Apparatus for cooling high-density integrated circuit packages

Claim 3

An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising: (a) said rigid wall means being of substantially planar configuration; and (b) said thermally conductive contact means including, I. a resiliently compressible means in coextensive contiguous engagement with the heat input surface of said rigid wall, II. a thin-wall pliable diaphragm in contiguous engagement with said resiliently compressible means and having its peripheral edges affixed to said rigid wall for sealingly enclosing said resiliently compressible means, III. thermal grease in the area between said rigid wall and said diaphragm.

Claim 4

An apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said resiliently compressible means is a woven wire mesh screen.

Claim 5

An apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 and further comprising: (a) said rigid wall being provided at least one substantially V-shaped groove formed therein, said V-shaped groove defining a pair of angular walls and being arranged so as to open away from the coolant chamber of said housing; and (b) said thermally conductive contact means including, I. a pair of thermal blocks arranged in a back-toback position within said V-shaped groove of said rigid wall and in slidable bearing engagement with said pair of angular walls defined by said Vshaped groove, II. biasing means between said pair of thermal blocks for yieldably biasing said pair of thermal blocks into thermally conductive contact with the angular walls of said V-shaped groove of said rigid wall and into thermally conductive contact with at least one of the discrete integrated circuits when said housing is in overlaying relationship with said integrated circuit package.

Claim 6

An apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein each of said thermal blocks has a vertical wall for engagement with said biasing means, an inclined wall for engagement with one of the angular walls of said V-shaped groove and a base wall for engaging at least one of the discrete integrated circuits.

Claim 7

An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said biasing means between said pair of thermal blocks is an elastomeric pad.

Claim 8

An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising biasing means in the coolant chamber of said housing and disposed between said housing and said plurality of spheroids for biasing said spheroids into thermally conductive contact with each other and with said rigid wall.

Claim 9

An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein said biasing means is a resilient elastomeric pressure pad which is compressingly interposed between said housing and said plurality of spheroids.

Claim 10

An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein said resilient elastomeric pressure pad is provided with at least a spaced pair of partitions which depend therefrom into spaced proximity with said diaphragm.

Claim 11

An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing comprises: (a) a roof wall of substantially planar configuration; and (b) an endless sidewall extending normally from the periphery of said roof wall.

Claim 12

An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising: (a) base means defining an open chamber for nestingly receiving the integrated circuit package; and (b) cooperative elements of a demountable connection on said base means and on said housing for attaching said housing to said base means in overlaying relationship with the integrated circuit package when it is nestingly received in said base means.

Claim 13

An apparatus as claimed in claim 11 and further comprising: (a) said open chamber of said base means being deeper than the thickness dimension of the substrate of the integrated circuit package; and (b) an endless ring-shaped elastomeric seal mounted on said base means so as to surround the open chamber thereof and configured to extend upwardly from said base means for sealingly engaging said housing.

Claim 14

An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising a refrigeration system for supplying high pressure liquid refrigerant to said inlet port for evaporation within the coolant chamber of said housing and for receiving the vaporized gaseous refrigerant from said outlet port, compressing and cooling the refrigerant to its liquid state for resupplying thereof to said inlet port.

Claim 15

The combination of an apparatus and refrigeration system for cooling a high-density integrated circuit package of the type having a substrate with a plurality of discrete integrated circuits arranged thereon in a predetermined array, said combination comprising: (a) a housing defining an open coolant chamber which is sized to substantially match the surface area of the substrate of the integrated circuit package, said housing being positionable in overlying relationship with said integrated circuit package and having an inlet port and an outlet port; (b) a rigid wall means of thermally conductive material affixed to said housing for sealingly enclosing the coolant chamber thereof and having a heat input surface; (c) a thermally conductive contact means between the heat input surface of said rigid wall means and the integrated circuit package when said housing is in overlying relationship therewith, said contact means being conformable to compensate for dimensional variations to provide positive thermal contact with the heat input surface of said rigid wall and with each of the discrete integrated circuits; (d) a plurality of spheroids in the coolant chamber of said housing and substantially filling the coolant chamber, said spheroids being formed of metal for conducting heat away from said rigid wall for maximizing the heat exchange surface area within the coolant chamber of said housing; and (e) a refrigeration system having a refrigerant input line coupled to the inlet port of said housing for supplying high pressure liquid refrigerant to the coolant chamber thereof so that the liquid refrigerant will vaporize therein to absorb operational heat of the integrated circuit package when said housing in in overlaying relationship therewith and the integrated circuit package is operating, said refrigeration system having a refrigerant outlet line coupled to the outlet port of said housing for receiving the vaporized refrigerant therefrom so that said refrigeration system can compress and cool the refrigerant back to a liquid state for resupplying thereof to the inlet port of said housing.

