THREE-DIMENSIONAL VAPOR CHAMBER ASSEMBLY STRUCTURE

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of cooling, and in particular, to a three-dimensional vapor chamber assembly structure.

Description of Related Art

A known vapor chamber structure mainly includes a vapor chamber and a plurality of heat pipes. The heat pipes are spaced apart from each other for installation on the vapor chamber, and the internal cavity of the vapor chamber is fluidly connected to the compartment of each heat pipe respectively, in order to achieve fast thermal conduction and cooling effects via the liquid-gas phase change.

However, although the known three-dimensional vapor chamber structure is able to achieve the thermal conduction and cooling effects, the following drawbacks still exist in the process of actual use and need to be further overcome. Since the heat pipes and the vapor chamber are attached to each other via a welding material of copper paste or solder paste, various abnormalities tend to occur as the attachment between the component parts becomes loose due to vibrations during the assembly or transportation process. Furthermore, during the manufacturing process, the copper or silver paste is likely to enter the internal of cavity such that the transmission path of the internal working fluid is affected or blocked, causing reduction of the thermal conduction and cooling effects of the vapor chamber.

In view of the above, the inventor seeks to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks associated with the current technology and aims to provide an effective solution through extensive researches along with utilization of academic principles and knowledge.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An objective of the present disclosure is to provide a three-dimensional vapor chamber assembly structure having a firm and robust structure, such that it is able to prevent any welding material from entering the cavity that may affect the transmission of the working fluid.

To achieve the aforementioned objective, the present disclosure provides a three-dimensional vapor chamber assembly structure having a housing, a plurality of heat pipes, a capillary member and a working fluid. The housing includes a first housing plate and a second housing plate attached to and sealed with the first housing plate correspondingly, a cavity formed between the first housing plate and the second housing plate, and a plurality of through holes formed on the second housing plate. Each of the heat pipes penetrates through each of the through holes correspondingly. Each of the heat pipes includes an open end, and the open end includes a flange. The flange includes a lateral surface and a longitudinal surface, and wherein the lateral surface of the flange is attached to the second housing plate via a welding layer, and the longitudinal surface of the flange is attached to the second housing plate via a welding product. The capillary member is arranged inside the cavity and attached to the housing. The working fluid is arranged inside the cavity.

The present disclosure is able to further achieve the following effects. Since the resistance welding does not require the use of any welding material, the cost of manufacturing may be further reduced. Accordingly, during the manufacturing process, clogging of the pores of the capillary member by molten welding material of a low melting point, such as copper paste or solder past, resulting in blocking of the moving path of the internal working fluid, may be prevented. As a result, the thermal effect of the manufacturing process is low, the deformation of workpiece is small, and the firmness and reliability of the components after attachment are excellent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the second housing and the heat pipes of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an outer appearance view showing the assembly of the second housing and the heat pipes of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view and partial enlargement view showing the assembly of the second housing and the heat pipes of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the second housing having the heat pipes attached thereto and the capillary member of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the three-dimensional vapor chamber assembly structure of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is an outer appearance view of the three-dimensional vapor chamber assembly structure of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is an assembly sectional view of the three-dimensional vapor chamber assembly structure of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is an assembly sectional view of another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical contents of the present disclosure will become apparent with the detailed description of embodiments accompanied with the illustration of related drawings as follows. It is intended that the embodiments and drawings disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 7. The present disclosure provides a three-dimensional vapor chamber assembly structure mainly including a housing 10, a plurality of heat pipes 20, a capillary member 30 and a working fluid 40.

As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, the housing 10 mainly includes a first housing plate 11 and a second housing plate 12. The first housing plate 11 and the second housing plate 12 may be made of a material of desirable thermal conductivity, such as copper, aluminum, magnesium or an alloy thereof. The first housing plate 11 mainly includes a base sheet 111 and a circumferential sheet 112 bent to extend upward from the circumference of the base sheet 111, and a folded edge 113 is formed to extend from the circumferential sheet 112 outward and away from one end of the base sheet 111.

The second housing 12 mainly includes a top sheet 121. The second housing plate is attached to and sealed with the folded edge 113 of the first housing plate 11 via the top sheet 121 to form a cavity A between the first housing plate 11 and the second housing plate 12.

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. The inner side of the top sheet 121 of the second housing plate 12 includes a plurality of through holes 122 formed thereon and arranged spaced apart from each other. The outer periphery of each of the through holes 122 includes a recessed groove 123. The recessed groove 123 includes an inner circumferential surface 1231, and a protrusion 124 protruding from (with a height higher than) the outer surface of the top sheet 121 is formed at a position corresponding to the recessed groove 123. In addition, the circumference of each of the through holes 122 includes a circumferential wall 125 formed to extend upward therefrom respectively.

