JP3035170B2 - Notebook PC cooling structure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooling structure for a notebook personal computer that cools a central processing unit (CPU) by releasing heat generated by the CPU using a heat pipe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional cooling device for a notebook personal computer. In FIG. 3A, the personal computer body 1 is formed of a relatively thin rectangular container made of plastic, carbon fiber, or the like, and has a so-called A4 size in Japanese Industrial Standards.

[0003] A keyboard 2 and a display 3 are provided on the upper surface of the personal computer body 1, and each of these is configured to be rotatable by a hinge. That is, the keyboard unit 2 and the display unit 3 are configured to rise up from the personal computer main body 1 and fall down to the personal computer main body 1 from that state. Also,
Inside the keyboard unit 2 and the display unit 3, aluminum thin plates 4 of substantially the same size are attached as noise shielding plates.

A removable hard disk drive 5, a floppy disk drive, and a battery (each shown in FIG. 3A) are provided on the front side (the keyboard 2 side in FIG. 3A) of the two divided spaces inside the personal computer body 1. (Not shown). A heat pipe 6 is provided at the bottom in the other space, and a central processing unit (hereinafter, CPU) 7 is mounted above the heat pipe 6 through a compound for promoting heat transfer. Further, a plurality of printed circuit boards 8 are provided above the CPU 7. The heat pipe 6 is a so-called flat plate heat pipe in which a container has a thin plate shape, and a plurality of rectangular fins 9 are mounted on a part of the container.

Therefore, in the above cooling device, the working fluid inside the heat pipe 6 evaporates due to the heat generated from the CPU 7 when the personal computer is used. Flow. The working fluid vapor is deprived of heat by the fins 9 and condenses. That is, the heat of the CPU 7 is transported by the working fluid of the heat pipe 6 and released from the fins 9. Therefore, the temperature of the CPU 7 is kept within an allowable range. In addition,
The working fluid condensed and returned to the liquid phase is returned to the evaporating section by gravity and wick, and evaporates again there.

[0006]

The notebook personal computer is mainly intended for portability, and therefore it is strongly desired to reduce the size and weight of the notebook personal computer. Therefore, it is naturally preferable that the space occupied by the cooling device in the internal space of the personal computer body 1 is as small as possible. On the other hand, since the power of the CPU 7 is increasing year by year, there is a demand for an improvement in cooling capacity.

However, C through the heat pipe 6
The cooling capacity of the PU 7 is restricted by the substantial heat radiation area of the heat pipe 6, whereas the conventional cooling device has a configuration in which the area of the heat radiation portion of the heat pipe 6 is secured by the fins 9. The heat radiation area required for the heat pipe 6 increases with the output increase of
It is necessary to increase the size of the fins 9, and since the fins 9 are provided in the personal computer body 1, the space occupied by the cooling device in the internal space of the personal computer body 1 is inevitably large, and the personal computer main body 1 There is a disadvantage that the size of the device is increased.

Further, since the fins 9 are provided inside the main body 1 of the personal computer as described above, there is a problem that heat released from the heat pipe 6 tends to be trapped in the internal space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a compact notebook PC cooling structure having excellent cooling ability.

[0010]

[0011] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides :
Attached to the PC body via a rotating mechanism so that it can be opened and closed freely
When a metal noise shielding plate is installed on the opened and closed member
A central processing unit is installed inside the personal computer.
And a first heat path to the central processing unit.
One end of the Ip is arranged so that heat can be exchanged and
The other end of the first heat pipe is the center axis of the rotation mechanism.
And on the noise shielding plate,
If one end of the heat pipe is arranged to be able to exchange heat
The other end of the second heat pipe is connected to the rotating machine.
The first heat sink is disposed coaxially with the center axis of the structure and
And is connected to the heat pipe so as to be able to exchange heat .

Further, according to the present invention, the opening / closing member can be formed by either a keyboard or a display.

[0013]

[0014]

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
If, generates heat of a central processing unit with the use of PCs body, the heat is transferred to one end of the first heat pipe, the inside of the working fluid evaporates. The working fluid vapor flows toward the other end where both the temperature and the internal pressure are low, where the heat is taken away by one end of the second heat pipe and condensed. The working fluid liquefied by heat release is returned to the central processing unit side end by gravity or wick. On the other hand, the working fluid in the second heat pipe is evaporated by being heated by the heat transmitted from the first heat pipe. The vapor flows toward the end arranged on the noise shielding plate side, where heat is taken away and condensed. That is, heat released from the central processing unit is transferred from the second heat pipe to the noise shielding plate via the first heat pipe, and is radiated to the outside therefrom.

