US20120103572A1

US20120103572A1 - Heat dissipating apparatus with vortex generator

Info

Publication number: US20120103572A1
Application number: US13/106,938
Authority: US
Inventors: Jer-Sheng HWANG; Sheam-Chyun Lin
Original assignee: Enermax Technology Corp
Current assignee: Enermax Technology Corp
Priority date: 2010-11-03
Filing date: 2011-05-13
Publication date: 2012-05-03
Also published as: DE202011002064U1; TWM403012U; USD802543S1; JP3167993U

Abstract

A heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator includes a heat conducting base, a heat pipe, and a plurality of heat dissipating fins. Each heat dissipating fin has a vortex generator installed thereon and disposed adjacent to a side of the heat pipe. The vortex generator has two guiding oblique surfaces protruding from a surface of the heat dissipating fin. The two guiding oblique surfaces are disposed with an included angle there between. A through hole is formed at a position opposite to a side of the heat dissipating fin, such that the vortex generator of each heat dissipating fin induces a stack effect at corresponding upper and lower parts of the heat dissipating fin to improve the heat dissipating efficiency.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a heat dissipating apparatus, in particular to a heat dissipating apparatus capable of generating vortices by a vortex generator and providing a stack effect.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In recent years, vortex generator is considered as one of the passive thermal conductivity enhancement technologies, and it combines small protrusions such as embossments, stamps and punches with a main thermal exchange surface such as the surface of a heat dissipating fin by a manufacturing method, thereby preventing possible separations occurred at the boundary and reducing frictions. In addition to the advantage of having a better thermal conductivity enhancement of the heat dissipating fin, the vortex generator also has a smaller pressure drop.
In the past, vortex generators applied to heat dissipating fins generally use vortex energy to facilitate an exchange of heat with air. However, the effect is still not good enough, because the produced vortices only flow in a direction based on the airflow direction of a fan. If no airflow is driven by the fan or a stagnancy is caused by too much accumulated heat, the heat exchange effect of the conventional vortex generators will be so small that the heat dissipating efficiency cannot be enhanced.
In view of the aforementioned shortcomings of the prior art, the present Inventor proposes a novel and reasonable structure based on years of experience in the related industry and extensive researches.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator. Each heat dissipating fin is provided with the vortex generators, so that the heat dissipating apparatus can induce a stack effect by means of the vortex generators on and below each heat dissipating fin. In this way, the heat accumulated between the respective dissipating fins can be dissipated to achieve the heat dissipating effect automatically.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides a heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator, which comprises: a heat conducting base, at least one heat pipe, and a plurality of heat dissipating fins, wherein the heat pipe is coupled to the heat conducting base and sequentially penetrating the heat dissipating fins, each heat dissipating fin includes a vortex generator installed thereon and disposed adjacent to a side of the heat pipe, each vortex generator has two guiding oblique surfaces erected from a surface of the heat dissipating fin, the two guiding oblique surfaces are arranged with an included angle therebetween, a through hole is formed at a position opposite to a side of the heat dissipating fin.
In comparison with prior art, the present invention has advantages as follows. Since the vortex generators protrude from each heat dissipating fin, the total area for heat dissipation will be increased. Further, since external cold air flowing through the adjacent two heat dissipating fins is disturbed by the protruding vortex generators, it takes more time for the external cold air to pass through the adjacent two heat dissipating fins, so that the time for heat exchange is extended and thus the heat transfer is improved greatly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a heat dissipating fin in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a planar partial view of the heat dissipating fin of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a top view of a using status of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 8-8 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the heat dissipating fin in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the heat dissipating fin in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The technical characteristics and contents of the present invention will become apparent with the following detailed description and related drawings. The drawings are provided for the purpose of illustrating the present invention only, but not intended for limiting the scope of the invention.
With reference to FIG. 1 for a perspective view of the present invention, the present invention provides a heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator, which comprises: a heat conducting base 1, at least one heat pipe 2, and a plurality of heat dissipating fins 3.
