U.S. patent application number 11/125630 was filed with the patent office on 2005-11-24 for heat pipe structure with an external liquid detouring path.
This patent application is currently assigned to BENQ CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Shih, Fu-Shiung.
Application Number | 20050257918 11/125630 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35374074 |
Filed Date | 2005-11-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050257918 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Shih, Fu-Shiung |
November 24, 2005 |
Heat pipe structure with an external liquid detouring path
Abstract
A heat pipe structure with an external liquid detouring path
includes a main pipe having an interior space and divided into a
top portion, a middle portion and a bottom portion. In the middle
portion, a circular liquid-collecting groove facing the top portion
is constructed for collecting a liquid drained down along the inner
wall of the pipe. The heat pipe also includes a bifurcated pipe to
detour the liquid in the liquid-collecting groove to the bottom
portion of the heat pipe.
Inventors: |
Shih, Fu-Shiung; (Taichung
Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LADAS & PARRY
26 WEST 61ST STREET
NEW YORK
NY
10023
US
|
Assignee: |
BENQ CORPORATION
|
Family ID: |
35374074 |
Appl. No.: |
11/125630 |
Filed: |
May 10, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/104.26 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28D 15/0233 20130101;
F28D 15/025 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/104.26 |
International
Class: |
F28D 015/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 18, 2004 |
TW |
93113966 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A heat pipe structure, comprising a main pipe having an interior
space accommodating a work fluid, the interior space being divided
into thereof a top portion, a middle portion and a bottom portion,
characterized in that: the middle portion has a circular
liquid-collecting groove facing the top portion for collecting the
work fluid in a liquid state drained down along an inner wall of
the heat pipe, and a bifurcated pipe is included to bridge the
liquid-collecting groove and the bottom portion for detouring the
work fluid in the liquid-collecting groove to the bottom
portion.
2. The heat pipe structure according to claim 1, wherein said
liquid-collecting groove is formed by said inner wall and an outer
rim of a liquid-collecting ring plugged inside said middle portion,
and the liquid-collecting ring further includes a through hole in
communication spatially with both said top portion and said bottom
portion.
3. The heat pipe structure according to claim 1, wherein said main
pipe is formed by joining an upper half pipe and a lower half pipe,
in which the lower half pipe further includes a top end bent radial
inward and upward to plug into the upper half pipe so as to form
said liquid-collecting groove with said inner wall at the upper
half pipe.
4. The heat pipe structure according to claim 1, wherein said main
pipe is formed by joining an upper half pipe and a lower half pipe,
in which the upper half pipe further includes a bottom end bent
radial inward and upward to form thereof said liquid-collecting
groove.
5. The heat pipe structure according to claim 1, wherein said main
pipe is formed by joining an upper half pipe, a liquid-collecting
ring and a lower half pipe, in which an upper portion of the
liquid-collecting ring is located inside the upper half pipe so as
to form said liquid-collecting groove in between with the upper
half pipe.
6. The heat pipe structure according to claim 1, wherein said
bottom portion has a bottom end thereof enlarged to form a fluid
room while a bottom of said main pipe corresponding to the fluid
room is also extended to form a heat-collecting part to be mounted
on a heat-generating device, wherein a lower end of said bifurcated
pipe is connected to a top side of the heat-collecting part.
7. The heat pipe structure according to claim 1, wherein said
bottom portion has a bottom end thereof enlarged to form a fluid
room while a bottom of said main pipe corresponding to the fluid
room is also extended to form a heat-collecting part to be mounted
on a heat-generating device, wherein a lower end of said bifurcated
pipe is connected to a lateral side of the heat-collecting
part.
8. The heat pipe structure according to claim 1, wherein said inner
wall of said main pipe located above said liquid-collecting groove
is laminated with a capillary layer.
9. A heat pipe structure, comprising: an upper half pipe, formed as
a pipe having an upper end sealed; a lower half pipe, formed as a
pipe having a lower end sealed; a liquid-collecting ring, formed as
a conical ring having a central through hole, located between the
upper half pipe and the lower half pipe, further having an upper
portion thereof located inside the upper half pipe so as to have a
cavity between the upper portion and the upper half pipe formed as
a liquid-collecting groove; and a bifurcated pipe, further having
an upper end and an opposing lower end, the upper end connecting
with the liquid-collecting groove, the lower end connecting with a
bottom of the lower half pipe close to the lower end.
