Fixing assembly for heat-absorbing surfaces of juxtaposed heat pipes and heat sink having the same

A heat sink includes a fixing base, a plurality of heat pipes and a fixing body. The bottom surface of the fixing base is provided with a connecting plane and extends upwards to form a fixing arm. The fixing arm is provided with a plurality of first grooves. The fixing body is provided with a plurality of second grooves and combined with the fixing arm. The second grooves correspond to the first grooves for cooperatively receiving and clamping the upper edges of the evaporating sections of the heat pipes. The evaporating section of the heat pipe is provided with a contacting plane and an adhering plane. The contacting planes of the evaporating sections are adjacent to each other and the evaporating sections are fixed to the connecting plane of the fixing base. With this arrangement, the juxtaposed heat pipes can be assembled with the fixing base. Further, the condensing section of the heat pipe penetrates a plurality of fins to form the heat sink.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a heat-conducting structure, and in particular to a combination of heat pipes and a heat-conducting base.

2. Description of Prior Art

Taiwan Patent Publication No. M349179 discloses a conventional heat sink having juxtaposed heat pipes, which includes a heat-dissipating body, a heat-conducting base and a plurality of heat pipes. The heat-dissipating body is formed by stacking a plurality of heat-dissipating pieces. The heat pipe has a heat-absorbing end and a condensing end. Each of the heat-dissipating pieces is provided with through-holes. The condensing section of the heat pipe penetrates the thorough-hole of each heat-dissipating piece. The heat-conducting block is provided with a plurality of troughs in which the heat-absorbing ends of the heat pipes can be juxtaposed.

Before the heat-absorbing end of the heat pipe is disposed in the trough, a metallic material of a low melting point has to be applied to the interior of the trough. Then, the heat-absorbing end of the heat pipe is disposed in the trough. Finally, the heat pipe is put into a soldering furnace, so that the applied metallic material can be heated and melted to secure the heat pipe to the heat-conducting block. In this way, a heat sink having heat pipes can be formed. However, the surface of the heat pipe may become black due to the heating of the soldering furnace. As a result, another reduction-and-oxidization (abbreviated as “redox” hereinafter) process has to be executed, thereby making the surface of the heat pipe to return its original color.

The process of manufacturing the above-mentioned heat sink involves the production cost and material cost resulted from the steps of applying and melting heat-conducting medium. Furthermore, during the combination of the heat pipe with the heat-conducting block, the surface of the heat pipe becomes block due to the heating and melting steps of the soldering furnace. As a result, it is necessary to execute another redox process to make the surface of the heat pipe to return its original color, which causes additional cost.

Thus, in order to eliminate the heating and melting steps used in the conventional process, a pressing step is proposed, whereby the juxtaposed heat pipes can be compressed in a trough of the heat-conducting block. However, the step of pressing the heat pipe into the heat-conducting block is more complicated. Also, the surface of the heat pipe after pressing may suffer damage easily, which affects the yield and lifetime of the heat sink. Furthermore, when the heat sink is transported to another place, the heat pipes inserted into the heat-conducting block may be displaced easily due to external forces.

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present Inventor proposes a reasonable and novel structure based on his deliberate research and expert experiences.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is to provide a fixing assembly for heat-absorbing surfaces of juxtaposed heat pipes, whereby the step of combining the heat pipes with a fixing base can be simplified, and thus the production cost and time can be reduced.

The present invention is to provide a fixing assembly for heat-absorbing surfaces of juxtaposed heat pipes, whereby the integrity of the external appearance of the evaporating section of the heat pipe can be maintained, and the yield and lifetime of the heat pipe can be increased.

The present invention provides a fixing assembly for heat-absorbing surfaces of juxtaposed heat pipes, whereby the displacement of the heat pipe caused by external forces can be prevented.

The present invention provides a fixing assembly for heat-absorbing surfaces of juxtaposed heat pipes, which includes a fixing base, a plurality of heat pipes and a fixing body. A bottom surface of the fixing base is provided with a connecting plane. The fixing base extends upwards to form a fixing arm. The fixing arm is provided with a plurality of first grooves. The heat pipe has an evaporating section provided with a contacting plane and an adhering plane. The evaporating sections of the heat pipes are adjacent to each other with their respective contacting planes, and the evaporating sections are fixed to the connecting plane of the fixing base. An upper edge of the evaporating section of the heat pipe is received in the first groove of the fixing arm. The fixing body is combined with the fixing arm. The fixing body is provided with a plurality of second grooves. The second grooves correspond to the first grooves for cooperatively receiving and clamping the upper edges of the evaporating sections of the heat pipes.

