International Business Machines Corporation

Willard S Harris

Roger R Schmidt

Edward J Ossolinski

Robert E Simons

Richard C Chu

Gregory Martin Chrysler

Edward Joseph Seminaro

Gary Franklin Goth

Jody A Hickey

Jeffrey J Hare

Vincent C Vasile

Randall G Kemink

Richard R Konian

Richard W Oldrey

William D McClafferty

James R Warnot, Jr

Raymond D Birchall

Straty N Argyrakis

David F Bell

Matthew A Hutchinson

Harry A Carlson

A d.c. motor together with a hot gas bypass valve is incorporated into a cooling system specifically designed for removing heat from computer systems. Unlike typical refrigeration systems, the cooling system herein runs continuously and responds to changes in thermal load. This allows the unit to operate within a wide range of ambient conditions and at various thermal load levels unlike other systems which were capable of operation only at a single, predesigned load level. The cooling system is modular and is easily added to or removed from a redundant system which includes a single evaporator with multiple refrigerant loops which provides yet another aspect of continuous operation due to the inherent redundancy thus provided.

Modular refrigeration system

Heat pipes are employed in conjunction with flexible flap thermal conductors to provide a mechanism for cooling high-powered electronic circuit chip modules which cannot otherwise be cooled by conventional means because of their non-coplanarity and their inaccessibility. More particularly, the present invention provides a mechanism for cooling electronic circuit chip modules which are disposed on circuit boards which are in close proximity to one another which fact precludes air cooling of heat sink structures and/or the imposition of a liquid-cooled cold plate due to the non-coplanarity and/or due to the inaccessibility.

Cooling device for hard to access non-coplanar circuit chips

A device is provided for passing a member through the wall of a sealed chamber. The member has an outer surface having a portion thereof which is substantially formed of metal. A flange has an opening therein which surrounds and is spaced from the metal portion of the member. A solder member completely fills the space between the flange opening and the metal portion of the member for creating a seal therebetween which is capable of maintaining a high pressure differential between opposite sides of the sealed chamber wall. The member is preferably a flat, multi-conductor electrical cable having thin, flat, copper shielding layers on the top and bottom thereof. The metal portion preferably includes a wedge-shaped copper member which surrounds the electrical cable and is intricately affixed to the shielding layers. The solder member is preferably a solder compound comprising 52 percent indium and 48 percent tin.

Device for passing a member through a sealed chamber wall

A gasket is fabricated with electrical flex cables extending through the gasket in order to electrically communicate from the outside of a vacuum chamber with the electrical devices positioned within a vacuum chamber of a cryogenically cooled module. The gasket is fabricated from elastomeric, dielectric materials such as neoprene to effect a seal between the portions of the vacuum chamber and also to seal between the gasket material and the conductors of the flex cables which pass through the gasket.

Low temperature conduction module with gasket to provide a vacuum seal

A cryocooled field-replaceable logic unit for use with a cryogenic cold head such as that of a cryocooler comprises a thermally conductive plate adapted to be disposed in thermal contact with the cold head, a thermally insulating enclosure portion cooperating with the conductive plate to form a sealed enclosure detachable from the cold head, and one or logic chips mounted in the enclosure in thermal contact with the conductive plate. Preferably the conductive plate is attached to the thermally insulating portion through a resilient mounting which forms a recess for receiving the cold head and which is tension-loaded when the logic unit is mounted on the cold head to urge the plate into intimate thermal contact with the cold head. In one embodiment the enclosure receives from an external source a supply of gaseous nitrogen which is liquified by contact with the conductive plate to form a pool of liquid nitrogen in which the logic chips are immersed. In another embodiment plural logic units are detachably mounted on passive cold heads immersed in a cryostat.

Field replaceable cryocooled computer logic unit

Growing community of inventors

Red Hook, NY, United States of America

Willard S Harris