HEAT SPREADER WITH CONTROLLED Z-AXIS CONDUCTIVITY

摘要

A device (10) for distributing waste heat H from a heat source (20) evenly across an exterior surface (31e) of an enclosure (30) is disclosed. The device (10) includes a first layer of material (11) that has a high thermal conductivity along a first plane X-Y. One or more layers of material (13, 14, 15, 16, 17) that include a controlled thermal conductivity (Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4) along a second plane Z are connected with the first layer (11). At least one of those layers has a low thermal conductivity (e.g. a thermal insulating material) in the second plane Z and that layer is positioned between the heat source (20) and the enclosure (30) so that heat flow through that layer is substantially inhibited in the second plane Z and a majority of the waste heat H is thermally transferred through the first layer (11) along the first plane X-Y to the exterior surface (31e) where the waste heat H is uniformly distributed thereby reducing hot spots on the exterior surface (31e) which can cause user discomfort.