10. The heat pipe structure according to claim 9, wherein said
liquid-collecting ring and the lower half pipe is made as a unique
piece.
11. The heat pipe structure according to claim 9, wherein said
liquid-collecting ring and the upper half pipe is made as a unique
piece.
12. The heat pipe structure according to claim 9, wherein said
bottom of said lower half pipe is enlarged to form a
heat-collecting part to be mounted on a heat-generating device.
13. The heat pipe structure according to claim 9, wherein said
upper half pipe is laminated thereinside with a capillary layer.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] (1) Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to an improved heat pipe structure,
and more particularly to a heat pipe having a bifurcated path to
bypass a condensed liquid back to a lower portion of the heat
pipe.
[0003] (2) Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Application of a heat pipe apparatus is to utilize physical
phase change of a work fluid sealed in the heat pipe to perform
heat transportation between two ends of the heat pipe, respectively
located in two environments with a thermal difference. Referring to
FIG. 1, a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional heat
pipe 1 in a typical operational state is shown. The heat pipe 1,
usually made of a high-thermal-conductivity material such as a
copper, is mainly an airtight pipe structure 10. The internal space
of the airtight pipe structure 10 contains a specific amount of
work fluid 11 for performing physical phase change.
[0005] In the art, the heat pipe 1 is firstly to have one end open
for injecting the work fluid 11 and for vacuuming the internal
space of the pipe 1. Then, the end is sealed to form an airtight
state of the heat pipe 1.
[0006] In application of the heat pipe 1, it is posed vertically as
shown in FIG. 1 or at an high-elevation angle in the two work areas
200, 300. The ambient temperature of the upper work area 200 is
lower than that of the lower work area 300. The operational boiling
point of the work fluid 11 is between the ambient temperatures of
the upper and the lower work areas, 200 and 300 respectively.
[0007] In the art, the portion of the heat pipe 1 located in the
lower work area 300 is called a vaporization portion 12, while the
portion thereof located in the upper area 200 is called a
condensation portion 13. In operations, the work fluid 11 sitting
inside the vaporization portion 12 of the heat pipe 1 can absorb
the heat in the lower work area 300 so to be vaporized as a steam
floating into the condensation portion 13 in the upper work area
200. Through walls of the pipe 10, the steam of the work fluid 11
can be cooled down to condensate as liquid drops by the upper work
area 200. By gravity forcing, the liquid drops of the work fluid 11
can drop directly back into or slip along the walls down into the
vaporization portion 12. Upon such an arrangement, a rapid heat
transportation pathway can be established to begin in the lower
work area 300, via the reciprocally movement and phase change of
the work fluid 11 inside the heat pipe 1, and end up finally in the
upper work area 200.
[0008] In the aforesaid application of the heat pipe 1, the heat
transfer between the lower work area 300 and the upper work area
200 is automatically in action as soon as the heat pipe 1 is
anchored in between. No more external forcing or switching is
required. Yet, in a particular case that the rate of heat-absorbing
in the vaporization portion 12 (i.e. heat flow from the lower work
area 300 to the heat pipe 1) is elevated to an over-heat situation,
all the work fluid 11 in the vaporization portion 12 may be
transformed into the steam state and no more work fluid 11 in the
liquid state can stay at the bottom of the heat pipe 1. Such a dry
bottom phenomenon in the heat pipe 1 is called a dual reverse flow
state of the heat pipe structure.
[0009] While the heat pipe 1 meets a dual reverse flow state, the
liquid drops of the work fluid 11 condensed at the condensation
portion 13 would be vaporized before reaching the bottom of the
vaporization portion 12. Though the phase change operation of the
work fluid 11 inside the heat pipe 1 can still prevail, yet the
lower portion of the vaporization portion 12 can loose its ability
in absorbing the surrounding heat. In particular, in the case that
the lower portion of the vaporization portion 12 is utilized to
remove a heat from a specific heat-generating device, it is quite
possible that the device will quickly fail or be even damaged.
[0010] Referring now to FIG. 2, a conventional loop-type heat
piping is shown. In the piping as shown, the vaporization portion
12 and the condensation portion 13 are separated at a predetermined
distance, but are bridged by a vapor pipe 14 and a liquid pipe 15.
