U.S. patent application number 14/186579 was filed with the patent office on 2014-06-19 for vapor chamber and method of manufacturing same.
This patent application is currently assigned to Asia Vital Components Co., Ltd.. The applicant listed for this patent is Asia Vital Components Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Chih-Peng Chen.
Application Number | 20140165402 14/186579 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47677659 |
Filed Date | 2014-06-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140165402 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chen; Chih-Peng |
June 19, 2014 |
VAPOR CHAMBER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME
Abstract
A vapor chamber and a method of manufacturing same are
disclosed. The vapor chamber includes a main body internally
defining a chamber. The chamber internally has a plurality of flow
guides and contains a working fluid; and at least one flow passage
is formed between any two adjacent flow guides, such that the flow
guides and the flow passages together define a flow guiding zone in
the main body. The flow guiding zone has two opposite ends
respectively connecting with a first convection zone and a second
convection zone, such that the flow passages and the first and
second convection zones communicate with one another. With the main
body and the internal flow passages for a vapor chamber being
integrally formed by aluminum extrusion, the time, labor and
material costs for the vapor chamber can be largely reduced.
Inventors: |
Chen; Chih-Peng; (New Taipei
City, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Asia Vital Components Co., Ltd. |
New Taipei City |
|
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
Asia Vital Components Co.,
Ltd.
New Taipei City
TW
|
Family ID: |
47677659 |
Appl. No.: |
14/186579 |
Filed: |
February 21, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13205639 |
Aug 9, 2011 |
|
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14186579 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
29/890.032 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28D 15/0266 20130101;
Y10T 29/49353 20150115; Y10T 137/0402 20150401; B21D 53/02
20130101; F28D 15/046 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
29/890.032 |
International
Class: |
B21D 53/02 20060101
B21D053/02 |
Claims
1-4. (canceled)
5. A method of manufacturing vapor chamber, comprising the
following steps: integrally forming a main body internally having a
plurality of flow passages by way of aluminum extrusion; machining
two ends of the main body for the flow passages to communicate with
one another; and closing the two ends of the main body, evacuating
the closed main body, and filling a working fluid into the
evacuated main body.
6. The vapor chamber manufacturing method as claimed in claim 5,
wherein the main body is machined by a manner selected from the
group consisting of milling and planning.
7. The vapor chamber manufacturing method as claimed in claim 5,
further comprising a step of forming at least one type of wick
structure on wall surfaces of the flow passages, being performed
after the step of integrally forming the main body internally
having a plurality of flow passages by way of aluminum
extrusion.
8. The vapor chamber manufacturing method as claimed in claim 7,
wherein the wick structure is selected from the group consisting of
grooves, a sintered powder layer, and mesh structures.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a vapor chamber, and more
particularly to a vapor chamber that is integrally formed by
aluminum extrusion and accordingly enables largely reduced material
and manufacturing costs. The present invention also relates to a
method of manufacturing the above-described vapor chamber.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The currently most popular heat transfer elements include
heat pipes, vapor chambers and flat heat pipes, all of them are
metal elements providing good heat conductivity. The heat pipe is
mainly used to transfer heat to a distant location. The heat pipe
includes an end, at where heat is absorbed to transform a
liquid-phase working fluid in the heat pipe into vapor phase to
thereby transfer the absorbed heat to another opposite end of the
heat pipe to achieve the purpose of transferring heat.
[0003] The vapor chamber is usually selected for use as a heat
transfer element at a location with a relatively large heat
transfer area. The vapor chamber has one side surface in contact
with a heat source for absorbing heat, and the absorbed heat is
transferred to another opposite side surface, from where the heat
is dissipated into ambient space and a working fluid filled therein
is condensed.
[0004] Conventionally, the vapor chamber is mainly made of a copper
material to define an internal chamber, in which a supporting
structure and a wick structure are provided. The internal chamber
of the vapor chamber is then evacuated and filled with a working
fluid before being sealed. Liquid-vapor circulation of the working
fluid in the internal chamber of the vapor chamber continues to
achieve the effect of heat transfer.
[0005] The conventional vapor chamber usually includes an upper
plate and a lower plate that are closed to each other to define the
internal chamber therebetween. The supporting structure and the
wick structure are mainly formed by sintering, milling or etching
inner surfaces of the upper and lower plates, or providing a
mesh-like structure in the internal chamber. All these supporting
and wick structures require a lot of time and labor to form and
therefore increase the manufacturing costs of the vapor
chamber.
[0006] Further, since the conventional vapor chamber is made of a
copper material, it has good heat transfer efficiency but requires
relatively high material cost. In brief, the conventional vapor
chamber has the following disadvantages: (1) requiring high
manufacturing costs; and (2) uneasy to manufacture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a
vapor chamber that achieves upgraded liquid-vapor circulation
therein and requires only reduced manufacturing costs.
[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a
method for manufacturing a vapor chamber at reduced manufacturing
cost while achieving upgraded liquid-vapor circulation in the vapor
chamber.
[0009] To achieve the above and other objects, the vapor chamber
according to the present invention includes a main body internally
defining a chamber. The chamber internally has a plurality of flow
guides and contains a working fluid; and at least one flow passage
is formed between any two adjacent flow guides, such that the flow
guides and the flow passages together define a flow guiding zone in
the main body. The flow guiding zone has two opposite ends
respectively connecting with a first convection zone and a second
convection zone, such that the flow passages and the first and
second convection zones communicate with one another.
