U.S. patent application number 13/169149 was filed with the patent office on 2012-12-27 for flat heat pipe with capilllary structure.
This patent application is currently assigned to CELSIA TECHNOLOGIES TAIWAN, I. Invention is credited to Chieh-Ping Chen, Te-Hsuan Chin, George Anthony Meyer, IV, Chien-Hung Sun.
Application Number | 20120325437 13/169149 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47360719 |
Filed Date | 2012-12-27 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20120325437 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Meyer, IV; George Anthony ;
et al. |
December 27, 2012 |
FLAT HEAT PIPE WITH CAPILLLARY STRUCTURE
Abstract
A flat heat pipe with a capillary structure includes a pipe body
and a capillary tissue. The pipe body is substantially hollow and
flat and includes a bottom wall and a top wall opposite to the
bottom wall, and both walls are formed on the pipe body, and an
appropriate quantity of working fluid is sealed inside the pipe
body. The capillary tissue is covered onto an internal side of the
bottom wall, and the capillary tissue includes a plurality of
protrusions formed inside the pipe body and extended along the
lengthwise direction of the pipe body, and a gap is reserved
between the protrusions and the internal side of the top wall to
form an air passage. The protrusions formed by the capillary tissue
can provide sufficient capillary forces and also produce the gap to
form the air passage.
Inventors: |
Meyer, IV; George Anthony;
(Morgan Hill, CA) ; Sun; Chien-Hung; (Zhongli
City, TW) ; Chen; Chieh-Ping; (Zhongli City, TW)
; Chin; Te-Hsuan; (Zhongli City, TW) |
Assignee: |
CELSIA TECHNOLOGIES TAIWAN,
I
|
Family ID: |
47360719 |
Appl. No.: |
13/169149 |
Filed: |
June 27, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/104.26 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28D 15/0233 20130101;
F28F 21/085 20130101; F28F 21/084 20130101; F28D 15/046
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/104.26 |
International
Class: |
F28D 15/04 20060101
F28D015/04 |
Claims
1. A flat heat pipe with a capillary structure, comprising: a pipe
body, being substantially hollow and flat, and having a bottom wall
and a top wall disposed opposite to the bottom wall, both walls
being formed on the pipe body, and an appropriate quantity of
working fluid being sealed inside the pipe body; and a capillary
tissue, covered onto an internal side of the bottom wall; wherein
the capillary tissue includes a plurality of protrusions formed
inside the pipe body and extended along the lengthwise direction of
the pipe body, and a gap is reserved between the protrusions and
the internal side of the top wall to form an air passage.
2. The flat heat pipe with a capillary structure as recited in
claim 1, wherein the pipe body is made of copper or aluminum.
3. The flat heat pipe with a capillary structure as recited in
claim 1, wherein the capillary tissue is a metal net or a sintered
powder.
4. The flat heat pipe with a capillary structure as recited in
claim 1, wherein the capillary tissue has two protrusions.
5. The flat heat pipe with a capillary structure as recited in
claim 1, wherein the protrusion of the capillary tissue is attached
onto the internal side of the top wall.
6. The flat heat pipe with a capillary structure as recited in
claim 1, further comprising a support structure disposed between
the protrusion of the capillary tissue and the internal wall of the
top wall.
7. The flat heat pipe with a capillary structure as recited in
claim 6, wherein the support structure is substantially in a
staggered wavy form.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a heat pipe, in particular
to an improved heat pipe with a capillary structure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] As the computing speed of central processing units (CPUs)
for computers becomes increasingly faster, the heat generated by
the CPU becomes increasingly higher, and conventional heat
dissipating devices comprised of an extruded aluminum heat sink and
a fan can no longer meet the heat dissipating requirement of
present CPUs, and thus related manufacturers continue developing
heat pipes or vapor chambers with a higher thermal conductivity and
combine the heat pipe or vapor chamber with the heat sink to
overcome the heat dissipating problem.
[0003] However, the conventional heat pipe usually uses a tubular
object as a pipe body of the heat pipe and goes through a pressing
process to manufacture a heat pipe with a flat pipe body. In
general, a heat pipe with a pipe body having a thickness less than
2 mm is called a super thin heat pipe, and a heat pipe with a pipe
body having a thickness greater than 2 mm is called a thin heat
pipe. Regardless of the requirements of a thin heat pipe, the
interior of the heat pipe should reserve sufficient space for
conducting a vapor-liquid phase change. In addition to working
fluid sealed in the heat pipe, a capillary tissue is also one of
the major factors affecting the space inside the pipe body,
particularly for the thin and super thin heat pipes having a very
limited interior space. Therefore, how to utilize the limited
internal space of the thin heat pipe effectively is one of the
technical issues at present.