The present invention provides a heat sink having a fixing assembly for heat-absorbing surfaces of juxtaposed heat pipes, which includes a fixing base, a plurality of heat pipes, a plurality of fins and a fixing body. A bottom surface of the fixing base is provided with a connecting plane. The fixing base extends upwards to form a fixing arm. The fixing arm is provided with a plurality of first grooves. The heat pipe has an evaporating section and a condensing section. The evaporating section is provided with a contacting plane and an adhering plane. The evaporating sections of the heat pipes are adjacent to each other with their respective contacting planes, and the evaporating sections are fixed to the connecting plane of the fixing base. An upper edge of the evaporating section of the heat pipe is received in the first groove of the fixing arm. The condensing section of the heat pipe penetrates the parallel fins. The fixing body is combined with the fixing arm. The fixing body is provided with a plurality of second grooves. The second grooves correspond to the first grooves for cooperatively receiving and clamping the upper edges of the evaporating sections of the heat pipes.

In comparison with prior art, according to the present invention, the evaporating section of the heat pipe is formed with a contacting plane and an adhering plane, and the evaporating sections of the heat pipes are adjacent to each other and juxtaposed in the fixing base. A fixing arm extends from the fixing base for receiving the upper edge of the evaporating section of the heat pipe. Further, the fixing body is connected to the fixing arm by screw elements, thereby positioning the heat pipe. In this way, the conventional step of fixing the heat pipes by means of melting or pressing can be replaced. Thus, the combining step of the heat pipes with the fixing base can be simplified, and the yield and lifetime of the heat sink having such heat pipes can be increased.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The characteristics and technical contents of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are illustrative only but not used to limit the present invention.

Please refer toFIGS. 1 to 4.FIG. 1is a schematic view showing the external appearance of the present invention.FIG. 2is an exploded perspective view of the present invention.FIGS. 3and4are two assembled cross-sectional views of the present invention. The present invention provides a fixing assembly for heat-absorbing surfaces of juxtaposed heat pipes, which includes a fixing base10, a plurality of heat pipes20and a fixing body30.

The bottom surface11of the fixing base10is provided with a connecting plane110. Both sides of the top surface12of the fixing base10extend upwards to form a fixing arm13respectively. That is, the fixing base10and the two fixing arms13are integrally formed into a U shape. The distal end of the fixing arm13extends outwards and vertically to form a protruding plate131. The protruding plate131is provided with a plurality of first grooves132.

Each of the heat pipes20is formed into a U shape and has an evaporating section21and two condensing sections22. The evaporating section21is provided with a contacting plane211and an adhering plane212. In the present embodiment, the cross section of the evaporating section21of the heat pipe20is rectangular. The evaporating sections21of the heat pipes20are juxtaposed with their contacting planes211adjacent to each other, and the evaporating sections21are fixed to the connecting plane110of the fixing base10. The adhering planes212of the evaporating sections21are in flush with each other, so that a heat-generating electronic element can be adhered thereto. Further, heat-conducting paste or heat-conducting glue can be applied between the evaporating sections21of the heat pipes20, thereby increasing the heat-conducting effect of the adjacent heat pipes20.

After the evaporating section21of the heat pipe20is adhered to the bottom surface of the fixing base10, the upper edge of the evaporating section21of the heat pipe20is received in the first groove132of the fixing arm13. Then, the fixing arm13is combined with the fixing body30. The fixing body30is provided with a plurality of second grooves31. The second grooves31correspond to the first grooves132of the fixing arm13for cooperatively receiving and clamping the upper edges of the evaporating sections21of the heat pipes20. The protruding plate131of the distal end of the fixing arm13is provided with a plurality of connecting holes133. The fixing body30is provided with a plurality of screw holes corresponding to the connecting holes133. A plurality of screw elements32penetrates the connecting holes133and the screw holes respectively, thereby connecting the fixing body30to the protruding plate131of the fixing arm13.

After the fixing body30and the fixing arm13are connected to each other by means of the screw elements32, the upper edges of the evaporating sections21of the heat pipes20are clamped and fixed to the fixing arm13. Thus, the evaporating sections21of the heat pipes20can be positioned on the connecting plane110of the fixing base10, thereby keeping the thermal contact between the evaporating sections21of the heat pipes20and the fixing base10.

Please refer toFIG. 5. After the heat pipes20are assembled with the fixing base10and the fixing body30, the condensing sections22of the heat pipes20are combined with a plurality of fins41to form a heat sink1. Each of the fins41is provided with a plurality of through-holes410. With the through-holes410, the condensing sections22of the heat pipes20can penetrate the respective fins41to form a set40of heat-dissipating fins, thereby increasing the heat-dissipating area of the heat sink1to dissipate the heat rapidly.

Please refer toFIG. 6, which shows a second embodiment of the fixing assembly for heat-absorbing surfaces of juxtaposed heat pipes according to the present invention. The second embodiment is substantially identical to the first embodiment, but the only difference there between lies in that: the bottom surface11of the fixing base10is provided with an accommodating trough100. The top surface of the accommodating trough100is the connecting plane110. The evaporating sections21of the heat pipes20are juxtaposed and received in the accommodating trough100. The contacting planes211of the evaporating sections21are adjacent to each other. The adhering planes212used to be adhered to the heat-generating element may protrude from the accommodating trough100or be in flush with the accommodating trough100.