Electronic apparatus having removable processor/heat pipe cooling device

Abstract

A computer server unit has a closely spaced series of parallel, facing processor modules with inner edge portions thereof being operatively and removably received in socket connectors on a main system board within the server unit housing. Voltage regulation modules, in the form of power converter cards, are interdigitated with the series of processor modules, with each power converter card being operatively coupled to an associated one of the processor modules. To permit the efficient dissipation of operating heat from the closely spaced processor modules and voltage regulation modules, each removable processor module has a specially designed cooling module supported thereon for removal therewith from the system board. Each cooling module includes an evaporator plate secured to a side surface of one of the processor modules, a plurality of heat pipes extending parallel to the evaporator plate and having first end portions conductively secured to he evaporator plate and second end portions extending outwardly past an outer edge portion of the processor module and connected to a finned heat exchanger. Operating heat from each processor module is transferred through its evaporator plate and heat pipes to its finned heat exchanger. A fan system is provided to flow cooling air through the finned heat exchangers which are positioned outside of the spaces between the processor modules, thereby permitting the processor modules to be more closely spaced than they could be if conventional heat sink structures were mounted on side surfaces thereof.