US20110079368A1

US20110079368A1 - Fixing mount and thermal module thereof

Info

Publication number: US20110079368A1
Application number: US12/574,689
Authority: US
Inventors: Chien-Yen Lu
Original assignee: Asia Vital Components Co Ltd
Current assignee: Asia Vital Components Co Ltd
Priority date: 2009-10-06
Filing date: 2009-10-06
Publication date: 2011-04-07

Abstract

A fixing mount and a thermal module thereof are disclosed. The fixing mount is used to connect with a heat sink. The fixing mount includes a main body having a rest section, multiple extension sections extending from a periphery of the rest section and at least one support section formed at one end of each extension section distal from the rest section. Each support section has a latch section disposed at one end of the support section distal from the extension section. By means of the fixing mount, the heat sink can be fixedly locked on a chassis board without using any screw. Therefore, the assembling time is shortened and the assembling process is simplified to lower the manufacturing cost.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fixing mount and a thermal module thereof. The main body of the fixing mount is adapted to a heat sink and integrally formed with latch sections. The fixing mount and the heat sink can be fixedly locked on a chassis board without using any screw. Therefore, the assembling time is shortened and the assembling process is simplified to lower the manufacturing cost.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Following the rapid advance of electronic and information technologies, all kinds of electronic products (such as computers) have been more and more popularly used and widely applied to various fields. There is a trend to increase processing speed and expand access capacity of the electronic products. Therefore, the electronic components of the electronic products have operated at higher and higher speed. With the high-speed operation, the electronic components generate high heat at the same time.
As exemplified with a computer, in high-speed operation, the CPU in the computer will generate high heat to cause rise of temperature and unstable state of the CPU. The heat generated by the CPU and other heat-generating components must be quickly conducted out and dissipated. Otherwise, the CPU may crash or even burn out due to overheating.
Conventionally, a heat sink is arranged on the CPU to quickly dissipate heat. The heat sink is fixed with a fixing mount to attach to the CPU. The fixing mount serves to secure the heat sink without swinging or displacing, whereby the heat sink can reliably quickly conduct and dissipate the heat.
Please refer to FIGS. 1A and 1B. A conventional fixing mount structure includes a mount body 1. The mount body 1 has a receiving space 10 and multiple support sections 11. The receiving space 10 is positioned at the center of the mount body 1 for receiving a corresponding heat sink 13. The support sections 11 downward extend from four corners of the mount body 1 to support the whole structure. A free end of each support section 11 is bent to form a fixing section 111 having a fixing hole 113. A spring screw 15 is passed through the fixing hole 113 and locked with a cooperative fastening ring. Multiple stop sections 12 protrude from inner side of the mount body 1 for fixedly abutting against the heat sink 13.
When assembling the mount body 1 and the heat sink 13 on a chassis board 17, the heat sink 13 is first forced into the receiving space 10 between the support sections 11 until a first end face of the heat sink 13 abuts against the stop sections 12. Then the mount body 1 and the heat sink 13 are together fixed on the chassis board 17. Under such circumstance, a second end face of the heat sink 13 contacts with and attaches to a surface of a heat-generating component 171 (such as a CPU). The fixing holes 113 of the fixing sections 111 of the support sections 11 are aligned with through holes of the chassis board 17. The spring screws 15 are sequentially passed through the fixing holes 113 and the through holes of the chassis board 17 and locked with the fastening rings 16. Accordingly, the heat sink 13 and the mount body 1 are securely connected to the chassis board 17.
According to the above arrangement, the mount body 1 is fixed on the chassis board 17 by means of the spring screws 15 and the cooperative fastening rings 16. It takes much time to assemble these components. Also, the assembling process is complicated. Moreover, it is necessary to additionally manufacture the spring screws 15 and the fastening rings 16. Therefore, the manufacturing cost is increased. Furthermore, when locking the spring screws 15 on the chassis board 17, an operator often over-tightens the spring screws 15 to cause damage of the chassis board 17. Therefore, it is troublesome to assemble the components.
According to the aforesaid, the prior art has the following defects:
1. The manufacturing cost is relatively high.
2. It takes much time to assemble the components.
3. It is troublesome to assemble the components.
4. The structure is complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a fixing mount having a main body, which is integrally formed in adaptation to a heat sink, whereby the fixing mount can be more easily connected with the heat sink to save cost.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a thermal module including a fixing mount. By means of the fixing mount, the thermal module can be quickly assembled with a chassis board.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide the above fixing mount, which enables a user to more easily and conveniently assemble a heat sink with a chassis board.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide the above fixing mount, by which the heat sink can be fixedly locked on a chassis board without using any screw. Therefore, the assembling time is shortened and the assembling process is simplified.
To achieve the above and other objects, the fixing mount of the present invention is used to connect with a heat sink. The fixing mount includes a main body having a rest section, multiple extension sections extending from a periphery of the rest section and at least one support section formed at one end of each extension section distal from the rest section. Each support section has a latch section disposed at one end of the support section distal from the extension section. By means of the fixing mount, the heat sink can be fixedly locked on a chassis board without using any screw. Therefore, the assembling time is shortened and the assembling process is simplified to lower the manufacturing cost.
The thermal module of the present invention includes: a fixing mount having a main body, the main body including a rest section, multiple extension sections extending from opposite sides of the rest section and multiple support sections, one end of each support section being perpendicularly connected to one end of each extension section, the other end of the support section being formed with a latch section, the rest section, the extension sections and the support sections being integrally connected with each other; a heat sink disposed on the rest section, the heat sink having a main body and multiple radiating fins annularly arranged around the main body and radially extending from a periphery of the main body; and a heat conduction section protruding from one side of the main body of the heat sink and extending through the rest section of the main body of the fixing mount to form a thermal module. By means of the fixing mount, the heat sink can be fixedly locked on a chassis board without using any screw. Therefore, the assembling time is shortened and the assembling process is simplified to lower the manufacturing cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a perspective exploded view of a conventional fixing mount structure;

