Small piezoelectric air pumps with unobstructed airflow
View Patent ↗A T-shaped blade, or one or more hollow tubes, are vibrationally excited by one or more piezoelectric elements to generate an airflow from a free end of the blade or tube(s). The airflow may be directed to, or drawn away from, an electronic component to cool the electronic component.
1. An apparatus, comprising:
an electronic component; and
a cooling device for cooling the electronic component, the cooling device including:
a cantilever-mounted tube having a mounted end and a free end that is opposite to the mounted end; and
a piezoelectric element coupled to the mounted end of the tube so as to apply force to the mounted end of the tube in a manner such that the free end of the tube is caused to vibrate;
wherein the piezoelectric element causes the tube to move so as to direct a gas to the electronic component.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the gas is ambient air.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the electronic component is a microprocessor.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric element causes the tube to vibrate so as to direct the gas to the electronic component.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the piezoelectric element causes the tube to vibrate at a frequency that is substantially a resonance frequency of the tube.
6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the piezoelectric element causes the tube to vibrate at an ultrasonic frequency.
7. An apparatus, comprising:
an electronic component; and
a cooling device for cooling the electronic component, the cooling device including:
a cantilever-mounted tube having a mounted end and a free end that is opposite to the mounted end; and
a piezoelectric element coupled to the mounted end of the tube so as to apply force to the mounted end of the tube in a manner such that the free end of the tube is caused to vibrate;
wherein the piezoelectric element causes the tube to move so as to draw a gas away from the electronic component.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the gas is ambient air.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a force transmission bar which couples the piezoelectric element to the mounted end of the tube.
10. An apparatus comprising:
an electronic component; and
a cooling device for cooling the electronic component, the cooling device including:
a plurality of cantilever-mounted tubes each having a mounted end and a free end; and
a piezoelectric element coupled to respective mounted ends of the tubes so as to apply a force to the mounted ends of the tubes to cause the tubes to move so as to direct a gas to the electronic component.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the tubes are arranged so as to be substantially parallel to each other.
12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the tubes are arranged with respective axes that correspond to radii of a circle.
13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the gas is ambient air.
14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the device is a microprocessor.
15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the piezoelectric element causes the tubes to vibrate so as to direct the gas to the electronic component.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the piezoelectric element causes the tubes to vibrate at a frequency that is substantially a resonance frequency of the tubes.
17. An apparatus comprising:
an electronic component; and
a cooling device for cooling the electronic component the cooling device including:
a plurality of cantilever-mounted tubes each having a mounted end and a free end; and
a piezoelectric element coupled to respective mounted ends of the tubes so as to apply a force to the mounted ends of the tubes to move so as to draw a gas away from the electronic component.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the gas is ambient air.
19. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the piezoelectric element causes the tubes to vibrate at an ultrasonic frequency.
20. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:
a force transmission bar which couples the piezoelectric element to the mounted ends of the tubes.
21. A method comprising:
providing a cantilever-mounted hollow tube which has a mounted end and a free end; and
using a piezoelectric element to drive the mounted end of the hollow tube to direct air from the free end of the tube to an electronic component.
22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the piezoelectric element is coupled to the tube via a force transmission bar.
23. The method of claim 22 , wherein a plurality of tubes are coupled to the force transmission bar.
24. The method of claim 21 , wherein the electronic component is a microprocessor.
25. A method comprising:
providing a cantilever-mounted hollow tube which has a mounted end and a free end; and
using a piezoelectric element to drive the mounted end of the hollow tube to draw air away from an electronic component.
26. An apparatus comprising:
an electronic component; and
a cooling device for cooling the electronic component, the cooling device including:
a cantilever-mounted tube which has a mounted end and a free end; and
a piezoelectric element coupled to the mounted end of the tube so as to apply force to the mounted end of the tube;
wherein the piezoelectric element causes the tube to move so as to direct a gas to the electronic component.
27. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the gas is ambient air.
28. An apparatus comprising:
an electronic component; and
a cooling device for cooling the electronic component the cooling device including:
a cantilever-mounted tube which has a mounted end and a free end; and
a piezoelectric element coupled to the mounted end of the tube so as to apply force to the mounted end of the tube;
wherein the piezoelectric element causes the tube to move so as to draw a gas away from the electronic component.
29. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein the gas is ambient air.
30. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric element is not inside the tube.
31. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the piezoelectric element is not inside the tube.
32. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the piezoelectric element is not inside any of the tubes.
33. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the piezoelectric element is not inside any of the tubes.
34. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the piezoelectric element is not inside the tube.
35. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein the piezoelectric element is not inside the tube.