Packaging Structure of Small-Sized Computer

1. Industrial Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a packaging structure of work stations, personal computers and electronic appliances of similar structures such as word processors (such apparatus will be all referred to as small-sized computers in this specification) and, more particularly, to a packaging structure of small-sized computers of lap-top types, desk-top types and notebook types.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Recently, the above-mentioned small-sized computers have been remarkably improved in their compactness and computing speed. Accordingly, amounts of generated heat by LSI chips and the like tend to increase, and it has been an extremely important subject to improve the cooling efficiency. Conventional small-sized computers of this kind are not provided with special cooling means, and heat generated by heat generating portions is cooled through natural heat radiation in many cases. One of such conventional examples is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 62-10494 (a packaging structure of a printed wiring board). In this example, a board on which electronic component parts generating heat are mounted is inclined at an angle to promote natural convection. On the other hand, because the generated heat amounts are increased, as described above, it is necessary to improve the cooling efficiency actively, and new trials have been lately observed in relation to cooling methods. One example of such trials is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 64-2397 (a cooling structure of an electronic circuit package) in which a liquid coolant is used instead of the cooling air and contacted directly with heat generating portions so as to cool them. This method is intended to improve the cooling efficiency by a large extent by use of liquid. Although there are also many known examples of methods utilizing the air, most of them are forcible air-cooling methods with fans, in which shapes of heat radiation fins and air passage structures are contrived for improvement.

In the case of a small-sized computer, the following three factors are particularly important as basic requirements: (a) it is compact; (b) it has a light weight; and (c) it does not consume power more than necessary. From such a standpoint, air-cooling without extra devices is very favorable as a cooling method, and further, natural air-cooling without fans is the best. However, the above-described example disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 62-10494 is a natural convection cooling method, and this method has a characteristic that the upper limit of heat radiation quantities is determined by temperature and areas of heat radiation surfaces. This conventional example is intended to realize the improvement within the range of the characteristic, and itself by a great extent. Moreover, the latter of the two conventional examples described above is not a structure which sufficiently satisfies the above-mentioned requirements (a)-(c), and it is not necessarily satisfactory as a small-sized computer which must have a low electricity demand and low costs.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a packaging structure of a small-sized computer whose cooling efficiency is greatly enhanced as compared with the conventional techniques by improving a method of natural air-cooling which is the most effective method for realizing the small-sized computer which is (a) compact, (b) lightweight, and (c) decreased in power consumption.

In the case of natural air-cooling, the cooling efficiency is mostly determined by the temperature and area of a heat radiation surface. As a fundamental idea to enhance the cooling efficiency, therefore, it is important to make the temperature of the heat radiation surface as high as possible and to enlarge the area of the heat radiation surface. However, temperatures of the surfaces of a computer casing which are directly touched by an operator's hands must not exceed a level which is several degrees higher than the operator's body temperature at most. Consequently, according to the invention, a heat radiation surface is basically divided into some sections, and these sections of the heat radiation surface are set at some temperature levels, so as to solve the problems. In other words, the surface of a casing which may be touched by an operator's hands is arranged to be a low-temperature radiator at about several degrees plus the operator's body temperature, and a high-temperature radiator is provided inside of the casing and out of the reach of the operator's hands. The high-temperature radiator is contacted with heat generating portions through a heat-conductive member. Moreover, air holes are formed in the casing so that the outside air freely flows into and out of the vicinity of the high-temperature radiator. This is a basic form of the invention. As a developed form to enhance the cooling efficiency improving effect to a further extent, a heat radiator in connection with the high-temperature radiator inside of the casing is provided in a display unit, and a heat radiator is provided outside of the casing, thereby increasing the heat radiation area. Furthermore, as a different form, the casing itself is designed as a double-temperature heat radiator having a temperature difference in order to decrease the number of component parts and to reduce the costs.

With the above-described structure, when the temperature of the heat radiation surface is increased in the case of natural heat radiation, the temperature of the cooling air in the neighborhood is raised, thus promoting the convection. Then, the heat radiation quantity is exponentially increased In consequence, in addition to heat radiation from the casing serving as the low-temperature radiator, heat radiation of a quantity much larger than this is realized by the high-temperature radiator inside of the casing. This effect is enhanced as the area of the high-temperature radiator is enlarged.