FIG. 1B is a side sectional assembled view of the conventional fixing mount structure applied to a chassis board;

FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective assembled view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a side sectional assembled view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention applied to a chassis board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. According to a preferred embodiment, the fixing mount 2 is used to fix a heat sink 3. The fixing mount 2 includes a main body 20. The main body 20 has a rest section 22, multiple extension sections 23 outward extending from a periphery of the rest section 22 and at least one support section 24 formed at one end of each extension section 23 distal from the rest section 22. Preferably, the extension sections 23 oppositely extend from the periphery of the rest section 22 to connect with the support section 24. Each support section 24 has a latch section 243 disposed at one end of the support section 24 distal from the extension section 23. That is, the latch section 243 extends from a free end of the support section 24 that is distal from the extension section 23. The rest section 22, the extension section 23 and the support section 24 can be integrally formed.
The support section 24 has at least one support arm 241. The extension section 23 is connected with one end of the support arm 241. That is, the end of the extension section 23 distal from the rest section 22 is connected with one end of the support arm 241. The other end of the support arm 241 is formed with the latch section 243. The support arm 241 is resilient, whereby the support arm 241 can be resiliently biased. The latch section 243 has at least one projection 2431 in the form of a reverse hook. The projection 2431 is formed at the other end of the support arm 241. The projections 2431 can be fixedly inserted in multiple fixing holes of a chassis board 6.
Alternatively, two support arms 241 are respectively connected to two sides of one end of each extension section 23 distal from the rest section 22. The other ends of the support arms 241 are formed with the latch sections 243. The two support arms 241 define therebetween a resilient space 26, whereby the support arms 241 can be resiliently biased toward or from each other.
Please now refer to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. The rest section 22 has a circular or polygonal installation hole 221 at the center between opposite sides of the rest section 22. The heat sink 3 is mated with an end face of the rest section 22. The heat sink 3 has a main body and multiple radiating fins 32 annularly arranged around the main body and radially extending from a periphery of the main body. A heat conduction section protrudes from one side of the main body and extends through the rest section 22 of the main body 20 to form a thermal module.
Alternatively, the heat sink 3 can be formed with a circular hole 31 and multiple radiating fins 32 radially extending from the circumference of the hole 31. The radiating fins 32 abut against the end faces of the extension sections 23. In other words, the free ends of some of the radiating fins tightly attach to the end faces of the corresponding extension sections 23. The hole 31 of the heat sink 3 communicates with the installation hole 221.
A heat conduction member 4 is fitted through the main body 20 and the heat sink 3. The heat conduction member 4 is made of a material with high thermal conductivity, such as copper, silver, aluminum or an alloy thereof. A first end of the heat conduction member 4 is flush with the end face of the heat sink 3. A second end of the heat conduction member 4 protrudes from a back face, that is, the other end face, of the rest section 22 distal from the heat sink 3. The second end of the heat conduction member 4 tightly contacts with and attaches to a heat-generating component 61 (such as a CPU) on the chassis board 6. That is, the second end of the heat conduction member 4 sequentially extends through the hole 31 and the installation hole 221 to protrude from the other end face of the rest section 22 into contact with a surface of the heat-generating component 61. In this embodiment, the heat conduction member 4 is, but not limited to, a cylindrical body. In practice, the heat conduction member 4 has a shape adapted to that of the hole 31 and the installation hole 221.
