U.S. patent application number 11/463449 was filed with the patent office on 2008-02-14 for isothermal plate module.
Invention is credited to Hul-Chun Hsu.
Application Number | 20080035310 11/463449 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39049463 |
Filed Date | 2008-02-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080035310 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hsu; Hul-Chun |
February 14, 2008 |
Isothermal Plate Module
Abstract
An isothermal plate module includes an isothermal plate body and
a plurality of heat pipes. One surface of the isothermal plate body
has first recesses extending along a first direction and second
recesses extending along a second direction. The first recesses
extending along the first direction and the second recesses
extending along the second direction are staggered to one another.
A level difference is formed between each first and second recess.
The heat pipes can be disposed in the first recesses and the second
recesses, respectively. The isothermal plate body adheres to the
heat source. With the plurality of staggered heat pipes and the
working fluid and capillary structure within the heat pipes, an
isothermal plate module can be formed.
Inventors: |
Hsu; Hul-Chun; (Taichung
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HDSL
4331 STEVENS BATTLE LANE
FAIRFAX
VA
22033
US
|
Family ID: |
39049463 |
Appl. No.: |
11/463449 |
Filed: |
August 9, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/104.21 ;
257/E23.088 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28D 15/0275 20130101;
H01L 23/427 20130101; G02F 1/133628 20210101; H01L 2924/0002
20130101; H01L 2924/0002 20130101; H01L 2924/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/104.21 |
International
Class: |
F28D 15/00 20060101
F28D015/00 |
Claims
1. An isothermal plate module, comprising: an isothermal plate body
with one surface being a flat surface, the other surface thereof
having first recesses extending along a first direction and second
recesses extending along a second direction, the first recesses and
the second recesses staggered and a level difference formed
therebetween; and a plurality of heat pipes staggered with each
other to be disposed in the first recesses and the second recesses,
respectively.
2. The isothermal plate module according to claim 1, wherein each
first recess is formed into a deeper recess, so that the heat pipes
are completely disposed in the isothermal plate body, and each
second recess has a higher level with respect to the first recesses
so that the heat pipes within the second recesses are located above
the heat pipes within the first recesses.
3. The isothermal plate module according to claim 1, wherein a
partial wall of the heat pipe within the first recess or the second
recess adheres to the isothermal plate body.
4. The isothermal plate module according to claim 1, further
comprising third recesses provided along a third direction, thereby
to receive the heat pipes in a third direction with an angle
respected to the first and the second directions.
5. The isothermal plate module according to claim 4, wherein each
third recess is a blind hole.
6. The isothermal plate module according to claim 4, wherein each
third recess is a through hole.
7. The isothermal plate module according to claim 4, wherein the
heat pipes within the third recesses contact with the heat pipes
within the first and the second recesses.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a structure of an
isothermal plate module, and in particular to a structure planarly
provided on a heat source element. Further, a plurality of heat
pipes having different orientations and levels are disposed in the
isothermal plate, thereby to efficiently increase the
heat-dissipating coefficient and the heat-dissipating
efficiency.
[0003] 2. Description of Prior Art
[0004] Taiwan Patent Publication No. 510961 entitled "Method for
manufacturing heat-dissipating plate and heat pipe" discloses a
procedure comprising the steps of: processing a heat-dissipating
plate, providing a plurality of heat-conducting passages with their
distal ends un-penetrated, sealing the open end of each
heat-conducting passage and keeping at least one opening, filling
the open end with working fluid and performing a vacuum treatment
to the kept open end, and sealing the kept open end. The object of
said patent document is to utilize the heat-dissipating plate made
of materials having better heat conductivity (such as copper and
aluminum), and cooperate with the processing method to form
heat-conducting passages. A capillary structure and the working
fluid are filled into the heat-conducting passages. In this way,
the heat-dissipating plate is formed into a heat pipe, and in
operation, the heat can be rapidly conducted to the outside by the
principle of heat pipe.
[0005] When the working fluid is heated to vaporize, the
thus-generated vapor moves toward the lower-pressure condensed end
to form a vapor flow. After cooling down at the condensed end, the
vapor releases the latent heat, which is called the principle of
heat pipe. With the circulation of this principle, the heat of the
heat source can be dissipated. No matter whether the
heat-dissipating plate and heat pipe finally formed in Taiwan
Patent Publication No. 510961 has efficiently achieved heat
dissipation, the processing procedure indeed has some difficulty in
practice. First, the heat-dissipating plate is subjected to the
processing procedure for forming the heat-conducting passages.
Precision is required when forming the heat-conducting passages.
When the angle of initial processing is slightly deviated, the
whole passage will oblique, resulting in the bad products (such as
the collapse of the surface of the heat dissipating plate).
Further, since there is a lot of heat-conducting passages, the
possibility of error may be relatively increased, resulting in the
poor practicability of mass production. Moreover, penetrating
through the heat-conducting passages by means of the processing
procedure can be only carried out on a heat-conducting plate having
small area. As to the area of the heat-dissipating plate necessary
for a back light module of a 14'' liquid crystal screen, the above
kind of processing procedure is very unsuitable.
