U.S. patent application number 14/105459 was filed with the patent office on 2015-06-18 for vapor chamber structure.
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 Hsiu-Wei Yang.
Application Number | 20150168078 14/105459 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53367988 |
Filed Date | 2015-06-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150168078 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Yang; Hsiu-Wei |
June 18, 2015 |
Vapor Chamber Structure
Abstract
A vapor chamber structure includes a main body assembled from a
first and a second plate member, which are closed to each other to
thereby define a chamber between them. The main body has a first
zone, a second zone, and a first connection section defined
thereon. The first and the second zone are located in two different
horizontal planes and have a first wick structure provided within
them; and the first connection section is located between and
connected to the first and the second zone and has a second wick
structure provided within it. With these arrangements, the vapor
chamber structure can be used with a plurality of heat sources
having their top surfaces located at different heights or with a
heat source having several different heat-producing surfaces to
provide increased flexibility in use.
Inventors: |
Yang; Hsiu-Wei; (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: |
53367988 |
Appl. No.: |
14/105459 |
Filed: |
December 13, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/104.26 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28D 15/04 20130101;
F28D 15/0233 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F28D 15/04 20060101
F28D015/04 |
Claims
1. A vapor chamber structure, comprising a main body assembled from
a first plate member and a second plate member; the first and the
second plate member being closed to each other to thereby define a
chamber between them; the main body having a first zone, a second
zone, and a first connection section defined thereon; the first and
the second zone being located in two different horizontal planes
and having a first wick structure provided within them; and the
first connection section being located between and connected to the
first and the second zone and having a second wick structure
provided within it.
2. The vapor chamber structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
first wick structure is formed of a plurality of protrusions that
are arrayed to equally or unequally space from one another; and the
first wick structure being optionally extended from one of the
first and the second plate member to the other plate member, such
that the protrusions are connected at respective two opposite ends
to the first and the second plate member.
3. The vapor chamber structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
first and the second zone are parallel to each other.
4. The vapor chamber structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
first and the second zone are non-parallel to each other.
5. The vapor chamber structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
second wick structure is selected from the group consisting of a
foamed structure, a mesh structure and a fibrous structure.
6. The vapor chamber structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
main body further has a third zone and a second connection section
defined thereon; the second connection section being located
between and connected to the third zone and the second zone, and
the third zone and the second zone being parallel to each other but
located in two different horizontal planes.
7. The vapor chamber structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
first connection section is perpendicularly connected at two
opposite sides to the first and the second zone.
8. The vapor chamber structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
first connection section is slantingly connected at two opposite
sides to the first and the second zone.
9. The vapor chamber structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
chamber is internally provided with a third wick structure, which
is coated on the first and the second wick structure.
10. The vapor chamber structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
main body further includes a heat-absorption section and a
heat-dissipation section; the heat-absorption section being located
at one side of the main body formed by the first plate member, and
the heat-dissipation section being located at another opposite side
of the main body formed by the second plate member.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a vapor chamber structure,
and more particularly to a vapor chamber structure that provides
increased flexibility in use.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The currently available electronic devices are characterized
in their compact volume, low profile and light weight. To meet
these requirements, all elements of the electronic devices must
also have largely reduced dimensions. However, the heat produced by
the dimension-reduced internal elements during operation thereof
forms a main hindrance to the performance improvement of the
miniaturized electronic devices and systems. In addition, users
keep demanding for constantly increased functions and upgraded
performance even though the semiconductor elements for the
electronic devices already have extremely reduced sizes.
[0003] However, the size reduction of the semiconductor elements
results in increased heat flux. With the increased heat flux, the
manufacturers of different electronic devices now have to encounter
with higher challenges instead of simply cooling the electronic
devices by removing all the produced heat from them. This is
because the increased heat flux will result in overheat of the
electronic devices at different times and at areas of different
lengths or sizes, and will even result in failure or damage of the
electronic devices in some worse conditions.
[0004] To overcome the problem of having very limited space in the
size-reduced electronic devices for heat dissipation, a product
named vapor chamber (VC) heat sink has been developed for lying on
and contact with a heat-producing chip to serve as a heat sink.
Further, to maximize the utilization of wick structure, copper
spacers with sintered coating, sintered spacers and/or foamed
spacers are used with the conventional wick structures in the vapor
chamber heat sink to not only serve as spacers, but also provide a
good backflow passage for the working fluid in the vapor chamber.
However, a micro vapor chamber has relatively thin upper and lower
wall thickness (for application in a space smaller than 1.5
mm).
[0005] Further, the conventionally designed vapor chamber is only
suitable for contacting with a flat surface each time and can not
be bent or twisted for use. Therefore, it is impossible to use the
conventional vapor chamber with a heat source that has several
surfaces of different heights. That is, the conventional
flat-shaped vapor chamber has low flexibility in design and use and
could not be applied to different heat sources at one time
according to actual need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a
vapor chamber structure that has increased flexibility for use with
more than one heat source.
[0007] To achieve the above and other objects, the vapor chamber
structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present
invention includes a main body assembled from a first and a second
plate member, which are closed to each other to define a chamber
between them. The main body has a first zone, a second zone and a
first connection section defined thereon. The first and the second
zone are located in two different horizontal planes and both have a
first wick structure provided within them. The first connection
section is located between and connected to the first and the
second zone, and has a second wick structure provided within
it.
