U.S. patent application number 12/485942 was filed with the patent office on 2010-06-24 for thermal module.
This patent application is currently assigned to FURUI PRECISE COMPONENT (KUNSHAN) CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to CHING-BAI HWANG, JIN-GONG MENG, ZHI-HUI ZHAO.
Application Number | 20100155030 12/485942 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42264371 |
Filed Date | 2010-06-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100155030 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
HWANG; CHING-BAI ; et
al. |
June 24, 2010 |
THERMAL MODULE
Abstract
A thermal module includes a blower, a fin unit and a heat pipe.
The blower includes a housing and an impeller received in the
housing. The housing defines an air inlet and an air outlet
perpendicular to the air inlet. The fin unit is arranged at the air
outlet of the blower. The heat pipe includes a tube defining a
chamber, and a wick structure disposed in the chamber. The heat
pipe forms an evaporation section and a condensation section
attaching to the fin unit. At least one contacting member is
depressed inwardly from the evaporation section of the heat pipe
for accommodating an electronic component therein. A depth of the
chamber at the at least one contacting member is less than that at
other portion of the evaporation section of the heat pipe without
the at least one contacting member.
Inventors: |
HWANG; CHING-BAI; (Tu-Cheng,
TW) ; MENG; JIN-GONG; (Shenzhen City, CN) ;
ZHAO; ZHI-HUI; (Shenzhen City,, CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PCE INDUSTRY, INC.;ATT. Steven Reiss
288 SOUTH MAYO AVENUE
CITY OF INDUSTRY
CA
91789
US
|
Assignee: |
FURUI PRECISE COMPONENT (KUNSHAN)
CO., LTD.
KunShan
CN
FOXCONN TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
Tu-Cheng
TW
|
Family ID: |
42264371 |
Appl. No.: |
12/485942 |
Filed: |
June 17, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/104.26 ;
165/104.33; 165/121; 165/185 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28D 15/0275 20130101;
H01L 2924/0002 20130101; H01L 2924/0002 20130101; F28D 15/0233
20130101; H01L 23/467 20130101; H01L 23/427 20130101; H01L 2924/00
20130101; F28D 15/046 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/104.26 ;
165/104.33; 165/121; 165/185 |
International
Class: |
F28D 15/04 20060101
F28D015/04; F28F 7/00 20060101 F28F007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 23, 2008 |
CN |
200810306488.5 |
Claims
1. A thermal module, comprising: a blower comprising a housing and
an impeller received in the housing, the housing defining an air
inlet and an air outlet perpendicular to the air inlet; a fin unit
arranged at the air outlet of the blower; and a heat pipe
comprising a tube defining a chamber therein, and a wick structure
disposed in the chamber of the tube, the heat pipe forming an
evaporation section and a condensation section at opposite ends of
the tube, respectively, the condensation section attaching to the
fin unit, at least one contacting member depressed inwardly from
the evaporation section of the heat pipe for accommodating an
electronic component therein, a depth of the chamber at the at
least one contacting member being less than that at other portion
of the evaporation section of the heat pipe without the at least
one contacting member.
2. The thermal module of claim 1, wherein the at least one
contacting member comprises a base depressed in the tube and a
flange extending upwardly from a periphery of the base, and the
base has one of rectangular shape and square shape and adapted for
contacting the electronic component.
3. The thermal module of claim 2, wherein the tube comprises a
first plate, a second plate parallel to the first plate, and a side
plate interconnecting the first plate and the second plate, the at
least one contacting member being formed on the first plate, the
wick structure comprising a main body and a pair of protrusions,
the main body contacting the second plate and the first plate at
the at least one contacting member, the protrusions extending from
the main body to abut the first plate at a position spaced from the
at least one contacting member.
4. The thermal module of claim 3, wherein a width between the
protrusions is larger than a width of the base, the protrusions
being spaced from the flange of the at least one contacting member,
a channel being formed between the pair of protrusions.
5. The thermal module of claim 4, wherein a width of the main body
of the wick structure substantially equals to that of the chamber
of the tube, the protrusions extends from lateral sides of the main
body and attaching to the side plate of the tube.
6. The thermal module of claim 2, wherein the tube comprises a
first plate, a second plate parallel to the first plate, and a side
plate interconnecting the first plate and the second plate, the at
least one contacting member being formed on the first plate, the
wick structure contacting the second plate and the first plate at
the at least one contacting member, the wick structure covering the
base and the flange of the at least one contacting member.
