U.S. patent application number 12/411727 was filed with the patent office on 2010-09-30 for non-flat vapor chamber with stiffening plate.
Invention is credited to Chieh-Ping Chen, George Anthony MEYER, IV, Chien-Hung Sun.
Application Number | 20100243212 12/411727 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42782686 |
Filed Date | 2010-09-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100243212 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
MEYER, IV; George Anthony ;
et al. |
September 30, 2010 |
NON-FLAT VAPOR CHAMBER WITH STIFFENING PLATE
Abstract
A non-flat vapor chamber includes a casing, a capillary tissue,
a stiffening plate, a support structure and a working fluid. The
casing includes a lower case plate and an upper case plate sealed
with the lower case plate. The lower case plate has a partial area
protruded downward to form a chamber and a retaining portion formed
within the chamber. A capillary tissue is installed on internal
walls of the upper and lower case plates. The stiffening plate with
a through hole is installed onto the retaining portion, and the
casing contains a support structure. Upper and lower ends of the
support structure abut the capillary tissue and the stiffening
plate. A working fluid is filled into the casing, such that a
support action is provided by pressing the stiffening plate at the
retaining portion for stiffening the upper case plate of a vacuumed
vapor chamber.
Inventors: |
MEYER, IV; George Anthony;
(San Jose, CA) ; Sun; Chien-Hung; (Zhongli City,
TW) ; Chen; Chieh-Ping; (Zhongli City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HDLS Patent & Trademark Services
P.O. BOX 220746
CHANTILLY
VA
20153-0746
US
|
Family ID: |
42782686 |
Appl. No.: |
12/411727 |
Filed: |
March 26, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/104.26 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28D 15/04 20130101;
H01L 2924/0002 20130101; H01L 2924/00 20130101; H01L 23/427
20130101; H01L 2924/0002 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/104.26 |
International
Class: |
F28D 15/00 20060101
F28D015/00 |
Claims
1. A non-flat vapor chamber comprising: a casing, including a lower
case plate and an upper case plate sealed with the lower case
plate, and partial area of the lower case plate being protruded
downward to form a chamber therein, and a retaining portion being
formed around the chamber; a capillary tissue, disposed on internal
walls of the upper and lower case plates; a stiffening plate,
disposed on the retaining portion, and having a plurality of
through holes; a support structure, contained in the casing, and
having upper and lower ends coupled to the capillary tissue and the
stiffening plate respectively; and a working fluid, filled into the
casing.
2. The non-flat vapor chamber of claim 1, wherein the retaining
portion is formed at the lower case plate and disposed separately
at a plurality of corner plates at corners of the chamber.
3. The non-flat vapor chamber of claim 1, wherein the retaining
portion is formed on a surrounding wall of the lower case
plate.
4. The non-flat vapor chamber of claim 1, wherein the retaining
portion and the lower case plate have internal surfaces
constituting a height difference, such that a distal surface of the
stiffening plate is aligned evenly with the internal surface of the
lower case plate.
5. The non-flat vapor chamber of claim 1, wherein the through hole
is in a rectangular-bar shape.
6. The non-flat vapor chamber of claim 1, wherein the through hole
is in a circular shape.
7. The non-flat vapor chamber of claim 1, wherein the stiffening
plate is substantially in a rectangular shape, having a protruding
edge extended from the corners of the stiffening plate, such that a
gap is formed between a lateral side of the stiffening plate and
the internal wall of the lower case plate.
8. The non-flat vapor chamber of claim 1, further comprising a
filling and degassing tube, and the upper and lower case plates
having a notch each, and the notches constituting an orifice for
passing the filling and degassing tube.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a vapor chamber, and more
particularly to a non-flat vapor chamber with a stiffening
plate.
[0003] 2. Description of Prior Art
[0004] Vapor chamber has been used extensively in electronic
devices, and the vapor chamber is generally attached onto heat
generating components of a printed circuit board for dissipating
waste heat produced by the heat generating components, so that the
electronic components can be operated at a normal working
temperature without the risk of being burned or damaged. However, a
printed circuit board includes various different electronic
components, and these components are installed with a height
difference with respect to a distal surface of the printed circuit
board instead of being installed flatly on the surface, and a
general flat vapor chamber cannot be applied to such non-flat
surface.