The heat conducting base 1 is made of a material with good thermal conductivity such as aluminum and copper and substantially in form of a plate adhered to a heat-generating electronic component (not shown in the figure) such as a CPU of a computer. The heat pipe 2 is coupled to the heat conducting base 1 and sequentially penetrates through the heat dissipating fins 3, such that the heat conducting base 1 can absorb the heat generated by the heat-generating electronic component and conduct the heat to each heat dissipating fin 3 quickly. More specifically, each heat dissipating fin 3 has a corresponding penetrating hole 30 formed thereon and a circular flange 31 protrudes from the periphery of each penetrating hole 30. The heat pipe 2 passes through the penetrating hole 30 of each heat dissipating fin 3 and closely contacts each circular flange 31. In this preferred embodiment of the invention, there is a plurality of heat pipes 2.
With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the present invention comprises at least one vortex generator 4 installed on each heat dissipating fin 3 and disposed proximate to a backwind side of the heat pipe 2. In other words, a vortex generator 4 is installed at a side of the backwind side of each heat pipe 2, such that after an external airflow (such as the airflow of a fan) flows to a windward side of the heat pipe 2, the airflow will pass through the vortex generator 4 and produce a spiral vortex and drive the airflow to flow towards the backwind side of the heat pipe 2, thereby dissipating the hot air at the backwind side of the heat pipe 2. Each vortex generator 4 has two guiding oblique surfaces 40, 41 erected from a surface of the heat dissipating fin 3, and the two guiding oblique surfaces 40, 41 have top edges 400, 410 ascendingly protruding from the two guiding oblique surfaces 40, 41. A lower position is aligned towards an adjacent heat pipe 2. The top edges 400, 410 of the two guiding oblique surfaces 40, 41 extend towards the lower position to form included angle lines L1. The included angle lines L1 of the two guiding oblique surfaces 40, 41 extend to be intersected to form an included angle. A through hole 32 is formed to penetrate through a side opposite to the heat dissipating fin 3.
With reference to FIG. 3 for a more detailed description, an included angle θ produced by the intersection of the included angle lines L1 is preferably equal to 60°, but the present invention is not limited to such angle only. In FIG. 4, the ratio of the length 11 and the maximum height h1 (or height) of the two guiding oblique surfaces 40, 41 is preferably equal to 2:1.
In FIGS. 3 and 5, each heat dissipating fin 3 of the present invention has a plurality of auxiliary vortex generators 5 arranged transversally, and each auxiliary vortex generator 5 has two guiding oblique surfaces 50 protruding from a surface of the heat dissipating fin 3. The two guiding oblique surfaces 50 protrude in a tapered form. A through hole 51 is formed to penetrate through a position opposite to the heat dissipating fin 3, and the through hole 51 is oriented upwardly and obliquely. More specifically, in FIG. 3, the two guiding oblique surfaces 50 of the auxiliary vortex generator 5 preferably have an included angle θ2 of 30°, but the present invention is not limited to such angle only. The ratio of the length 12 and the width w of the two guiding oblique surfaces 50 is preferably equal to 2:1.
With the aforementioned assembly, the heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of the present invention can be achieved.
In FIG. 6, a fan 6 is further provided on one side of each heat dissipating fin 3 of the heat dissipating apparatus, thereby assisting the heat dissipation from each heat dissipating fin 3. After the airflow produced by the fan 6 passes through the windward side of the heat pipe 2, a portion of the airflow will flow along the external guiding oblique surfaces 40, 41 of the two vortex generators 4, and another portion of the airflow will enter the two vortex generators 4 to accelerate the dissipation of the heat accumulated at the backwind side of the heat pipe 2. In FIG. 7, since each vortex generator 4 has a through hole 32 penetrating through the heat dissipating fin 3, after the heat dissipating fins 3 are stacked up, each through hole 32 forms a passage that allows the hot airflow to flow and rise. As a result, the hot air that cannot be driven away by the wind produced by the fan 6 can rise and escape naturally. Thus, a stack effect is induced to achieve the heat dissipation.
Each auxiliary vortex generator 5 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 can assist accelerating the dissipation of the remaining heat between the heat dissipating fins 3, so that the accumulated hot airflow can rise vertically and escape from the through hole 51 to induce a better stack effect.
With reference to FIG. 9 for a perspective view of a heat dissipating fin in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the auxiliary vortex generators 5 are provided in pairs. The two guiding oblique surfaces 50 of each auxiliary vortex generator 5 protrude to be intersected to form a ridge L2. The included angle θ2 formed by the ridges L2 of a pair of adjacent auxiliary vortex generators 5 is preferably equal to 60°, but the present invention is not limited to such angle only. In FIG. 10, a ventilation hole 33 is formed at a position next to each vortex generator 4. A tapered circular enclosed portion 34 is formed to protrude upwardly from the periphery of the ventilation hole 33. In this preferred embodiment of the present invention, the circular enclosed portion 34 is disposed between the two guiding oblique surfaces 40, 41. After the heat dissipating fins 3 are stacked up, each circular enclosed portion 34 allows hot air to pass from the bottom through the ventilation hole 33 and rise effectively to achieve a more significant stack effect.
To sum up the above, the present invention improves over the prior art and complies with the patent application requirements, and thus is duly filed for patent application.
While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