7. The thermal module of claim 6, wherein a width of the wick
structure is smaller than that of the chamber, a passage is defined
between the wick structure and the side plate of the tube.
8. The thermal module of claim 1, wherein the heat pipe is
substantially Z-shaped, the condensation section of the heat pipe
being linear-shaped, the evaporation section of the heat pipe being
L-shaped.
9. The thermal module of claim 1, wherein a plurality of contacting
members are formed on the evaporation section of the heat pipe.
10. A heat pipe, comprising: a tube defining a chamber therein; and
a wick structure disposed in the chamber of the tube; wherein the
heat pipe respectively forms an evaporation section and a
condensation section at opposite ends of the tube, at least one
contacting member depressed inwardly from the evaporation section
of the heat pipe for accommodating an electronic component therein,
a depth of the chamber at the at least one contacting member being
less than that at other portion of the evaporation section of the
heat pipe without the at least one contacting member.
11. The heat pipe of claim 10, wherein the at least one contacting
member comprises a base in the tube and a flange extending
outwardly from a periphery of the base to connect with an outside
of the tube, and the base is one of square-shaped and
rectangle-shaped.
12. The heat pipe of claim 11, wherein the tube comprises a first
plate, a second plate parallel to the first plate, and a side plate
interconnecting the first plate and the second plate, the at least
one contacting member being formed on the first plate, the wick
structure comprising a main body and a pair of protrusions, the
main body contacting the second plate and the first plate at the at
least one contacting member, the protrusions extending from the
main body to abut the first plate at a position spaced from the at
least one contacting member.
13. The heat pipe of claim 12, wherein a width between the
protrusions is larger than a width of the base, the protrusions
being spaced from the flange of the at least one contacting member,
a channel being formed between the pair of protrusions.
14. The heat pipe of claim 13, wherein a width of the main body of
the wick structure substantially equals to that of the chamber of
the tube, the protrusions extends from lateral sides of the main
body and attaching to the side plate of the tube.
15. The heat pipe of claim 11, wherein the tube comprises a first
plate, a second plate parallel to the first plate, and a side plate
interconnecting the first plate and the second plate, the at least
one contacting member being formed on the first plate, the wick
structure contacting the second plate and the first plate at the at
least one contacting member, the wick structure covering the base
and the flange of the at least one contacting member.
16. The thermal module of claim 15, wherein a width of the wick
structure is smaller than that of the chamber, a passage is defined
between the wick structure and the side plate of the tube.
17. The heat pipe of claim 10, wherein the heat pipe is
substantially Z-shaped, the condensation section of the heat pipe
being linear-shaped, the evaporation section of the heat pipe being
L-shaped, a plurality of contacting members being formed on the
evaporation section of the heat pipe.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The disclosure generally relates to thermal modules, and
more particularly to a thermal module incorporating a plate type
heat pipe.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] With continuing development of the electronic technology,
electronic components such as CPUs are generating more and more
heat which is required to be dissipated immediately. A thermal
module is usually adopted for cooling the electronic component.
[0005] Generally, the thermal module includes a blower for
generating forced airflow, a fin unit arranged at an air outlet of
the blower, and a heat pipe. The heat pipe includes an evaporating
section attached to the electronic component to absorb heat
therefrom, and a condensing section attached to the fin unit to
transfer the heat of the electronic component to the fin unit. Thus
the forced airflow of the blower can take away the heat after flows
through the fin unit. However, most of electronic devices that
contain electronic components therein, such as a laptop computer,
do not have enough space therein, and thus a size of the heat pipe
is usually limited. Accordingly, a heat transfer capability of the
heat pipe is limited, which means that the heat of the electronic
component can not be timely transferred to the fin unit for
dissipation.
[0006] For the foregoing reasons, therefore, there is a need in the
art for a thermal module which overcomes the limitations
described.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is an isometric, assembled view of a thermal module
according to an exemplary embodiment.
[0008] FIG. 2 is an isometric, exploded view of the thermal module
of FIG. 1.
[0009] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view showing the thermal module
of FIG. 1 assembled onto an electronic component.
[0010] FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3, but shows a thermal module with
an alternative heat pipe.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, a thermal module for cooling
plural electronic components 90 which are mounted on a circuit
board 80 of an electronic device is shown, including a blower 10, a
fin unit 20 and a heat pipe 30. In FIG. 3, although only one
electronic component 90 is shown for simplifying the drawings, it
is to be understood that other electronic components 90 not shown
in FIG. 3 can be assembled to the thermal module in the same way
for cooling.
