Patent Application
20130168054
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat pipe and a method for manufacturing the same, and in particular to a heat pipe and a method for manufacturing the same, which is capable of increasing the yield of production and preventing the wick structure inside the heat pipe from suffering damage during its production.
2. Description of Prior Art
With the development of science and technology, heat cooling and heat dissipation are two factors having a great influence on the advancement of the electronic industry. Since current electronic products are required to have a high performance, increased degree of integration and multiple functions, it is an important issue for the electronic industry to improve the heat-dissipating efficiency and the heat-conducting efficiency.
Heat sink is used to dissipate the heat generated by electronic elements or systems to the atmosphere. When the thermal resistance is small, the heat sink demonstrates a high heat-dissipating efficiency. In general, the thermal resistance includes a spreading resistance inside the heat sink and a convention resistance between the surface of the heat sink and the atmospheric environment. In practice, materials having a high heat conductivity such as copper or aluminum are used to manufacture the heat sink to reduce the spreading resistance. However, the convection resistance restricts the performance of the heat sink, which cannot conform to the requirements for heat dissipation of the new-generation electronic elements.
Since the market aims to seek a heat-dissipating mechanism with a greater efficiency, heat pipes and vapor chambers having high heat-conducting efficiency are developed to cooperate with the heat sink, thereby solving the heat-dissipation problem at the current stage.
In the existing heat pipe, the interior of the heat pipe is filled with metal powder and sintered on the inner wall of the heat pipe to form a wick structure. Alternatively, metallic meshes are disposed in the interior of the heat pipe to serve as a wick structure. Alternatively, the inner walls of the heat pipe are formed with annular axially-extending grooves. Then, the interior of the heat pipe is degassed to become vacuum, filled with a working fluid, and sealed. However, when the finished heat pipe is subjected to a pressure during its production, the wick structure (sintered metal powder, metallic meshes, or annular grooves) inside the heat pipe are pressed to suffer damage, so that the wick structure may fall off the inner walls of the heat pipe or generate a deformation. As a result, the heat-conducting efficiency of the heat pipe is reduced greatly and even break down. Therefore, it is an important issue to prevent the wick structure of the heat pipe from suffering damage due to the pressure caused by its production.
In order to solve the above problems in prior art, an objective of the present invention is to provide a heat pipe capable of increasing the yield of production.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a heat pipe with increased yield of production.
In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a heat pipe, which includes: a main body having a chamber, the chamber having at least one wick region and at least one flowing channel region. The wick region is positioned adjacent to the flowing channel region and both of them axially extend in the chamber. The wick region is provided on a inner wall of the chamber. An area occupied by the wick region is smaller than a half of the circumference of the inner wall of the chamber.
The present invention further provides a method for manufacturing a heat pipe, which includes steps of: providing a hollow pipe body; forming a plurality of grooves on an inner wall of the hollow pipe body; pressing the hollow pipe body flat; degassing the hollow pipe body, filling a working fluid in the hollow pipe body, and sealing the hollow pipe body.
By means of the heat pipe and the method of the present invention, the yield of production of the heat pipe is increased, and the wick structure inside the heat pipe can be prevented from suffering damage during the production of the heat pipe.
Therefore, the present invention has the following advantages:
(I) increase in yield of production; and
(II) simple in structure.
The above objectives and structural and functional features of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments thereof shown in the accompanying drawings
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The main body 1 has a chamber 11. The chamber 11 has at least one wick region 111 and at least one flowing channel region 112. The wick region 111 is positioned adjacent to the flowing channel region 112 and both of them axially extend in the chamber 11. The wick region 111 is positioned on an inner wall of the chamber 11. An area occupied by the wick region 111 is smaller than a half of the circumference of the inner wall of the chamber 11. The wick region 111 has a plurality of grooves 1111.
The chamber 11 further has a first side 113, a second side 114, a third side 115, and a fourth side 116. The first side 113 and the second side 14 correspond to each other. The third side 115 and the fourth side 116 correspond to each other. The first, second sides 113, 114 are connected to the third, fourth sides 115, 116. The wick region 111 is provided on the first side 113. The flowing channel region 112 has a first flowing channel 1121 and a second flowing channel 1122. The first flowing channel 1121 is provided at an intersecting portion between the third side 115 and the wick region 111. The second flowing channel 1122 is provided at an intersecting portion between the fourth side 116 and the wick region 111.
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The first wick member 1112 and the second wick member 1113 are formed with a plurality of grooves 1111.
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The wick region 111 has a plurality of grooves 111. The supporting structure 2 is made of any one of sintered powder, meshes and fibers.
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In a step S1, a hollow pipe body (that is, the main body 1) is provided.
The hollow pipe body is made of materials of having a good heat conductivity, such as copper, aluminum and stainless steel. In the present embodiment, the heat pipe body is made of copper, but it is not limited thereto.
In a step S2, an inner wall of the hollow pipe body is formed with a plurality of grooves.
An inner wall of the hollow pipe body (that is, the main body 1) is formed with a plurality of grooves by a mechanical process. The mechanical process may be any one of a grinding process, a milling process, a shaving process, and a draw-forming process. In the present embodiment, an inner wall of the hollow pipe body is first processed by the grinding process. Then, the inner wall of the hollow pipe body is formed with a plurality of grooves by a draw-forming process. The thickness of the portion of the main body 1 on which the grooves 1111 are provided is larger than the thickness of the portion in which the grooves 1111 are not provided.
In a step S3, the hollow pipe body (that is, the main body 1) is pressed flat.
The hollow pipe body is pressed flat by a punching process or a rolling process. In the present embodiment, a hydraulic punching process is used as an example, but it is not limited thereto. The hollow pipe body is pressed flat by exerting a pressure gradually to the hollow pipe body.
In a step S4, the hollow pipe body is degassed, filled with a working fluid, and sealed.
After the hollow pipe body (that is, the main body 1) is pressed flat, the hollow pipe body is degassed, filled with a working fluid, and sealed.
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In a step S1, a hollow pipe body (that is, the main body 1) is provided.
The hollow pipe body is made of materials of having a good heat conductivity, such as copper, aluminum and stainless steel. In the present embodiment, the heat pipe body is made of copper, but it is not limited thereto.
In a step S2, an inner wall of the hollow pipe body is formed with a plurality of grooves.
The inner wall of the hollow pipe body (that is, the main body 1) is formed with a plurality of grooves 1111 by a mechanical process. The mechanical process may be any one of a grinding process, a milling process, a shaving process, and a draw-forming process. The thickness of the portion of the main body 1 on which the grooves 1111 are provided is larger than the thickness of the portion on which the grooves 1111 are not provided.
In a step S4, the hollow pipe body is degassed, filled with a working fluid, and sealed.
After the hollow pipe body (that is, the main body 1) is pressed flat, the hollow pipe body is degassed, filled with a working fluid, and sealed.
In a step S3, the hollow pipe body (that is, the main body 1) is pressed flat.
The hollow pipe body is pressed flat by a punching process or a rolling process. In the present embodiment, a hydraulic punching process is used as an example, but it is not limited thereto. The hollow pipe body is pressed flat by exerting a pressure gradually to the hollow pipe body.