In application, the vaporization portion 12 can be directly mounted
onto a heat-generating device. The steam of work fluid generated
inside the vaporization portion 12 is sent automatically to the
far-end condensation portion 13 via the vapor pipe 14. In the
condensation portion 13, the steam is then cooled down by the
surroundings to condense and form a liquid state of the work fluid
thereinside. The liquid state of the work fluid is driven
automatically back to the vaporization portion 12 via the liquid
pipe 15.
[0011] In the application of the loop-type heat piping as shown in
FIG. 2, for the vapor pipe 14 and the liquid pipe 15 are separate,
the liquid can arrive the vaporization portion 12 without being
heated in a mid-way.
[0012] Therefore, the dual reverse flow state of the work fluid as
mentioned above can never occur in this type of heat piping. As a
result, the heat-generating device can be better protected by the
loop-type heat piping.
[0013] Nevertheless, though the loop-type heat piping may simply
provide a solution to the single-tube heat pipe as shown in FIG. 1,
yet the complicated structuring, the required construction space
and the cost of the loop-type heat piping are still there to be
further considered. Definitely, a complete substitution of the
single-tube heat pipe by the loop-type heat piping is hardly to be
possible. Therefore, an effort to improve the single-tube heat pipe
for avoiding the notorious dual reverse flow phenomenon is surely
welcome to the skilled in the art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to
provide a heat pipe structure with an external liquid detouring
path, in which a bifurcated pipe is constructed exteriorly to the
main pipe structure for bypassing a condensed liquid back to a
lower portion of the heat pipe, so that the dual reverse flow
phenomenon for heat piping can be prevented and thus a normal
operation of the heat pipe can be maintained.
[0015] The heat pipe structure in accordance with the present
invention comprises a slender hollow main pipe having an interior
space accommodating a work fluid. Further, the interior space can
be divided into a top portion, a middle portion and a bottom
portion. The top portion and the bottom portion are respectively
located in a condensation portion and a vaporization portion as
described in a conventional heat pipe, while the middle portion is
located at the conjunction area of the condensation portion and the
vaporization portion. The middle portion of the present invention
has a circular liquid-collecting groove facing the top portion for
collecting the work fluid in a liquid state drained down along an
inner wall of the heat pipe. Further, an external bifurcated pipe
is included to bridge spatially the liquid-collecting groove and
the bottom portion for detouring the work fluid in the
liquid-collecting groove to the bottom portion.
[0016] In one embodiment of the present invention, the
liquid-collecting groove of the heat pipe can be formed by an inner
wall and an outer rim of a liquid-collecting ring plugged inside
the middle portion. The liquid-collecting ring further includes a
through hole in communication spatially with both the top portion
and the bottom portion.
[0017] In one embodiment of the present invention, the main pipe of
the heat pipe can be formed by telescoping or joining an upper half
pipe and a lower half pipe, in which the lower half pipe further
includes a top end bent radial inward and upward to plug into the
upper half pipe so as to form the liquid-collecting groove in
between with the inner wall of the upper half pipe.
[0018] In one embodiment of the present invention, the main pipe of
the heat pipe can be formed by telescoping or joining an upper half
pipe and a lower half pipe, in which the upper half pipe further
includes a bottom end bent radial inward and upward to form thereof
the liquid-collecting groove.
[0019] In one embodiment of the present invention, the main pipe of
the heat pipe can be formed by joining an upper half pipe, a
liquid-collecting ring and a lower half pipe, in which an upper
portion of the liquid-collecting ring is located inside the upper
half pipe so as to form thereof the liquid-collecting groove in
between with the upper half pipe.
[0020] In one embodiment of the present invention, the bottom
portion of the interior space of the heat pipe can have a bottom
end thereof enlarged to form a fluid room, and respectively a
bottom (wall) of the main pipe corresponding to the fluid room is
also extended to form a heat-collecting part to be mounted on a
heat-generating device. In the embodiment, a lower end of the
bifurcated pipe can be connected to a top side or a lateral side of
the heat-collecting part of the bottom portion.
[0021] In one embodiment of the present invention, the inner wall
of the main pipe located above the liquid-collecting groove can be
laminated with a capillary layer for rapidly transporting liquid
drops of the work fluid downward from the top portion of the heat
pipe into the liquid-collecting groove.