Further, in the present invention, since one end of each of the first heat pipe and the second heat pipe is disposed on the same axis as the central axis of the rotating mechanism, the noise shielding plate has the first end. Even with two heat pipes installed,
An opening / closing member such as a keyboard or a display can be rotated (opened / closed) without any trouble.

If the opening and closing member by the rotating mechanism is formed by a keyboard or a display, heat of the central processing unit carried to the noise shielding plate by the heat pipe is released from one of the keyboard and the display. .

[0018]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic views showing a notebook personal computer according to the cooling structure of the present invention. In these figures, the personal computer body 10 is made of a relatively thin rectangular container formed of plastic, carbon fiber, or the like, and has a size of about JIS A4 size.

A keyboard 11 and a display 12 are provided on the upper surface of the personal computer 10. The keyboard unit 11 and the display unit 12 are each provided with a rotating shaft 13 formed on the personal computer main body 10 side.
, And is rotatable freely within a predetermined range around the center, and is a so-called opening / closing member. That is, the keyboard unit 11 and the display unit 12 are connected to the personal computer 1.
It is configured so that it can be raised upward from 0, respectively, or can be tilted toward the personal computer body 10 from that state. The keyboard section 11 and the display section 12 are provided with aluminum thin plates 14 having dimensions substantially equal to each other.
Is mounted inside. This aluminum thin plate 14 is for shielding noise, and is normally provided as a standard in a notebook personal computer.

A removable hard disk drive 1 is provided in the front space (the keyboard 11 side in FIG. 2A) of the two divided spaces in the personal computer body 10.
5, a floppy disk drive, a battery (both not shown) and the like are stored. Here, the above-described standing / tilting operation (opening / closing operation) of the keyboard unit 11 with respect to the personal computer body 10 is performed when the hard disk drive 15 or the battery or the like shown here is replaced or removed.

On the other hand, one end of a first heat pipe 17 inserted in a flat aluminum block 16 is provided at the bottom of the space on the rear side of the personal computer main body 10. Installed. The aluminum block 16 is for improving the contact between the CPU 18 and the first heat pipe 17, and is provided as necessary. Further, a plurality of printed circuit boards 19 are provided above the CPU 18.

The other end of the first heat pipe 17 is bent substantially at right angles to the end arranged on the aluminum block 16 side, and is the same as the center axis of the rotating shaft 13 on the keyboard section 11 side. It is extended on the axis.
An end of the first heat pipe 17 is rotatably fitted to one end of a second heat pipe 20 having a double pipe structure. That is, the connecting portion 21 between the first heat pipe 17 and the second heat pipe 20 is formed on the same axis as the central axis of the rotating shaft 13. The connection portion 21 is coated with a suitable thermal joint for reducing the contact resistance between the two heat pipes and promoting heat transfer. The other end of the second heat pipe 20 is connected to the back surface of the aluminum thin plate 14 inscribed in the keyboard 11 (FIG. 1).
(In the lower side of FIG. 2) in a state of being in close contact with each other so as to be able to exchange heat. Here, both the first heat pipe 17 and the second heat pipe 20 are small-diameter tubes having a circular cross section as containers. Further, although not shown, portions of these heat pipes that do not come into contact with other members may be covered with a heat insulating coating.

Here, the heat pipe is formed by enclosing a condensable fluid such as water or alcohol as a working fluid in a vacuum degassed state inside a vessel such as a metal pipe having both ends closed. The operation is performed by generating a difference, and the working fluid evaporated in the high temperature portion flows to the low temperature portion and radiates and condenses, thereby performing heat transport as latent heat of the working fluid.
The apparent thermal conductivity is about several tens to several hundred times better than metals such as copper and aluminum. In addition,
A wick that promotes the return of the working fluid is provided inside the container as needed.

