Patent Publication Number: US-2018031329-A1

Title: Heat dissipating device

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The technical field generally relates to heat dissipating devices, more particularly to a heat dissipating device applied to an electronic product such as a computer or a flat PC. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     As the computing speed of computer processors such as central processing units (CPU) increases constantly, the heat generated by the processors also becomes increasingly higher, and the conventional heat dissipating device composed of a heat sink and a fan no longer meets the using requirement of the present processors, and thus related manufacturers combine a heat pipe with the aforementioned heat sink to overcome the heat dissipation problem of the present processors. 
     In general, a conventional heat pipe comprises a metal tube, a capillary structure and a working fluid, wherein the metal tube has a sealed cavity, and the capillary structure is installed around the inner wall of the metal tube, and the working fluid is filled into the sealed cavity of the metal tube to form a heat pipe structure. 
     To take the limited using space of the surrounding environment and the thermal transmission at several positions or points of a heat pipe, most heat pipes are bent into an L-shape or a U-shape in practical applications. However, the bent portion of the heat pipe may cause the capillary structure to peel or fall off from the inner wall of the metal tube, so that the thermal transmission performance of the heat pipe is lowered significantly. In addition, the bent portion of the heat pipe can be bent once successfully, and if it is necessary to bend the bent portion of the heat pipe for a second time, the metal tube may be cracked easily and scrapped. 
     In view of the aforementioned problems of the prior art, the discloser of this disclosure based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally provided a feasible solution to overcome the problems of the prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a primary objective of this disclosure to provide a heat dissipating device, comprising: a heat pipe having a flexible portion and capable of bending and deforming at any angle or in any direction through the flexible portion when the heat pipe is passed and fixed to a cooling device and a vapor chamber, so that the heat pipe can be installed and aligned or the height difference can be adjusted with respect to the cooling device, the vapor chamber, and the heat generating element in a better way. In the meantime, the heat dissipating device has an excellent shock absorbing capability. 
     To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, this disclosure provides a heat dissipating device applied to a heat generating element and comprising: a cooling device; a vapor chamber attached to the heat generating element; and a heat pipe thermally attached to the cooling device and communicated with the vapor chamber and having at least one flexible portion. 
     This disclosure further has the following effects. The flexible portion includes a wrinkled ring or a spiral ring installed with an interval apart from the flexible portion, and the flexible portion contains a flexible capillary tissue therein, so that the flexible portion will not be hardened after it has been bent for several times, and the capillary tissue on the inner wall will not be peeled or fallen off easily, and the heat pipe can maintain its original structural integrity. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a heat pipe of this disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of a heat pipe of this disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional perspective view of a heat pipe of this disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view of a using status of a heat pipe of this disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view of another using status of a heat pipe of this disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic view of a using status of a heat dissipating device of this disclosure; 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic view of another using status of a heat dissipating device of this disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic view of a using status of a heat dissipating device of another preferred embodiment of this disclosure; and 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a heat pipe of another preferred embodiment of this disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The technical contents of this disclosure will become apparent with the detailed description of preferred embodiments accompanied with the illustration of related drawings as follows. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 7  for a heat dissipating device of this disclosure, the heat dissipating device  10  comprises a cooling device  1 , a vapor chamber  3  and a heat pipe  4 . 
     In  FIG. 6 , the cooling device  1  is a fin module  12  or a water cooling device, and the fin module  12  or the water cooling device has a passing portion  121 . It is noteworthy that the fin module  12  is used as an example in this preferred embodiment, but this disclosure is not limited to such arrangement only. 
     In  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the vapor chamber  3  is attached to a heat generating element  200  installed on a circuit board  100 , wherein the circuit board  100  of the preferred embodiment is a display card, but this disclosure is not limited to display cards only. 
     Further, the vapor chamber  3  has two joints  31  and contains a chamber  32  and a capillary member  33 , wherein the capillary member  33  is a sintered powder, a metal mesh, a fiber member, a trench, or any combination of the above. The capillary member  33  is covered onto one or more side surfaces of the chamber  32 . 
     In  FIGS. 1 to 7 , the heat pipe  4  is passed and coupled to a passing portion  121  so as to attach the cooling device  1  thermally, and the heat pipe  4  is communicated with the vapor chamber  3 , and the heat pipe  4  has one or more flexible portions  41 , and the flexible portion  41  includes a wrinkled ring  411  installed with an interval apart from the flexible portion  41 , and the flexible portion  41  may include a spiral ring, and the flexible portion  41  contains one or more flexible capillary tissues  412  therein, wherein the flexible capillary tissue  412  includes one or more elements selected from the group consisting of a metal mesh and a fiber member, and the flexible capillary tissue  412  is substantially in the shape of a long bar. It is noteworthy that the flexible portion  41  of this preferred embodiment includes the wrinkled ring  411  installed with an interval apart, but this disclosure is not limited to such arrangement only. 
