Patent Publication Number: US-2005121175-A1

Title: Structurally sealed heat sink

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates generally to heat-dissipating apparatuses, and more particularly to a structurally sealed heat sink that is securely sealed to keep solder from leaking inside and ruining a capillary wick while soldering.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      A conventional heat sink is generally composed of a top shell member and a bottom shell member mounted with each other, a chamber being formed between the top and bottom shell members, and a capillary wick mounted inside the chamber. As shown in  FIG. 11 , the aforementioned heat sink  90  has an opening  94  sealed by inserting a heat pipe  91  into the opening  94  and placing solder  96  around the opening  94  and then melting the solder  96 , as shown in  FIG. 12 , the solder  96  being melted to flow to a gap formed between the heat pipe  91  and the opening  94  and is then solidified.  
      However, the aforementioned melted solder  96  before solidification will flow into the gap between the opening  94  and the heat pipe  91  and parts of the solder  96  may be absorbed into the chamber to further sink into the capillary wick to further ruin the capillary wick, such that the capillary wick will malfunction. In addition, while parts of the solder  96  are absorbed into the chamber, the solder  96  around the soldering point will be sufficient to securely seal the gap to further incur defective heat sink.  
      Another conventional heat sink  100 , as shown in  FIG. 13 , includes a metallic block  101  having an opening  102  formed at its lateral side, a sealing member  103  mounted to the opening  102 , and solder  105  disposed between the sealing member  103  and the opening  102 . When the solder  105  is melted, parts of the solder  105  may sink into the metallic block  101  to case the same problem. Therefore, an improvement to prevent the solder from sinking inside is required.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a structurally sealed heat sink that prevents melted solder from sinking into a chamber to be effectively sealed and further prevents a capillary wick inside the chamber from malfunction caused by that the melted solder sinks into to ruin the capillary wick.  
      The foregoing objective of the present invention is attained by the structurally sealed heat sink that is composed of a main body, at least one sealing member, and at least one solder unit. The main body includes a chamber inside, a capillary layer adhered to a peripheral surface of said chamber, and at least one opening having a predetermined depth to define a peripheral wall of a predetermined height. The sealing member that is identical to the opening in number includes an intersection intersected with the opening for the predetermined depth, a solder ditch formed between the sealing member and the main body, and an annular groove formed between the peripheral wall and an outer periphery of the sealing member. The solder unit that is identical to the opening in number is disposed inside the solder ditch. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a sectional view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention after a soldering process;  
       FIG. 2  is a partially enlarged view of  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  similar to  FIG. 2  shows the present invention before the soldering process;  
       FIG. 4  is a sectional view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention before the soldering process;  
       FIG. 5  similar to  FIG. 4  shows the present invention after the soldering process;  
       FIG. 6  is a sectional view of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention before the soldering process;  
       FIG. 7A  is a partially enlarged view of  FIG. 6 , showing the present invention before the soldering process;  
       FIG. 7B  is a partially enlarged view of  FIG. 6 , showing the present invention after the soldering process;  
       FIG. 8  is a sectional view of a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention before the soldering process;  
       FIG. 9  similar to  FIG. 8  shows the present invention after the soldering process;  
       FIG. 10  is a sectional view of a fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention after the soldering process;  
       FIG. 11  is a sectional view of the prior art before the soldering process;  
       FIG. 12  is a sectional view of the prior art after the soldering process; and  
       FIG. 13  is a sectional view of another prior art after the soldering process. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1-2 , a structurally sealed heat sink  10  constructed according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is composed of a main body  11 , a plurality of sealing member  21 , and a plurality of solder units  31 .  
      The main body  11  is embodied as a metallic block, including a plurality of tunnels extending from a lateral side thereof towards inside to define a plurality of chambers  12 , a plurality of capillary layers  14  respectively disposed around peripheral surfaces of the chambers  12 , a plurality of openings  15  having predetermined depth, and a plurality of solder ditches  17  respectively formed at free ends of the openings  15 .  
      The sealing members  21  are the same with the openings  15  in number and are embodied as heat pipes, each of which includes an intersection  22  of a predetermined length at a free end thereof for plugging into the opening  15  for the predetermined depth, a predetermined length located outside the main body  11 , and an annular groove  24  recessed around an outer periphery of the intersection  22 .  
      The solder units  31  are the same with the openings  15  in number, respectively disposed in the solder ditches  17 .  
      Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the present invention improves the prior art by that the solder units  31  will not be absorbed into the chambers  12  by capillary action and not further vitiate the capillary layers  14 , thereby causing better sealing effect than the prior art. Each of the solder units  31  is melted and is then driven by the capillary action to flow into a gap formed between each sealing member  21  and each opening  15  to ultimately converge in each annular groove  24  not to further entering each chamber  12 . Therefore, the solder units  31  not only remain in predetermined positions to seal the gaps, but also keep from entering the chambers and further vitiating the capillary layers  14 .  
      Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the heat sink  40  constructed according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is different from the first preferred embodiment by that each of the solder ditches  42  is recessed around an outer periphery of the sealing member  43  for receiving the solder unit  49 , and each of the annular grooves  41  is recessed around the opening  47  of the main body  41  for preventing the solder units  49  from entering the chambers and further vitiating the capillary layers.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 6, 7A , and  7 B, the heat sink  50  constructed according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention is different from the aforementioned preferred embodiment by that each of the sealing members  51  is a stopping member and includes an intersection  52  plugged into each of the openings  56  for the predetermined depth, each of the solder ditches  58  is formed at a free end of the opening  56 , and each of the annular grooves  59  is formed at a peripheral edge of the intersection  52 .  
      Referring to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the heat sink  60  constructed according to a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention is composed of a main body  61 , two sealing members (a first sealing member  71  and a second sealing member  76 ), and a plurality of solder units  81 .  
      The main body  61  is embodied as a heat pipe, including a chamber  62  inside, a capillary layer  64  disposed at a peripheral surface of the chamber  62 , two openings (a first opening  65  and a second opening  66 ) extending for a predetermined depth, and a solder ditch  67  is formed around a free end of the opening  65 .  
      The first sealing member  71  is a stopping barrel member, including an intersection  72  plugged into the first opening  65  for the predetermined depth and an annular groove  74  recessed around an outer periphery of the intersection  72 . The second sealing member  76  is a sleeve, including an intersection  761  fitted into the second opening  66 , a solder ditch  77  recessed around an end thereof, and an annular groove  78  recessed around an inner periphery thereof.  
      The solder units  81  are the same with the openings  65  and  66  in number and are respectively disposed in the solder ditches  67  and  77 .  
      The two annular grooves  74  and  78  can prevent the melted solder units from entering the chamber  62  by the capillary action. In addition, the annular grooves  74  and  78  can alternatively be formed on the main body  61  to have the aforementioned function.  
      Referring to  FIG. 10 , the heat sink  82  constructed according to a fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention is different from the first preferred embodiment by that a peripheral wall around each of the openings  84  of the main body  83  extends upwards from the main body  83  for a predetermined length, and the intersection  86  of each of the sealing members  85  is plugged into the opening  84  and extends downwards and then outwards along a diametric direction of the opening  84 . The intersection  86  is larger than the peripheral wall in curvature, such that an annular groove  88  is formed between the intersection  86  and the peripheral wall of the opening  84  for eliminating the aforementioned capillary action.  
      In conclusion, the heat sink of the present invention can effectively prevent the solder from sinking into the chamber, thereby not only securing the solder in position from absorbed by the capillary action, but also further securing the capillary layer from vitiation caused by the melted solder to improve the prior art.