[0022] All these objects are achieved by the heat pipe structure
with an external liquid detouring path described below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] The present invention will now be specified with reference
to its preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, in
which:
[0024] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional
single-tube heat pipe in operations;
[0025] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional loop-type heat
piping;
[0026] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the
heat pipe structure with an external liquid detouring path in
accordance with the present invention;
[0027] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 along line a-a in
operations;
[0028] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of
the heat pipe in accordance with the present invention;
[0029] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of
the heat pipe in accordance with the present invention;
[0030] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a fourth embodiment of
the heat pipe in accordance with the present invention;
[0031] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a fifth embodiment of the
heat pipe in accordance with the present invention;
[0032] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 8 along line
b-b;
[0033] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a sixth embodiment of the
heat pipe in accordance with the present invention;
[0034] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 8 in operations;
and
[0035] FIG. 12 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of
the main pipe of the heat pipe in accordance with the present
invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0036] The invention disclosed herein is directed to a heat pipe
structure with an external liquid detouring path. In the following
description, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a
thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be
appreciated by one skilled in the art that variations of these
specific details are possible while still achieving the results of
the present invention. In other instance, well-known components are
not described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the
present invention.
[0037] To simplify the description of the present invention,
elements serving the same purpose but having slight difference in
appearance will be named and labeled uniquely.
[0038] In the present invention, the condensed liquid drained down
along the inner wall of the heat pipe is the major concern. For a
convention heat pipe as shown in FIG. 1 to meet a dual reverse flow
phenomenon, those condensed liquid would be vaporized in the midway
of the heat pipe and thus never reach the bottom end of heat pipe.
As a consequence, the bottom end of the heat pipe would be dried
out and loose its function in absorbing the external heat.
Contrarily, it is the design logic of the present invention that
the down flow of the condensed liquid is interrupted at midway of
the heat pipe, led out of the main pipe to prevent from being
vaporized before reaching the bottom end of the heat pipe, and
finally sent back directly into the bottom end for performing
another cycle of phase change operation. Upon such an idea, the
bottom end of the heat pipe can be never dried up and can always be
refilled with fluid in liquid state. Thus, the serving purpose of
the heat pipe can be better fulfilled.
[0039] Referring now to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a first embodiment of
the heat pipe structure in accordance with the present invention is
respectively shown in a perspective view and a cross-sectional view
along line a-a of FIG. 3. In the embodiment, the heat pipe 2
comprises a slender hollow main pipe 20 that has a sealed interior
space 204 further accommodating a substantial amount of work fluid
11. As shown, the interior space 204 can be divided into a top
portion 203, a middle portion 202 and a bottom portion 201. The top
portion 203 and part of the middle portion 202 are resembled to the
condensation portion 13 of FIG. 1, and the bottom portion 201 and
another part of the middle portion 202 are resembled to the
vaporization portion 12 of FIG. 1.
[0040] As shown, the inner wall 207 of the main pipe 20 at the
middle portion 202 is structured to form a circular
liquid-collecting groove 221 facing the top portion 203 for
collecting the work fluid 11 in a liquid state (i.e. the condensed
liquid) drained down along the inner wall 207 thereabove. Further,
the heat pipe 2 of the present invention further includes an
external bifurcated pipe 21. The bifurcated pipe 21 has an upper
end 211 and an opposing lower end 212, in which the upper end 211
is connected with the liquid-collecting groove 221 for leading the
work fluid 11 out of the main pipe 20, and in which the lower end
212 is connected with the bottom portion 201 for refilling the work
fluid 11 back to the main pipe 20, more specifically to the bottom
of the heat pipe 2. Upon such an arrangement, the condensed work
fluid 11 can detour via the bifurcated pipe 21 to bypass the
hi-temperature area in the bottom portion 201 and the middle
portion 202 of the main pipe 20 so that no dual reverse flow
phenomenon and the dry-up bottom can be found in the heat pipe
structuring 2 of the present invention.
[0041] In the first embodiment, the liquid-collecting groove 221 of
the heat pipe 2 is formed by plugging a liquid-collecting ring 22
into the main pipe 20 at the middle portion 202. As shown in FIG.