[0012] Referring to FIG. 2, the blower 10 is for generating forced
airflow, and includes a fan housing 12 and an impeller 14 rotatably
received in the fan housing 12. A circular air inlet 120 is defined
in a top side of the fan housing 12. An air outlet 122 is defined
in a lateral side of the fan housing 12. The air outlet 122 is
rectangular, and is perpendicular to the air inlet 120. The fin
unit 20 is arranged at the air outlet 122 of the blower 10. The fin
unit 20 includes a plurality of fins 22 stacked together. A channel
24 is defined between neighboring fins 22 and communicates with the
air outlet 122.
[0013] The heat pipe 30 is in plate type, and has a profile
substantially being Z-shaped. The heat pipe 30 forms an evaporation
section 31 and a condensation section 33 at two ends thereof,
respectively. The evaporation section 31 is attached to the
electronic components 90 to absorb heat therefrom. The condensation
section 33 is linear-shaped, and attaches to the fin unit 20. The
heat of the electronic components thus can be transferred to the
fin unit 20 by the heat pipe 30 for dissipation.
[0014] The evaporation section 31 of the heat pipe 30 is
substantially L-shaped, and includes an elongated portion 312
extending perpendicularly from an end of the condensation section
33, and an end portion 314 extending perpendicularly from the
elongated portion 312. The end portion 314 is parallel to the
condensation section 33. The end portion 314 and the condensation
section 33 are respectively located at opposite sides and opposite
ends of the elongated portion 312 of the heat pipe 30. A plurality
of through holes 38 are defined in the evaporation section 31 of
the heat pipe 30 for fixing members, such as screws to extend
therethrough and be secured to the circuit board 80, thus to
assemble the thermal module onto the electronic components 90.
[0015] Referring to FIG. 3, the heat pipe 30 includes a sealed tube
37, a wick structure 39 and a working fluid. The tube 37 is made of
metal with high heat conductivity coefficient, such as copper or
its alloy. The tube 37 includes a top plate 36, a bottom plate 32
and a side plate 34 interconnecting outer peripheries of the top
plate 36 and the bottom plate 32. Cooperatively the top plate 36,
the bottom plate 32 and the side plate 34 define a vacuum chamber
35 in the tube 37. The working fluid is filled in the chamber 35,
and has a relatively lower pressure and boiling point. The wick
structure 39 is disposed in the chamber 35 of the heat pipe 30
soaked with the working fluid. A plurality of pores are defined in
the wick structure 39 to generate a capillary force to the working
fluid.
[0016] Referring to FIG. 2 again, the top plate 36 of the heat pipe
30 includes three portions, i.e., a first portion 330 at the
condensation section 33 of the heat pipe 30, a second portion 369
at the elongated portion 312 of the evaporation section 31, and a
third portion 367 at the end portion 314 of the evaporation section
31. The first portion 330 is planar and attaches to a bottom side
of the fin unit 20 closely, whilst the second portion 369 and the
third portion 367 of the top plate 36 are used to contact the
electronic components 90.
[0017] The second portion 369 and the third portion 367 of the top
plate 36 form a plurality of contacting members 360 depressed
downwardly therefrom for accommodating the electronic components 90
therein. Shapes, sizes, and positions of the contacting members 360
are decided according to an arrangement of the electronic
components 90. The plurality of contacting members 360 can have
different shapes, areas and depths. In this embodiment, four
separated contacting members 360 are shown, in which one contacting
member 360 is defined in the third portion 367 of the top plate 36,
i.e., at the end portion 314 of the evaporation section 31, and the
other three contacting members 360 are defined in the second
portion 369 of the top plate 36, i.e., at the elongated portion 312
of the evaporation section 31. Thus the heat pipe 30 can be used to
absorb heat from four electronic components 90 at the same
time.
[0018] Each contacting member 360 is located at a middle of the top
plate 36, with a width smaller than that of the evaporation section
31 of the heat pipe 30. Two opposite lateral sides, i.e., left and
right sides of each contacting member 360 respectively space a
distance from the side plate 34 of the tube 37 of the heat pipe 30.
