Inside-out heat sink

Abstract

A heat sink has a fenestrated outer surface and internal structure supporting the outer surface to facilitate heat transfer from, and provide structural rigidity to, the heat sink.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An inside-out heat sink comprising: 
 a body having at least three faces, the at least three faces defining an outer surface of the body and a volume within the outer surface,    the body comprising a heat conductive material,    at least one of the faces being configured to be coupled to an integrated circuit containing optical chips and electronic circuitry which, when operating, acts as a heat source, 
 the at least one of the faces being further configured to receive heat from the heat source by conductive heat transfer,  
   a set of walls enclosed within the body and defining multiple inter-linked passages, each of the passages extending from at least one of the faces into the volume, at least some of the passages being oriented differently with respect to others of the passages, and wherein at least a few of the passages extend from one of the faces to another of the faces, the passages being arranged relative to each other so as to permit entry of a cooling medium into several of the passages from multiple directions external to the body, allow the cooling medium to flow through the passages to facilitate convective heat transfer between the walls and the fluid, and allow the cooling medium to exit to external to the body, and    the set of walls further defining multiple continuous sections linearly extending from each of the at least three faces to each of the other of the at least three faces.    
     
     
         2 . The heat sink of  claim 1  wherein at least some of the walls are located so as to be equal in extent to a linear cross section of the body taken through each of the at least some walls in the plane of the wall, and 
 wherein the at least some of the walls form a lattice within the body that provides structural rigidity to the body while allowing for convective heat transfer between the core and the fluid when the fluid is passing through a set of the passages.  
 
     
     
         3 . A heat sink comprising: 
 a heat conductive core comprising a specified material and having a series of interconnecting internal passages that provide a multi-directional pathway for a fluid from an exterior surface of the core into the core, through the core, and external to the core;    the heat conductive core forming a structural lattice within the heat sink to provide rigidity to the heat sink;    a portion of the heat conductive core being sized for coupling to an integrated circuit heat source to conduct heat generated by the integrated circuit heat source into the core for dissipation through convective heat transfer to the fluid when it is passing through the interconnecting internal passages; and    the heat sink apparatus occupying an overall volume such that it has both a lower mass and greater heat transfer ability than either a pin-type heat sink or a fin-type heat sink made of the specified material that occupies the overall volume under identical environmental conditions of generated heat, fluid type and fluid flow.    
     
     
         4 . A cooling device comprising: 
 an outer surface, wherein the outer surface is fenestrated to allow for passage into the device, from multiple directions, of a cooling fluid from external to the device through some of the fenestrations and to allow for passage out of the device of the cooling fluid from internal to the device;    a core within the device, and bounded by the outer surface, to provide structural support and flexural rigidity to the outer surface, the core comprising a predetermined heat conductive material and having a conductive heat transfer surface configured to sink heat generated by a circuit module, having aligned optical components therein, into the core when the circuit module is coupled to the conductive heat transfer surface and is operational;    a set of passages within the core and interconnecting at least some of the fenestrations to other of the fenestrations, the passages having walls defining convective heat transfer surfaces of sufficient dimensions to allow for transfer of heat from the core to the cooling fluid by convection when the cooling fluid passes through at least some of the passages of the set of passages;    the cooling device occupying an overall volume such that the cooling device is more rigid, has a lower mass, and a greater heat transfer ability than either a non-fenestrated pin-type heat sink or a non-fenestrated fin-type heat sink made of the predetermined material and occupying the overall volume under identical environmental conditions.    
     
     
         5 . The device according to  claim 4  wherein the predetermined material comprises a metal.  
     
     
         6 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein the metal comprises at least one of aluminum, copper, iron, steel, brass, nickel, silver, or gold.  
     
     
         7 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein the predetermined material comprises an alloy.  
     
     
         8 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein the outer surface defines a parallelepiped.  
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 8  wherein the parallelepiped is a right paralellepiped.  
     
     
         10 . The device according to  claim 9  wherein the outer surface defines a cuboid.  
     
     
         11 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein the outer surface defines a cylinder.  
     
     
         12 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein the outer surface defines a pyramidal frustum.  
     
     
         13 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein the outer surface defines an N-hedron.  
     
     
         14 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein the outer surface defines a prism.  
     
     
         15 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein the outer surface defines a cruciate shape.  
     
     
         16 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein the outer surface comprises at least four sides and wherein there are at least three fenestrations on each of the at least four sides.  
     
     
         17 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein passages in the set of passages are parallel to each other.  
     
     
         18 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein particular passages in the set of passages. are at an angle to each other.  
     
     
         19 . The device according to  claim 18  wherein the angle is a right angle.  
     
     
         20 . The device according to  claim 18  wherein a first of the passages, a second of the passages and a third of the passages are all at right angles to each other.  
     
     
         21 . The device according to  claim 5  wherein the surface defines a longitudinal axis and a designated set of passages have an equal spacing with respect to the longitudinal axis.  
     
     
         22 . The device according to  claim 18  wherein the designated set of passages radially extend between the longitudinal axis and a designated set of fenestrations.