginary tangent, and the air outlet, the first imaginary tangent passing through a downstream end of the side wall portion with respect to a rotation direction of the impeller, being tangent to an imaginary envelope joining outer ends of the blades, and leading from the downstream end of the side wall portion upstream with respect to an air-blowing direction, the second imaginary tangent passing through an upstream end of the side wall portion with respect to the rotation direction of the impeller, being tangent to the imaginary envelope joining the outer ends of the blades, and leading from the upstream end of the side wall portion downstream with respect to the air-blowing direction.

3 . The heat module according to claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the heat pipe is arranged on a side of the air outlet closer to the central axis.

4 . The heat module according to claim 1 , wherein
the side wall portion includes a tongue portion arranged to project between the air outlet and the impeller; and in a plan view, at least a portion of the heat pipe is arranged in a fourth region when: an imaginary straight line which is parallel to the air outlet and which intersects with the central axis in a plan view is defined as a first imaginary straight line, and an imaginary straight line which is perpendicular to the air outlet and which intersects with the central axis in the plan view is defined as a second imaginary straight line; and of four regions divided by the first and second imaginary straight lines, a region in which the tongue portion is arranged is defined as a first region, and the three other regions are defined as a second region, a third region, and the fourth region in an order in which the three regions are arranged in the rotation direction of the impeller from the first region.

5 . The heat module according to claim 4 , wherein the opposite end of the heat pipe is arranged in the third region.

6 . The heat module according to claim 1 , wherein the heat pipe is arranged to overlap with at least a portion of each of the blades in a plan view.

7 . The heat module according to claim 1 , wherein, in a plan view, the heat pipe is arranged to extend along an inner circumferential surface of the side wall portion between the side wall portion and outer ends of the blades, and is arranged to overlap at least in part with an imaginary envelope joining the outer ends of the blades in an area radially inside of a radially outer end of the heat pipe.

8 . The heat module according to claim 1 , wherein
the heat pipe includes:
a first heat pipe portion arranged to extend along the air outlet;
a curved portion arranged on a side of the first heat pipe portion closer to the opposite end of the heat pipe, and having the greatest curvature within the heat pipe; and
a second heat pipe portion arranged on a side of the curved portion closer to the opposite end of the heat pipe; and
at least a portion of the contact portion is included in the second heat pipe portion.

9 . The heat module according to claim 8 , wherein a minimum distance between the curved portion and the central axis is greater than a minimum distance between the second heat pipe portion and the central axis.

10 . The heat module according to claim 9 , wherein a maximum curvature of the curved portion is greater than a maximum curvature of the impeller.

11 . The heat module according to claim 8 , wherein a maximum curvature of the curved portion is greater than a maximum curvature of the impeller.

12 . The heat module according to claim 8 , wherein, in the upper surface of the lower plate portion or the lower surface of the upper plate portion, a portion which is in contact with the contact portion of the heat pipe is recessed axially downward or axially upward relative to a remaining portion, and the portion which is in contact with the contact portion of the heat pipe is joined to the remaining portion through a shoulder portion.

13 . The heat module according to claim 12 , wherein the remaining portion of the upper surface of the lower plate portion or of the lower surface of the upper plate portion and an opposite surface of the heat pipe to the contact portion are arranged to be flush with each other.

14 . The heat module according to claim 1 , wherein the opposite end of the heat pipe is arranged radially outside of a radially outer edge of the upper plate portion, the side wall portion, or the lower plate portion.

15 . The heat module according to claim 1 , wherein one of the lower plate portion and the upper plate portion with which the contact portion is in contact is made of a material having excellent thermal conductivity.

16 . The heat module according to claim 1 , wherein the heat pipe has a flat cross section.

17 . The heat module according to claim 1 , wherein, in the upper surface of the lower plate portion or the lower surface of the upper plate portion, a portion which is in contact with the contact portion of the heat pipe is recessed axially downward or axially upward relative to a remaining portion, and the portion which is in contact with the contact portion of the heat pipe is joined to the remaining portion through a shoulder portion.

18 . The heat module according to claim 17 , wherein the remaining portion of the upper surface of the lower plate portion or of the lower surface of the upper plate portion and an opposite surface of the heat pipe to the contact portion are arranged to be flush with each other

Assignees

• Nidec Corp

Inventors

• Tamaoka Takehito
• Fukushima Kazuhiko
• Hatanaka Koji

Classifications

• H10W40/73

  for cooling by change of state · CPC title

• F04D29/582

  specially adapted for elastic fluid pumps · CPC title

• F04D29/5853

  heat insulation or conduction · CPC title

• F04D29/42

  for radial or helico-centrifugal pumps · CPC title

• F04D25/0613

  the electric motor being of the inside-out type, i.e. the rotor is arranged radially outside a central stator · CPC title