US 12,349,318 B2
Heat sink assembly for electronic equipment
Rohit Dev Gupta, Brookefield Bangalore (IN); and Robert Gregory Twiss, Chapel Hill, NC (US)
Assigned to CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by Cisco Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Jan. 19, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/156,688.
Application 18/156,688 is a continuation of application No. 16/993,885, filed on Aug. 14, 2020, granted, now 11,589,481.
Prior Publication US 2023/0156971 A1, May 18, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H05K 7/20 (2006.01)
CPC H05K 7/20709 (2013.01) [H05K 7/2039 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus comprising:
a cage defining a chamber, the cage including an open surface;
a heat sink to facilitate heat dissipation, the heat sink including a mating surface;
a thermal interface material including a first surface and a second surface, the first surface being coupled to the mating surface of the heat sink and the second surface being opposite the first surface to be positioned against a perimeter of the chamber; and
an actuation assembly including a shape memory alloy (SMA) element coupled to the heat sink, wherein the SMA element is configured to be moveable between a first position and a second position such that when the SMA element is in the first position, the second surface of the thermal interface material is disposed within the open surface of the cage, and when the SMA element is moved to the second position, the second surface of the thermal interface material is moved a distance away from the perimeter of the chamber.