The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 19, 2002
Filed:
Nov. 07, 2000
Craig Joseph, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Kelly W. Arnold, Santa Clara, CA (US);
United Defense LP, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of manufacturing a heat sink for an inverter that utilizes a housing with a porous metallic interior formed from a large plurality of metal balls bonded together to provide a plurality of fluid flow paths. The metal balls serve as heat sinks to dissipate the heat in the fluid that flows through the heat sink. The metal balls must therefore be in thermally conductive contact with each other, and the bond area between the balls must be as large as is feasible to provide a sufficient heat path for the heat from the fluid. The heat sink is intended to be sued with an inverter for an electric motor, so the heat sink housing must be formed from molybdenum to accommodate mounting of circuitry. In order to be susceptible to receiving soldered components the molybdenum surface is nickel plated. The porous metal medium for the heat sink is formed from small (approximately {fraction (3/32)}″ diameter) copper balls. Metallurgical bonding between the balls is achieved by silver plating the balls before brazing so that a copper-silver eutectic brazing compound is formed during the brazing process.