Patent Publication Number: US-2013228310-A1

Title: Heat-dissipating base structure and method for manufacturing same

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a heat-dissipating base structure and a method for manufacturing the same, and in particular to a heat-dissipating base structure which has a reduced weight and cost and a method for manufacturing the same. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     With the advancement of technology in the electronic industry, the volume of each chip (such as a central processor) is decreased. However, in order to make each chip to process more data, several times of electronic elements can be mounted in a chip of the same volume than before. When there are more electronic elements in a chip, the amount of heat generated during the operation of the electronic elements gets greater. For example, the heat generated during the operation of a central processor may burn down the whole central processor. Thus, it is an important issue to provide a heat-dissipating device for various chips. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which shows a conventional heat-dissipating base structure  1  including a base  10  and a heat pipe  11  combined with the base  10 . The base  10  is often made of metallic materials. Thus, the whole heat-dissipating base structure  1  has a larger weight. On the other hand, the heat-dissipating base structure  1  made of metallic material is more expensive than one made of other materials, which inevitably raises the total cost of the heat-dissipating base structure  1 . 
     According to the above, the conventional heat-dissipating base structure has the following problems: (i) larger weight, and (ii) higher cost. 
     Therefore, the present Inventor and those skilled in this industry aim to solve the problems in prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In order to solve the above problems, an objective of the present invention is to provide a heat-dissipating base structure made of polymeric materials to reduce its weight. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a heat-dissipating base structure which is made of polymeric materials to reduce its weight. 
     In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention is to provide a heat-dissipating base structure, including a base and at least one heat pipe. The base is made of polymeric materials. One side of the base is provided with at least one trough. The trough has an open side and a closed side. The heat pipe is fixed in the trough. One side of the heat pipe is in flush with the open side. 
     The present invention further provides a method for manufacturing a heat-dissipating base structure, including steps of: 
     providing a base and at least one heat pipe, the base having at least one trough and made of polymeric materials; and 
     disposing the heat pipe in the trough, and applying a force to make the heat pipe to be in flush with one side surface of the base. 
     According to the heat-dissipating base of the present invention and the method for manufacturing the same, the base is made of polymeric materials, so that the weight and the production cost of the heat-dissipating base structure can be reduced greatly. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a conventional heat-dissipating base structure; 
         FIG. 2A  is an exploded perspective view showing the heat-dissipating base structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2B  is an assembled perspective view showing the heat-dissipating base structure according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3A  is an exploded perspective view showing the heat-dissipating base structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3B  is an assembled perspective view showing the heat-dissipating base structure according to the second embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart showing a method for manufacturing a heat-dissipating base structure according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The above objectives and structural and functional features of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings 
       FIGS. 2A and 2B  are an exploded perspective view and an assembled perspective view showing the heat-dissipating base structure according to the first embodiment of the present invention respectively. As shown in the figures, the present invention provides a heat-dissipating base structure  2  including a base  20  and at least one heat pipe  21 . The base  20  is made of polymeric materials. The polymeric materials may be any one of plastics, rubber and plastic compounds. 
     One side of the base  20  is provided with at least one trough  201 . The trough  201  has an open side  2011  and a closed side  2012 . The heat pipe  21  is fixedly provided in the trough  201  in such a manner that one side of the heat pipe  21  is in flush with the open side  2011 . 
     The heat pipe  21  and the base are in a tight fit by a machining process. The heat pipe  21  is in flush with the open side  2011 . The machining process may be achieved by a punching process. 
     With the combination of the base  20  made of polymeric materials and the heat pipe  21 , the weight of the heat-dissipating base structure  2  can be decreased greatly. Further, the problem that the conventional heat-dissipating base structure made of metallic materials has a larger cost can be solved. 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  are an exploded perspective view and an assembled perspective view showing the heat-dissipating base structure according to the second embodiment of the present invention respectively. The relationship among the elements of the heat-dissipating base structure of the second embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, so that the redundant description is omitted for simplicity. The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment lies in that: the heat pipe  21  further has a first side  211  and a second side  212 . When the heat pipe  21  is combined with the base  20 , the first side  211  of the heat pipe  21  is in flush with the open side  2011 . The second side  212  is bonded to the closed side  2012  to thereby combine the heat pipe  21  with the base  20 . The bonding is achieved by adhesive. 
     Since the heat pipe  21  is bonded to the base  20  made of polymeric materials, the weight of the heat-dissipating base structure  2  can be decreased greatly, and the cost thereof can be also reduced. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 4  together with  FIG. 2A .  FIG. 4  is a flow chart showing the method for manufacturing a heat-dissipating base structure according to the first embodiment of the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the method of the present invention includes the following steps. 
     Step S 1 : providing a base and at least one heat pipe, the base having at least one trough and made of polymeric materials. 
     In the step S 1 , a base  20  and at least heat pipe  21  are provided. The base  20  is provided with at least one trough  201  and made of polymeric materials. The polymeric materials may be any one of plastics, rubbers or plastic compounds. 
     Step S 2 : disposing the heat pipe in the trough, and applying a force to make the heat pipe to be in flush with one side surface of the base. 
     In the step S 2 , the heat pipe  21  is disposed in the trough  201 . A force is applied to the heat pipe  21 , so that the heat pipe  21  is in flush with one side surface of the base  20 . The heat pipe  21  and the base  20  are in a tight fit by a machining process such as a punching process. 
     By the method of present invention, the base  20  made of polymeric materials can be tightly combined with the heat pipe  21 . Not only the weight of the heat-dissipating structure  2  can be decreased greatly, but also the cost of heat-dissipating base structure  2  of the present invention is cheaper than that of the conventional heat-dissipating base structure made of metallic materials. 
     Please continue to see  FIG. 4  together with  FIG. 3A . The trough  201  further has an open side  2011  and a closed side  2012 . The heat pipe  21  further has a first side  211  and a second side  212 . The first side  211  is in flush with the open side  2011 . The second side  212  is bonded to the closed side  2012 . The bonding may be achieved by adhesive. Since the heat pipe  21  is bonded to the base  20 , the weight of the heat-dissipating base structure  2  is decreased greatly. Further, the problem that the cost of the conventional heat-dissipating base structure made of metallic materials is larger can be solved. 
     According to the above, the present invention has the following advantageous features: (I) smaller weight; and (II) lower cost. 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to the foregoing preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. 
     Various equivalent variations and modifications can still occur to those skilled in this art in view of the teachings of the present invention. Thus, all such variations and equivalent modifications are also embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.