Bi-directional airflow heatsink
View Patent ↗An information handling system (IHS) has a heatsink including cooling fins each having a plate structure and attached to the base in spaced parallel arrangement for receiving a first air flow that is in parallel alignment to the conductive surface. The heatsink includes a tunnel formed through the cooling fins perpendicularly to the first air flow. The IHS provides cooling air to one or more heatsinks without thermally shadowing other compute components as well as providing a second flow of cooling air to downstream component/s via the tunnel of each heatsink.
1. A heatsink comprising:
a base having a conductive surface for receiving thermal energy;
more than one cooling fin attached to the base and receiving a first air flow that is parallel to the conductive surface;
a tunnel extending through the heatsink in a perpendicular direction to a first direction of the first air flow, the tunnel providing a path through which a second air flow can pass through the heatsink without absorbing a substantial amount of heat; and
a movable structure constraining an aperture size of the tunnel that enables balancing of an amount of cooling air supplied to the at least the second air flow, wherein the movable structure comprises a slider block that is slidably received in the base, overlapping a portion of an outer fin of the more than one cooling fin, and selectably positionable to vary the aperture size.
2. The heatsink of claim 1 , wherein the tunnel has a smaller aperture size than a size of the more than one cooling fin to tunnel the second air flow at a higher velocity than the first air flow to cause the second air flow to quickly pass through the tunnel and prevent the second air from absorbing a substantial amount of heat from a surrounding perimeter of the tunnel.
3. The heatsink of claim 1 , wherein the more than one cooling fin are vertically arranged parallel to each other.
4. The heatsink of claim 1 , wherein the conductive surface is shaped to contact a heat spreader of a central processing unit (CPU) integrated circuit (IC).
5. An information handling system (IHS) comprising:
a chassis enclosure having a cold air inlet and a hot air exhaust;
a compute component that generates thermal energy;
a heatsink that is series aligned with and closer to the cold air inlet than the compute component, the heatsink comprising:
a base having a conductive surface for receiving thermal energy;
more than one cooling fin having a plate structure and attached to the base in spaced parallel arrangement receiving a first air flow that is in parallel alignment to the conductive surface; and
a tunnel formed through one of the base and the more than one cooling fin in a perpendicular direction to the first air flow, directing a second air flow to a downstream compute component; and
a ducting structure that is received in the chassis enclosure and that directs intake air to the first and second air flows;
wherein the ducting structure comprises a molded tray contoured with the cold air plenum, the hot air plenum, and the shroud; and
wherein each of the more than one air drop comprise an intake pneumatic port and an outlet pneumatic port attached on lateral sides of the shroud corresponding to a respective one of the more than one compute component.
6. The IHS of claim 5 , further comprising a second heatsink having a tunnel aligned with the tunnel of the heatsink to direct the second air flow to the downstream computer component.
7. The IHS of claim 5 , wherein the ducting structure defines a cold air plenum in fluid communication with the cold air inlet, defines a hot air plenum in fluid communication with the hot air exhaust, and having a shroud that separates the cold air plenum and cold air plenums and encompasses the more than one compute component; the ducting structure comprises more than one air drop that correspond to the more than one compute component and that fluid communicate between the cold air plenum and hot air plenum to direct in parallel cooling air supply for each compute component; wherein a second air flow passage that is under the shroud supplies a second air supply from the cold air inlet under the shroud passes through the tunnel of the heatsink providing cooling of the compute component.
8. The IHS of claim 5 , wherein the heatsink further comprises a movable structure constraining an aperture size of the tunnel balancing an amount of cooling air supplied to the first and second air flows.
9. The IHS of claim 8 , wherein the movable structure comprises a slider block that is slidably received in the base overlapping a portion of an outer one of the more than one cooling fin and selectably positionable between an un-obstructing state and a fully obstructing state.
10. The IHS of claim 5 , further comprising a central processing unit (CPU) integrated circuit (IC), wherein the conductive surface of the heatsink is shaped to contact a face of the CPU IC.
11. A method of cooling two compute components of an information handling system (IHS), the method comprising:
directing a first air flow through more than one cooling fin, each having a plate structure and attached to a base in spaced parallel arrangement of a heatsink having a conductive surface in contact with a first compute component for receiving and dissipating thermal energy;
directing a second air flow to a second compute component through a tunnel of the heatsink formed through one of the base and the more than one cooling fin in parallel to the conductive surface and perpendicular to the first air flow; and
balancing an amount of air supplied to the first and second air flow by adjusting an aperture size of the tunnel by positioning a slider block that is slidably received in the base overlapping a portion of an outer one of the more than one cooling fin and selectably positionable between an un-obstructing state and a fully obstructing state.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising directing the second air flow through a tunnel of a second heatsink aligned with the tunnel of the heatsink to the downstream computer component.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein directing the first air flow further comprises providing a ducting structure in a chassis enclosure of the IHS wherein the ducting structure that defines a cold air plenum in fluid communication with the cold air inlet, defines a hot air plenum in fluid communication with the hot air exhaust, and has a shroud that separates the cold air plenum and cold air plenums and encompasses the more than one compute component; the ducting structure comprises more than one air passage that correspond to the more than one compute component and that fluid communicate between the cold air plenum and hot air plenum to direct in parallel cooling air supply for each compute component; and
wherein directing the second air flow comprises directing cooling air supply under the shroud to an intake side of the tunnel of the heatsink.