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Novel Concepts' ThinSink claims title of world's thinnest air-cooled heat sink

Heat sinks may not ordinarily be the most exciting sort of component -- but the world's thinnest air-cooled heat sink? That's... something. According to the folks at Novel Concepts, their new credit card-sized, 0.75mm thick ThinSink has now laid claim to that title, and it may soon lead to thinner tablets, laptops and monitors. What's more, despite its small size, the company claims that the ThinSink still has a cooling efficiency "25 times greater than today's best microprocessor heat sinks," and it consumes just 0.031 watts of electricity when equipped with a fan spinning at 6,000 RPM. Those interested in an evaluation unit will have to fork over a hefty $750, but the company promises it will be cheaper in larger quantities, and notes that it could also easily be stamped or molded from metal or plastic, as it only consists of two thin flat parts in addition to the motor.

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Novel Concepts Announces ThinSink™, the World's Thinnest Air-Cooled Heat Sink

LAS VEGAS, May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Novel Concepts, Inc. announced today that it has developed and has patents pending for the world's thinnest forced convection (fan cooled) heat sink, dubbed ThinSink™. Thinner than a credit card, this low-profile ThinSink has a volumetric cooling efficiency 25 times greater than today's best microprocessor heat sinks, which means it cools 25 times more heat per cubic centimeter.

Developed to fit inside small electronic devices such as notebooks, monitors, and tablets, ThinSink efficiently cools integrated circuits, semiconductors, LED's and other microelectronic heat generating devices.

ThinSink's smooth fan surface requires very little electrical power. A credit card-sized ThinSink (85mm by 55mm by 0.75mm), using a 40mm diameter smooth fan, spinning at 6,000 RPM, consumes only 0.031 watts of electricity (up to 2 days on a AAA battery) (click for chart).

Even with its low power consumption, this same credit card-sized ThinSink has an amazing thermal performance of 2.73 degrees Centigrade per watt at a fan speed of 6,000 RPM.

ThinSink is also extremely quiet, due to its thin, smooth fan surface, which eliminates the pulsating sound and vibration caused by traditional fan blades. At 6,000 RPM, this credit card-sized ThinSink has a sound output less than 34 dBA (quieter than a soft whisper at one meter distance).

Since ThinSink is thin and flat, it's also very lightweight. An aluminum credit card-sized ThinSink weighs only 13.8 grams, including motor, and only occupies 4.5 cubic centimeters of space.

Additionally, ThinSink may be very cost effective. Excluding the motor, ThinSink has only two thin flat parts, which can be stamped or molded from metal or plastic.

About Novel Concepts

Novel Concepts develops, designs, and optimizes thermal management technologies. With a core focus on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) integrated with proprietary computer shape optimization, Novel Concepts has uniquely solved some of the industry's most difficult thermal challenges. Using high speed servers, Novel Concepts can quickly explore a large solution space, allowing for greater design flexibility, while improving the chances of finding those "unique patentable solutions" necessary for today's competitive environment.

Since 1982, Novel Concepts has provided its clients with a broad spectrum of thermal management hardware and services, including heat sinks, cold plates, Peltier coolers, heat spreaders, vapor chambers, thermal interface materials, heat pipes, solid state thermoelectric coolers, liquid cooled heat sinks, computational fluid dynamics analysis, high power density LED heat sinks, computer design optimization, thin microfluidic heat sinks, thermal consulting, compact heat exchangers, heat transfer software, transient phase change heat sinks.

Licensing and Prototypes

Novel Concepts is pursuing partnering and licensing opportunities for its ThinSink technologies, as well as licensing opportunities for its portfolio of patents and patent applications.

The singe-piece price for the credit card-sized ThinSink evaluation unit is $750, reduced pricing is available on larger quantities, request pricing.