Flexible heat pipe and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a flexible heat pipe and a manufacturing method thereof.The flexible heat pipe comprises a wick and a flexible pipe body, the flexible pipe body comprises a composite plate, the composite plate comprises an upper shell and a lower shell, a pipe cavity is defined by the upper shell and the lower shell, the wick is arranged in the pipe cavity, and the pipe cavity is filled with a working medium; the sealing layer is plated at the joint of the upper shell and the lower shell, the composite plate can be bent to be attached to the curved surface structure, the heat dissipation area is effectively increased, the heat dissipation requirement of equipment is met, the sealing layer is plated at the joint of the upper shell and the lower shell, the sealing layer can effectively seal the joint of the upper shell and the lower shell, and the heat dissipation efficiency is improved. The sealing performance of the flexible heat pipe is greatly improved, the heat dissipation performance of the flexible heat pipe is ensured, and the service life of the flexible heat pipe is prolonged.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of heat pipes, and in particular to a flexible heat pipe and a manufacturing method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Among wearable products, head-mounted display devices have significantly increased thermal power consumption due to functional integration and miniaturized design, which brings with it problems of heat accumulation and slow heat dissipation. Currently, the commonly used heat dissipation structures in head-mounted display devices include graphite sheets, ultra-thin heat pipes and ultra-thin heat spreaders. However, head-mounted display devices have complex structures, three-dimensional shapes and many curved structures. Flat graphite sheets, heat pipes and heat spreaders cannot fit the shape of the device and cannot meet the heat dissipation requirements of the device. Polymer materials and metal composite materials have the advantages of good flexibility, easy bending and light weight. Heat pipes made of polymer materials can be suitable for fitting a variety of complex and curved structures, but the gas permeability of polymer materials is high, heat is easy to leak out of the heat pipe, and the heat pipe has poor sealing, resulting in a short service life of the heat pipe and easy failure of heat dissipation performance. Summary of the invention

[0003] The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a flexible heat pipe and a manufacturing method thereof, aiming to solve the problem that the heat pipe has a short service life and the heat dissipation performance is very easy to fail.

[0004] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a flexible heat pipe, the flexible heat pipe comprising:

[0005] Liquid wick;

[0006] A flexible pipe body, the flexible pipe body includes a composite plate, the composite plate includes an upper shell and a lower shell, a tube cavity is formed between the upper shell and the lower shell, the liquid wick is arranged in the tube cavity, and the tube cavity is filled with a working medium, and a sealing layer is plated at the connection between the upper shell and the lower shell.

[0007] Optionally, at least one side of the upper shell and at least one side of the lower shell are provided with connecting sections, each connecting section and the connecting section adjacent to it are symmetrically arranged and connected to each other, and the connection between the two connecting sections forms a sealing end surface, and the sealing layer is plated on the sealing end surface.

[0008] Optionally, in any two interconnected connecting sections, the sides of the two connecting sections facing each other are plated with a sealing layer.

[0009] Optionally, a corrugated structure is formed on the upper shell, and the corrugated structure includes a plurality of grooves arranged in sequence along the extension direction of the upper shell;

[0010] And / or, a corrugated structure is formed on the lower shell, and the corrugated structure includes a plurality of grooves arranged in sequence along the extension direction of the lower shell.

[0011] Optionally, the sealing layer is an aluminum layer, a nickel-chromium alloy layer or an oxide layer.

[0012] Optionally, the sealing layer has a thickness of 0.1 μm to 5.0 μm.

[0013] Optionally, the composite plate includes a metal foil and a polymer film stacked on both sides of the metal foil.

[0014] Optionally, the polymer film stacked on the side of the metal foil facing the lumen is an inner polymer film, and the polymer film stacked on the side of the metal foil facing away from the lumen is an outer polymer film;

[0015] The inner polymer film is made of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyimide or polyvinylidene chloride;

[0016] And / or, the outer polymer film is made of polyamide, polyethylene naphthalate or polyethylene terephthalate;

[0017] And / or, the metal foil is made of aluminum or copper.

[0018] Optionally,

[0019] The thickness of the inner polymer film is 5 μm to 500 μm;

[0020] And / or, the thickness of the outer polymer film is 20 μm to 1000 μm;

[0021] And / or, the thickness of the metal foil is 10 μm to 50 μm.

[0022] The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing a flexible heat pipe, the method comprising the following steps:

[0023] A liquid absorbent core and a composite plate are provided; wherein the composite plate comprises an upper shell and a lower shell;

[0024] The upper shell and the lower shell are connected by heat pressing to form a flexible tube body wrapped around the liquid absorbent core; wherein a tube cavity is enclosed between the upper shell and the lower shell;

[0025] Infusing the lumen with a working fluid and sealing both ends of the lumen;

[0026] A sealing layer is plated at the connection between the upper shell and the lower shell by vacuum plating.

[0027] Optionally, the step of providing a liquid absorbent core and a plurality of composite plates comprises:

[0028] A corrugated structure is manufactured on the upper shell and the lower shell.

