Synthetic Jet Ejector With Selectable Audio Footprint

1 . A method for providing thermal management for a heat source, comprising:

providing a synthetic jet ejector equipped with a diaphragm and an actuator;

causing said actuator to vibrate said diaphragm so as to (a) play an audio file, and (b) produce a synthetic jet while the audio file is being played; and

using the synthetic jet to thermally manage the heat source.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat source is in thermal communication with a heat sink, and further comprising:

directing the synthetic jet onto, or adjacent to, a surface of said heat sink.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the heat sink is equipped with a plurality of heat fins and a plurality of channels, wherein each of said plurality of channels is formed by the space between a pair of adjacent heat fins, and wherein directing the synthetic jet onto, or adjacent to, a surface of said heat sink includes directing the synthetic jet into one of said plurality of channels.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the audio file is stored in a memory device.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the memory device is a non-volatile memory device.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the memory device is selected from the group consisting of flash memory devices and erasable programmable read-only memory.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said diaphragm vibrates at a frequency which is adjustably controlled by a controller, and wherein said controller causes said actuator to vibrate said diaphragm so as to play the audio file.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector is part of a thermal management system for a host device, wherein said host device is a computer, and wherein said controller is a CPU in said host device.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein said audio file is stored in a music library associated with the host device.

10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector is part of a thermal management system for a host device, wherein said host device is a mobile technology platform, and wherein said controller is a CPU in said host device.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein said audio file is stored in a music library associated with the host device.

12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector is part of a thermal management system for a host device, and wherein said controller is a dedicated controller for said thermal management system.

13 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the controller is in electrical communication with the synthetic jet ejector, and wherein the controller is also in electrical communication with the memory device.

14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

playing said audio file as part of a targeted advertisement campaign.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector is disposed in a host device, and further comprising:

playing the audio file as part of an audio diagnostic for said host device.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector is disposed in a host gaming device, and further comprising:

playing the audio file to produce at least part of the sounds associated with a game played on the gaming device.

17 . A device, comprising:

a synthetic jet ejector comprising an oscillating diaphragm which is driven by an actuator;

a memory device; and

a controller which controls the frequency at which said diaphragm oscillates; wherein said controller causes said diaphragm to oscillate so as to (a) play an audio file recorded in said memory device, and (b) produce a synthetic jet while the audio file is being played.

18 . The device of claim 17 , further comprising a plurality of synthetic jet ejectors, each comprising a diaphragm and an actuator, and wherein said controller is in electrical communication with each of said synthetic jet ejectors.

19 . The device of claim 18 , wherein said controller causes each of said actuators associated with a synthetic jet ejector to vibrate the diaphragm of the synthetic jet ejector so as to simultaneously cause said synthetic jet ejector to generate a synthetic jet, and to play an audio file.

20 . The device of claim 17 , wherein said thermal management system is disposed in an LED lighting system.