Patent Publication Number: US-2015060022-A1

Title: Vapor chamber and method of manufacturing the same

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a vapor chamber and a method of manufacturing the same and, more particularly, to a method for forming a support structure by engagement between two metal cover plates of a vapor chamber. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     In a vapor chamber, a working fluid is filled in a sealed chamber. The working fluid can be evaporated and condensed in cycles such that heat can be conducted by the vapor chamber uniformly and rapidly. In general, the vapor chamber essentially consists of metal casing, capillary structure and working fluid and is manufactured by an annealing process, a vacuumizing process, a soldering and sealing process, and so on. Furthermore, to prevent the vapor chamber from caving in or bulging out, the prior art disposes a plurality of support members in the metal casing and solders opposite ends of each support member onto upper and lower metal cover plates of the metal casing. Since the cost of soldering process is higher than other processes, the manufacture cost of the vapor chamber will increase accordingly. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides a vapor chamber and a method for forming a support structure by engagement between two metal cover plates of a vapor chamber, so as to solve the aforesaid problems. 
     According to an embodiment of the invention, a vapor chamber comprises a first metal cover plate and a second metal cover plate. The first metal cover plate has a plurality of first support portions, each of the first support portions has a head portion and a neck portion, the head portion is extended from the neck portion, and a width of the head portion is larger than a width of the neck portion. The second metal cover plate has a plurality of second support portions, each of the second support portions has a through hole and an engaging groove formed therein, the engaging groove is located within the through hole, a width of the engaging groove is larger than the width of the head portion, a width of the through hole is smaller than the width of the head portion, the width of the through hole is larger than the width of the neck portion, the head portion is disposed in the engaging portion, and the neck portion is disposed in the through hole, such that the first support portion and the second support portion are engaged with each other. 
     According to another embodiment of the invention, a method of manufacturing a vapor chamber comprises steps of providing a first metal cover plate and a second metal cover plate, wherein the first metal cover plate has a plurality of first support portions, each of the first support portions has a head portion and a neck portion, the head portion is extended from the neck portion, a width of the head portion is larger than a width of the neck portion, the second metal cover plate has a plurality of second support portions, each of the second support portions has a through hole and an engaging groove formed therein, the engaging groove is located within the through hole, a width of the engaging groove is larger than the width of the head portion, a width of the through hole is smaller than the width of the head portion, and the width of the through hole is larger than the width of the neck portion; and assembling the first metal cover plate and the second metal cover plate with each other by disposing the head portion in the engaging groove and disposing the neck portion in the through hole, such that the first support portion and the second support portion are engaged with each other. 
     As mentioned in the above, the invention forms the first support portions and the second support portions on the first metal cover plate and the second metal cover plate, respectively, and engages the first support portions and the second support portions with each other, so as to forma support structure between the first metal cover plate and the second metal cover plate. Since the invention forms the support structure by engagement between two metal cover plates of the vapor chamber, the process of the invention is simple and the efficiency of manufacturing the vapor chamber can be improved effectively so that the manufacture cost can be reduced. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a vapor chamber according to a first embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a vapor chamber before a punching process. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view illustrating the vapor chamber after the punching process. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating circular first support portion and circular second support portion. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view illustrating rectangular first support portion and rectangular second support portion. 
         FIG. 6  is another perspective view illustrating rectangular first support portion and rectangular second support portion. 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a vapor chamber before a punching process according to a second embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3 ,  FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a vapor chamber according to a first embodiment of the invention,  FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a vapor chamber  1  before a punching process, and  FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view illustrating the vapor chamber  1  after the punching process. 
     First of all, step S 10  is performed to provide a first metal cover plate  10  and a second metal cover plate  12 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the first metal cover plate  10  has a plurality of first support portions  100  and the second metal cover plate  12  has a plurality of second support portions  120 . In this embodiment, the first metal cover plate  10  and the second metal cover plate  12  may be made of, but not limited to, copper, aluminum or other metal with low hardness by an extrusion process, such that the first support portions  100  and the first metal cover plate  10  are formed integrally, and the second support portions  120  and the second metal cover plate  12  are formed integrally. Each of the first support portions  100  has a head portion  102  and a neck portion  104 , and the head portion  102  is extended from the neck portion  104 , wherein a width W1 of the head portion  102  is larger than a width W2 of the neck portion  104 . Furthermore, each of the second support portions  120  has a through hole  122  and an engaging groove  124  formed therein, and the engaging groove  124  is located within the through hole  122 , wherein a width W4 of the engaging groove  124  is larger than the width W1 of the head portion  102 , a width W3 of the through hole  122  is smaller than the width W1 of the head portion  102 , and the width W3 of the through hole  122  is larger than the width W2 of the neck portion  104 . 
