Patent Publication Number: US-11397057-B2

Title: Vapor chamber structure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a vapor chamber structure, and more particularly to a vapor chamber structure includes a main body and a connection body. The connection body serves to support the main body and prevent the main body from deforming when heated. Also, the connection body is able to enhance the heat conduction efficiency of the vapor chamber structure. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Recently, the operation performances of the mobile phones, personal computers, servers and communication chasses have become higher and higher. As a result, the heat generated by the internal calculation units of these electronic devices has become higher and higher. Under such circumstance, a heat dissipation unit is needed to help in dissipating the heat. Most of the manufacturers select heat sinks, heat pipes, vapor chambers and the like heat dissipation components to cooperate with a cooling fan for dissipating the heat. In the case that a large area needs to be cooled, a vapor chamber is used to absorb the heat. The vapor chamber can be co-used with a heat sink and a cooling fan to forcedly dissipate the heat. The respective heat dissipation components must be tightly attached to each other so as to avoid thermal resistance. The vapor chamber is a flat plate body having an internal chamber. A working fluid is filled in the chamber to carry out liquid-vapor circulation for conducting the heat. In order to prevent the flat-plate-shaped vapor chamber from expanding or deforming when pressurized or heated, multiple support columns are disposed in the chamber to support the vapor chamber. 
     The vapor chamber serves to transfer heat face-to-face. As aforesaid, multiple support columns are disposed in the chamber to support the vapor chamber and prevent the vapor chamber from expanding or deforming when heated or under an external force. The manufacturing process requires additional time and material to manufacture the support columns. Therefore, the manufacturing cost is increased. In the case that multiple copper columns coated with sintered rings are used as the support columns, the sintered rings only provide a backflow circulation effect and it is hard to control the planarity of the bottoms of the copper columns. Alternatively, copper columns with multiple channels can be used as the support columns to provide supporting and backflow circulation effects. It is also hard to control the planarity of the bottoms of the copper columns with multiple channels. Therefore, although the conventional technique can solve the problem of deformation, the manufacturing time is prolonged and the manufacturing cost is increased and it is hard to control the planarity of the bottoms of the copper columns. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a vapor chamber structure that includes a main body. The main body has a chamber. The chamber has a first side, a second side and a board-shaped connection body. Two axial ends of the board-shaped connection body are respectively connected with the first and second sides. A first capillary structure layer is disposed around the board-shaped connection body along a periphery thereof. A working fluid is filled in the chamber. 
     The board-shaped connection body serves to prevent the main body from expanding and deforming when heated and prevent the main body from contracting and deforming when pressurized. Moreover, the vapor chamber structure of the present invention overcomes the problem of the conventional vapor chamber that it is hard to control the planarity of the bottoms of the copper columns. Therefore, the present invention is advantageous over the conventional vapor chamber in that the manufacturing time is shortened and the manufacturing cost is lowered and the heat conduction efficiency is enhanced. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective exploded view of a first embodiment of the vapor chamber structure of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional assembled view of the first embodiment of the vapor chamber structure of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional assembled view of a second embodiment of the vapor chamber structure of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective exploded view of a third embodiment of the vapor chamber structure of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional assembled view of a fourth embodiment of the vapor chamber structure of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional assembled view showing the vapor chamber structure of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2 .  FIG. 1  is a perspective exploded view of a first embodiment of the vapor chamber structure of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is a sectional assembled view of the first embodiment of the vapor chamber structure of the present invention. As shown in the drawings, the vapor chamber structure of the present invention includes a main body  1 . 
     The main body  1  has a chamber  11  formed between a first side  111  and a second side  112 . The first and second sides  111 ,  112  are jointed to one another by a peripheral wall  1   c , and a solid board-shaped connection body  12  is provided and contained within the chamber  11 . Two axial ends of the board-shaped connection body  12  are respectively connected with the first and second sides  111 ,  112 . A first capillary structure layer  13  is disposed on a peripheral surface of the board-shaped connection body  12  along a periphery thereof. A working fluid  2  is filled in the chamber  11 . The first capillary structure layer  13  is a sintered powder body. 
     The main body  1  includes a base member  1   a  and a cover member  1   b . The base member  1   a  and the cover member  1   b  are correspondingly joined together by the peripheral wall  1   c  to define the chamber  11  therebetween. 
     The board-shaped connection body  12  is a metal board body made of copper material, aluminum material or other good heat conductor. In this embodiment, the board-shaped connection body  12  is, but not limited to, made of copper material for illustration purposes. 
     The first capillary structure layer  13  is a sintered powder body. The first capillary structure layer  13  has a geometrical configuration selected from a group consisting of square, rectangular, trapezoidal and circular shapes. In this embodiment, the configuration of the first capillary structure layer  13  is, but not limited to, square shape for illustration. 
     The board-shaped connection body  12  has a geometrical configuration selected from a group consisting of square, rectangular, trapezoidal and circular shapes. In this embodiment, the configuration of the board-shaped connection body  12  is, but not limited to, square shape for illustration. 
     Please now refer to  FIG. 3 , which is a sectional assembled view of a second embodiment of the vapor chamber structure of the present invention. The second embodiment is partially identical to the first embodiment in structure and thus will not be repeatedly described hereinafter. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the main body  1  further has a recessed heated section  14  formed on the first side  111  or the second side  112 . In this embodiment, the recessed heated section  14  is formed on the first side  111 . The board-shaped connection body  12  is disposed on the heated section  14 . The first and second sides  111 ,  112  are further provided with a second capillary structure layer  15 . The thickness of the second capillary structure layer  15  in the heated section  14  is thicker than the thickness of the second capillary structure layer  15  in a non-heated section. 
     Please now refer to  FIG. 4 , which is a perspective exploded view of a third embodiment of the vapor chamber structure of the present invention. The third embodiment is partially identical to the first embodiment in structure and thus will not be repeatedly described hereinafter. The third embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that the periphery of the board-shaped connection body  12  is formed with multiple recesses  121 . 
     Please now refer to  FIG. 5 , which is a sectional assembled view of a fourth embodiment of the vapor chamber structure of the present invention. The fourth embodiment is partially identical to the first embodiment in structure and thus will not be repeatedly described hereinafter. The fourth embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that the first capillary structure layer  13  further has a downward and outward inclination  131  extending from the cover member  1   b  toward the base member  1   a  for facilitating spreading of the vapor working fluid  21 . 
     Please now refer to  FIG. 6 , which is a sectional assembled view showing the vapor chamber structure of the present invention. The main body  1  is in contact with at least one heat source  3 . A section of the main body  1  where the board-shaped connection body  12  is disposed is chosen as a main contact section in contact with the heat source  3 . The board-shaped connection body  12  serves to support the section of the main body  1  to avoid deformation of the main body  1  when the main body  1  is tightly attached to the heat source  3 . 
     Moreover, when the main body  1  absorbs the heat of the heat source  3  to conduct the heat, the first board body  1   a  directly transfers the heat to the board-shaped connection body  12  as well as the working fluid  2  in the chamber  11 . After absorbing the heat, the liquid working fluid  22  changes into vapor working fluid  21  to start liquid-vapor circulation. The heat is mainly transferred by the board-shaped connection body  12 . The liquid working fluid  22  is evaporated into vapor working fluid  21 , which is spread from the first capillary structure layer  13 . The liquid working fluid  22  flows back through the first capillary structure layer  13 . Accordingly, an excellent heat dissipation effect is achieved. 
     The present invention has been described with the above embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the above embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.