ACT Introduces ICE-Lok™: Thermally Optimized Wedgelocks for Military Chassis
Lancaster, PA May 2, 2018 – Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) announced today the launch of its new patented Isothermal Card Edge, ICE-Lok™ wedgelocks. ICE-Lok™ is designed to enhance the card-to-chassis, through-the-wedgelock heat conduction by adding more contact surfaces between the card and the chassis. The new wedgelock design offers a 30% reduction in thermal resistance compared to similarly sized COTS wedgelocks. This has enabled reduction of component temperatures of up to 10°C in some 100W card applications. ICE-Lok™ wedgelocks have been thoroughly tested for thermal and mechanical stability with repeated insertion/removal testing. They are designed to meet the dimensional requirements of the VITA specification; and the new friction lock feature ensures that card deformation is avoided.
According to Mr. Jens Weyant, ACT’s Defense/Aerospace Products Group Manager, “For years we have been supplying our military customers with excellent thermal management solutions for both the conduction cooled cards and the chassis frame. With the new ICE-Lok™ wedgelocks we can now offer solutions to all the thermal bottlenecks in ruggedized chassis, ensuring the electronic devices can operate with maximum performance. We’re excited to begin working with customers to deliver the improved thermal performance they’ve been asking us for.”
ACT’s R&D and Product Development engineers have been developing the ICE-Lok™ for several years, working with the military and their suppliers to address the critical thermal and mechanical requirements. The ICE-Lok™ is a wedge-type card retainer, but with the wedge faces cut at compound angles. When actuated, this allows the wedges to move with two degrees of freedom, expanding the card retainer in two, rather than one, directions. The ICE-Lok™ also uses “L” shaped wedges to make a direct thermal connection between the card and chassis, significantly increasing the contact area between the card, clamp, and chassis. This approach bypasses the significant wedge-to-wedge thermal resistance in a conventional wedgelock and contacts four faces rather than two as with a conventional wedgelock. ICE-Lok™ can be seamlessly integrated into standard VITA systems, creating longer life and higher reliability for a system’s critical components without costly board or chassis redesign.
For more technical information about ICE-LokTM, as well as to access an installation guide, visit our website. ICE-LokTM wedgelocks are aluminum-based material available in both 3/8” and 1/4” cross sections and are designed to meet the dimensional requirements of the VITA specification. A variety of coatings are also available including: Clear Chem Film, Electroless Nickel, Black Anodized and Teflon Hard Coat. Please contact us through our website, or by calling 717.295.6061. The Thermal Experts at ACT are waiting to discuss your embedded computing systems application and help you choose the right ICE-Lok™ wedgelocks for you.
ABOUT ACT
ACT specializes in advanced thermal technology development and custom thermal product manufacturing. ACT designs and manufactures PCM heat sinks, cold plates, HiK™ plates, heat pipes, custom thermal, fluid, and mechanical systems, and pumped liquid and two-phase loops for customers in diverse markets including Aerospace, Electronics, Temperature Calibration, Medical Device, and Energy Recovery Systems.
ACT’s team consists of personnel with established track records in technology development, commercialization and production. Many of them were involved in the pioneering work on heat pipes, loop heat pipes and other single and two-phase heat transfer devices. They are the inventors/co-inventors on numerous U.S. and international patents and the authors/co-authors of hundreds of scientific publications.
ACT’s Facility measures more than 60,000 square feet, including office, laboratory and manufacturing spaces. With ISO9001 and AS9100 certified quality system in place, the facility has designed and manufactured high quality, cost effective, thermal management solutions for dozens of mission critical satellites, and numerous military and commercial applications. ACT’s diverse R&D efforts are developing thermal solutions for tomorrow’s emerging technologies.
For more information about ACT, please visit www.1-ACT.com.