US12575054USUSPTO Grant XML

Air cooling, latent heat cooling, and power supply cooling

Presented herein are techniques to improve air cooling for higher power and power density power supply examples, including using latent heat of vaporization as a single-phase liquid-cooling-to-air closed-loop system. These techniques may not be limited to power supplies, but may be applicable to other air cooling requirements in assemblies and systems.

Patent

Brief

Patent brief

Problem

How can heat, airflow, and thermal load be managed more effectively in compact systems?

Novelty

These techniques may not be limited to power supplies, but may be applicable to other air cooling requirements in assemb...

Uses

Thermal management, High-density electronics, Cooling loops

Assignee

CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.

Published

Mar 10, 2026

Inventors

Douglas Paul Arduini

Domain

Thermal systems

Plain-English summary

Problem

How can heat, airflow, and thermal load be managed more effectively in compact systems?

Solution

Key novelty

These techniques may not be limited to power supplies, but may be applicable to other air cooling requirements in assemblies and systems.

Applications

Thermal managementHigh-density electronicsCooling loops

Relevant search intents

latent heat

Claims preview

1 . A system comprising: a baseplate heatsink configured to provide conduction cooling for one or more heat generating components in physical proximity to the baseplate heatsink, the baseplate heatsink having a lower interior part configured to contain a liquid mass and an upper interior part configured to contain a gas, a first plurality of fins attached to both sides of the baseplate heatsink and extending from the upper interior part in opposite directions and configured to provide convection air cooling, one or more outlet ports of the baseplate heatsink connected to the upper interior part on a first end of the baseplate heatsink, and an inlet port of the baseplate heatsink connected to the lower interior part on the first end of the baseplate heatsink; and an external heat exchanger including one or more inlet ports coupled with the one or more outlet ports of the baseplate heatsink, an internal expansion chamber coupled with the one or more inlet ports of the external heat exchanger and configured to receive hot steam/vapor and/or hot liquid from the upper interior part of the baseplate heatsink, a second plurality of fins configured to provide convection air cooling, and an outlet port coupled with the internal expansion chamber and further coupled with the inlet port of the baseplate heatsink, wherein the baseplate heatsink is configured to store, in the liquid mass, a first portion of heat energy of the one or more heat generating components up to a heat energy threshold within a latent heat of vaporization range below a vaporization point, and wherein the first plurality of fins of the baseplate heatsink and the second plurality of fins of the external heat exchanger are configured to remove a second portion of heat energy of the one or more heat generating components above the heat energy threshold from the hot steam/vapor and/or hot liquid via convection air cooling, so as to return cooled liquid back to the lower interior part of the baseplate heatsink and thereby regulate an operating temperature of the liquid mass within the baseplate heatsink to stay within the latent heat of vaporization range for cooling the one or more heat generating components. 2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of heat energy to be stored in the liquid mass is greater than the second portion of heat energy to be removed via convection air cooling by the first plurality of fins of the baseplate heatsink and the second plurality of fins of the external heat exchanger. 3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the baseplate heatsink comprises a mounting area for attachment to the one or more heat generating components, and for providing conduction cooling to an opposite side, a top, and/or a bottom of the baseplate heatsink.

Linked approaches

Phase-change cooling

Cooling architectures that move heat through phase change materials or fluids.

Related patents

Heat sink with flattened heat pipes

US12571597 • Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.

Gear box with lubrication channel

US12571467 • DANA (WUXI) TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD.

Desiccant enhanced evaporative cooling systems and methods

US12571549 • Nortek Air Solutions Canada, Inc.

Loop-type heat pipe

US12571598 • SHINKO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.