[0008] With the above arrangements, the vapor chamber structure of
the present invention can have increased flexibility in use with
heat sources. For example, one single vapor chamber structure can
be used with a plurality of heat sources that have top surfaces
located at different heights, or be used with one heat soured that
has a plurality of heat-producing surfaces located at different
heights.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] 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
[0010] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a vapor chamber
structure according to a first embodiment of the present
invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is an assembled view of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 3 is an assembled sectional view of the vapor chamber
structure according to the first embodiment of the present
invention;
[0013] FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of a vapor chamber
structure according to a second embodiment of the present
invention;
[0014] FIG. 5 is an assembled perspective view of a vapor chamber
structure according to a third embodiment of the present
invention;
[0015] FIG. 6 is an assembled perspective view of a vapor chamber
structure according to a fourth embodiment of the present
invention;
[0016] FIG. 7 is a cutaway view of a vapor chamber structure
according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; and
[0017] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of use of the vapor chamber
structure of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0018] The present invention will now be described with some
preferred embodiments thereof and with reference to the
accompanying drawings. For the purpose of easy to understand,
elements that are the same in the preferred embodiments are denoted
by the same reference numerals.
[0019] Please refer to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, which are exploded
perspective, assembled perspective and assembled sectional views,
respectively, of a vapor chamber structure according to a first
embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the vapor chamber
structure in the first embodiment includes a main body 1.
[0020] The main body 1 is assembled from a first plate member 11
and a second plate member 12, which are closed to each other to
thereby define a chamber 13 between them. A working fluid 2 is
filled in the chamber 13. On the main body 1, there are defined a
first zone 14, a second zone 15, and a first connection section 16
located between and connected to the first and the second zone 14,
15. The first and the second zone 14, 15 are not located in the
same horizontal plane, and both have a first wick structure 111
provided within them. The first wick structure 111 is formed of a
plurality of protrusions, which are arrayed within the first and
the second zone 14, 15 to equally or unequally space from one
another, such that a passage 112 is always formed between any two
adjacent protrusions. The protrusions of the first wick structure
111 are optionally extended from one of the first and the second
plate member 11, 12 to the other plate member such that the
protrusions are connected at respective two opposite ends to the
first and the second plate member 11, 12. A second wick structure
161 is provided within the first connection section 16. The first
wick structure 111 within the first and second zones 14, 15 and the
second wick structure 161 within the first connection section 16
can be arranged with or without a space left between them.
[0021] The main body 1 further includes a heat-absorption section
11a and a heat-dissipation section 12a. In the present invention,
the heat-absorption section 11a is located at one side of the main
body 1 formed by the first plate member 11 and the heat-dissipation
section 12a is located at another opposite side of the main body 1
formed by the second plate member 12.
[0022] The second wick structure 161 can be a foamed structure, a
mesh structure, or a fibrous structure. While the first embodiment
of the present invention is described with the second wick
structure 161 being a mesh structure, it is understood the first
embodiment is only illustrative and the second wick structure 161
is not necessarily limited to the mesh structure.
[0023] The first zone 14 and the second zone 15 may be parallel or
non-parallel to each other. While the first embodiment is described
with the first and second zones 14, 15 being parallel to each
other, it is understood the first embodiment is only illustrative
and the first and the second zone 14, 15 are not necessarily
parallel to each other in position. Since the first and the second
zone 14, 15 are not located in the same horizontal plane, there is
a height difference formed between them.
[0024] Please refer to FIG. 4 that is a perspective view of a vapor
chamber structure according to a second embodiment of the present
invention. As shown, the second embodiment is generally
structurally similar to the first embodiment, except that, in the
second embodiment, the first and the second zone 14, 15 are not
parallel to each other in position.
[0025] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a vapor chamber structure
according to a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown,
the third embodiment is generally structurally similar to the first
embodiment, except that, in the third embodiment, the main body 1
further has a third zone 17 and a second connection section 18
defined thereon. The second connection section 18 is located
between and connected to the third zone 17 and the second zone 15.
The third zone 17 and the second zone 15 are parallel to each other
but not located in the same horizontal plane. That is, there is a
height difference existed between the third zone 17 and the second
zone 15.
[0026] Please refer to FIG. 6, which is a perspective view of a
vapor chamber structure according to a fourth embodiment of the
present invention. As shown, the fourth embodiment is generally
structurally similar to the first embodiment, except that, in the
fourth embodiment, the first connection section 16 can be
perpendicularly or slantingly connected at two opposite sides to
the first and the second zone 14, 15. While the fourth embodiment
is illustrated with the first connection section 16 being
perpendicularly connected to the first and the second zone 14, 15,
it is understood the present invention is not limited thereto.
[0027] FIG. 7 is a cutaway view of a vapor chamber structure
according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. As shown,
the fifth embodiment is generally structurally similar to the first
embodiment, except that, in the fifth embodiment, the chamber 13
further has a third wick structure 19 provided therein. The third
wick structure 19 is a sintered-powder structure coated on the
first and the second wick structure 111, 161.
[0028] Please refer to FIG. 8 that illustrates an example of use of
the vapor chamber structure of the present invention. As shown, the
vapor chamber structure of the present invention can be used with a
plurality of heat sources 3 that are different in height. Since the
main body 1 includes a plurality of zones, such as the first and
the second zone 14, 15, which have a height difference among them,
it is possible for the main body 1 to contact with the surfaces of
several heat sources 3 of different heights at one time.
[0029] 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.
* * * * *