[0006] With reference to FIG. 1, it shows another prior art. The
isothermal plate body includes an upper end face 22 and a lower end
face 24. A plurality of recesses 220, 240 having different
orientations and depths are provided on the two end faces 22, 24. A
heat pipe 26 is disposed in each recess 220, 240. With the contact
of one end face (such as lower end face 24) with a heat source, the
heat-conducting effect can be achieved. After researching, the
inventor found that a gap exists between the end face contacting
with the heat source and the heat pipe having curved surface. If
the gap is located on the condensed end that releases the latent
heat after cooling, it is acceptable. However, the gap is located
on the end contacting with the heat source, so that the heat pipe
cannot directly contact with the heat source and thus the
heat-conducting effect is deteriorated.
[0007] In view of the above, the inventor proposes the present
invention to overcome the above problems based on his expert
experiences and deliberate researches.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention is to provide an isothermal plate
module comprising a plurality of recesses with different
orientations and levels. A plurality of heat pipes is provided in
the recesses to increase the heat-dissipating coefficient and
improve the heat-dissipating efficiency. As a result, a device that
is light in weight, simple in structure, large in the
heat-conducting distance and is not restricted by the gravity and
needs no additional external power can be obtained.
[0009] Another, the present invention is in that only one end face
of the isothermal plate body is provided with recesses, whereas the
other end face is a flat surface. The flat surface is used to
tightly abut against a heat source without any gap therebetween to
affect the heat-absorbing effect of the isothermal plate.
[0010] Still another, the present invention is to provide an
isothermal plate having a large area. Since the density of heat
generation of many electronic apparatuses is very high, for
example, a LED back light module displayer employs LEDs to be the
light source of the displayer, and thus a heat-dissipating member
having a large area is necessary. In the manufacture of the present
invention, only one end face is provided with recesses and the heat
pipes are disposed in the recesses to form the isothermal plate
module. Therefore, the manufacture is easy and can be applied to
the mass production of electronic products having large area.
Further, the present invention provides a perfect effect of heat
conduction.
[0011] The isothermal plate module of the present invention
includes an isothermal plate body and a plurality of heat pipes.
One end face of the isothermal plate body has first recesses
extending along a first direction and second recesses extending
along a second direction. The first recesses extending along the
first direction and the second recesses extending along the second
direction are overlapped with each other. A level difference is
formed between the first and second recesses. The heat pipes can be
disposed in the first recesses and the second recesses,
respectively. The other surface of the isothermal plate body is a
flat surface. The flat surface is used to adhere to the heat source
for absorbing the heat. Then, the heat is transmitted to the
plurality of overlapped heat pipes. With the working fluid and
capillary structure within the heat pipes, an isothermal plate
module can be formed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of a
conventional isothermal plate;
[0013] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment
of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 is an assembled view of the first embodiment of the
present invention;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a perspective side view of the first embodiment of
the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 5 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the present
invention;
[0017] FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the operating state of
the second embodiment of the present invention adhering to a heat
source;
[0018] FIG. 7 is a plan view of a third embodiment of the present
invention; and
[0019] FIG. 8 is a perspective side view of the third embodiment of
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] In order to make the Examiner better understand the
characteristics and the technical contents of the present
invention, a detailed description relating to this will be made
with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be
understood that the drawings are illustrative but not used to limit
the scope of the present invention.
[0021] With reference to FIG. 2, it is an exploded perspective view
showing the isothermal plate module of a first embodiment of the
present invention. The isothermal plate module 1 is constituted of
an isothermal plate body 10 and a plurality of heat pipes 12. The
isothermal plate body 10 has first recesses 102 extending along a
first direction and second recesses 104 extending along a second
direction. In this figure, the first or second recesses 102, 104
are parallel to one another to form a space between any parallel
first or second recess. The first recesses 102 and the second
recesses 104 are staggered and overlapped with one another, so that
the end face 14 of the isothermal plate body 10 is formed into a
mesh-like arrangement. Each first recess 102 is formed into a
deeper recess, so that the heat pipes 12a having the same
orientation can be completely disposed in the isothermal plate body
10. Each second recess 104 has a level difference with respect to
the first recess 102, so that the heat pipes 12b disposed in the
second recesses 104 will be located above heat pipes 12a disposed
in the first recesses 102. Therefore, the staggered heat pipes 12a,
12b will not interference with one another. In addition, each heat
pipe 12a, 12b can abut against one another, thereby to increase the
heat-conducting efficiency. Since the working fluid and capillary
structure provided within the heat pipes 12a, 12b are conventional,
the description thereof is omitted.
[0022] With reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, they are an assembled
view and a perspective side view of the present invention,
respectively. The heat pipes 12a are disposed in the first recesses
102. The heat pipes 12b are staggered with respect to the heat
pipes 12a and is disposed in the second recesses 104. The
peripheries of the heat pipes 12a within the first recesses 102 and
those of the heat pipes 12b within the second recesses 104
partially adhere to the isothermal plate body 10. A portion of the
peripheries is exposed to the outside. The working fluid within the
heat pipes 12a, 12b is heated by the portion thereof contacting
with the isothermal plate body 10 and thus generates vapor. The
thus-generated vapor moves toward the lower-pressure exposed
portion (condensed end) to form a vapor flow. The vapor is cooled
down at the exposed portion (condensed end) to release the latent
heat thereof.
