Tesla patents cooling plate that slides to fit different chip heights
Tesla describes a computer cooling system where a metal block, called a sliding pedestal, sits between a processor and a water-cooling plate. This block can move up and down to adjust the gap between the chip and the cooler, ensuring tight contact for better heat removal. The design allows the cooling plate to handle components of different sizes without needing custom parts for each one.
In the filing’s own words
A cold plate with an integrated sliding pedestal and a processing system including the same are provided. In one aspect, the processing system includes a printed circuit board (PCB), a first electronic component arranged over the PCB, and a thermal interface material (TIM) arranged over the first electronic component. The system includes at least one sliding pedestal arranged over the TIM. The sliding pedestal is configured to be spaced a variable distance from the PCB. The system also includes a cold plate arranged over the sliding pedestal and configured to provide a coolant to the sliding pedestal and to cool a second electronic component.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A processing system, comprising: a first electronic component arranged over a printed circuit board (PCB), the first electronic component having a height in a first direction perpendicular to a major surface of the PCB; a thermal interface material (TIM) layer arranged over the first electronic component; a sliding pedestal arranged over the TIM layer, the sliding pedestal comprising an inlet, an outlet, and a coolant path between the inlet and the outlet; and a cold plate arranged over the sliding pedestal, the cold plate configured to cool a second electronic component and provide a coolant to the inlet of the sliding pedestal to cool the first electronic component via the sliding pedestal and the TIM layer as the coolant flows through the coolant path of the sliding pedestal, wherein the sliding pedestal is configured to move freely in the first direction while maintaining a fluid seal between the cold plate and each of the inlet and the outlet of the sliding pedestal.
Facts
- Company
- Tesla (Tesla, Inc.)
- Official title
- Cold plate with integrated sliding pedestal and processing system including the same
- Patent number
- US12764907B2
- Application number
- 18549342
- Filed
- Mar 1, 2022
- Granted
- Oct 13, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 19
Classified under
H05K 7/20454 Electricity & electronicsH05K 1/0203 Electricity & electronicsH05K 7/20254 Electricity & electronicsH05K 7/20272 Electricity & electronicsMore from Tesla in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.