Patent Application
20110220328
The present invention generally relates to heat pipes, in particular to a flexible heat pipe and a manufacturing method of the flexible heat pipe.
As computer components such as a central processing unit (CPU) come with an increasingly higher computing speed, the heat generated by the components also becomes increasingly greater. Obviously, the use of a heat sink composed of a plurality of heat dissipating fins and a fan in the past no longer meets the requirement of the high-speed operation of the present CPUs. Therefore, some manufacturers developed a heat dissipating device that combines a heat pipe with heat dissipating fins to overcome the heat dissipation problem of the present CPUs. However, existing heat pipes still have a drawback of occupying much space, and thus it is a main subject for related manufacturers and developers to improve the conventional heat pipes.
In general, a conventional heat pipe comprises a metal tube body, a wick structure and a working fluid, wherein the metal tube body includes a sealed chamber, and the wick structure is installed on an internal wall of the metal tube body, and the working fluid is filled in the sealed chamber of the metal tube body, and a gas passage is formed on an internal side of the wick structure, and the wick structure includes a liquid passage.
When the foregoing heat pipe is used, the space limitation of the surrounding environment and the heat conduction at different positions are generally taken into consideration, and thus most of the conventional heat pipes are bent into an L-shape or a U-shape. However, the interior of the wick structure and the internal wall of the metal tube body of the bent heat pipe may be peeled of or fallen off easily, so that the heat conduction effect is reduced significantly. Furthermore, most of the foregoing heat pipes can be bent once only in the manufacturing process, and a second bend of the heat pipe may crack the metal tube body easily. Obviously, the conventional heat pipe requires further improvements.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a flexible heat pipe and its manufacturing method, and the flexible heat pipe can be bent to any angle or in any direction according to practical demands.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention discloses a flexible heat pipe comprising a first tube body, a second tube body, a flexible section, a wick structure and a working fluid, wherein the second tube body is arranged apart from the first tube body, and the flexible section is interconnected to the first tube body and the second tube body, and the flexible section includes an annular elastomer and a soft encapsulating layer, and the annular elastomer is coupled to the first tube body and the second tube body, and the soft encapsulating layer is coupled to the first tube body and the second tube body and wrapped around the exterior of the annular elastomer; and the wick structure is disposed inside the first tube body, second tube body and the annular elastomer, and the working fluid is filled inside the first tube body, second tube body and the soft encapsulating layer.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides a manufacturing method of a flexible heat pipe, and the manufacturing method comprises the steps of:
(a) providing a first tube body and a second tube body, both having a first wick structure;
(b) providing an annular elastomer with an end coupled to the first tube body;
(c) providing a second wick structure, passing the second wick structure into the annular elastomer and attaching the second wick to the first wick structure of the first tube body;
(d) coupling the second tube body to another end of the annular elastomer, and attaching the second wick structure to the first wick structure of the second tube body; and
(e) providing a soft encapsulating layer coupled to the first tube body and a second tube body and wrapped around the exterior of the annular elastomer.
The present invention further has the following effects. The invention uses the annular elastomer to support the soft encapsulating layer, so that the soft encapsulating layer will not sink or collapse easily. With each receiving section of the soft encapsulating layer sheathed onto each heat pipe tightly, a quick heat conduction effect can be achieved. Since the flexible material of the heat pipe allows the heat pipe to be adjusted and bent to any angle, the heat pipe will not be hardened easily and the integrity of its original structure will remain even after the pipe has been adjusted and bent repeatedly for many times.
The technical characteristics and contents of the present invention will become apparent with the following detailed description accompanied with related drawings, and the drawings are provided for the purpose of illustrating the present invention only, but not intended for limiting the scope of the invention.
With reference to
The second tube body 20 is arranged apart from the first tube body 10, and both of the first tube body 10 and the second tube body 20 are vertical tubes, and each tube body 10, 20 is made of a good thermal conducting material such as copper.
The flexible section 30 includes an annular elastomer 31 and a soft encapsulating layer 32, and the annular elastomer 31 can be bent in its axial direction, wherein the annular elastomer 31 of this preferred embodiment is a helical spring, but the invention is not limited to such arrangement only. The soft encapsulating layer 32 is disposed and wrapped around the external surface of the annular elastomer 31, wherein the soft encapsulating layer 32 of this preferred embodiment is a copper foil, but the invention is not limited to such arrangement only. The helical spring type elastomer 31 has a free length smaller than the axial length of the soft encapsulating layer 32, such that when the soft encapsulating layer 32 is wrapped around the exterior of the elastomer 31, a receiving section 321, 322 can be formed separately at both ends of the soft encapsulating layer 32 (as shown in
The wick structure 40 is made of a metal mesh, a steel wire, or a fiber material, or sintered with a metal powder, wherein the wick structure 40 of this preferred embodiment includes a first wick structure 41, 42 installed in each tube body 10, 20 and a second wick structure 43 passed into the annular elastomer 31 and contacted with each first wick structure 41, 42.
The working fluid can be pure water filled inside each tube body 10, 20. Each tube body 10, 20 is vacuumed, such that a vapor-liquid phase change mechanism for conducting heat can be achieved.
With reference to
With reference to
(a) providing a first tube body 10 and a second tube body 20, both having a first wick structure 41, 42;
(b) providing an annular elastomer 31 with an end coupled to the first tube body 10;
(c) providing a second wick structure 43, passing the second wick structure 43 into the annular elastomer 31, and attaching the second wick structure 43 to a first wick structure 41 of the first tube body 10;
(d) coupling the second tube body 20 to another end of the annular elastomer 31, and attaching the second wick structure 43 to a first wick structure 42 of the second tube body 20; and
(e) providing a soft encapsulating layer 32 coupled to the first tube body 10 and a second tube body 20 and wrapped around the exterior of the annular elastomer 31.
It is noteworthy to point out that each tube body 10, 20 and the annular elastomer 31 in Steps (b) and (d) are coupled by a soldering method, and the soft encapsulating layer 32 and each tube body 10, 20 in Step (e) are coupled by the soldering method.
In addition, the manufacturing method of a heat pipe in accordance with the present invention further comprises a Step f) of filling a working fluid into the second tube body 20, and vacuuming and sealing the first tube body 10 and the second tube body 20.
With reference to
In summation of the description above, the flexible heat pipe and the method of manufacturing the flexible heat pipe definitely can achieve the expected using purposes and overcome the shortcomings of the prior art. In addition, the invention complies with the patent application requirements, and is thus 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.
