U.S. patent application number 14/180185 was filed with the patent office on 2015-06-25 for flat mesh wick structure of ultrathin heat pipe and ultrathin heat pipe having the same.
The applicant listed for this patent is Hao PAI. Invention is credited to Hao PAI.
Application Number | 20150176916 14/180185 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50968493 |
Filed Date | 2015-06-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150176916 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
PAI; Hao |
June 25, 2015 |
FLAT MESH WICK STRUCTURE OF ULTRATHIN HEAT PIPE AND ULTRATHIN HEAT
PIPE HAVING THE SAME
Abstract
A flat mesh wick structure of an ultrathin heat pipe and an
ultrathin heat pipe having the same are provided in the present
disclosure. The mesh wick structure is included of a plurality of
braided wires, and each of the braided wires is included of a
plurality of intercrossed segments arranged at interval and a
plurality of connecting segments connected between the adjacent
intercrossed segments, wherein the intercrossed segment of each
braided wire is of a flat shape. The flat mesh wick structure is
constituted thereby.
Inventors: |
PAI; Hao; (Taoyuan County,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
PAI; Hao |
Taoyuan County |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
50968493 |
Appl. No.: |
14/180185 |
Filed: |
February 13, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/104.26 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28D 15/046 20130101;
F28D 15/0233 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F28D 15/04 20060101
F28D015/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 25, 2013 |
TW |
102148191 |
Claims
1. A flat mesh wick structure of an ultrathin heat pipe, the flat
mesh wick structure comprising: a plurality of braided wires, each
of the braided wires comprising a plurality of intercrossed
segments arranged at interval and a plurality of connecting
segments connected between the adjacent intercrossed segments;
wherein each intercrossed segment of each braided wire is of a flat
shape.
2. The flat mesh wick structure of an ultrathin heat pipe according
to claim 1, wherein a flat external surface is formed on the
intercrossed segment of each braided wire.
3. The flat mesh wick structure of an ultrathin heat pipe according
to claim 2, wherein a flat intercrossed surface is formed on the
intercrossed segment of each braided wire, and the intercrossed
surfaces are arranged opposite to the external surfaces.
4. The flat mesh wick structure of an ultrathin heat pipe according
to claim 3, wherein the braided wires are respectively arranged
along a first direction and a second direction to intercross with
each other, and the intercrossed surfaces of any two intercrossed
braided wires are attached to each other.
5. The flat mesh wick structure of an ultrathin heat pipe according
to claim 4, wherein an interval between the external surfaces of
two intercrossed braided wires is less than 0.05 mm.
6. An ultrathin heat pipe, comprising: a flat tube having a vapor
channel therein; and a mesh wick structure arranged in the vapor
channel of the flat tube and comprising a plurality of braided
wires, each of the braided wires comprising a plurality of
intercrossed segments arranged at interval and a plurality of
connecting segments connected between the adjacent intercrossed
segments; wherein the intercrossed segment of each braided wire is
of a flat shape.
7. The ultrathin heat pipe according to claim 6, wherein a flat
external surface is formed on the intercrossed segment of each
braided wire.
8. The ultrathin heat pipe according to claim 7, wherein a flat
intercrossed surface is formed on the intercrossed segment of each
braided wire, and the intercrossed surfaces are arranged opposite
to the external surfaces.
9. The ultrathin heat pipe according to claim 8, wherein the
braided wires are arranged along a first direction and a second
direction to intercross with each other, and the intercrossed
surfaces of any two intercrossed braided wires are attached to each
other.
10. The ultrathin heat pipe according to claim 9, wherein the
interval between the external surfaces of two intercrossed braided
wires is less than 0.05 mm.
11. The ultrathin heat pipe according to claim 10, wherein the flat
tube is comprised of a bottom wall, an upper wall arranged opposite
to and at interval with the bottom wall, and two lateral walls
connected between the bottom wall and the upper wall, the vapor
channel is surrounded and formed thereby.
12. The ultrathin heat pipe according to claim 11, wherein the mesh
wick structure is attached on an internal surface of the bottom
wall.
13. The ultrathin heat pipe according to claim 12, wherein the mesh
wick structure is comprised of at least one supporting wick
structure, the supporting wick structure is arranged on the mesh
wick structure, and the supporting wick structure is contacted only
a part of the mesh wick structure and the upper wall.
14. The ultrathin heat pipe according to claim 13, wherein the
supporting wick structure is made of at least one of the group
consisted of sintered powder, mesh and fiber.
15. The ultrathin heat pipe according to claim 12, wherein only a
part in the flat tube is occupied by the mesh wick structure.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] The present disclosure is related to a screen mesh wick
structure, and particularly a flat mesh wick structure of an
ultrathin heat pipe and an ultrathin heat pipe having the same.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
[0002] The majority of current 3C electronic products are designed
to be compact, and heat pipes arranged therein are accordingly
compact. Therefore, ultrathin heat pipes (thickness less than 1.5
mm) are engineered for this requirement.
