Heat sink and method of manufacture thereof

Abstract

In a first process of this method of manufacturing a heat sink, into a groove, formed in a base and both of whose side surfaces are provided with projections or concave portions and whose upper portion is open, from the groove open portion, there is fitted a pipe that has a diameter smaller than the gap between the edge portions of the open portion of the groove. Next, the pipe is pressed from above the open portion of the groove and the upper portion of the pipe is deformed so that it follows the plane of the open portion of the groove, and moreover both side portions of the pipe are deformed so that they follow along the inner surfaces of both side portions of the groove. By this second process, both side portions of the pipe are engaged with the projections or concave portions.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE[0001]This Nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 2009-148449 filed in Japan on Jun. 23, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a heat sink that cools a thermal component, and to a method of manufacturing such a heat sink.[0003]Sometimes a radiator type heat sink is used for cooling a thermal component such as a semiconductor or the like. As this type of heat sink, for example, in the base of the heat sink, its upper portion may be formed by opening up channels (grooves) therein. These channels may have tapers, so that the gaps at the end portions at which they are opened are smaller than the gaps at the bottom portions of the channels. A structure for cooling a thermal component is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication 11-510962 in which pipes are pressed into these channels and are deformed into almost the same f...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]According to this type of structure, it is possible to fit the pipe into the groove that is formed in the base without any damage occurring to the pipe, even if the processing accuracy of the base or the pipe is poor. Furthermore it is possible to fix the pipe in the groove without the use of any adhesive or the like, since, during the process of deformation of the pipe both of the side surfaces of the pipe engage with the projections or concave portions that are provided to the groove. Moreover, by pressing the pipe while fluid is enclosed within the pipe, it is possible to ensure that the pressure over the entire inner surface of the pipe is equal. Due to this, it is possible to deform the pipe so that its outer circumferential surface comes into overall contact against the entirety of both the side surfaces and also the bottom surface of the groove.

Problems solved by technology

Furthermore there is a fear that, when the pipe is being inserted into the groove, damage may be caused to the pipe due to contact between the sides of the pipe and the sides of the grooves.

In particular, if the processing accuracy for the groove is bad, and the gap between the exposed edges of the groove is narrower than the diameter of the pipe, then damage will very likely be caused to the pipe while it is being inserted into the groove due to the side surfaces of the pipe and the groove scraping together, and, if the heat sink is used over the long term, there is a fear that it will deteriorate over time and that cooling fluid will leak out from it due to this damage cracking and breaking.

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