[0005] Therefore, a non-flat vapor chamber was introduced, wherein
a protrusion is formed on the surface of the vapor chamber, and a
containing space corresponding to the protrusion is formed inside
the vapor chamber, and the protrusion is aligned precisely with the
heat generating components of the printed circuit board to overcome
the aforementioned problem. If no support body is installed in the
vapor chamber and at a position corresponding to the protrusion,
then the external case plate of the vapor chamber and the capillary
tissue in the vapor chamber will be depressed and collapsed, after
the interior of the vapor chamber is vacuumed and used for a long
time. Therefore, the non-flat vapor chamber generally includes an
upper case plate, a lower case plate, a working fluid, a capillary
tissue and a support body, and the aforementioned protrusion is
usually formed at the lower case plate.
[0006] The manufacturing procedure of the aforementioned non-flat
vapor chambers is described as follows. Firstly, a protrusion is
formed on the lower case plate, and a capillary tissue is attached
onto internal walls of the upper and lower case plates, and both
ends of the support body abut the capillary tissue, and a portion
of the support body is contained in a containing space for abutting
the internal walls of the upper and lower case plates, and the
upper and lower case plates are engaged with each other and form a
crevice between the upper and lower case plates, and then a working
fluid is filled, and finally the interior of the vapor chamber is
vacuumed and the crevice is sealed to complete the manufacture of
the non-flat vapor chamber.
[0007] However, the non-flat vapor chambers of this sort still have
the following problems in the actual manufacturing process. Since
the support body is generally comprised of a plurality of
cylindrical bodies, and the cross-sectional area of the cylindrical
bodies is much smaller than the area of the lower case plate of the
vapor chamber, and a portion of cylindrical bodies are contained in
a containing space formed inside the protrusion and abutted against
the upper and lower case plates and the capillary tissue. If the
interior of the vapor chamber is vacuumed, the upper and lower case
plates will be depressed the pressure, and marks of the plurality
of cylindrical bodies will be formed on the surface of the vapor
chamber since the cross-sectional area of the cylindrical bodies is
much smaller than the surface area of the vapor chamber. A larger
pressure is exerted onto the surface of the vapor chamber and the
marks of the cylindrical bodies are formed on the surface of the
vapor chamber. Therefore, the surface of the vapor chamber cannot
be maintained as a flat surface or attached closely with the heat
generating component, and the thermal conduction performance is
lowered.
[0008] If the dimensions and the periphery of the cylindrical
bodies are increased, the issue of forming marks on the surface of
the vapor chamber can be solved, but such arrangement will occupy
much of the internal space of the vapor chamber and lower the
thermal conduction performance.
[0009] In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor
of the present invention based on years of experience in the
related industry to develop a non-flat vapor chamber with a
stiffening plate in accordance with the present invention to
overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] It is a primary objective of the present invention to
provide a non-flat vapor chamber with a stiffening plate, wherein a
supporting force is provided by pressing a stiffening plate at a
retaining portion, such that an upper case plate corresponding to
the position of the stiffening plate will not be depressed by the
vacuumed vapor chamber to assure a flat surface of the vapor
chamber and the desired thermal conduction performance of the vapor
chamber.
[0011] To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention
provides a non-flat vapor chamber comprising a casing, a capillary
tissue, a stiffening plate, a support structure and a working
fluid, wherein the casing includes a lower case plate and an upper
case plate sealed with the lower case plate, and a partial area of
the lower case plate is protruded downward to form a chamber
therein, and a retaining portion is formed around the chamber, and
the capillary tissue is disposed on internal walls of the upper and
lower case plates, and the stiffening plate with a plurality of
through holes is disposed on the retaining portion, and the support
structure is contained in the casing, and upper and lower ends of
the support structure are coupled to the capillary tissue and the
stiffening plate respectively, and the working fluid is filled into
the casing.
[0012] Compared with the prior art, the present invention overcomes
the uneven surface drawback of the conventional vapor chamber
caused by the internal support body of the vapor chamber by using
the stiffening plate and the retaining portion, so that the surface
of a vacuumed non-flat vapor chamber will not be depressed or
marked to assure a flat surface of the vapor chamber. In addition,
the stiffening plate does not occupy any of the thermal conducting
space in the vapor chamber, and the design of having a through hole
on the stiffening plate prevents the working fluid in the vapor
chamber from being blocked by the stiffening plate to assure the
expected thermal conduction performance of the vapor chamber. The
structure of the stiffening plate and the retaining portion allows
the vapor chamber of the invention to use the support structure of
a conventional vapor chamber, and thus it is not necessary to
redesign the support structure for manufacturing the non-flat vapor
chamber of the present invention, so as to save the product
development time. With the design of the non-flat vapor chamber of
the invention, the internal volume can be increased to improve the
heat dissipation performance.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a lower case plate and a
stiffening plate of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of Section 4-4 of FIG.
