U.S. patent application number 11/790518 was filed with the patent office on 2008-10-09 for flat heat pipe.
This patent application is currently assigned to TAI-SOL ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Yaw-Huey Lai.
Application Number | 20080245511 11/790518 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39458377 |
Filed Date | 2008-10-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080245511 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lai; Yaw-Huey |
October 9, 2008 |
Flat heat pipe
Abstract
A flat heat pipe including: a tubular member having two sealed
ends, a capillary wick being disposed at the internal sidewall of
said tubular member and a liquid contained in said tubular member.
Said tubular member defines a flat section and a thicker section at
least. By the way, the present invention can solve the problem of
the accumulated water inside the heat pipe of prior art and keeps a
good efficiency of uniform temperature, and the radiation
efficiency is better then the heat pipe of prior art.
Inventors: |
Lai; Yaw-Huey; (Taipei
County, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BACON & THOMAS, PLLC
625 SLATERS LANE, FOURTH FLOOR
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22314-1176
US
|
Assignee: |
TAI-SOL ELECTRONICS CO.,
LTD.
Taipei City
TW
|
Family ID: |
39458377 |
Appl. No.: |
11/790518 |
Filed: |
April 26, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/104.26 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28D 15/046 20130101;
F28D 15/0233 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/104.26 |
International
Class: |
F28D 15/04 20060101
F28D015/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 9, 2007 |
TW |
96205624 |
Claims
1. A flat heat pipe including: a tubular member having two sealed
ends; a capillary wick being disposed at the internal sidewall of
said tubular member; a liquid contained in said tubular member;
said tubular member defining a heated section and a condensed
section, and said tubular member defining a flat section and a
thicker section at least; said heated section including a portion
of said flat section at least, and said condensed section including
a portion of said thicker section at least.
2. The pipe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said capillary wick can
be a mesh or copper powder or grooves that is provided at the
internal sidewall of said tubular member.
3. The pipe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tubular member
makes of copper.
4. The pipe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said thicker section
disposes at one end of said tubular member.
5. The pipe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flat section
disposes at one end of said tubular member.
6. The pipe as claimed in claim 1, wherein the caliber that
surrounds by the capillary wick in said thicker section is bigger
than the caliber that surrounds by the capillary wick in said flat
section.
7. The pipe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flat heat pipe
provides a plurality of dissipating fins further more and said
dissipating fins disposes on the surface of said tubular member
near said thicker section.
8. The pipe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said thicker section
locates at the rear end of said tubular member.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a heat-dissipating device
and more particular to a flat heat pipe.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] A conventional heat pipe is usually composed of a sealed
tubular member, a capillary wick mounted on the internal wall of
the sealed tubular member, and adequate liquid, employing the
liquid-vapor transformation and the flowage of the liquid for
thermal conduction. In practical operation, water located at a
heated section of the sealed tubular member is heated to be
transformed into vapor, the vapor is then diffused to a condensed
section of the sealed tubular member to be transformed into water,
and then the water is returned to the heated section through the
capillary action generated by the capillary wick, thus completing
heat exchange. Such endless cycles of endothermic and exothermic
reactions can effect rapid thermal conduction.
[0005] However, in some device with limited space such as
notebooks, display cards or the other devices that will dissipate
heat. At the time of assembling the heat pipe, said heat pipe need
to press flat before it is assembled some time. The inside status
of the heat pipe that is flattened and show in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7.
The space inside the heat pipe 70 shrinks and causes the space for
the vapor to move around small and thinness owing to the heat pipe
is pressed flat. After the vapor is transformed into water 79 in
the condensed section C, some of the water returns to the heated
section H. But, most of the water 79 will stay in the condensed
section C. This is owing to the space that is surrounded by
capillary wick 73 shrinks and makes the structures similar to a
capillary. Because of the capillarity, the water 79 will stay in
the condensed section C and stores up.
[0006] The water in the condensed section C will store up since the
water can't return to the heated section H all. The vapor can't do
the liquid-vapor transformation in the condensed section C. That is
to say, the heat can't transmit to this section. This status of
accumulated water causes the temperature of the accumulated water
portion dropping and breaks the status of a uniform temperature of
the whole, and the effect of heat transmission drops too. This
situation needs to improve.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The primary object of the present invention is to provide a
flat heat pipe, which is able to solve the problem of accumulated
water and provides a good character of uniform temperature.
[0008] To achieve this object of the present invention, the flat
heat pipe including: a tubular member having two sealed ends, a
capillary wick being disposed at the internal sidewall of said
tubular member and a liquid being disposed in said tubular member.
