Thermal spreader spanning two (or more) housings
In some examples, a computing device may include a first housing coupled to a second housing by one or more hinges. The first housing may include a first set of components and a heat sink in contact with at least one component of the first set of components. The second housing may include a second set of components. The first set of components may generate more heat than the first set of components. A thermal spreader may include a first portion located in the first housing and a second portion located in the second housing. The first portion may be thermally coupled to the second portion. The first portion may, through contact with the heat sink, gather heat generated by the at least one component and transfer the heat to the second portion. The second portion may dissipate at least some of the heat.
1. A computing device comprising:
a first housing comprising:
a first set of components; and
a vapor chamber in contact with at least one component of the first set of components;
a second housing comprising:
a second set of components;
one or more hinges coupling the first housing to the second housing; and
a thermal spreader comprising a graphene sheet, wherein:
a first portion of the graphene sheet is located in the first housing; and
a second portion of the graphene sheet is located in the second housing; and
wherein:
the first portion of the graphene sheet is in contact with the vapor chamber;
the first portion of the graphene sheet is thermally coupled to the second portion of the graphene sheet; and
the second portion of the graphene sheet dissipates at least some heat gathered by the first portion of the graphene sheet from the contact with the vapor chamber.
2. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more hinges include a conduit through which the graphene sheet passes.
3. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein:
the thermal spreader further comprises a metal layer.
4. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first housing further comprises a first display device; and
the second housing further comprises a second display device.
5. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first housing further comprises a QWERTY-based keyboard; and
the second housing further comprises a display device.
6. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first portion of the graphene sheet or the second portion of the graphene sheet includes a metal layer.
7. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the thermal spreader further comprises:
a third portion of the graphene sheet thermally couples the first portion of the graphene sheet to the second portion of the graphene sheet.
8. A computing device comprising:
a first housing comprising:
a first display device;
a first set of components; and
a vapor chamber in contact with at least a first component of the first set of components;
a second housing comprising:
a second display device;
a second set of components;
one or more hinges coupling the first housing to the second housing; and
a thermal spreader comprising a graphene sheet, wherein:
a first portion of the graphene sheet is located in the first housing; and
a second portion of the graphene sheet is located in the second housing; and
wherein:
the first portion of the graphene sheet is thermally coupled to (1) the vapor chamber and to (2) the second portion of the graphene sheet; and
the first portion of the graphene sheet gathers heat from the vapor chamber and transfers at least some of the heat from the first portion of the graphene sheet to the second portion of the graphene sheet for dissipation.
9. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein:
the one or more hinges include a conduit through which the graphene sheet passes.
10. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein:
the one or more hinges enable the first housing to be placed at an angle of between about 0 degrees to at least about 180 degrees relative to the second housing.
11. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the first portion of the graphene sheet or the second portion of the graphene sheet includes a metal alloy layer.
12. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the metal alloy layer includes at least one of a copper alloy layer or an aluminum alloy layer.
13. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the thermal spreader further comprises:
a third portion to thermally couple the first portion to the second portion, wherein the third portion is protected by a cover made from at least one of cloth, leather, or plastic.
14. A computing device comprising:
a first housing comprising:
a first set of components including an input device; and
a vapor chamber in contact with at least one component of the first set of components;
a second housing comprising:
a second set of components;
one or more hinges to couple the first housing to the second housing; and
a thermal spreader comprising a graphene sheet, wherein:
a first portion of the graphene sheet is located in the first housing; and
a second portion of the graphene sheet is located in the second housing;
wherein:
the first portion of the graphene sheet gathers heat generated by the at least one component based on contact between the first portion of the graphene sheet and the vapor chamber;
the first portion of the graphene sheet is thermally coupled to the second portion of the graphene sheet to transfer the heat from the first portion of the graphene sheet to the second portion of the graphene sheet; and
the second portion of the graphene sheet dissipates at least some of the heat.
15. The computing device of claim 14 , wherein:
the first housing further comprises a first display device; and
the second housing further comprises a second display device.
16. The computing device of claim 14 , wherein:
the first housing further comprises a QWERTY-based keyboard; and
the second housing further comprises a display device.
17. The computing device of claim 14 , wherein the first set of components further comprise:
a graphics processing unit (GPU);
at least one central processing unit (CPU);
one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media; and
one or more input/output (I/O) ports.
18. The computing device of claim 14 , wherein:
the one or more hinges enable the first housing to be placed at an angle of between about 0 degrees to about 360 degrees relative to the second housing.
19. The computing device of claim 14 , wherein the thermal spreader further comprises:
a third portion to thermally couple the first portion to the second portion, wherein the third portion is routed through a conduit in the one or more hinges.
20. The computing device of claim 14 , wherein the thermal spreader further comprises a metal alloy layer.