4, the circular concave space formed between the outer rim 222 of
the liquid-collecting ring 22 and the an inner wall 207 at the
middle portion 202 can thus be used as the liquid-collecting groove
221 of the present invention. The conical liquid-collecting ring 22
further includes a through hole 220 for bridging spatially the top
portion 203 and the bottom portion 201. By providing the
liquid-collecting ring 22, the steam of the work fluid 11 can
freely rise from the bottom portion 201 to the top portion 203 via
the through hol3 220, and the liquid work fluid 11 drained down
along the inner wall 207 above the middle portion 202 can be
successfully collected in the liquid-collecting groove 221.
[0042] In the present invention, the connection between the
bifurcated pipe 21 and the main pipe 20 can be made by firstly
drilling the main pipe 20 at proper locations and then welding or
threading the ends 211, 212 of the bifurcated pipe 21 to the
respective drilled holes on the main pipe 20. Or, third connecting
parts can also be introduced to engage the ends 211, 212 of the
bifurcated pipe 21 with the main pipe 20. However, possible
connection means for engaging the bifurcated pipe 21 and the main
pipe 20 are well known to the skilled person in the art, so related
details regarding such connections will be omitted herein.
[0043] In the present invention, the bifurcated pipe 21 can be made
of copper, appropriate metal, or plastics. While a plastic pipe is
used as the bifurcated pipe 21, two connecting parts are required
to engage the plastic bifurcated pipe 21 to the metal main pipe
20.
[0044] Referring now to FIG. 5, a second embodiment of the heat
pipe structure in accordance with the present invention is shown in
a cross sectional view. Compared to the first embodiment of FIG. 4,
the main pipe 20 of this embodiment is formed by telescoping or
joining an upper half pipe 20a and a lower half pipe 20b. The upper
half pipe 20a has its top end sealed, while the lower half pipe 20b
has its bottom end sealed. As shown, the lower half pipe 20b
further includes a top end bent radial inward and upward to form a
taper head for plugging into the upper half pipe 20a. By providing
the taper head of the lower half pipe 20b, the liquid-collecting
groove 22 can be formed between the inner wall 207 of the upper
half pipe 20a and the taper head (i.e. the liquid-collecting ring
22 in this embodiment).
[0045] In the second embodiment, the introduction of the bifurcated
pipe 22 is the same as that in the first embodiment.
[0046] Referring now to FIG. 6, a third embodiment of the heat pipe
structure in accordance with the present invention is shown in a
cross sectional view. Compared to the first embodiment of FIG. 4
and the second embodiment of FIG. 5, the main pipe 20 of the heat
pipe 2 in this third embodiment is formed by joining an upper half
pipe 20a, a liquid-collecting ring 22 having a central through hole
220, and a lower half pipe 20b. An upper portion 222 of the
liquid-collecting ring 22 is located inside the upper half pipe 20a
such that the liquid-collecting groove 221 can be formed by the
limited circular space between the upper portion 222 and the upper
half pipe 20a. Also, the inclusion of the bifurcated pipe 22 in
this third embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment
or in the second embodiment.
[0047] In the third embodiment of the present invention, the
connection between the liquid-collecting ring 22 and the upper half
pipe 20a or that between the liquid-collecting ring 22 and the
lower half pipe 20b can be a welding connection, a pure press-tight
connection, or a threading connection. In the case that a threading
connection is adopted, an external thread can be made to the
liquid-collecting ring 22 and a corresponding internal thread can
be made to the upper half pipe 20a or the lower half pipe 20b.
Also, while in engaging threads of the liquid-collecting ring 22
and the upper half pipe 20a or the lower half pipe 20b, appropriate
seal parts such as O-rings or air-tight belts can be applied in
between. Yet, such a piping connection technique is well known to
the skilled person in the art, and details will be omitted
herein.
[0048] Referring now to FIG. 7, a fourth embodiment of the heat
pipe structure in accordance with the present invention is shown in
a cross sectional view. Compared to the first embodiment of FIG. 4
and the second embodiment of FIG. 5, the main pipe 20 of this
embodiment is also formed by telescoping or joining an upper half
pipe 20a and a lower half pipe 20b. The upper half pipe 20a has its
top end sealed, while the lower half pipe 20b has its bottom end
sealed. As shown, a bottom end 22 of the upper half pipe 20a is
bent radial inward and upward so as to directly form thereof the
liquid-collecting groove 22. Also, the construction of the
bifurcated pipe 22 in this fourth embodiment is the same as that in
any of previous embodiments.