[0023] Since the other end face opposite to the recessing surface
of the isothermal plate is a flat surface 16. The flat surface is
used to tightly adhere to the heat source, and there is no gap
therebetween to affect the heat-absorbing effect of the isothermal
plate. Therefore, the isothermal plate module of the present
invention has an absolute effect on the heat source absorbed
thereto. Further, in the present invention, since the heat pipes
are staggered on the isothermal plate, the heat dissipation can be
carried out to the entire heat source, further improving the
heat-dissipating efficiency.
[0024] With reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, a second embodiment of
the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment,
it aims to produce a heat source device having a large area. As
shown in the previous embodiment, the recesses 102, 104 of the
present invention can be achieved by processing on the end face 14
of the isothermal plate body 10. Therefore, no matter the area of
the isothermal plate is large or not, the same processing procedure
can be applied. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is not
difficult to form the first recesses 102' along the first direction
and second recesses 104' along the second direction on the
isothermal plate body 10' having a large area. Further, the heat
pipes 12a', 12b' can be made to have a length identical to the
length or width of the isothermal plate.
[0025] The present invention can be applied to the electronic
apparatuses having a high density of heat generation. FIG. 6 shows
the isothermal plate module 1' of the second embodiment, in which a
simulation of heat dissipation is made with respect to a heat
source Q. The isothermal plate module 1' utilizes a flat surface
16' to tightly adhere to the heat source Q, so that the heat
generated by the heat source Q can be conducted to each heat pipe
12a', 12b' from the flat surface 16' of the isothermal plate module
1' via the isothermal plate body 10'. Similarly, the working fluid
within the heat pipes 12a', 12b' is heated by its portion
contacting with the isothermal plate and thus generates vapor. The
thus-generated vapor moves toward the low-pressure exposed portion
(condensed end) to form a vapor flow. The vapor is cooled down at
the exposed portion (condensed end) to release the latent heat
thereof. With the latent heat between the liquid and vapor phases
of the working fluid, the considerable amount of heat to be removed
far exceeds the heat removed by means of single-phase heat
dissipation (such as fan, heat dissipating fins).
[0026] With reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, a third embodiment of
the present invention is shown. The reference numerals used in this
embodiment are the same as those used in the first embodiment. In
the present embodiment, to avoid the first recesses 102 and the
second recesses 104, the end face of the isothermal plate body 10
is provided with third recesses 106 along a third direction. Each
third recess 106 can be a through hole or a blind hole. The heat
pipe 12c can be inserted with an angle of the third direction.
Since each third recess 106 of the present embodiment is not long
in distance, it is easy to accomplish the drilling operation. To
provide the third recesses 106 along the third direction is to
increase the heat-conducting and heat-dissipating efficiency. In
the drawing, a portion of the heat pipes 12c within the third
recesses 106 is tangential to the heat pipes 12a or 12b within the
first recesses 102 and the second recesses 104 or tangential to
both of them. In this way, these heat pipes contact with one
another. In comparison with this, a portion of the third recesses
106 is independent. It can be anticipated that the structure of
this embodiment can be used to obtain a better heat-conducting
efficiency. However, the third recesses 106 are not limited to the
above embodiment. Any recess 106 provided in the third direction at
any positions on the end face 14 of the isothermal plate body 10
should be embraced in the above description.
[0027] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view of the third
embodiment shown in FIG. 7. It is well known that the heat pipe 12c
includes a sealing end 122 (exemplified by the designated heat pipe
12c). The wall face formed by the sealing end 122 shrinks to form a
thickness and thus is not a flat end. Therefore, if each third
recess 106 provided in the third direction is a blind hole, the
sealing end 122 of the heat pipe 12c can be ground in advance, so
that the wall face can be formed into a substantially flat surface.
In this way, a larger contacting area can be formed between the
sealing end 122 of the heat pipe 12c and the bottom of the recess
106. If each third recess 106 is a through hole, in addition to the
above grinding process, all the heat pipes 12c can be firstly
disposed on the third recess 106. Then, all the sealing ends 122
exposed from the through hole are ground in one time. The
thus-ground heat pipes 12c and the end surface are coated with a
heat-conducting glue, thereby to achieve the same effect.
[0028] According to the above, the present invention indeed
achieves the desired effects and solves the drawbacks of prior art
by using the above-mentioned structure. Further, the present
invention involves the novelty and inventive steps, and thus
conforms to the requirements for a utility model patent.
[0029] Although the present invention has been described with
reference to the foregoing preferred embodiments, it will be
understood that the invention is not limited to the details
thereof. Various equivalent variations and modifications can still
be occurred to those skilled in this art in view of the teachings
of the present invention. Thus, all such variations and equivalent
modifications are also embraced within the scope of the invention
as defined in the appended claims.
* * * * *