Patent Application
20060162160
The present invention relates in general to a gas removal method and an apparatus for a heat pipe, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus that heats up the heat pipe while disposing the tubular member of the heat pipe horizontally or in a slanted orientation with respect to the horizontal direction.
Having the features of high heat transmission capability, high speed of heat transmission, high thermal conductivity, light weight, active-device-less, simple structures and versatile applications, heat pipes can deliver massive amount of heat without causing power consumption. Therefore, heat pipes have been broadly applied in electronic products. Typically, the heat pipe includes a wick structure attached to an internal sidewall of the heat pipe. The wick structure includes a woven mesh having capillary function, which is advantageous to transportation of the working fluid.
Typically, the gas removal process of the heat pipes is performed by heating up the heat pipes disposed vertically, such as disclosed in Taiwan patent application No. 593961. As the heat pipes are normally configured into elongate tube, the surface level of the working liquid is always higher than the bottom of the tube when the heat pipes are disposed vertically. Thereby, gas columns are easily formed within the working fluid during the heat process, particularly near the bottom of the tube. The gas columns often spray or spill the working fluid out of the tube to result in insufficient working fluid within the heat pipes.
A gas removal method and a gas removal method for a heat pipe are provided. The heat pipe includes a tubular member disposed horizontally or slanted with respect to the vertical direction, and a heating process is performed on the heat pipe to removal non-condensable gas from the tubular member. Thereby, a larger surface area of the working fluid is obtained to reduce the amount of gas columns formed within the working fluid. Further, as the depth of the working fluid is reduced, even when gas columns are formed, the height of the gas columns is decreased to resulting less momentum for spraying the working fluid. Further, as the gas columns are not aligned with the venting opening of the heat pipe, the working fluid is prevented from spraying out of the heat pipe.
According to the present invention, the gas removal method for a heat pipe includes: a) filling a working fluid into a tubular member of the heat pipe, and remaining one end of the heat pipe open for venting a non-condensable gas contained in the tubular member; b) disposing the tubular member off a vertical direction, and heating the working fluid to a saturation temperature thereof; and c) continuing the heating process until some of the working fluid vaporized to carry the non-condensable gas out of the tubular member through the venting end.
Furthermore, the gas removal apparatus for removing non-condensable gas from a heat pipe includes a tube carrier for supporting the heat pipe off a vertical orientation, a heating element disposed around a sidewall of the heat pipe, and a sealing element aligned with an open end of the heat pipe.
The above objects and advantages of the present invention will be become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
Referring to
The heat pipe 1 includes a tubular member 10 in which a predetermined amount of working fluid 100 is filled. One end of the tubular member 10 remains open allowing gas to vent therefrom.
The tubular member 10 is supported by a tube support member 4. As shown in
The saturation temperature of the working fluid is maintained until the working fluid 100 reaches boiling and vaporizing state. The non-condensable gas (as shown by the arrows in
When the expelled working fluid vapor reaches a predetermined amount, or when the heating process is performed for a predetermined period of time, the venting end 101 is sealed. For example, the venting end 101 can be sealed by supersonic welding to provide an improved sealing effect.
As discussed above, the structure of the gas removal apparatus includes a tube carrier 4 allowing the tubular member 10 disposed horizontally or slanted with respect to the horizontal direction. The tubular member 10 is surrounded by a heating element 2 for uniformly heating the working fluid 100 within the tubular member 10. One end of the tubular member 10 remains open to serve as a venting end 101 from which the non-condensable gas is expelled. Further, as shown in
The heat element 2 includes a heating device 20 that can control the amount of thermal energy and the temperature applied to the working fluid 100 via the tubular member 10. The heating element 2 extends along the elongate direction of the tubular member 10 to cover sufficient area of thereof.
As shown in
By horizontally disposing or slanting the tubular member 10, the surface level of the working fluid 100 is very close to the internal wall of the tubular member 10, such that formation of the gas columns is effectively suppressed. Even when some gas columns occur, the working fluid 100 will not be sprayed out of the tubular member 10 by the gas columns.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art the various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