When assembling the main body 20 with the chassis board 6, the heat sink 3 is first forced toward the rest section 22 of the main body 20 to make the radiating fins 32 of the heat sink 3 contact with the end face of the rest section 22. At this time, the free ends of the radiating fins 32 abut against and attach to the end faces of the extension sections 23 with the installation hole 221 of the rest section 22 in communication with the hole 31 of the heat sink 3. The heat conduction member 4 extends through the installation hole 221 and the hole 31 with the second end of the heat conduction member 4 protruding from the other end face of the rest section 22. After the heat sink 3 is securely connected with the main body 20, the main body 20 is further forced toward the chassis board 6. At this time, the latch sections 243 of the support arms 241 of the support sections 24 are aimed at the four fixing holes of the chassis board 6.
Then, the front ends of the projections 2431 of the latch sections 243 are inserted into the fixing holes. At this time, the adjacent support arms 241 on two sides of each extension section 23 are resiliently biased toward each other to contract the resilient space 26. After the rear ends of the projections 2431 of the latch sections 243 pass through the fixing holes, the adjacent support arms 241 are released to bound back to their home positions, whereby the projections 2431 snap and hook the chassis board 6. In this state, the second end of the heat conduction member 4 just tightly contacts with and attaches to the heat-generating component 61. According to the above arrangement, the assembling time is shortened and the assembling process is simplified.
Moreover, the main body 20 is integrally formed with the latch sections 243. Therefore, the fixing mount 2 and the heat sink 3 can be fixedly locked on the chassis board 6 without using any screw. Therefore, the structure as a whole is simplified and the manufacturing cost is lowered.
According to the aforesaid, the fixing mount and the thermal module thereof have the following advantages:
1. The cost is lowered.
2. The assembling time is shortened.
3. The assembling process can be quickly completed.
4. The structure is simplified.
5. The use is facilitated.
The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A fixing mount for connecting with a heat sink, comprising a main body, the main body having a rest section, multiple extension sections extending from a periphery of the rest section and at least one support section formed at one end of each extension section distal from the rest section, each support section having a latch section disposed at one end of the support section distal from the extension section.

2. The fixing mount as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support section has at least one support arm, the extension section being connected with one end of the support arm, the latch section being formed at the other end of the support arm.

3. The fixing mount as claimed in claim 2, wherein the latch section has at least one projection formed at the other end of the support arm for insert-connecting with a corresponding chassis board.

4. The fixing mount as claimed in claim 2, wherein two support arms are respectively connected to two sides of each extension section, the two support arms defining therebetween a resilient space.

5. The fixing mount as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rest section has an installation hole formed at a center of the rest section.

6. The fixing mount as claimed in claim 3, wherein the projection has the form of a reverse hook.

7. The fixing mount as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rest section, the extension sections and the support sections are integrally formed.

8. A thermal module comprising:

a fixing mount having a main body, the main body including a rest section, multiple extension sections extending from opposite sides of the rest section and multiple support sections, one end of each support section being perpendicularly connected to one end of each extension section, the other end of the support section being formed with a latch section, the rest section, the extension sections and the support sections being integrally connected with each other;

a heat sink disposed on the rest section, the heat sink having a hole and multiple radiating fins; and

a heat conduction member fitted through the main body and the heat sink for fixing the main body and the heat sink.

9. The thermal module as claimed in claim 8, wherein the rest section has an installation hole formed at a center of the rest section in communication with the hole of the heat sink.

10. The thermal module as claimed in claim 8, wherein a first end of the heat conduction member is flush with an end face of the heat sink and a second end of the heat conduction member protrudes from a back face of the rest section distal from the heat sink for tightly contacting with and attaching to a corresponding heat-generating component.