Next, the operation of the present invention configured as described above will be described. The notebook personal computer according to the present invention also generates heat from the CPU 18 when used. The heat is transmitted to one end of the first heat pipe 17 via the aluminum block 16. At this point, a temperature difference occurs at both ends of the first heat pipe 17, and therefore, the operation of the first heat pipe 17 is automatically started. That is, the working fluid enclosed in the container evaporates due to the heat released from the CPU 18, and the vapor flows toward the other end where both the temperature and the internal pressure are low. As described above, the other end is covered by the one end of the second heat pipe 20 so that the heat held by the working fluid is taken by the second heat pipe 20.
In this case, since a thermal joint is applied to the connection portion 21, heat is efficiently transferred from the first heat pipe 17 to the second heat pipe 20. The working fluid in the first heat pipe 17 that has been radiated and liquefied returns to the evaporating section due to gravity and wick.

On the other hand, the working fluid vapor inside the second heat pipe 20 also flows toward the other end of the low-temperature and low-pressure, that is, the end disposed on the aluminum thin plate 14, where heat is applied to the aluminum thin plate 14. It is deprived and condensed. As described above, the heat of the CPU 18 installed inside the personal computer body 10 is generated by the first heat pipe 17 and the second heat pipe 20.
It is transported to the aluminum thin plate 14 located outside the personal computer body 10. Then, the heat is radiated from the aluminum thin plate 14 to the outside.

As described above, since the existing aluminum thin plate 14 is used as a heat radiating surface of the second heat pipe 20, the installation space required inside the personal computer body 10 as a cooling structure is reduced, and the weight is almost reduced. There is also an advantage that does not increase. Further, the aluminum thin plate 14 is located outside the personal computer body 10, and its surface area is usually several times larger than the area of the heat radiating portion secured by fins or the like in a conventional general cooling structure. The working fluid in the first heat pipe 17 and the second heat pipe 20 is actively circulated, and the heat hardly stays in the personal computer main body 10, and the cooling capacity can be improved. That is, it is possible to obtain a compact notebook personal computer cooling structure that is excellent in cooling capacity.

Also, in the notebook personal computer according to the present invention, when the hard disk drive 15, the battery and the like are attached to and detached from the personal computer main body 10, the keyboard section 11 is raised from the personal computer main body 10. In this case, since the connecting portion 21 between the first heat pipe 17 and the second heat pipe 20 is formed on the same axis as the central axis of the rotating shaft 13 on the keyboard 11 side as described above, there is no problem. The keyboard unit 11 can be raised. In this embodiment, the display unit 1 in which the second heat pipe 20 is not provided.
Needless to say, 2 can be freely raised from the personal computer main body 10 and can be lowered to the personal computer main body 10 side.

[0028]

[0029]

[0030]

As is clear from the above description,
According to bright, and the other end of the first heat pipe having one end portion to the intermediate central processing unit is thermally exchanged direction end of the second heat pipe having one end disposed in the noise shielding plate Since the other end is disposed on the same axis as the central axis of the rotating mechanism in a state where heat can be exchanged, the opening and closing member by the rotating mechanism even in the state where the second heat pipe is arranged, particularly The keyboard or the display can be opened and closed without any trouble. Further, since the external noise shield of the PC is provided, the heat released therefrom without be confined in the inner space of the PC, and designing equipment, is excellent in cooling capability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the notebook personal computer according to the present invention, with a part cut away.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 PC body, 11 Keyboard part, 12
Display unit, 13: rotating shaft, 14: thin aluminum plate, 17: first heat pipe, 18: CPU, 2
0: second heat pipe, 21: connection part.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Mikiyuki Ono 1-5-1, Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo Inside Fujikura Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-8-42983 (JP, A) JP-A-7 -153880 (JP, A) JP-A-4-151495 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 1/20 F28D 15/02 H05K 7/20

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An opening / closing device is connected to a personal computer via a rotating mechanism.
A metal noise shielding plate is installed on the opening / closing member
In addition to being installed, the central
A processing unit is installed, and the central processing unit
One end of the first heat pipe is arranged to be able to exchange heat
And the other end of the first heat pipe rotates
Being disposed on the same axis as the central axis of the mechanism, and
One end of the second heat pipe can be exchanged with the heat shield plate
And the other end of the second heat pipe
Are arranged on the same axis as the central axis of the rotation mechanism.
A cooling structure for a notebook-type personal computer, wherein the cooling structure is connected to the first heat pipe so as to be able to exchange heat . 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing member is a keyboard or a keyboard.
Claims characterized by one of spraying
2. The cooling structure of the notebook computer according to 1 .