FIG. 1 is a front-side perspective view of a first embodiment according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear-side perspective view of the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the first embodiment;

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

FIG. 5 is a partial view of the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a graph for explaining the effect of the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a partial view of a second embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII--VIII in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a front-side perspective view of a third embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a partial, vertical sectional view of the third embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a horizontal sectional view of a fourth embodiment, taken along the line XI--XI in FIG. 12;

FIG. 12 is a vertical sectional view of the fourth embodiment, taken along the line XII--XII in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a partial, sectional view of a fifth embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a partial, sectional view of a sixth embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a side view of a seventh embodiment when a computer is unoperated;

FIG. 16 is a side view of the seventh embodiment when the computer is operated;

FIG. 17 is a partial, sectional view of the seventh embodiment when the computer is unoperated;

FIG. 18 is a partial, sectional view of the seventh embodiment when the computer is operated;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of an eighth embodiment when a computer is unoperated;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the eighth embodiment when the computer is operated;

FIG. 21 is a partial, sectional view of the eighth embodiment when the computer is unoperated;

FIG. 22 is a partial, sectional view of the eighth embodiment when the computer is operated;

FIG. 23 is a partial, sectional view of a ninth embodiment when keys are not pressed down;

FIG. 24 is a partial, sectional view of the ninth embodiment when a key is pressed down;

FIG. 25 is a partial, sectional view of a tenth embodiment; and

FIG. 26 is a partial, sectional view of an eleventh embodiment.

A first embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIG. 1 is a front-side perspective view of a notebook-type small-sized computer. Inlets 5 of the outside air are formed in a front-side portion of a casing 1 on which a keyboard 4 or the like is mounted, and air outlets 6 are formed in a rear-side portion of the casing 1. Also, air outlets 7 are formed in an upper-side portion of a frame plate 2 surrounding a display screen 3. A display unit comprising the display screen 3, the frame plate 2 and so forth can be freely swung forwardly and backwardly about a rotary portion 8. FIG. 2 is a rear-side perspective view of the first embodiment. Vent holes are likewise formed in the display unit in such a manner that the outside air flows in through inlets 9 and flows out through the outlets 7. FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the first embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the line IV--IV in FIG. 3. A substrate on which LSI chips 12 are mounted is thermally connected to a high-temperature radiator 14 through a heat-conductive member 13 of an elastic structure. The high-temperature radiator 14 comprises fins 14c in contact with the casing 1, branch radiator connecting portions 14b, and an intermediate-temperature radiator a extending toward the rear side of the casing 1. A branch radiator 15 is thermally connected to the high-temperature radiator 14 through branch radiator connecting portions 15b, and is located in the vicinity of a back light 10 provided on the rear surface of the display screen 3. The branch radiator 15 includes fins 15c which are in contact with the frame plate 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the fins 14c on the side of the keyboard 4 are provided at a plurality of locations. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the radiators 14 and 15 provided inside of the casing 1. The branch radiator 15 is arranged to be swung with the display unit while maintaining a favorable condition of thermal connection by means of the connecting portions 14b and 15b which are provided at a plurality of locations. The fins 15c, like the fins 14c, are provided in plural.

In the above structure, the radiators 14, 14a and 15, the branch radiator connecting portions 14b and 15b, and the fins 14c and 15c are made of, for example, aluminum plates which are excellent in heat conductivity. The heat-conductive member 13 having an elastic-structure is composed of a bag made of a sheet of aluminum foil on both surfaces of which an insulating resin such as polyethylene, polypropylene or the like is laminated in the form of thin films, and highly heat-conductive liquid such as heat-conductive grease, heat-conductive silicone oil, carbon fluoride solution or the like which is sealed in the bag, or such liquid with metallic coiled springs, U-shaped metallic leaf springs or metal wool, as a metallic scourer, extending between opposite inner surfaces of the bag, which is sealed in the bag. An example of this type is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/800268.