[0003] However, thin wick structures have to be arranged in the
ultrathin heat pipe, as a result of the slim ultrathin heat pipe.
Otherwise, the ultrathin heat pipe does not contain enough inner
space to form a vapor channel. A related art ultrathin heat pipe
shown in FIG. 1 includes a tube 1a and a wick structure 2a arranged
in the tube 1a. The tube 1a includes a bottom wall 10a, an upper
wall 11a arranged opposite to and at interval with the bottom wall
10a, and two lateral walls 12a connected between the bottom wall
10a and the upper wall 11a. The tube 1a allows the wick structure
2a arranged therein and attached on an internal surface of the
bottom wall 10a. If a thickness T of the tube 1a is less than 0.4
mm, a height H of an inner space in the tube 1a is approximately
0.2 mm (not counting thickness of the bottom wall 10a and the upper
wall 11a, which are both approximately 0.1 mm). The related art
heat pipe shown in FIG. 2 ordinarily includes pure copper mesh wick
structures 2d consisted of braided metal wires with diameter d of
0.05 mm. The total thickness of the braided mesh is approximately
0.11 mm, and is reached the state-of-art limitation of minimum
thickness for braid mesh.
[0004] If the wick structure 2a is arranged in the tube 1a as a
cylinder and attached on the internal surface of the tube, the tube
1a will be choked by the wick structure 2a, and there will be no
redundant space to form a vapor channel allowing a vapored working
fluid flowing therein. Therefore, the ultrathin heat pipe is not
able to transfer heat.
[0005] If the wick structure 2a is arranged in the tube 1a and
attached on both of the bottom wall 10a and the upper wall 11a, a
vapor channel with a height (H-t) less than 0.1 mm is formed in the
tube 1a. That results to high flow drag and steep gradient of
temperature, and only a poor heat transfer performance of the
ultrathin heat pipe is achieved as well.
[0006] In views of this, in order to solve the above disadvantage,
the present inventor studied related technology and provided a
reasonable and effective solution in the present disclosure.
SUMMARY
[0007] A main purpose of the present disclosure is providing a flat
mesh wick structure of ultrathin heat pipe and an ultrathin heat
pipe having the same. A braded mesh wick structure is squeezed to
form a flat shape, and the flat mesh wick structure is formed
thereby. The flat mesh wick structure is applied to be arranged at
bilateral or as a stake in the ultrathin heat pipe, and a wick
transfer performance of the ultrathin heat pipe is thereby
enhance.
[0008] Another purpose of the present disclosure is providing a
flat mesh wick structure of ultrathin heat pipe and ultrathin heat
pipe having the same. The flat mesh wick structure is able to
enlarge contacting area with the internal surface of the tube.
Compared with non-squeezed mesh wick structure having contact
points with the internal surface of a flat tube, the flat mesh wick
structure has contact plates with the internal surface of the flat
tube is more fit with internal surface of the flat tube. Thereby,
less thermal resistance and fewer apertures are produced between
the flat mesh wick structure and the internal surface of the flat
tube. Therefore, the flat mesh wick structure has better wicking
performance than that conventional.
[0009] Another purpose of the present disclosure is providing a
flat mesh wick structure of ultrathin heat pipe and ultrathin heat
pipe having the same. Owning to be squeezed, the flat mesh wick
structure is reinforced. Thereby, the flat mesh wick structure is
liable to be located in the flat tube. In order to accomplish the
above purpose, a flat mesh wick structure of an ultrathin heat pipe
is provided in the present invention. The flat mesh wick structure
is included of a plurality of braided wires. Each of the braided
wire is included of a plurality of intercrossed segments arranged
at interval and a plurality of connecting segments connected
between the adjacent intercrossed segments. The intercrossed
segment of each braided wire is of a flat shape.
[0010] In order to accomplish the above purpose, an ultrathin heat
pipe is provided in the present invention. The ultrathin heat pipe
is included of a flat tube and the flat mesh wick structure
mentioned above. The flat tube is included a vapor channel therein,
and the flat mesh wick structure is arranged in the vapor channel
of the flat tube.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
[0011] FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a conventional mesh
arranged in an ultrathin heat pipe.
[0012] FIG. 2 is a drawing of partial enlargement showing the mesh
in FIG. 1.
[0013] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a part of the present
disclosure.
[0014] FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a part of the present
disclosure.
[0015] FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the present disclosure
arranged in a flat tube.
[0016] FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the
present disclosure arranged in the flat tube.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT
[0017] Please refer to enclosed figures and specification of the
present disclosure to understand features and technological content
thereof. However, the figures and specification are not limitations
of the present disclosure.
[0018] Please refer to FIGS. 3 and 4, these figures showing a
schematic diagram and a sectional view of a part the present
disclosure. A flat mesh wick structure of an ultrathin heat pipe
and an ultrathin heat pipe having the same are disclosed in the
present disclosure. The mesh wick structure (1) includes a
plurality of braided wires (10, 10') braided along two directions
intercrossed with each other. In an embodiment of the present
disclosure, first braided wires (10) are arranged along a first
direction, second braided wires (10') are arranged along a second
direction, and the first and second braided wires (10, 10') are
braided intercrossed with each other. The braided wires (10, 10')
are preferably made of metal such as copper.