[0049] Referring now to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, a fifth embodiment of
the heat pipe structure in accordance with the present invention is
shown in a perspective view and a cross sectional view of FIG. 8
along line b-b, respectively. In this embodiment, the inner wall
207 at the bottom portion 201 of the interior space 204 of the heat
pipe 2 is enlarged to form a heat-collecting part 23 having a fluid
room 233. The heat-collecting part 23 is used to mount on a
heat-generating device (not shown in the figure). As shown in the
embodiment, the lower end 212 of the bifurcated pipe 21 is
connected to a top side 230 of the heat-collecting part 23. That is
to say that the liquid work fluid 11 collected in the
liquid-collecting groove 221 is led directly to the fluid room 233
of the bottom portion 201 via the bifurcated pipe 21.
[0050] In the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the
construction of the main pipe 20 is similar to that of the second
embodiment as shown in FIG. 5. Yet, a major difference in between
is that the upper half pipe 20a of the fifth embodiment is extended
to sleeve tightly over the lower half pipe 20b till the lower end
of the upper half pipe 20a hits the top side 230 of the
heat-collecting part 23.
[0051] Referring now to FIG. 10, a sixth embodiment of the heat
pipe structure in accordance with the present invention is shown in
a perspective view. Compared to the fifth embodiment of FIG. 8, the
sixth embodiment has the lower end 212 of the bifurcated pipe 21
connected to a lateral side 231 of the heat-collecting part 23 of
the main pipe 20.
[0052] Referring now to FIG. 11, a cross-sectional view of FIG. 8
in operations is shown. As shown, the heat-collecting part 23 of
the heat pipe 2 is directly mounted on a heat-generating device 4.
The heat generated in the heat-generating device 4 is led into the
fluid room 233 to boil the work fluid 11 thereinside. The steam of
the work fluid 11 then floats upward freely in the interior space
204 of the main pipe 20 from the fluid room 233 of the bottom
portion 201 to the top portion 203. In the top portion 203, the
steam exchanges heat with the inner wall 207 thereof so as to
condense to form liquid drops of the work fluid 11. Part of the
liquid drops fall directly down through the interior space 204 to
the fluid room 233, while part of the liquid drops formed on the
inner wall 207 at the top portion 203 of the main pipe 20 would
drain down along the inner wall 207 to be collected by the
liquid-collecting groove 221 at the middle portion 202. The work
fluid 11 collected by the liquid-collecting groove 221 is then
detoured out of the main pipe 20 by the bifurcated pipe 21 and
thereafter refilled into the fluid room 233 of the heat-collecting
part 23. In the fluid room 233, the work fluid 11 is again to begin
another cycle of phase change operation as described above.
[0053] As shown, to speed up the heat dissipation from the main
pipe 20 to the surroundings, an appropriate fin structure 3 is
constructed at the condensation portion of the heat pipe 2
(including the top portion 203 and an upper part of the middle
portion 202). Preferably, a fan (not shown in the figure) can be
used to enhance the dissipation efficiency of the fin structure
3.
[0054] In the present invention, the heat-collecting part 23 can be
shaped as a hollow disk body, a hollow square body, a hollow thin
plate body, or any type of hollow body that can fit a particular
shape of the heat-generating device 4.
[0055] Referring now to FIG. 12, an enlarged cross-sectional view
of a portion of the main pipe of the heat pipe in accordance with
the present invention is shown. As shown, the inner wall 207 of the
main pipe 20 located above the liquid-collecting groove 221 is
laminated with a capillary layer 208 for rapidly transporting
liquid drops of the work fluid at the inner wall 207 of the heat
pipe downward into the liquid-collecting groove 221. Such a
capillary layer and its construction are well known to the skilled
person in the art, and so details will be omitted herein.
[0056] In the present invention, by providing an external liquid
detouring path (i.e. the bifurcated pipe) to the single-tube heat
pipe structure, the condensed work fluid can then bypass the
vaporization portion of the heat pipe and can be sent directly to
the lower portion of the heat pipe. Upon such an arrangement, the
dual reverse flow phenomenon for heat piping can be avoided in the
heat pipe of the present invention and a normal operation of the
heat pipe can be ensured.
[0057] While the present invention has been particularly shown and
described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be
understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form
and detail may be without departing from the spirit and scope of
the present invention.
* * * * *