Next, the operation and effect of the above embodiment will be described. While the small-sized computer is used, the display unit is maintained in a slightly backwardly inclined and open state, as shown in FIG. 1. When the power source is turned on to enable to operate the small-sized computer, heat generating portions such as the LSI chips 12, the back light 10 and so forth shown in FIG. 3 begin to generate heat. Accordingly, temperatures of other component parts are increased, but a heat flow to be described below is realized to suppress these temperatures to a certain level. First, due to the heat generated by the LSI chips 12, temperatures of the LSI chips 12 and the substrate 11 are raised, and heat thus generated is smoothly transmitted to the high-temperature radiator 14 through the heat-conductive member 13. Since the radiator 14 is constructed in the above-described manner, the heat flow is divided into a flow further conducted to the casing 1 through the fins 14c, a flow transmitted to the intermediate-temperature radiator 14a in the rear-side portion of the casing 1, and a flow transmitted to the branch radiator 15 in the display unit through the connecting portions. Because the branch radiator 15 includes the fins 15c, there is generated a heat flow transmitted through the fins 15c to the frame plate 2. Although the display unit, which includes the back light 10 provided therein, also generates heat from it, the generated heat is conducted to the radiator 15 located nearby and released, with other heat, into the air through the radiator 15.

The heat generated by the heat generating portions is conducted and flows in the above-described manner, and such heat is released to the outside to thereby complete the entire heat flow, so that the temperatures of the component parts can be maintained under the particular level. This will be explained below.

The farther the component parts are located from the heat generating portions, the lower their temperatures are. Concerning the radiators which release heat into the outside air, the high-temperature radiator 14 located the closest to the heat generating portions has the highest temperature, and the branch radiator 15 and the intermediate-temperature radiator 14a, which are thermally connected to the radiator 14, have slightly lower temperatures. Further, the casing 1 and the frame plate 2, which are connected to the radiators 14 and 15 through the fins and the like, are radiators having the lowest temperatures. By the way, in an air-cooling system of a natural convection type without fans like the present invention, convection caused by density differences of the air is promoted because the temperature of the ambient air becomes higher as the temperatures of radiation surfaces are raised. As a result, there is caused convection corresponding to temperature levels in the vicinity of the radiators. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the outside air spontaneously flows from air inlets 16a at the front-side of the keyboard toward air outlets 16b in the rear-side portion of the casing, and from air inlets 17a formed in the vicinity of the rotary portion toward air outlets 17b formed in the top of the display unit. This phenomenon is effected remarkably especially in the neighborhood of the radiators 14 and 15 which have relatively high temperatures, as described above. Natural heat radiation from the casing 1 and the frame plate 2 is smaller than that of the high-temperature radiator 14. Concerning the casing 1, however, heat flows 19 are additionally released through conduction to a computer installation surface 18 (e.g., the surface of a desk), as shown in FIG. 4.

The quantitative effect produced by the above-described operation will be now described. FIG. 6 illustrates a relation between radiator temperatures and heat radiation quantities when a small-sized computer of the A4 size is used in the air at a temperature of 30.degree. C. Since the casing is touched by the operator's hands, it is necessary to suppress its temperature to about 40.degree. C., and the heat radiation quantity is about 5 W. This is an allowable heat generation amount of a conventional personal computer. On the other hand, the high-temperature radiator of the above embodiment is provided inside of the casing so that the temperature of the radiator can be set at a high level, thereby drastically increasing the heat radiation quantity. Actually, since the highest temperature of the LSI chips is limited, the radiator temperature level should preferably be 50.degree. to 60.degree. C. Even in this case, however, heat radiation of about 25 W can be obtained, as easily understood from FIG. 6. As a result, heat radiation of about 30 W can be totally effected, and the allowable heat generation amount can be made significantly larger than that of the conventional art, thus increasing the processing speed of the computer to a great extent.

FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment according to the invention in which a part of the above-mentioned high-temperature radiator 14 is formed of heat pipes 20, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII--VIII in FIG. 7. As is commonly known, a heat pipe is composed of a metallic sealed pipe inside of which a capillary tube structure is formed and a small amount of liquid is sealed in a vacuum, and heat is absorbed from one end of the pipe owing to evaporation of the liquid, whereas heat is released from the other end of the pipe owing to condensation of the vapor. Many known examples in relation to such heat pipes are disclosed in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,865. In this embodiment, a radiator 14 is made of a double-layer joint plate in some places of which heat pipes 20 are formed, and a coolant sealed portion 20c, an evaporating portoin 20a and a condensing portion 20b are formed inside of each of the heat pipes 20. In this case, the area from the evaporating portion 20a to the condensing portion 20 b of the heat pipe 20 can be maintained at substantially the same temperature, so that the whole radiator 14 will have a substantially uniform temperature, thereby obtaining a favorable convection effect over the wide surfaces.