[0004] In view of the aforementioned shortcomings of the prior art,
the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience
in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and
experiments, and finally provides a feasible solution 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 an improved flat heat pipe with a capillary
structure. With the installation of a capillary tissue and a pipe
body, a smooth flow path is provided for a vapor or liquid working
fluid to achieve good thermal conduction and backflow effects, when
a vapor-liquid phase change of the working fluid takes place inside
the heat pipe.
[0006] To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention
provides an improved flat heat pipe with a capillary structure,
comprising a pipe body and a capillary tissue. The pipe body is
hollow and flat and includes a bottom wall and a top wall disposed
opposite to the top wall, and both walls are formed on the pipe
body, and an appropriate quantity of working fluid is sealed inside
the pipe body. The capillary tissue is covered onto an internal
side of the bottom wall, and the capillary tissue has a plurality
of protrusions formed inside the pipe body and extended along the
lengthwise direction of the pipe body, and a gap is reserved
between the protrusions and the internal side of the top wall to
form an air passage. With the protrusions formed on the capillary
tissue, sufficient capillary forces are provided, while a gap is
formed to serve as the air passage to achieve the foregoing
objective.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the first preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the first preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the second preferred
embodiment of the present invention; and
[0010] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the third preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0011] The technical characteristics and contents of the present
invention will become apparent with the following detailed
description and 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.
[0012] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 for a perspective view and a
cross-sectional view of an improved flat heat pipe with a capillary
structure in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the
present invention respectively, the improved flat heat pipe
comprises a pipe body 1 and a capillary tissue 2.
[0013] The pipe body 1 is made of a good conductive material such
as copper or aluminum, and the pipe body 1 is hollow and flat and
includes a bottom wall 10 formed on a pipe wall of the pipe body 1
and a top wall 11 disposed opposite to the bottom wall 10, and an
appropriate quantity of working fluid (not shown in the figure) is
sealed inside the pipe body 1.
[0014] The capillary tissue 2 is covered onto the internal side of
the bottom wall 10 of the pipe body 1, and the capillary tissue 2
can be a metal net or a sintered powder provided for sucking the
working fluid sealed inside the pipe body 1 at room
temperature.
[0015] The present invention is characterized in that the capillary
tissue 2 includes at least two protrusions 20 formed inside the
pipe body 1 and extended in the lengthwise direction of the pipe
body 1, and a gap is reserved between the two protrusions 20 and
the internal side of the top wall 11 of the pipe body 1 to form an
air passage 12. Therefore, if a heat source (not shown in the
figure) is in contact with the bottom wall 10 of the pipe body 1,
the working fluid contained in the capillary tissue 2 at this
portion absorbs the heat generated by the heat source to change its
state from liquid to vapor, and the vapor working fluid can be
transmitted to a far end of the heat pipe through the air passage
12 between the pipe body 1 and the capillary tissue 2 for cooling.
Since the vapor working fluid is far away from the heat source and
cooled, the vapor working fluid will be converted into its liquid
state again and the liquid working fluid will be absorbed by the
capillary tissue 2, and the protrusions 20 formed by the capillary
tissue 2 can provide sufficient capillary forces (in other words,
the capillary tissue 2 still has sufficient thickness for the
required capillary action) to flow the liquid working fluid back to
its original position in contact with the heat source quickly, so
as to achieve good thermal conduction and backflow effects as well
as a circular vapor-liquid phase change effect of the heat
pipe.
[0016] With reference to FIG. 3 for a cross-sectional view of a
second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the capillary
tissue 2 may have a smaller space depending on the height (or
thickness) of the pipe body 1, or the protrusions 20 of the
capillary tissue 2 are attached onto the internal side of the top
wall 11 of the pipe body 1 if a thicker capillary tissue 2 is
required. Since the protrusions 20 of the capillary tissue 2 are
not attached completely with the internal side of the top wall 11,
therefore gaps are formed between them to form the air passage 12
for conducting the heat of the vapor working fluid.
[0017] With reference to FIG. 4 for a cross-sectional view of a
third preferred embodiment of the present invention, a support
structure 3 is installed between the protrusion 20 of the capillary
tissue 2 and the internal side of the top wall 11 of the pipe body
1, and the support structure 3 is in a staggered wavy form for
providing an internal support between the bottom wall 10 and the
top wall 11 of the pipe body 1.
[0018] With the aforementioned components and structure, the
improved flat heat pipe with a capillary structure of the present
invention can be made.
[0019] 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.
[0020] 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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