Patent ID: 7559143

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a heat pipe, comprising steps of: I) providing a tube having first and second open ends; II) filling the tube with powder through the first open end, this filling step including sub-steps of: a) providing a vibrating tray and a pump connected to the second open end, the vibrating tray connecting with a vibrating source; b) positioning the tube in the vibrating tray; c) inserting a mandrel into the tube from the first open end, where at least one groove is defined in an end of the mandrel corresponding to the second open end of the tube to provide an unblocked air channel defined between an outer surface of the mandrel and an inner surface of the tube; d) positioning a feeder on the first open end of the tube; e) starting the vibrating source to drive the vibrating tray to vibrate and feeding the powder into the tube from the feeder whilst the pump is operating to generate a forced airflow flowing from the first open end to the second open end of the tube; III) sintering the powder of the tube to form a wick structure, sealing the first open end of the tube; IV) extracting the mandrel from the tube, filling the tube with working medium, and vacuuming and sealing the second open end of the tube.