     In  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the heat pipe  4  has a plurality of smooth sections  42 , and two smooth sections  42  are disposed on both sides of flexible portion  41  respectively, and the interior of the smooth section  42  is covered with a capillary structure  43 , and the flexible capillary tissue  412  is disposed across and attached to the capillary structure  43 , wherein the capillary structure  43  is a sintered powder, a metal mesh, a fiber member, a trench, or any combination of the above. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2  for a heat pipe in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this disclosure, the heat pipe  4  comprises two or more main-body tubes  44  and one or more mid-section tubes  45 , and two main-body tubes  44  are passed or sheathed on both ends of the mid-section tube  45 , and the flexible portion  41  is formed on the mid-section tube  45 , and the smooth section  42  is formed on the plurality of main-body tubes  44 . The main-body tube  44  and the mid-section tube  45  are coupled by soldering. 
     In addition, both ends of the heat pipe  4  are coupled to the two joints  31  respectively, and the interior of the heat pipe  4  and the chamber  32  are communicated with each other, and the capillary structure  43  and the capillary member  33  are attached, so that the heat pipe  4  and the vapor chamber  3  can be communicated with each other to exchange heat. In  FIGS. 1 and 2 , there is one flexible portion  41  in this embodiment, and the heat pipe  4  comprises two main-body tubes  44  and a mid-section tube  45 . In  FIGS. 6 and 7 , there is a plurality of flexible portions  44 , and the heat pipe  4  comprises a plurality of main-body tubes  44  and a plurality of mid-section tubes  45 , and the main-body tubes  44  are passed or sheathed on both ends of each respective mid-section tube  45  respectively. Wherein, there is a plurality of flexible portions  41 , and the heat pipe  4  is bent into a geometric shape such as an L-shape, a U-shape and a square shape through the plurality of flexible portions  41 . 
     In addition, a working fluid is filled into the heat pipe  4 , and the working fluid includes pure water, ammonia water, methanol, acetone, heptane, or any mixture of the above, and the change of gas and liquid phases of the working fluid is used as a heat transmission mechanism. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 6 and 7  for the assembly of a heat dissipating device  10  of this disclosure, the vapor chamber  3  is attached to the heat generating element  200 , and the heat pipe  4  is thermally attached to the cooling device  1  and communicated with the vapor chamber  3 , and the heat pipe  4  has a flexible portion  41 , and the flexible portion  41  contains a flexible capillary tissue  412 , wherein the flexible capillary tissue  412  is a metal mesh and/or a fiber member. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 4 to 7  for a using status of a heat dissipating device  10  of this disclosure, a part of the heat pipe  4  is bent into an L-shape or a U-shape through the flexible portion  41 , and the heat pipe  4  is bent into a geometric shape such as an L-shape, a U-shape, or a square shape through the plurality of flexible portions  41 , so that when the heat pipe  4  is passed and coupled to the cooling device  1  and the vapor chamber  3 , the heat pipe  4  can be bent or deformed at any angle or in any direction through the flexible portion  41 , so that the heat pipe  4  can be installed and aligned and the height difference can be adjusted with respect to the cooling device  1 , the vapor chamber  3  and the heat generating element  200  in a better way. Meanwhile, the heat dissipating device  10  has an excellent shock absorbing capability to achieve the effects of stabilizing the amount of heat generated by the heat generating element  200  and conducting the heat to the cooling device  1  quickly for heat dissipation. 
     In addition, the circuit board  100  has different electronic components with height differences installed thereon. Since a conventional heat pipe needs to comply with electronic components of different height, it is common that the heat pipe is not attached onto the heat generating element closely. On the other hand, the flexible portion  41  of this disclosure can be adjusted and bent in up, down, left, and right directions, so that the heat pipe  4  can bypass a higher electronic component or closely attach the heat generating element  200  by means of the flexible portion  41 . 
     In addition, the flexible portion  41  includes a wrinkled ring  411  installed with an interval apart from the flexible portion  41 , and the flexible portion  41  contains a flexible capillary tissue  412 , so that the flexible portion  41  will not be hardened after it has been bent for several times, and the capillary tissues on the inner wall will not be peeled or fallen off easily, so that the heat pipe  4  can maintain its original structural integrity. 
     In addition, the heat dissipating device  10  of this disclosure combines the powerful planar heat dispersion capability of the vapor chamber and the linear thermal expansion of the heat pipe and adopts the characteristics of the flexible portion  41  capable of absorbing vibrations effectively and adjusting positions easily to overcome the issues of mechanical vibration and assembly tolerance of the heat dissipating device  10 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 8  for a heat dissipating device  10  in accordance with another preferred embodiment of this disclosure, the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIG. 8  is substantially the same as the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 1 to 7 , and the difference between the two resides on that the smooth section  42  of the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIG. 8  further has a curved section  421 . 
     Specifically, one or more smooth sections  42  can be bent into one or more curved sections  421 , and a part of the heat pipe  4  is bent into an L-shape or a U-shape through the curved section  421 , and the curved section  441  matches with the flexible portion  41 , so that the heat pipe  4  can be used in different circuit boards and electronic components with a height difference installed on a circuit board. Meanwhile, the heat pipe  4  can be attached to the heat generating element closely. 
     With reference to  FIG. 9  for a heat pipe  4  in accordance with another preferred embodiment of this disclosure, the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIG. 9  is substantially the same as the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 1 to 7 , and their difference resides onto the flexible portion  41  and the plurality of smooth sections  42  are integrally extended and formed, and the flexible portion  41  is formed by punching in the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
     While this disclosure has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this disclosure set forth in the claims.