Cisco Technology, Inc.

I-Chyau Li

Gary McLeod

A heat sink apparatus includes a heat sink having a plurality of circuit board component contact portions and a plurality of fin portions extending from the contact portions. The circuit board component contact portions of the heat sink conform to a surface of the circuit board component when coupled to the circuit board component, thereby providing a thermal coupling between the fin portions of the heat sink and the associated circuit board component. The heat sink apparatus also includes a retainer, such as a double buckling beam retainer, that secures the heat sink to the circuit board component. The retainer causes the circuit board component contact portions of the heat sink conform to the surface of the circuit board component, thereby providing thermal contact between the heat sink and circuit board component contact portions and alleviating the need for a base portion associated with the heat sink, as in conventional mechanisms. The retainer attaches to retainer clips in communication with the circuit board, thereby allowing removal of the heat sink from the circuit board component. The retainer clips include surface mount clips that attach directly to the surface of the circuit board or horseshoe clips that mount to the circuit board using fasteners located within openings having a diameter between 0.00160 inches and 0.0500 inches. Such clips utilize a relatively small circuit board area and thereby do not substantially affect the area available for electronic components and traces on the circuit board.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

I-Chyau Li