Said tubular member defines a flat section and a thicker section at
least. Whereby the present invention can solve the problem of the
accumulated water inside the heat pipe of the prior art and keeps a
good efficiency of uniform temperature, and the radiation
efficiency is better then the heat pipe of prior art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the present invention in
practice;
[0012] FIG. 4 is another sectional view of the present invention in
practice;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a heat pipe of prior art,
which shows a side sectional view;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a heat pipe of prior art,
which shows a vertical sectional view;
[0015] FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a heat pipe of prior art,
which shows a top sectional view;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the flat heat pipe 10 of
present invention including: a tubular member 11, a capillary wick
21 and liquid 31. Wherein:
[0017] Said tubular member 11 makes of copper and both ends are
sealed.
[0018] Said capillary wick 21 is disposed at the internal sidewall
of said tubular member 11. Said capillary wick 21 can be a metal
mesh or copper powder or grooves that is provided at the internal
sidewall of said tubular member 11. In this embodiment, present
invention takes the sintering by copper powder as an illustration.
The metal mesh and the grooves type are all prior art skills and
the capillary wick is not the technique key point of present
invention, so there are no more redundancy words.
[0019] Said liquid 31 is disposed into said tubular member 11.
Wherein said tubular member 11 defines a flat section 12 and a
thicker section 14. Said flat section 12 is placed at one end of
said tubular member 11 and said thicker section 14 is placed at the
other end, namely the rearward end. The caliber that surrounds by
the capillary wick 21 in said thicker section 14 is bigger than the
caliber that surrounds by the capillary wick 21 in said flat
section 12. Said tubular member 111 defines a heated section H and
a condensed section C more over. Said heated section H overlaps a
portion of said flat section C and connects with a heat-dispersing
device (not shown). Said condensed section C includes said thicker
section 14 and a portion of said flat section 12. In other words,
said condensed section C is combined with said thicker section 14
and a portion of said flat section 12.
[0020] According to the structures as aforesaid in practical
operation, said liquid 31 located in the heated section H is heated
to be transformed into vapor, the vapor is then diffused to said
condensed section C through the space that surrounds by said
capillary wick 21. Said vapor is transformed into water in said
condensed section C again and goes into said capillary wick 21. By
the disposal of said thicker section of present invention, the
caliber that surrounds by the capillary wick 21 in said thicker
section 14 is bigger than the caliber that surrounds by the
capillary wick 21 in said flat section 12. The quantity of said
liquid 31 condensed in said capillary wick 21 is not enough to
block the space surrounds by the capillary wick 21. FIG. 2 shows
the status of said liquid 31 condensed in said capillary wick 31.
So, said liquid 31 can return to said heated section H by said
capillary wick 21 and keeps a good circulating efficiency, and then
the efficiency of uniform temperature and the transmission effect
will be good.
[0021] Referring to FIG. 3, Said flat heat pipe 10 provides a
plurality of dissipating fins 41 further more. Said dissipating
fins 41 are disposed on the surface of said condensed section C of
said tubular member 11. That is to say, said dissipating fins 41
are near said thicker section 14. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show the other
disposals of said dissipating fins 41. The main object of adding
said dissipating fins 41 is for increasing the radiation efficiency
of said heated section C.
[0022] There is an addition remark. On the tubular member 11 of
present invention, the definitions of the location and the quantity
of said flat section 12 and thicker section 14 can be different.
For example, said tubular member could provide two thicker sections
at both ends separately and a flat section in the middle. This is a
change shape practice as aforesaid embodiment. This change shape
practice is an equivalent change of the claims of present invention
and it should be included in the scope of the claims.
[0023] In conclusion, the efficiencies of present invention
are:
[0024] 1. Solving the problems about the accumulated water and the
poor efficiency of uniform temperature in the flat heat pipe of
prior art.
[0025] By the design of the thicker section in present invention,
the liquid can stay in the capillary wick of the condensed section
without blocking the space that surrounds by the capillary wick.
So, the problem of the accumulated water in the flat heat pipe of
prior art can be solved and keeps a good efficiency of uniform
temperature.
[0026] 2. The radiation efficiency is better then prior art.
[0027] Due to the flat section and the thicker section are provided
in present invention, the inside space is bigger than the heat pipe
that is pressed flat in prior art. The quantity of the heat
transmission and radiation efficiency is better than prior art as a
whole. Besides, the quantity of the heat transmission is larger
than the heat pipe as a whole because that the present invention
solves the problem of the accumulated water in the flat heat pipe
in prior art.
* * * * *