Sundstrand Corporation

Timothy Bland, Deceased

Michael G Schneider

A heat exchanger for aircraft electronics. The present invention provides a plurality of reflux coolers wherein each reflux cooler is primarily dedicated to cooling a specific electronic component, such as one phase of a multiphase device. The reflux coolers are undersized to adequately cool the individual phases to which each are dedicated, but are interconnected and cross-linked such that the heat dissipation demand is shared amongst the plurality of reflux coolers. Moreover, the heat pipes interconnecting the reflux coolers can be provided with additional surface area in the form of fins to further augment the heat dissipation capacity of the system. Therefore, in the event a single reflux cooler is damaged, for example, during military engagement, the remaining reflux coolers are able to share the load primarily designed to be dissipated by the damaged reflux cooler. Similarly, if one individual phase or component is damaged or lost, and the heat generated by the remaining phases consequently increases, the heat dissipation load placed on the reflux coolers primarily designed for cooling the remaining phases can be communicated to the other reflux coolers and heat pipes to provide an adequate heat rejection path.

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Rockford, IL, United States of America

Timothy Bland, Deceased