FIG. 9 shows a third embodiment according to the invention in which an auxiliary heat radiation unit 21 is swingably provided, as an additional member, at the back of a display screen frame plate 2, and FIG. 10 is a partial, vertical sectional view of the same. More specifically, auxiliary radiators 22 are connected to a high-temperature radiator 14 through common connecting portions 14b and 15b, so that heat conducted to the auxiliary radiators 22 will be cooled down by the outside air flowing in from air inlets 23 and flowing out from air outlets 24. When a desired number of auxiliary radiators are provided in parallel, as in this embodiment, the radiation quantity can be further increased.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a fourth embodiment according to the invention. FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line XII--XII in FIG. 11, and FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line XI--XI in FIG. 12. In this embodiment, radiators having different temperature levels are provided inside of a single casing. More specifically, a large number of grooves having a substantially C-shaped cross-section whose height is gradually increased in a direction of the depth are integrally formed on the bottom of a casing 1. Upper surface portions 1b and lower surface portions 1a of these grooves function as high-temperature radiators and low-temperature radiators, respectively, and the outside air flows into and out of groove spaces between them from front-side inlets 16a to rear-side outlets 16b. The high-temperature radiators 1b are directly connected to heat generating portions 12 through a heat-conductive member 13 inside the casing 1, and the low-temperature radiators 1a define the outermost (lowest) surface of the casing 1. Since the gap between the high-temperature radiators 1b and the low-temperature radiators 1a is about several mm at the front side, fingers of the operator will not touch the inside high-temperature radiators 1b. This embodiment is advantageous in that it is economical because it is not necessary to install high- and low-temperature radiators as separate members from the casing 1.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show modifications of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, which are fifth and sixth embodiments according to the invention, respectively. Each of the figures is an equivalent of the sectional view taken along the line XI--XI in FIG. 12. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, a bottom plate of a casing 1 has grooves of a dovetail shape which are formed in a series. Upper surface portions 1b and lower surface portions 1a of these grooves function as high-temperature radiators and low-temperature radiators, respectively, and the outside air flows into and out of groove spaces between them. On the other hand, in the embodiment of FIG. 14, an uneven plate 1b, as illustrated in the figure, is fixed on a bottom plate 1a of a casing 1. Upper surface portions of the uneven plate 1b and the bottom plate 1a function as high-temperature radiators and low-temperature radiators, respectively, and the outside air flows into and out of gaps between them. Other component parts have substantially the same structure as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.

FIGS. 15 and 16 show a seventh embodiment according to the invention in which the bottom of a casing 1 has a double structure by providing a movable air duct member 25. When the computer is unoperated, side walls of the casing 1 and side walls of the movable air duct member 25 are overlapped at a lower portion of the casing, as shown in FIG. 15. When the computer is operated, the movable air duct member 25 is projected downwardly from the side walls of the casing 1, thus defining a space therein, as shown in FIG. 16. This space serves to let the outside air in and out, and air inlets 5, 5a and air outlets 6, 6a are formed in proper portions of the side walls of the movable air duct member 25. These air inlets and outlets are closed by the side walls of the casing 1, as shown in FIG. 15, when the computer is unoperated. The casing 1 contains a heat conductive member 13 and radiators 14, 14a and 15 which are similar to those shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. With such a structure, when the computer is unoperated, it can be made compact and can prevent the dust from entering from the air inlets and outlets, and when it is operated, its cooling efficiency can be improved to enable high-speed processing. One example of a mechanism for displacing the movable air duct member 25 of this embodiment out of and into the casing 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18. Some portions of the side walls of the movable air duct member 25 form elastic portions 1c with hooks 30, and compression springs 1d are provided between these side walls and the casing 1. When the computer is unoperated, as shown in FIG. 17, the hooks 30 of the elastic portions 1c are engaged in notches 31 formed on the side walls of the casing 1, and the movable air duct member 25 is maintained in the receding position, as shown in FIG. 15. When the computer is operated, the engagement is released by pressing push buttons le so that the movable air duct member 25 will be pressed downwardly by the compression springs 1d and stopped as the hooks 30 are brought into engagement with lower notches 32, as shown in FIG. 18. Thus, the movable air duct member 25 is projected, as shown in FIG. 16. In order to bring it into the condition of the unoperated computer shown in FIGS. 15 and 17 again, the casing 1 is simply pressed down against forces of the compression springs 1d.