Each of the heat pipes 20 penetrates through each of the through holes 122 correspondingly. Each of the heat pipes 20 includes an open end 21 and a closed end 22. The open end 21 includes a flange 211, and the flange 211 includes a lateral surface 212 and a longitudinal surface 213 connected to the lateral surface 212. Each of the flanges 211 is received inside each of the recessed grooves 123, and the lower surface of the flange 211 is aligned with the inner surface of the top sheet 121 of the second housing plate 12 or lower than the inner surface of the top sheet 121. In addition, the flange 211 extends from the open end 21 of the heat pipe 20 in a diameter-increasing manner, and the flange 211 is arranged perpendicular to the center line of the heat pipe 20.

During the attachment process, the closed end 22 of the heat pipe 20 penetrates through the through hole 122 and the circumferential wall 125 of the second housing plate 12, and the flange 211 is inserted into the recessed groove 123. With the use of a welding equipment and jigs (not shown in the drawings), a welding layer W1 is formed between the lateral surface of the flange 211 and the wall of the recessed groove 123, in order to attach the heat pipes 20 to the second housing plate 12.

In this exemplary embodiment, a spot-welding machine (also known as: butt-welding machine) is used to perform the welding. During the operation, the lateral surface 212 of the flange 211 is pressed to contact with the wall of the recessed groove 123 of the second housing 12 firmly first. Next, after the current of the welding machine is connected, under the effect of resistance heat and large amount of plastic deformation energy, two separate metal atoms are able to approach each other to reach the lattice distance to form metallic bond. At the bonding surface, sufficient amount of equiaxed grains may be obtained to form weld spot, weld seam or weld joint. In addition, the contact area becomes molten, and after cooling, it is able to form a welding layer W1.

Furthermore, with the use of a laser welding equipment (not shown in the drawings), a welding product W2 may be formed between the longitudinal surface 213 of the flange 211 and the inner circumferential surface 1231 of the recessed groove 123 to attach the heat pipes 20 to the second housing plate 12. In this exemplary embodiment, the laser welding method is used, and such method allows easy computer control in conjunction with the use of the tools of CAD/CAM. In addition, the laser welding method may be implemented on a production line and is also suitable for robotic arms. During the operation, a high intensity laser beam heats and melts a linear welding material, allowing the welding material to be cured between the inner circumferential surface 1231 of the recessed groove 123 and the longitudinal surface 213 of the flange 211. After the molten metal is cooled and crystallized, a welding product W2 is formed. Accordingly, bonding may be achieved without melting the base material, and its bonding strength and speed may be two times or more faster than conventional spot welding.

Moreover, the soft welding or braze welding method may be further used to apply a welding material on the heat pipe 20 and the circumferential wall 125. Next, the welding material is heated to fill up the space between the heat pipe 20 and circumferential wall 125 to form a sealing layer S. For the soft welding, zinc, tin or lead paste may be used for the welding material. For the braze welding, copper, aluminum or magnesium paste may be used for the welding material.

As shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 7, the capillary member 30 is arranged inside the cavity A, and it may be made of a material of good capillary absorption capability, such as metal mesh, porous sintered powder, and fibers, and its shape may be generally resemble the shape of the housing 10. In this exemplary embodiment, the capillary member 30 mainly includes a lower capillary tissue 31 and an upper capillary tissue 32. The lower capillary tissue 31 is attached to the first housing plate 11 and undergoes a thermal diffusion welding process, such that the lower capillary tissue 31 is firmly attached onto the inner surface of the first housing plate 11. The upper capillary tissue 32 is attached to the second housing plate 12 and undergoes a thermal diffusion welding process, such that the upper capillary tissue 32 is firmly attached onto the inner surface of the second housing plate 12. Furthermore, the upper capillary tissue 32 includes a plurality of perforations 321 formed thereon, and the perforations 321 of the upper capillary tissue 32 are generally arranged corresponding to the heat pipes 20. In addition, the upper capillary tissue 32 contact with the capillary member of the heat pipes 20.

The working fluid 40 may be purified water, and it is poured into the cavity A. Furthermore, a degassing and sealing processes is performed to allow the cavity A to become a vacuum chamber.

In an exemplary embodiment, the three-dimensional vapor chamber assembly structure of the present disclosure may further include a plurality of supporting columns 50. The supporting columns 50 are arranged spaced apart from each other inside the cavity A and formed between the first housing plate 11 and the second housing plate 12.

Furthermore, during the use of the vapor chamber of the present disclosure, a heat sink 60 may be mounted onto each of the heat pipes 20 respectively to increase the cooling effect of the overall structure.

As shown in FIG. 8, for the three-dimensional vapor chamber assembly structure of the present disclosure, in addition to the aforementioned embodiments, another exemplary embodiment is further provided and differs from the aforementioned embodiments in that: the second housing plate 12 includes an inner flat surface 120, and the lateral surface 212 of each flange 211 is flatly attached to the inner flat surface 120. Moreover, a welding layer W1 is formed between the lateral surface 212 of the flange 211 and the inner flat surface 120 of the second housing plate 12, and a welding product W2 is formed between the longitudinal surface 213 of the flange 211 and the inner flat surface 120.

The above description is provided to illustrate the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure only such that it shall not be treated as limitation to the claimed scope of the present disclosure. In addition, any equivalent modification made based on the present disclosure shall be considered to be within the claimed scope of the present disclosure.