Claim 16

The combination of an apparatus and refrigeration system for cooling a high-density integrated circuit package of the type having a substrate with a plurality of discrete integrated circuits arranged thereon in a predetermined array, said combination comprising: (a) a housing defining an open coolant chamber which is sized to substantially match the surface area of the substrate of the integrated circuit package, said housing being positionable in overlying relationship with said integrated circuit package and having an inlet port and an outlet port; (b) a rigid wall means of thermally conductive material affixed to said housing for sealingly enclosing the coolant chamber thereof and having a heat input surface; (c) a thermally conductive contact means between the heat input surface of said rigid wall means and the integrated circuit package when said housing is in overlying relationship therewith, said contact means being conformable to compensate for dimensional variations to provide positive thermal contact with the heat input surface of said rigid wall and with each of the discrete integrated circuits; (d) a plurality of spheroids in the coolant chamber of said housing and substantially filling the coolant chamber, said spheroids being formed of metal for conducting heat away from said rigid wall for maximizing the heat exchange surface area within the coolant chamber of said housing; and (e) a refrigeration system having a refrigerant input line coupled to the inlet port of said housing for supplying high pressure liquid refrigerant to the coolant chamber thereof so that the liquid refrigerant will vaporize therein to absorb operational heat of the integrated circuit package when said housing in in overlaying relationship therewith and the integrated circuit package is operating, said refrigeration system having a refrigerant outlet line coupled to the outlet port of said housing for receiving the vaporized refrigerant therefrom so that said refrigeration system can compress and cool the refrigerant back to a liquid state for resupplying thereof to the inlet port of said housing.

Claim 17

The combination of claim 14 and further comprising: (a) said rigid wall means being of substantially planar configuration; and (b) said thermally conductive contact means including, I. a resiliently compressible means in coextensive contiguous engagement with the heat input surface of said inlet, II. a thin-wall pliable diaphragm in contiguous engagement with said resiliently compressible means and having its peripheral edges affixed to said rigid wall for sealingly enclosing said resiliently compressible means, III. thermal grease in the area between said rigid wall and said diaphragm.

Claim 18

The combination of claim 15 wherein said resiliently compressible means is a woven wire mesh screen.

Claim 19

The combination of Claim 14 and further comprising: (a) said rigid wall being provided with at least one substantially V-shaped groove formed therein, said V-shaped groove defining a pair of angular walls and being arranged so as to open away from the coolant chamber of said housing; and (b) said thermally conductive contact means including, I. a pair of thermal blocks arranged in a back-to-back position within said V-shaped groove of said rigid wall and in slidable bearing engagement with said pair of angular walls defined by said V-shaped groove, II. biasing means between said pair of thermal blocks for yieldably biasing said pair of thermal blocks into thermally conductive contact with the angular walls of said V-shaped groove of said rigid wall and into thermally conductive contact with at least one of the discrete integrated circuits when said housing is in overlying relationship with said integrated circuit package.

Claim 20

The combination of claim 17 wherein each of said thermal blocks has a vertical wall for engagement with said biasing means, an inclined wall for engagement with one of the angular walls of said V-shaped groove and a base wall for engaging at least one of the discrete integrated circuits.

Claim 21

The combination of claim 18 wherein said biasing means between said pair of thermal blocks is an elastomeric pad.

Claim 22

The combination of claim 14 and further comprising biasing means in the coolant chamber of said housing and disposed between said housing and said plurality of spheroids for biasing said spheroids into thermally conductive contact with each other and with said rigid wall.

Claim 23

The combination of claim 20 wherein said biasing means is a resilient elastomeric pressure pad which is compressingly interposed between said housing and said plurality of spheroids.

Claim 24

The combination of claim 21 wherein said resilient elastomeric pressure pad is provided with at least a spaced pair of partitions which depend therefrom into spaced proximity with said rigid wall.

Claim 25

The combination of claim 14 wherein said housing comprises: (a) a roof wall of substantially planar configuration; and (b) an endless sidewall extending normally from the periphery of said roof wall.

Claim 26

The combination of claim 14 and further comprising: (a) base means defining an open chamber for nestingly receiving the integrated circuit package; and (b) cooperative elements of a demountable connection on said base means and on said housing for attaching said housing to said base means in overlaying relationship with the integrated circuit package when it is nestingly received in said base means.

Claim 27

The combination of claim 24 and further comprising: (a) said open chamber of said base means being deeper than the thickness dimension of the substrate of the integrated circuit package; and (b) an endless ring-shaped elastomeric seal mounted on said base means so as to surround the open chamber thereof and configured to extend upwardly from said base means for sealingly engaging said housing.

Claim 28

The combination of claim 14 and further comprising: (a) said housing being configured to provide a pre-cooling portion within the coolant chamber defined thereby, said pre-cooling portion being disposed proximate the outlet port of said housing; and (b) said refrigerant input line of said refrigeration system having a terminal portion thereof passing through the pre-cooling portion of said coolant chamber and extending therefrom to the inlet port of said housing for cooling of the liquid refrigerant on its way into the coolant chamber of said housing.

Claim 29

The combination of claim 26 wherein the flow of liquid coolant through said refrigerant input line is countercurrent to the flow of vaporized refrigerant through said pre-cooling portion of said coolant chamber for maximizing the heat exchange therebetween.

Claim 30

The combination of claim 26 wherein that portion of the refrigerant input line which extends between said coolant chamber and said inlet port of said housing is in the form of a capillary tube.