FIGS. 19 and 20 show an eighth embodiment according to the invention in relation to an opening/ closing mechanism of inlets and outlets of the outside air for cooling. More specifically, air inlets and outlets 5b, 6b, 7b and 9b are closed when the computer is unoperated, as shown in FIG. 19, and they are opened only when the computer is operated, as shown in FIG. 20. With such a structure, the dust or the like does not enter the computer from the outside when it is unoperated, so that the reliability of the computer can be prevented from deteriorating. One example of such an opening/closing mechanism of air inlets and outlets will be described with reference to FIGS. 21 and 22. The air inlets and outlets are closed by cover members 5d which are supported by shape-memory alloy members 5c when the computer is unoperated, as shown in FIG. 21. When the power source is turned on to operate the computer, power is supplied to the shape-memory alloy members 5c, and they are deformed to thereby open the cover members 5d, as shown in FIG. 22.

FIGS. 23 and 24 show a ninth embodiment according to the invention which is a mechanism for transmitting heat generated by LSI chips to a radiator effectively by inserting a heat-conductive member 13 of an elastic structure inside a casing 1. When the above-mentioned liquid-sealed bag is used as the heat-conductive member 13, the heat conductivity is improved by promoting convection of the liquid. In this embodiment, such convection is realized by keyboard operation. More specifically, each key 4 on the keyboard is provided with a pressure rod 28 which is moved vertically as the key 4 is turned on and off. FIG. 23 shows a condition in which keys 4 are off, and FIG. 24 shows a condition in which a desired one of the keys 4 is on. Since the keys 4 are turned on and off discontinuously, the liquid in the heat-conductive member 13 is forcibly displaced horizontally. As a result, the convection of the liquid is promoted to improve the heat conductivity remarkably. This structure is superior to the above-described embodiments particularly in that no special drive forces are required at all for promoting the liquid convection. In the figures, reference numeral 27 denotes a contact rod; 29 denotes a contact sheet; and 26 denotes a key spring. In this embodiment, the heat-conductive member 13 is in contact with a portion of a casing 1 between the keyboard and a display screen frame plate 2, and this portion of the casing 1 serves as a radiator. This arrangement is based on the consideration that the above-mentioned portion of the casing 1 is usually out of the reach of the operator while operating the computer, and that there is no problem in using this portion as a radiator.

FIG. 25 shows a tenth embodiment according to the invention which is different from the embodiment of FIGS. 23 and 24 in that a heat-conductive member 13 is in contact with a portion of a casing 1 at the back of a display screen frame plate 2, and that this portion serves as a radiator. This arrangement is based on the consideration that it is less probable for the operator to touch the portion of the casing 1 at the back than the above-mentioned portion in front when operating the computer.

FIG. 26 shows an eleventh embodiment according to the invention in which air inlets 5 and air outlets are formed at appropriate locations in the embodiment of FIGS. 23 and 24 in substantially the same manner as the first embodiment, so as to cool a heat-conductive member 13 which is not contacted with a casing 1, by use of the outside air flowing in and out of the casing 1.

As described on the basis of the preferred embodiments, in comparison with the conventional art, the small-sized computer packaging structure according to the present invention can achieve remarkable improvements in functions, performances and so forth as follows:

1) While maintaining the casing temperature at about 40.degree. C. at most, the quantity of heat radiation by natural air-cooling can be significantly increased as compared with the conventional art.

2) The processing speed of the small-sized computer can be accordingly improved to a large extent.

3) Since the heat radiation quantity equivalent to that of forcible air-cooling (with fans) effected in the conventional small-sized computer can be obtained through natural air-cooling, great effects can be produced in the noise reduction, energy saving, compactness, cost reduction and reliability.