IP Library Granted Patent US 11,240,932
Granted Patent B1
US 11,240,932 · App. 16/047,429 · Granted Feb 1, 2022

Cold plate

Inventor: Justin Matthew Andrade (San Jose, CA)
Assignee: Waymo LLC
H05K7/20254F28F7/02H05K7/20172H05K7/20854H05K7/20863H05K7/20872F28F2250/08
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,240,932
App. No.
16/047,429
Granted
Feb 1, 2022
Kind
B1
Abstract

This technology relates to a cooling system for reducing the amount of heat within a sensor housing. The system comprising a cold plate containing an interior liquid cooling channel containing a cooling fluid, a heat exchanger attached to the cold plate, and at least one fan configured to generate an air flow loop. The heat exchanger is configured to draw heat from the air flow loop and pass the drawn heat to the cold plate, which in turn, passes the drawn heat to the cooling liquid.

Claims (39)

1. A cooling system comprising:

a sensor housing;

a plurality of sensor components;

a cold plate containing an interior liquid cooling channel containing a cooling fluid, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensor components is mounted on the cold plate, at least one of the plurality of sensor components is positioned in proximity to the cold plate, and the cold plate is configured to draw heat from the plurality of sensor components;

a heat exchanger attached to the cold plate; and

a plurality of fans configured to generate two air flow loops to reduce the heat within the sensor housing generated by the plurality of sensor components,

wherein the cold plate includes a plurality of pass-throughs for allowing the two air flow loops to pass through the cold plate,

wherein the heat exchanger is configured to draw heat from the two air flow loops and pass the drawn heat to the cold plate, which in turn, passes the drawn heat to the cooling fluid,

wherein an interior of the sensor housing includes an upper portion, a lower portion, and a middle portion positioned between the upper portion and the lower portion, and a separating structure positioned between the upper portion and the middle portion, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensor components is mounted on the separating structure;

wherein a first of the two air flow loops pulls air from the lower portion into the middle portion, and

wherein a second of the two air flow loops pulls air from at least one of the middle portion or the upper portion into the lower portion.

2. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the cooling fluid is one or more of water, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, or diethylene glycol.

3. The cooling system of claim 2 , wherein the cooling fluid contains at least one additive selected from a group of anti-corrosion or antimicrobial compounds.

4. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger is a plate heat exchanger or a fin stack.

5. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein:

the lower portion is positioned between the sensor housing and the cold plate; and

the middle portion is positioned between the separating structure and the cold plate.

6. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the first air flow loop is perpendicular to the second air flow loop.

7. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the first of the two air flow loops is generated by a first fan of the plurality of fans and a second fan of the plurality of fans.

8. The cooling system of claim 7 , wherein the first fan and the second fan are configured to blow in opposite directions.

9. The cooling system of claim 8 , wherein the second of the two airflow loops is generated by a third fan of the plurality of fans and a fourth fan of the plurality of fans.

10. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the third fan and the fourth fan are configured to blow in opposite directions.

11. The cooling system of claim 1 , further comprising a pump, wherein the pump circulates the cooling fluid within a cooling loop.

12. The cooling system of claim 1 , further comprising a second heat exchanger, wherein the cooling fluid passes through the second heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger cools the cooling fluid to a predefined temperature.

13. The cooling system of claim 12 , wherein the second heat exchanger is positioned outside of the sensor housing.

14. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of fans is mounted to a mount in proximity to a respective one of the plurality of pass-throughs.

15. The cooling system of claim 14 , wherein two of the plurality of fans are configured to pull air through their respective pass-throughs and two of the plurality of fans are configured to push air through their respective pass-throughs.

16. A cooling system comprising:

a sensor housing; wherein an interior of the sensor housing includes an upper portion, a lower portion, a middle portion positioned between the upper portion and the lower portion, and a separating structure positioned between the upper portion and the middle portion;

a plurality of sensor components; wherein at least one of the plurality of sensor components is mounted on the separating structure;

a cold plate containing an interior liquid cooling channel containing a cooling fluid, wherein at least one of the sensor components is mounted on the cold plate, and-at least one of the sensor components is positioned in proximity to the cold plate, and the cold plate is configured to draw heat from the plurality of sensor components;

a heat exchanger attached to the cold plate; and

a plurality of fans configured to generate two air flow loops to reduce the heat within the sensor housing generated by the plurality of sensor components,

wherein the heat exchanger is configured to draw heat from the two air flow loops and pass the drawn heat to the cold plate, which in turn, passes the drawn heat to the cooling fluid, and

wherein the cold plate includes a plurality of pass-throughs for allowing the two air flow loops to pass through the cold plate.

17. The cooling system of claim 16 , wherein two of the plurality of fans are configured to pull air through their respective pass-throughs and two of the plurality of fans are configured to push air through their respective pass-throughs.

18. The cooling system of claim 16 , wherein each of the plurality of fans is mounted to a mount in proximity to a respective one or the plurality of pass-throughs.

19. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensor components include at least one LIDAR device and a processor that are mounted or otherwise positioned within the upper portion of the sensor housing.

20. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of sensor components mounted on the cold plate is a processor, and the at least one of the plurality of sensor components positioned in proximity to the cold plate is a camera imaging sensor.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 14, 2018
From: ANDRADE, JUSTIN MATTHEW
To: WAYMO LLC
Reel/Frame 046803/0048 →
Cited By (6)
US 12,455,364 US 12,463,356 US 12,546,851 US 12,546,878 US 12,568,602 US 12,609,461