Patent Application
20110056658
The present invention relates to heat dissipation devices, and particularly to a heat pipe assembly including a number of heat pipes and a fixing structure which enables evaporating sections of the heat pipes being parallel to and adjoining with each other, and a heat dissipation device including such a heat pipe assembly.
With the development of computer technologies, electronic elements run at high speed and therefore generate large amounts of heat. In order to keep the electronic elements operating at a normal temperature, the heat must be quickly and efficiently removed from the electronic elements by a heat dissipation device. Conventionally, the heat dissipation device includes a heat pipe which uses a gas-liquid phase transition technology to dissipate the heat generated by the electronic elements.
However, in order to increase the heat dissipation efficiency of the heat dissipation device, a number of heat pipes are included in the heat dissipation device. Currently, the heat pipes are secured to a base seat or a heat conducting seat of the heat dissipation device by welding method. Also, evaporation sections of the heat pipes may be embedded in the grooves defined on the base seat or the heat conducting seat of the heat dissipation device and secured to the base seat or the heat conducting seat. However, the welding process is not easy to perform and the welded heat dissipation device has an unattractive appearance. When the evaporation sections of the heat pipes are embedded in the groves of the base seat or a heat conducting seat, the evaporation sections must be spaced from each other and can not be tightly adjoin with each other, whereby the evaporating sections can not be gathered to thermally contact with a surface of a heat generating electronic element. As a result, outermost two of the heat pipes can not be sufficiently used, thereby the heat dissipation device having low heat dissipation efficiency.
Therefore, what is needed is a heat pipe assembly and a heat dissipation device including such a heat pipe assembly, thereby overcoming the above-described problems.
The present invention provides a heat pipe assembly and a heat dissipation device including the heat pipe assembly. The heat pipe assembly includes a number of evaporation sections and a molded fixing seat. By the fixing structure, the evaporating sections of the heat pipe assembly are parallel to and adjoin with each other, whereby heat absorb surfaces of the evaporating sections are coplanar and adjoin with each other to thereby form a large-area heat absorbing surface to thermally contact with a heat generating electronic element.
The heat pipe assembly includes a number of heat pipes and a fixing seat engaging with evaporating sections of the heat pipes. Each of the heat pipes includes an evaporating section and at least a condensing section. A bottom of the evaporation section of each of the heat pipes is flat and has a flat heat absorbing surface. The evaporating sections of the heat pipes are parallel to and adjoin with each other, whereby the heat absorbing surfaces thereof are coplanar and adjoin with each other. A top surface of the evaporating section of each of the heat pipes has a top edge. The fixing seat has an integral structure and combines with the top edges of the evaporating sections of the heat pipes, thereby facilitating the heat absorbing surfaces of the evaporating sections of the heat pipes being coplanar and adjoining with each other.
A heat dissipation device including above-described heat pipe assembly is provided. The heat dissipation device further comprises a number of heat conducting fins disposed on the condensing sections of the heat pipes.
These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which:
Each of the heat pipes 1 is heat conducting element and includes a vacuous tubular body, a capillary structure disposed inside the tubular body and a working fluid contained in the tubular body and soaking the capillary structure. The tubular body of each of the heat pipes 1 is an integral structure and has a certain length. The heat pipes 1 each include an evaporating section 10 and at least a condensing section 11 connected with the evaporating section 10. In the present embodiment, each of the heat pipes 1 has a U-shaped configuration, a bottom portion of the U-shaped configuration is the evaporating section 10, and two lateral portions of the U-shaped configuration are two condensing sections 11. A curved section 12 is connected between the evaporation section 10 and each condensing section 11. Thus, the evaporation section 10, two condensing sections 11 and two curved sections 12 cooperatively form each of the heat pipes 1. In addition, a bottom of the evaporation section 10 of each of the heat pipes 1 is flat and has a flat heat absorbing surface 100. Evaporating sections 10 of the heat pipes 1 are parallel to and adjoin with each other, whereby the heat absorb surfaces 100 of the evaporating sections 10 are coplanar and adjoin with each other to thereby form a large-area heat absorbing surface.
The fixing seat 2 has an integral configuration and is made of plastic materials, such as, PC, PP, PE, PU or the like. The fixing seat 2 is made by integral molding process, e.g., injection molding, gel-casting molding, perfusion molding, die casting, dipping and so on. The fixing seat 2 engages with the evaporating sections 10 of the heat pipes 1. Referring to
In order to ensure the evaporation sections 10 of the heat pipes 1 being parallel to and adjoining with each other, a cross section of each of the evaporation sections 10 is square or rectangular, as shown in
Referring to
Referring to
Therefore, the heat pipes 1 and the fixing seat 2 cooperatively constitute the heat pipe assembly; the heat pipe assembly and the heat conducting fins 3 are construct the heat sink.
The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein, including configurations ways of the recessed portions and materials and/or designs of the attaching structures. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments.
