Patent No. 7215549 Plasma display device

 

Patent No. 7215549

Plasma display device (Kim, May 8, 2007)

 Abstract

A plasma display device includes a chassis base supporting a plasma display panel (PDP). A heat conducting medium is interposed between the chassis base and the PDP, and a heat sink presses toward the heat conducting medium through the penetration hole.

 

Notes:

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-59209 filed on Aug. 26, 2003 at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

(a) Field

The present invention relates to a plasma display device, and more particularly to a plasma display device having an enhanced heat radiation structure.

(b) Description of the Related Art

As is well known in the art, a plasma display device realizes a desired image using a plasma discharge. Such a plasma display device generally includes a plasma display panel (PDP) for rendering the desired image through plasma discharge activated by an external power source, a chassis base for firmly holding the PDP at its front side, and circuit boards mounted on a rear side of the chassis base for driving the PDP. Front and rear cases are combined with front and rear sides of a PDP module (i.e., a combination of a PDP, a chassis base, and circuit boards)to form such a plasma display device.

Since rendering of a desired image by a PDP is achieved using a plasma discharge as described above, a PDP generally produces a significant amount of heat during its image rendering. A PDP may be damaged when a temperature of thereof increases excessively, so heat dissipation efficiency of a PDP plays an important role in its durability. In this sense, increasing heat dissipation of a PDP has always been an important research topic in the field.

Examples of heat dissipation mechanisms of a PDP may be found in numerous prior technical documents, for example in Laid Open Japanese Patent publication 09-097015 (applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC IND CO. LTD, date of publication: Apr. 8, 1997), and Laid Open Korean Patent publication 1998-0011613 (applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC IND CO. LTD, date of publication: Apr. 30, 1998).

As can be gathered from the technical documents, a heat dissipation mechanism of a plasma display device according to the prior art may be generally summarized as follows.

A chassis base is formed of a metal (e.g., aluminum or a compound thereof) having high heat conductivity such that heat generated at a PDP may be easily dissipated. A heat transferring material such as a heat dissipation sheet is disposed between the PDP and the chassis base such that the heat generated at the PDP may be easily transferred to the chassis base. A heat dissipation member (e.g., a heat sink or cooling fins) is attached to a rear side of the chassis base such that a dissipation effect of heat occurs through a front side thereof from the PDP. Therefore, the heat generated at the PDP is transferred to the chassis base through the heat dissipation sheet, and is finally dissipated at the heat dissipation member.

According to such a heat dissipation mechanism of the prior art, when the chassis base and the PDP are attached interposing the heat dissipation sheet, air is frequently trapped to form a layer therebetween. This results from wide areas of the chassis base and the PDP having difficulty forming uniformly close contact therebetween at all spots, and in addition, because a sufficiently high pressure applied for attachment may easily cause damage to the PDP.

In order to reduce formation of such an air layer between the PDP and the chassis base interposing the heat dissipation sheet, according to the prior art, slits for discharging air are frequently formed at the heat dissipation sheet, or the thickness of the heat dissipation sheet is varied in different areas.

However, such features do not sufficiently prevent the occurrence of such an air layer at areas that need to be cooled by dissipating heat. That is, such an air layer is still frequently formed at some locations of the wide PDP-attached area that are unpredictable and uncontrollable.

Different amounts of heat are generated at the PDP at different areas and, accordingly, a surface temperature of the PDP becomes different at different areas. It is therefore preferable that a heat dissipation mechanism of a plasma display device be enhanced such that heat dissipation efficiency may be determined and controlled appropriately, depending on the area of need.

Another problem presented by the prior art heat dissipation mechanism is that negative effects of the dissipated heat on circuit boards mounted on a rear side of the chassis base are ignored, since the general concern has only been about dissipation of heat generated at the PDP. The heat of the PDP is dissipated mainly through the rear side of the chassis base, and such dissipated heat affects elements included in the circuit boards mounted at the rear side of the chassis base. That is, the heat of air heated at the rear side of the chassis base is easily transferred to the elements of the circuit boards mounted at the rear side of the chassis base, e.g., through leads on the surface of the circuit boards.

Therefore, a reduction of heat transfer from a chassis base to a circuit board may enhance the stability and durability of a plasma display device.

SUMMARY

An exemplary plasma display device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plasma display panel (PDP), a chassis base for supporting the PDP and having at least one penetration hole, a heat conducting medium interposed between the chassis base and the PDP, and a heat sink disposed at the penetration hole and pressing toward the heat conducting medium.

In a further embodiment, such a plasma display device further includes a conjoining device formed at one side of the chassis base, and forming a pressure of the heat sink toward the heat conducting medium and conjoining with the heat sink. In some embodiments, the heat sink is conjoined with the conjoining device directly, and in other embodiments, the heat sink is conjoined with the conjoining device by at least one interposed member.

In a still further embodiment, a plurality of projections is formed on the heat sink.

When the heat sink is conjoined with the conjoining device through at least one interposed member, the at least one member may cover the plurality of projections.

An air passage of a generally vertical direction may be formed by the plurality of projections

In another still further embodiment, the heat sink and/or the at least one interposed member have at least one boss formed in a direction opposite to the chassis base. In this embodiment, at least one circuit board is conjoined to the boss.

The conjoining device may include a conjoining boss, and in one embodiment, a sum of a thickness of the chassis base and a height of the conjoining boss may be smaller than a distance between an area of the heat sink facing the conjoining boss and an area of the heat sink facing the heat conducting medium.

The conjoining device may also include a conjoining boss and an elastic member. In this embodiment, at least part of the elastic member is disposed proximate to an upper end of the conjoining boss.

In some embodiments, the elastic member includes a rubber member disposed on the upper end of the conjoining boss or a spring disposed generally coaxially with the conjoining boss.

A heat dissipation unit may alternatively replace the heat sink and be disposed at the penetration hole by at least part thereof and press toward the heat conducting medium.

In a further embodiment, the plasma display device further includes a conjoining device formed at one side of the chassis base, forming a pressure of the heat dissipation unit toward the heat conducting medium. The heat dissipation unit may be conjoined to the rear side of the chassis base by the conjoining device.

In a still further embodiment, a plurality of projections is formed at the heat dissipation unit. An air passage of a generally vertical direction may be formed by the plurality of projections, which may also project in a direction opposite to the chassis base. The heat dissipation unit may include a plate member for covering the plurality of projections.

In another still further embodiment, at least one boss is formed at the heat dissipation unit in a direction opposite to the chassis base, and at least one circuit board is conjoined to the boss. In this case such conjoined circuit board can become more thermally stable.

The conjoining device may include a conjoining boss, and a sum of a thickness of the chassis base and a height of the conjoining boss may be smaller than a distance between an area of the heat dissipation unit facing the conjoining boss and an area of the heat dissipation unit facing the heat conducting medium.

The conjoining device may include a conjoining boss and an elastic member, and at least part of the elastic member is disposed proximate to an upper end of the conjoining boss.

The elastic member may include a rubber member disposed on the upper end of the conjoining boss or a spring disposed generally coaxially with the conjoining boss.

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Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail hereinabove, it should be clearly understood that many variations and/or modifications of the basic inventive concept taught herein, which may appear to those skilled in the art, will still fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims.