U.S. patent application number 12/717932 was filed with the patent office on 2011-09-08 for flat heat pipe structure.
This patent application is currently assigned to Kunshan Jue-Chung Electronics Co.. Invention is credited to Yu- Po HUANG, Tung-Jung Kuo.
Application Number | 20110214841 12/717932 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44530295 |
Filed Date | 2011-09-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110214841 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
HUANG; Yu- Po ; et
al. |
September 8, 2011 |
FLAT HEAT PIPE STRUCTURE
Abstract
A flat heat pipe structure includes a flat pipe, a radial
capillary structure and an axial capillary structure. The pipe has
a containing space for sealing and storing a working fluid, and the
pipe is formed by two opposite bottom walls and two sidewalls
laterally and respectively disposed on the two bottom walls, and
the pipe further has an evaporation portion, and the radial
capillary structure is situated in the evaporation portion and
radially surrounded and attached onto the two bottom walls and two
sidewalls, and the axial capillary structure is extended in a
lengthwise direction of the pipe, disposed in the containing space,
and attached onto one of the sidewalls, and the axial capillary
structure is extended to the evaporation portion of the pipe and
coupled to the radial capillary structure.
Inventors: |
HUANG; Yu- Po; (Kunshan
City, CN) ; Kuo; Tung-Jung; (Kunshan City,
CN) |
Assignee: |
Kunshan Jue-Chung Electronics
Co.
|
Family ID: |
44530295 |
Appl. No.: |
12/717932 |
Filed: |
March 4, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/104.26 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28D 15/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/104.26 |
International
Class: |
F28D 15/04 20060101
F28D015/04 |
Claims
1. A flat heat pipe structure, comprising: a flat pipe, including a
flat containing space formed therein, and containing a working
fluid, and the pipe being formed by two opposite bottom walls and
two sidewalls laterally and respectively disposed on the two bottom
walls, and provided for enclosing and defining the containing
space, and the pipe further having an evaporation portion; a radial
capillary structure, disposed in the evaporation portion of the
pipe, and radially surrounded and attached onto the two bottom
walls and the two sidewalls; and an axial capillary structure,
extended along a lengthwise direction of the pipe, disposed in the
containing space, and attached onto one of the sidewalls, and the
axial capillary structure being extended to the evaporation portion
of the pipe and coupled to the radial capillary structure.
2. The flat heat pipe structure of claim 1, wherein the evaporation
portion of the pipe is situated at an end of the pipe.
3. The flat heat pipe structure of claim 1, wherein the evaporation
portion of the pipe is situated at a middle section of the
pipe.
4. The flat heat pipe structure of claim 1, wherein the evaporation
portion of the pipe comes with a plurality, and the evaporation
portions are situated at any end or a middle section of the
pipe.
5. The flat heat pipe structure of claim 1, wherein the radial
capillary structure is a metal mesh.
6. The flat heat pipe structure of claim 1, wherein the radial
capillary structure is made of a sintered powder.
7. The flat heat pipe structure of claim 1, wherein the axial
capillary structure is a strip-shaped fiber bundle.
8. The flat heat pipe structure of claim 1, wherein the axial
capillary structure is formed by rolling a metal mesh into a strip
shape.
9. The flat heat pipe structure of claim 1, wherein the axial
capillary structure is a powder sintered into a strip shape.
10. The flat heat pipe structure of claim 1, wherein the axial
capillary structure is a ditch formed on one of the sidewalls.
11. The flat heat pipe structure of claim 1, wherein the axial
capillary structure further includes a coupling section extended
from the axial capillary structure and attached onto a distal
surface of the pipe.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention generally relates to heat conducting
components, in particular to a flat heat pipe with a capillary
structure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Heat pipe is a heat conducting component that achieves a
quick heat dissipation effect by means of a change of liquid and
vapor phases and generally comes with an evaporation portion at an
end of the heat pipe and a condensation portion at another end of
the heat pipe to produce a temperature difference. If the
evaporation portion receives heat, a working fluid in the
evaporation portion can be vaporized quickly due to the vacuum
condition inside the heat pipe, and the heat can be conducted to
the condensation portion having a lower temperature through the
heat pipe. Now, the heat at the condensation portion can be
dissipated from an external heat dissipating component (such as a
heat dissipating fin), so that the vaporized working fluid can
resume its original liquid phase and return to the evaporation
portion through a capillary structure disposed on an internal wall
of the heat pipe, and the cycle can be repeated to achieve the
effect of conducting heat.
[0003] To minimize the occupying space and meet the desired thin
and compact design requirements of an electronic product, the heat
pipe is designed in a flat shape. However, the space in the flat
heat pipe becomes much smaller after the heat pipe is pressed, and
the space is just large enough for installing the capillary
structure and related supporting components only. When the working
fluid is heated at the evaporation portion and changed into a vapor
phase, the reduced space in the heat pipe may cause difficulties
for the working fluid to conduct heat to the condensation
portion.
[0004] In view of the foregoing shortcomings of the conventional
flat heat pipe structure, the inventor of the present invention
based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct
extensive researches and experiments, and finally designed and
developed a feasible flat heat pipe structure to overcome the
shortcomings of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present
invention to provide a flat heat pipe structure that makes use of
the installation relation of radial and axial capillary structures
to reserve sufficient space for a heat conduction path of a
vaporized working fluid inside a heat pipe, so as to avoid any
possible hindrance to the change of vapor and liquid phases of a
working fluid.