Each of the contacting members 360 includes a base 361 and a flange
362 around the base 361. The base 361 is substantially square or
rectangular, and is lower than the top plate 36 of the heat pipe
30. The flange 362 is perpendicular to the base 361, and connects
the base 361 to the top plate 36 of the heat pipe 30. A concave 363
is defined in the top plate 36 above each base 361 and surrounded
by a corresponding flange 362. Thus, a depth of the chamber 35 of
the heat pipe 30 at the contacting members 360 is less than that at
other portion of the evaporation section 31 of the heat pipe 30
without the contacting members 360.
[0019] In this embodiment, the wick structure 39 is sintered
powders. The wick structure 39 is arranged in the middle of the
chamber 35 of the heat pipe 30. A width of the wick structure 39 is
smaller than that of the heat pipe 30, but larger than that of each
of the contacting members 360. The wick structure 39 includes a
planar bottom side attaching to the bottom plate 32 of the tube 37
of the heat pipe 30, and a non-planar top side attaching to the top
plate 36 of the tube 37. Four recesses are defined in the top side
of the wick structure 39 receiving the contacting members 360 of
the top plate 36 therein. Thus the wick structure 39 covers the
contacting members 360 entirely, including the bases 361 and the
flanges 362, and covers a portion of the top plate 36 around the
contacting members 360. A passage 60 is defined between each
lateral side of the wick structure 39 and the side plate 34 of the
tube 37 of the heat pipe 30.
[0020] When assembled, the top side of the condensation section 33
of the heat pipe 30 attaches to the bottom side of the fin unit 20
directly. The electronic components 90 are attached to the top
plate 36 of the evaporation section 31 of the heat pipe 30 at the
contacting members 360. Each electronic component 90 enters into a
corresponding concave 363, with an outer surface 92 thereof
attaching to a corresponding base 361 closely. Therefore, the
electronic components 90 are partly received in the concaves 363 of
the heat pipe 30. Other part of the heat pipe 30 without the
contacting members 360 extend toward the circuit board 80 to be
adjacent to the circuit board 80. Therefore, spaces around the
electronic components 90 are utilized to accommodate the heat pipe
30, and a size, particularly a thickness, of the heat pipe 30 is
increased, whilst a size of the electronic device which
incorporates the thermal module does not need change.
[0021] During operation, the working fluid in the wick structure 39
of the heat pipe 30 absorbs the heat generated by the electronic
components 90 and evaporates. Then the vapor moves to the
condensation section 33 along the passages 60 at the lateral sides
of the wick structure 39 to release the heat thereof to the fin
unit 20. The vapor cools and condenses at the condensation section
33. The condensed working fluid returns to the evaporation section
31 by the capillary force of the wick structure 39, and evaporates
into vapor again thereat. Since the heat pipe 30 of the thermal
module has an enlarged size, a heat transfer capability of the heat
pipe 30 is enhanced, whereby the heat of the electronic components
90 can be continuously and timely transferred to the fin unit 20 by
the heat pipe 30. Finally the airflow of the blower 10 flowing
across the fin unit 20 can take away the heat to an outside.
Therefore, the thermal module can cool plural electronic components
90 simultaneously. A utilization efficiency of the thermal module
is accordingly enhanced.
[0022] FIG. 4 shows a thermal module with an alternative heat pipe
50. The difference between this heat pipe 50 and the previous heat
pipe 30 is the wick structure 59. In this embodiment, the wick
structure 59 has a width substantially equaling to that of the
chamber 55 of the heat pipe 50, and abuts the side plate 54 of the
tube 57 at lateral sides thereof. The wick structure 59 is
substantially U-shaped, includes a main body 590 and a pair of
protrusions 592 extending upwardly from lateral sides of the main
body 590, respectively. The main body 590 has a thickness equaling
to a depth of the chamber 55 of the heat pipe 50 at the contacting
members 560. A bottom side of the main body 590 abuts the bottom
plate 52 of the heat pipe 50, and a top side of the main body 590
of the wick structure 59 abuts the bases 561 of the contacting
members 560. Other portion of the top plate 56 around the
contacting members 560 is spaced from the main body 590. The
protrusions 592 extend from the top side of the main body 590 to
abut lateral sides of the top plate 56 adjacent to the side plate
54 of the tube 57 of the heat pipe 20. A passage 70 is defined
between the pair of protrusions 592 over the main body 590 for
movement of the vapor. The contacting members 560 are located in
the passage 70.
[0023] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages of the disclosure have been set
forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the
structure and function of the disclosure, the disclosure is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the
broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed.
* * * * *