Heat spreading chassis for rack-mounted computer system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9694451-B1
Application number	US-201313887576-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 6, 2013
Priority date	Mar 4, 2010
Publication date	Jul 4, 2017
Grant date	Jul 4, 2017

Abstract

A computer system includes a circuit board assembly and a chassis. The circuit board assembly includes a circuit board and one or more heat producing components coupled to the circuit board. At least one of the heat producing components includes an exposed surface. The chassis includes one or more mounting portions that are coupled to the circuit board and support the circuit board. The chassis also includes one or more heat spreading portions. The heat spreading portions couple to exposed surfaces of one or more heat producing components on the circuit board.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
determining a location of one or more exposed surfaces on one or more heat producing components of a circuit board assembly;
producing a chassis, wherein said producing comprises:
including in the chassis, a pair of opposed left and right rails configured to mount on a corresponding pair of opposed left and right rails in a rack;
including in the chassis one or more heat spreading portions, wherein the chassis is produced such that at least one of the heat spreading portions couples with at least one exposed surface of at least one of the heat producing components when the chassis is coupled to the circuit board; and
arranging the chassis to horizontally mount in the rack and support the circuit board assembly in a horizontal orientation during operation of the circuit board assembly; and

coupling the circuit board assembly to the chassis such that the left and right rails of the chassis extend beyond the circuit board assembly to enable the chassis to mount on the corresponding pair of opposed left and right rails in the rack, wherein the circuit board assembly is suspended horizontally from a bottom portion of the chassis such that the circuit board assembly is below the bottom portion of the chassis when the chassis is mounted in the rack.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein producing the chassis comprises forming the one or more heat spreading portions in a sheet of metal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein producing the chassis comprises stamping at least one heat spreading boss in a sheet of metal.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein producing the chassis comprises forming two or more heat spreading portions in a sheet of metal, wherein a contact surface for at least one of the heat spreading portions is at a different height than a contact surface of at least one other of the heat spreading portions.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the circuit board assembly for which the location of one or more exposed surfaces are determined is part of an existing computer system, wherein the method further comprises:
coupling the circuit board assembly to the chassis such that at least one of the heat spreading portions of the chassis replaces at least one heat transfer component of the existing computer system.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the formed chassis is configured to include at least one air channel between the circuit board assembly and the chassis when the chassis is coupled to the circuit board.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising installing the circuit board assembly in the rack.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising operating the circuit board assembly.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
flowing a first portion of air over the chassis; and
flowing a second portion of air through at least one air passage between the chassis and the circuit board assembly.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein flowing the second portion of the air through at least one air passage between the chassis and the circuit board assembly comprises directing a portion of air flowing above at least a portion of the chassis into the passage.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the chassis is coupled on one side of the circuit board assembly, the method further comprising flowing a third portion of air under the circuit board.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein producing the chassis comprises:
producing a height of a first heat spreading portion of the chassis to within a first tolerance; and
producing a height of a second heat spreading portion of the chassis to within a second tolerance, wherein the second tolerance is tighter than the first tolerance;
wherein said coupling the circuit board assembly to the chassis comprises coupling the circuit board assembly to the chassis such that the first heat spreading portion couples with a first heat producing component on the circuit board assembly and such that the second heat spreading portion couples with a second heat producing component on the circuit board assembly, and wherein the first heat spreading portion is configured to transfer heat from the first heat producing component and the second heat spreading portion is configured to transfer heat from the second heat producing component.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising providing a resilient element between the first heat spreading portion and the first heat producing component, wherein the resilient element is configured to resiliently fill a gap between the first heat spreading portion and the first heat producing component to reduce thermal resistance between the first heat spreading portion and the first heat producing component.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
said coupling the circuit board assembly to the chassis comprises coupling the circuit board assembly to the chassis via one or more mounting portions, wherein the circuit board assembly is suspended in the horizontal orientation from the mounting portions such that the circuit board assembly is below a first heat spreading portion of the one or more heat spreading portions when the opposing left and right rails of the chassis are installed on corresponding left and right rails of the rack.

15. A method, comprising:
receiving a chassis comprising a pair of opposed left and right rails and one or more heat spreading portions; and
coupling the chassis with a circuit board such that at least one of the heat spreading portions couples with at least one exposed surface of at least one heat producing component of the circuit board when the chassis is coupled to the circuit board, wherein:
the left and right rails of the chassis extend beyond the circuit board to enable the chassis to horizontally mount on a corresponding pair of opposed left and right rails of a rack; and
the circuit board is suspended horizontally from a bottom portion of the chassis such that the circuit board is below the bottom portion of the chassis when the chassis is mounted in the rack.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the chassis comprises:
one or more upper portions, wherein at least one of the one or more upper portions is configured to be spaced away from the circuit board when the circuit board is coupled to the chassis; and
one or more lower portions, wherein at least one of the one or more lower portions includes at least one of the one or more heat spreading portions.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the one or more lower portions is a depression in the chassis.

18. A method, comprising:
producing a chassis, wherein said producing comprises:
including a pair of opposed left and right rails configured to extend beyond a circuit board when the circuit board is coupled to the chassis and configured to mount on a corresponding pair of opposed left and right rails in a rack;
including one or more upper portions configured to be spaced away from a circuit board when the circuit board is coupled to the chassis;
including one or more lower portions comprising one or more heat spreading portions, wherein the chassis is produced such that at least one of the heat spreading portions is configured to couple with at least one exposed surface of at least one heat producing component of a circuit board when the circuit board is coupled to the chassis; and
arranging the chassis to horizontally mount in the rack and support the circuit board in a horizontal orientation during operation of the circuit board, wherein the circuit board is suspended horizontally from a bottom portion of the chassis such that the ci

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Ross Peter George

Classifications

• H05K7/20145

  Means for directing air flow, e.g. ducts, deflectors, plenum or guides · CPC title

• H05K7/2039

  characterised by the heat transfer by conduction from the heat generating element to a dissipating body (arrangements for increasing/decreasing heat-transfer, e.g. fins details, F28F13/00) · CPC title

• H05K7/20718

  Forced ventilation of a gaseous coolant (in closed loop H05K7/20754) · CPC title

• B23P15/26 Primary

  heat exchangers {or the like (making heat exchangers by methods covered by other subclasses B21D53/02)} · CPC title

• H05K7/20736

  within cabinets for removing heat from server blades · CPC title