     Afterward, step S 12  is performed to form a capillary structure  14  between the first metal cover plate  10  and the second metal cover plate  12 , wherein the capillary structure  14  may be a groove-type capillary structure, a porous capillary structure, a mesh capillary structure, a sintered capillary structure or a compound capillary structure according to practical applications. It should be noted that the aforesaid compound capillary structure may consist of at least two capillary structures selected from the groove-type capillary structure, the porous capillary structure, the mesh capillary structure and the sintered capillary structure. Moreover, the capillary structure  14  may comprise a sheet-shaped capillary structure  140  and a pillar-shaped capillary structure  142 . In this embodiment, the sheet-shaped capillary structure  140  may be formed on inner side walls of the first metal cover plate  10  and the second metal cover plate  12 , and the pillar-shaped capillary structure  142  may be sleeved on the second support portions  120  of the second metal cover plate  12 . 
     Step S 14  is then performed to assemble the first metal cover plate  10  and the second metal cover plate  12  with each other by disposing the head portion  102  of the first support portion  100  in the engaging groove  124  of the second support portion  120  and disposing the neck portion  104  of the first support portion  100  in the through hole  122  of the second support portion  120 , such that the first support portion  100  and the second support portion  120  are engaged with each other. While assembling the first metal cover plate  10  and the second metal cover plate  12  with each other, the method of the invention may make the head portion  102  of the first support portion  100  abut against the through hole  122  of the second support portion  120 . Then, the method of the invention may punch the first metal cover plate  10  and the second metal cover plate  12  in directions indicated by the arrows A 1  and A 2  of  FIG. 2  so as to enable the head portion  102  of the first support portion  100  to pass through the through hole  122  of the second support portion  120  and then to be engaged in the engaging groove  124  of the second support portion  120 . 
     Step S 16  is then performed to seal the periphery between the first metal cover plate  10  and the second metal cover plate  12  and fill a working fluid  16  (e.g. water) in between the first metal cover plate  10  and the second metal cover plate  12 . Finally, step S 18  is performed to vacuumize the chamber between the first metal cover plate  10  and the second metal cover plate  12  so as to complete the vapor chamber  1  shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the vapor chamber  1 , which is manufactured by the aforesaid steps, comprises the aforesaid first metal cover plate  10 , second metal cover plate  12 , capillary structure  14  and working fluid  16 . Since the invention forms the support structure by engagement between the first metal cover plate  10  and the second metal cover plate  12 , the process of the invention is simple and the efficiency of manufacturing the vapor chamber  1  can be improved effectively so that the manufacture cost can be reduced. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 to 6 ,  FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating circular first support portion  100  and circular second support portion  120 ,  FIG. 5  is a perspective view illustrating rectangular first support portion  100  and rectangular second support portion  120 , and  FIG. 6  is another perspective view illustrating rectangular first support portion  100  and rectangular second support portion  120 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the first support portion  100  and the second support portion may be circular. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the first support portion  100  and the second support portion may be rectangular, wherein the first support portion  100  and the second support portion  120  may be formed as a bar by an extrusion process. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the invention may mill the first support portion  100  and the second support portion  120  shown in  FIG. 5  into a plurality of short first support portions  100  and a plurality of short second support portions  120  according to practical applications. 
     When the first support portion  100  and the second support portion  120  are rectangular as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , in addition to the aforesaid punching process, the invention may also slide the first metal cover plate  10  and the second metal cover plate  12  with respect to each other so as to embed the neck portion  104  and the head portion  102  of the first support portion  100  into the through hole  122  and the engaging groove  124  of the second support portion  120 , respectively, such that the first support portion  100  and the second support portion  120  are engaged with each other. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7  along with  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a vapor chamber  1 ′ before a punching process according to a second embodiment of the invention. The difference between the vapor chamber  1 ′ and the aforesaid vapor chamber  1  is that the head portion  102  of the first support portion  100  of the vapor chamber  1 ′ has a first inclined edge  106 , and the through hole  122  of the second support portion  120  of the vapor chamber  1 ′ has a second inclined edge  126 , wherein an inclined direction of the first inclined edge  106  is identical to an inclined direction of the second inclined edge  126 . Accordingly, during the punching process, the first inclined edge  106  will push the second inclined edge  126  forward so as to enable the second support portion  120  to deform elastically. Consequently, the head portion  102  of the first support portion  100  can pass through the through hole  122  of the second support portion  120  and then be engaged in the engaging groove  124  of the second support portion  120 . Therefore, the punching process may be much smoother and the assembly yield rate may be enhanced due to the cooperation between the first inclined edge  106  and the second inclined edge  126 . In this embodiment, the first inclined edge  106  and the second inclined edge  126  are arc-shaped. However, in another embodiment, the first inclined edge  106  and the second inclined edge  126  may also be flat. It should be noted that the same elements in  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 2  are represented by the same numerals, so the repeated explanation will not be depicted herein again. 
     As mentioned in the above, the invention forms the first support portions and the second support portions on the first metal cover plate and the second metal cover plate, respectively, and engages the first support portions and the second support portions with each other, so as to form a support structure between the first metal cover plate and the second metal cover plate. Since the invention forms the support structure by engagement between two metal cover plates of the vapor chamber, the process of the invention is simple and the efficiency of manufacturing the vapor chamber can be improved effectively so that the manufacture cost can be reduced. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.