Claims

1. A heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator, comprising:

a heat conducting base (1);

a heat pipe (2), coupled to the heat conducting base (1); and

a plurality of heat dissipating fins (3), sequentially penetrated by the heat pipe (2);

wherein each heat dissipating fin (3) has a vortex generator (4) installed thereon and disposed proximate to a side of the heat pipe (2), the vortex generator (4) has two guiding oblique surfaces (40), (41) arranged with an included angle therebetween, and a through hole (32) is formed at a position opposite to a side of the heat dissipating fin (3).

2. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 1, wherein the heat conducting base (1) is substantially a plate.

3. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 1, wherein each of the heat dissipating fins (3) has a corresponding penetrating hole (30) for allowing the heat pipe (2) to pass through.

4. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 3, wherein each penetrating hole (30) has a circular flange (31) protruding from the periphery of the penetrating hole (30) for keeping a close contact with the heat pipe (2).

5. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 1, wherein there is a plurality of heat pipes (2), and each heat pipe (2) has a vortex generator (4) installed on its one side.

6. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 1, wherein the two guiding oblique surfaces (40), (41) of each vortex generator (4) have top edges (400), (410) ascendingly protruding from the two guiding oblique surfaces (40), (41) respectively, the top edges (400), (410) of the two guiding oblique surfaces (40), (41) extend downwardly to form included angle lines (L1) respectively that are intersected with each other.

7. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 6, wherein the included angle formed by intersecting the two included angle lines (L1) is equal to 60°.

8. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 1, wherein the two guiding oblique surfaces (40), (41) of each vortex generator (4) have an aspect ratio of 2:1.

9. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 1, wherein each heat dissipating fin (3) includes a plurality of auxiliary vortex generators (5) arranged transversally on the heat dissipating fin (3).

10. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 9, wherein each auxiliary vortex generator (5) has two guiding oblique surfaces (50) protruding from a surface of the heat dissipating fin (3), the two guiding oblique surfaces (50) protrude in a tapered form, a through hole (51) is formed at a corresponding position penetrating through the heat dissipating fin (3).

11. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 10, wherein the two guiding oblique surfaces (50) of each auxiliary vortex generator (5) have an included angle of 30°.

12. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 10, wherein the two guiding oblique surfaces (50) of each auxiliary vortex generator (5) have an aspect ratio of 2:1.

13. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 10, wherein the through hole (51) of each auxiliary vortex generator (5) is oriented upwardly and obliquely.

14. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 9, wherein the auxiliary vortex generators (5) are provided in pairs.

15. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 9, wherein the two guiding oblique surfaces (50) of the auxiliary vortex generator (5) protrude to be intersected to form a ridge (L2), the ridges (L2) of adjacent paired auxiliary vortex generators (5) form an included angle of 60°.

16. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 1, wherein each heat dissipating fin (3) further includes a ventilation hole (33) formed at a position proximate to each vortex generators (4), and a tapered circular enclosed portion (34) protrudes upwardly from the periphery of the ventilation hole (33).

17. The heat dissipating apparatus with a vortex generator of claim 16, wherein the circular enclosed portion (34) is disposed between the two guiding oblique surfaces (40), (41).