3;
[0017] FIG. 5 is a bottom view of a stiffening plate in accordance
with another preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 6 is a bottom view of a stiffening plate in accordance
with a further preferred embodiment of the present invention;
and
[0019] FIG. 7 is an exploded view of another preferred embodiment
of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] The technical characteristics, features and advantages of
the present invention will become apparent in the following
detailed description of preferred embodiments with reference to the
accompanying drawings, and the preferred embodiments are used for
illustrating the present invention only, but not intended to limit
the scope of the invention.
[0021] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 for an exploded view of a
lower case plate and a stiffening plate and an exploded view of the
present invention respectively, the present invention provides a
non-flat vapor chamber with a stiffening plate 1, comprising a
casing 10, a capillary tissue 20, a stiffening plate 30, a support
structure 40 and a working fluid 50.
[0022] The casing 10 includes a lower case plate 11 and an upper
case plate 12 sealed and coupled to the lower case plate 11,
wherein a cavity b is formed between the upper case plate 12 and
the lower case plate 11, and a partial area of the lower case plate
11 is protruded downward to form a chamber 111 therein, and a
retaining portion 112 is formed and enclosed by the periphery of
the chamber 111. In this preferred embodiment, the retaining
portion 112 is formed at a plurality of corner plates 1121 of the
lower case plate 11, and the corner plates 1121 are disposed at the
four corners of the chamber 111 respectively, but the invention is
not limited to such arrangement only, and the corner plates 1121
may be designed at two opposite corners only. The capillary tissue
20 is disposed on internal walls of the upper case plate 12 and the
lower case plate 11.
[0023] The stiffening plate 30 is installed on the retaining
portion 112 and has a plurality of through holes 31. In addition,
the stiffening plate 30 is in a rectangular shape and has a
protruding edge 32 extended separately from the corners of the
stiffening plate 30, such that a gap d is formed between the
lateral side of the stiffening plate 30 and the internal wall of
the lower case plate 11 for providing a buffer distance between the
stiffening plate 30 and the lower case plate 11 to prevent the
volume of the stiffening plate 30 from being expanded by high
temperature, compressing with the lower case plate 11 or damaging
the vapor chamber 1.
[0024] The support structure 40 is contained in the casing 10, and
upper and lower ends of the support structure 40 are coupled with
the capillary tissue 20 and the stiffening plate 30 respectively,
and a working fluid 50 (as shown in FIG. 4) is filled into the
casing 10.
[0025] With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 for a perspective view of
the present invention and a cross-sectional view of Section 4-4 of
FIG. 3 respectively, the invention further comprises a filling and
degassing tube 60, an upper case plate 12 and a lower case plate
11, both having a notch 113, 121, and the notches 113, 121
constitute an orifice c for passing the filling and degassing tube
60. The filling and degassing tube 60 is provided for vacuuming the
interior of the vapor chamber 1 and filling the working fluid
50.
[0026] In FIG. 4, the stiffening plate 30 installed at the
retaining portion 112 can provide a supporting force to the support
structure 40 if the interior of the vapor chamber 1 is vacuumed, so
that the upper case plate 12 and the lower case plate 11 will not
be depressed by the vacuum pressure. In addition, the stiffening
plate 30 is supported at the bottom of the support structure 40,
and thus the support structure 40 will not be damaged by
insufficient supporting force. With the chamber 111, the internal
volume of the vapor chamber 1 can be increased to improve the heat
dissipation performance of the vapor chamber 1.
[0027] With reference to FIG. 5 for a bottom view of a stiffening
plate in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the
present invention and FIG. 6 for a bottom view of a stiffening
plate in accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the
present invention, the through holes 31 of the two preferred
embodiments are in a rectangular bar shape and a circular shape
respectively, but not limited to such arrangement only. The through
hole 31 is provided for allowing the working fluid 50 to flow
between the lower case plate 11 and the lower case plate 12 without
any hindrance.
[0028] With reference to FIG. 7 for an exploded view of another
preferred embodiment of the present invention, the retaining
portion 112 is formed on a surrounding wall 1122 of the lower case
plate 11, wherein the surrounding wall 1122 can provide a better
supporting force than the corner plate 1121, since the support area
is situated at the periphery of the stiffening plate 30.
[0029] In summation of the description above, the present invention
overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, and complies with the
requirements of patent application and is thus duly filed for
patent application. While the invention has been described by means
of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations
could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing
from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the
claims.
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