[0006] To achieve the foregoing objectives, the present invention
discloses a flat heat pipe structure comprising a flat pipe, a
radial capillary structure, and an axial capillary structure,
wherein the pipe has a flat containing space for sealing and
storing a working fluid, and the pipe is formed by two opposite
bottom walls and two sidewalls laterally and respectively disposed
on the two bottom walls and provided for enclosing and defining the
containing space, and the pipe further has an evaporation portion,
and the radial capillary structure is situated in the evaporation
portion, and radially surrounded and attached onto the two bottom
walls and the two sidewalls, and the axial capillary structure is
extended in a lengthwise direction of the pipe, installed in the
containing space, and attached onto one of the sidewalls, and the
axial capillary structure is extended to the evaporation portion of
the pipe and coupled to the radial capillary structure.
[0007] To make it easier for the examiner to understand the
objects, characteristics and effects of this invention, we use
preferred embodiments together with the attached drawings for the
detailed description of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 is a perspective view a preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2;
[0011] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an application of a preferred
embodiment of the present invention; and
[0012] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of another preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0013] The technical characteristics and contents of the present
invention will become apparent with the following detailed
description accompanied with related drawings. The drawings are
provided for the purpose of illustrating the present invention
only, but not intended for limiting the scope of the invention.
[0014] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 for an exploded view and a
perspective view of a flat heat pipe structure in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the present invention respectively, the
flat heat pipe structure has a heat pipe 1 comprising a flat pipe
10, a radial capillary structure 11, and an axial capillary
structure 12.
[0015] The pipe 10 also has a flat containing space 100 therein,
and the pipe 10 is formed by two opposite bottom walls 101 and two
sidewalls 102 laterally and respectively disposed on the two bottom
walls 101 and provided for enclosing and defining the containing
space 100. The radial and axial capillary structures 11, 12 are
attached onto an internal wall of the containing space 100 of the
pipe 10, and an appropriate quantity of working fluid (not shown in
the figure) is sealed and stored in the pipe 10. The pipe 10
includes an evaporation portion 103 disposed at any end (or a
distal end), or in the middle section of the pipe 10. Of course,
the pipe 10 may have a plurality of evaporation portions 103 as
well.
[0016] The radial capillary structure 11 is situated in the
evaporation portion 103 of the pipe 10, and radially surrounded and
attached onto the two bottom walls 101 and the two sidewalls 102.
The radial capillary structure 11 can be made of a metal mesh or a
sintered powder.
[0017] In FIG. 3, the axial capillary structure 12 is extended
along a lengthwise direction of the pipe 10, installed in the
containing space 100, and attached onto one of the sidewalls 102.
When the axial capillary structure 12 is extended to the
evaporation portion 103 of the pipe 10, the axial capillary
structure 12 is stacked and integrated with the radial capillary
structure 11 for facilitating the sealing and storage of the
working fluid in the pipe 10, such that the working fluid can flow
smoothly between the radial and axial capillary structures 11, 12.
The axial capillary structure 12 can be a strip-shaped fiber
bundle, a metal mesh rolled into a strip-shape or a powder sintered
into a strip shape, or a ditch formed on one of the sidewalls
102.
[0018] With the aforementioned structure, the flat heat pipe
structure in accordance with the present invention can be
achieved.
[0019] In FIG. 4, the evaporation portion 103 of the heat pipe 1 is
in contact with a heat source 2, and an end of the heat pipe 1 away
from the evaporation portion 103 includes a plurality of heat
dissipating fins 3 connected with one another. When the heat source
2 generates heat and the working fluid in the radial capillary
structure 11 of the heat pipe 1 starts vaporizing, the vaporized
working fluid conducts heat to each heat dissipating fin 3 through
the containing space 100 since the radial capillary structure 11 is
situated on the evaporation portion 103 only. After the
condensation effect of each heat dissipating fin 3 take place to
resume the working fluid into a liquid state, the axial capillary
structure 12 is provided for returning the working fluid in the
liquid state to the evaporation portion 103. Even though the
containing space in the flat heat pipe is relatively small and
narrow, the installation relation of the radial and axial capillary
structures 11, 12 can avoid a possible situation of the vaporized
working fluid and the liquid-phase working fluid from flowing
towards each other, so as to facilitate a smooth cycle of the
change of liquid and vapor phases of the working fluid in the heat
pipe 1.
[0020] With reference to FIG. 5 for a cross-sectional view of a
flat heat pipe structure in accordance with another preferred
embodiment of the present invention, the axial capillary structure
12 is extended to an end of the heat pipe away from the evaporation
portion 13, and the flat heat pipe structure further includes a
coupling section 120 attached onto a distal surface of the pipe 10
of the heat pipe 1, such that the backflow of working fluid in the
liquid state can be conducted along the coupling section 120 and
attached by the axial capillary structure 12 to facilitate the
backflow of the working fluid in the liquid state.
[0021] In summation of the description above, the present invention
improves over the prior art and complies with the patent
application requirements, and thus is 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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