[0010] To achieve the above and other objects, the vapor chamber
manufacturing method according to the present invention includes
the following steps: integrally forming a main body internally
having a plurality of flow passages by way of aluminum extrusion;
machining two ends of the main body for the flow passages to
communicate with one another; and closing the two ends of the main
body, evacuating the closed main body, and filling a working fluid
into the evacuated main body.
[0011] With the vapor chamber of the present invention, it is able
to largely upgrade the liquid-vapor circulation in the vapor
chamber and accordingly, achieve upgraded heat transfer
efficiency.
[0012] The present invention is characterized by integrally forming
the main body of the vapor chamber by aluminum extrusion, so that
internal flow passages are simultaneously formed along with the
main body to reduce the time, labor and material costs needed to
manufacture the vapor chamber.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The structure and the technical means adopted by the present
invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best
understood by referring to the following detailed description of
the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings,
wherein
[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vapor chamber according to
a first embodiment of the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 2a is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG.
1;
[0016] FIG. 2b is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG.
1;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a vapor chamber
according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 4 illustrates a vapor chamber manufacturing method
according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the steps included in the
vapor chamber manufacturing method according to the first
embodiment of the present invention; and
[0020] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the steps included in the
vapor chamber manufacturing method according to a second embodiment
of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0021] The present invention will now be described with some
preferred embodiments thereof and with reference to the drawings.
For the purpose of easy to understand, elements that are the same
in the preferred embodiments are denoted by the same reference
numerals.
[0022] Please refer to FIG. 1 that is a perspective view of a vapor
chamber according to a first embodiment of the present invention,
and to FIGS. 2a and 2b that are sectional views taken along lines
A-A and B-B of FIG. 1, respectively. As shown, the vapor chamber
according to the present invention includes a main body 1.
[0023] The main body 1 is integrally formed by way of aluminum
extrusion to define a chamber 11 therein. The chamber 11 internally
has a plurality of flow guides 111 and contains a working fluid 2.
At least one flow passage 112 is formed between two adjacent ones
of the flow guides 111, such that the flow guides 111 and the flow
passages 112 together define a flow guiding zone 13 in the main
body 1. The flow guiding zone 13 has two opposite ends respectively
connecting with a first convection zone 13 and a second convection
zone 14, such that the flow passages 112 and the first and second
convection zones 13, 14 communicate with one another. The chamber
11 is internally provided on wall surfaces thereof with at least
one type of wick structure 15, which can be any one of grooves, a
sintered powder layer, or mesh structures. In the illustrated first
embodiment, the wick structure 15 is configured as a plurality of
grooves without being limited thereto.
[0024] Please refer to FIG. 3 that is a sectional view of a vapor
chamber according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
As shown, the second embodiment is generally structurally similar
to the first embodiment, except for a pipe 16 that is further
provided to communicate with the chamber 11.
[0025] FIG. 4 illustrates a vapor chamber manufacturing method
according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
5 is a flowchart showing the steps included therein. The vapor
chamber manufacturing method is now described with reference to
FIGS. 4 and 5 along with FIGS. 1 and 2b.
[0026] In a first step S1, a main body internally having a
plurality of flow passages is integrally formed by way of aluminum
extrusion.
[0027] More specifically, at least one main body 1 for vapor
chamber is integrally formed by way of aluminum extrusion, such
that a chamber 11 internally having a plurality of flow guides 111
and flow passages 112 is defined in the main body 1.
[0028] In a second step S2, the main body is machined at two
opposite ends for the flow passages to communicate with one
another.
[0029] More specifically, two open ends of the aluminum-extruded
main body 1 are machined, so that the flow guides 111 are partially
removed at respective two ends, allowing the flow passages 112
defined between adjacent flow guides 111 to communicate with one
another. The main body 1 can be machined by way of milling or
planning.
[0030] And, in a third and final step S3, the two opposite ends of
the main body are closed, and the closed main body is then
evacuated and filled with a working fluid.
[0031] More specifically, the two open ends of the main body 1 are
closed, and the closed main body 1 is evacuated and filled with a
working fluid 2.
[0032] Please refer to FIG. 6 that is a flowchart showing the steps
included in a vapor chamber manufacturing method according to a
second embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the vapor
chamber manufacturing method in the second embodiment is generally
similar to the first embodiment and includes a step S1, in which a
main body internally having a plurality of flow passages is
integrally formed by way of aluminum extrusion; a step S2, in which
the main body is machined at two opposite ends for the flow
passages to communicate with one another; and a step S3, in which
the two opposite ends of the main body are closed, and the closed
main body is then evacuated and filled with a working fluid.
However, the second embodiment is different from the first
embodiment in having a further step S4, which is performed after
the step S1.
[0033] In the step S4, at least one type of wick structure is
formed on wall surfaces of the flow passages.
[0034] More specifically, at least one type of wick structure 15 is
formed on wall surfaces of the flow passages 112 in the main body
1, and the wick structure 15 can be any one of grooves, a sintered
powder layer, and mesh structures.
[0035] The present invention has been described with some preferred
embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and
modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out
without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention
that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
* * * * *