[0019] Each of the braided wires (10, 10') is of a strip shape and
includes a plurality of intercrossed segments (11, 11') arranged at
interval and a plurality of connecting segments (12, 12') connected
between the adjacent intercrossed segments (11, 11'). The braided
wires (10, 10') are braided to form the mesh wick structure (1),
and then the mesh wick structure (1) is squeezed to form a flat
external surface (110, 110') on each intercrossed segment (11, 11')
of each braided wire (10, 10'). Please further refer to FIG. 4. In
addition to the flat external surface (110, 110') formed on each
intercrossed segment (11, 11') of each braided wires (10, 10'), a
flat intercrossed surface (111, 111') is formed on each
intercrossed segment (11, 11') intercrossed with each other between
braided wires (10, 10') intercrossed with each other. The
intercrossed surfaces (111, 111') are arranged opposite to the
external surfaces (110, 110'), and the intercrossed surface (111,
111') of each braided wires (10, 10') are attached with each other.
Therefore, the cross section of the intercrossed segment (11, 11')
of each braided wire (10, 10') is of a flat shape. Thereby, an
interval between the external surfaces (110, 110') (a thickness (t)
of the wick structure (1)) of the intercrossed segments (11, 11')
of the intercrossed squeezed braided wires (10, 10') is reduced. In
other words, the thickness (t) of the wick structure (1) is
significantly reduced to be approximately less than 0.05 mm. The
wick structure (1) could be squeezed by a plate mold or a roller to
reduce the thickness thereof.
[0020] Thereby, the flat mesh wick structure of ultrathin heat pipe
and the ultrathin heat pipe having the same of the present
disclosure can be thus realized.
[0021] The above mesh wick structure (1) is arranged in a flat tube
(2) of the ultrathin heat pipe. The flat tube (2) includes a bottom
wall (20), an upper wall (21) opposite to the bottom wall (20) and
arranged at interval with the bottom wall (20), and a two lateral
walls (22) connected between the bottom wall (20) and the upper
wall (21). A vapor channel (23) is formed in the flat tube (2) by
the bottom wall (20), the upper wall (21) and the lateral walls
(22). Because the mesh wick structure (1) is squeezed to be less
the 0.05 mm and attached on an internal surface of the bottom wall
(20), a redundant space with at least 0.15 mm height (h) can be
reserved in the flat tube (2) while the thickness of the flat tube
(2) is kept to be 0.4 mm. Therefore, an internal space of the vapor
channel (23) with sufficient height is provided to allow vapor
flows smoothly therein. Moreover, the vapor channel (23) can be
formed with another mesh wick structure (not be shown in figures)
being attached on the internal surface of the upper wall (21) or
with the mesh wick structure (1) being arranged at a stack (not be
shown in figures).
[0022] Furthermore, because the vapor channel (23) could be formed
with a sufficient height, the mesh wick structure (1) can further
be combined with another supporting or wick structure (such as
sintered powder, mesh, fiber or the combinations thereof) as shown
in FIG. 6. For example, one or more supporting wick structure (13)
consisting of sintered powder could be arranged on the mesh wick
structure (1). The supporting wick structure (13) is in contact
with only a part of the mesh wick structure (1) and the upper wall
(21), and a space is reserved at both sides thereof for vapor
channel (23). The mesh wick structure (1) could be arranged at a
part in the flat tube (2).
[0023] Therefore, the flat mesh wick structure of ultrathin heat
pipe and the ultrathin heat pipe having the same of the present
disclosure have at least below advantages resulting to a better
performance of the ultrathin heat pipe.
[0024] 1. The flat mesh wick structure is able to reserve
sufficient space in the vapor channel 23 of the ultrathin heat pipe
to allow the working fluid flowing therein or the arrangement of
another wick structure therein.
[0025] 2. There are more contact area formed between the mesh wick
structure (1) and the flat tube (2) owning to the squeezed braided
wires (10, 10'). Compared with the contact points between related
art braided wires and the flat tube (2), the squeezed braided wires
(10, 10') can be attached on the flat tube (2) more compactly.
Thereby, less thermal resistance and more capillary force are
achieved in the ultrathin heat pipe.
[0026] 3. The squeezed braided wire (10, 10') is firmer than the
non-squeezed one. Thereby, the mesh wick structure (1) is
reinforced, and more easily arranged into the flat tube (2).
[0027] Although the present invention has been described with
reference to the foregoing preferred embodiment, it will be
understood that the invention is not limited to the details
thereof. Various equivalent variations and modifications can still
occur to those skilled in this art in view of the teachings of the
present invention. Thus, all such variations and equivalent
modifications are also embraced within the scope of the invention
as defined in the appended claims.
* * * * *