[0029] Optionally, both sides of the corrugated structure form connecting sections;

[0030] The step of heat-pressing the edges of the upper shell and the lower shell to form a flexible tube wrapped around the absorbent core comprises:

[0031] Connect any two adjacent connecting sections by hot pressing, so that the upper shell and the lower shell form the flexible pipe body; wherein the connection between the two connecting sections forms a sealing end surface;

[0032] The step of using vacuum plating to plate a sealing layer at the connection between the upper shell and the lower shell comprises:

[0033] The sealing layer is plated on the sealing end surface by vacuum plating.

[0034] Optionally, after the step of making a corrugated structure on the upper shell and the lower shell, the method further comprises:

[0035] A sealing layer is plated on the opposite sides of any two adjacent connecting sections.

[0036] Optionally, the step of coating the sealing layer on the sealing end surface by vacuum coating comprises:

[0037] The sealing layer is plated on the sealing end surface by vacuum ion sputtering, vacuum evaporation or vacuum ion plating; wherein the ultimate vacuum degree is less than 4.0*10 -4 pa, coating time is greater than 5min, and sputtering power is greater than 50W.

[0038] In the flexible heat pipe of the present invention, the upper shell and the lower shell are arranged around the outer periphery of the liquid absorbent core, and the edge of the upper shell and the edge of the lower shell are connected to each other to form a closed tube cavity, the two ends of the tube cavity are sealed and the tube cavity is filled with a working medium that can conduct heat through phase change, and the liquid absorbent core has capillary suction ability and is arranged in the tube cavity; when the flexible heat pipe dissipates heat, the working medium in the first end of the tube cavity is heated and evaporates and conducts the heat to the second end of the tube cavity along the extension direction of the tube cavity, and the evaporated working medium condenses into liquid in the second end of the tube cavity and is heated at the end of the liquid absorbent core. Under the action of the capillary suction force of the liquid core, it flows back to the first end of the tube cavity, completing the transfer of heat from the first end of the tube cavity to the second end of the tube cavity, and has the advantage of high thermal conductivity; moreover, the composite plate can be bent to fit the curved surface structure, effectively increasing the heat dissipation area and meeting the heat dissipation requirements of the equipment; and a sealing layer is plated at the connection between the upper shell and the lower shell, so that the sealing layer can effectively seal the connection between the upper shell and the lower shell, greatly improving the sealing of the flexible heat pipe, ensuring the heat dissipation performance of the flexible heat pipe, and extending the service life of the flexible heat pipe. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the structures shown in these drawings without paying creative work.

[0040] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the assembly structure of a flexible heat pipe according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A magnified schematic diagram of the middle A area;

[0042] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the decomposed structure of a flexible heat pipe according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the planar structure of a flexible heat pipe according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a planar structure of a flexible heat pipe according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 6 It is a schematic flow chart of a first embodiment of a method for manufacturing a flexible heat pipe according to the present invention;

[0046] Figure 7 It is a schematic flow chart of a second embodiment of a method for manufacturing a flexible heat pipe of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 8It is a schematic flow chart of a third embodiment of a method for manufacturing a flexible heat pipe according to the present invention.

[0048] Description of Figure Numbers:

[0049] Label name Label name 100 Flexible heat pipe 251 Grooves 10 Liquid wick 26 metal foil 20 Composite Panel 27 Polymer film 21 Lumen 27a Inner polymer film 22 Connection segment 27b Outer polymer film 23 Sealing end face 28 Upper shell 24 Sealed layer 29 Lower shell 25 Corrugated structure 30 Sealing layer

[0050] The realization of the purpose, functional features and advantages of the present invention will be further explained in conjunction with embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] The technical solution in this embodiment will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in this embodiment. Obviously, the described embodiment is only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0052] It should be noted that all directional indications in this embodiment (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.) are only used to explain the relative position relationship, movement status, etc. between the components under a certain specific posture (as shown in the accompanying drawings). If the specific posture changes, the directional indication will also change accordingly.

[0053] In addition, in the present invention, descriptions such as "first", "second", etc. are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0054] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "connection", "fixation", etc. should be understood in a broad sense. For example, "fixation" can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements, unless otherwise clearly defined. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0055] In addition, the technical solutions between the various embodiments of the present invention can be combined with each other, but it must be based on the fact that ordinary technicians in the field can implement it. When the combination of technical solutions is contradictory or cannot be implemented, it should be considered that such a combination of technical solutions does not exist and is not within the protection scope required by the present invention. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described here are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0056] In the present invention, the descriptions of directions such as "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", and "right" are as follows: Figure 1 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 The directions shown are for reference only and are used to explain the Figure 1 and, Figure 4 and Figure 5 The relative position relationship between the components in the shown posture. If the specific posture changes, the directional indication will also change accordingly.

[0057] The present invention provides a flexible heat pipe 100 .

[0058] like Figures 1 to 5 As shown, the flexible heat pipe 100 of this embodiment includes a liquid wick 10 and a flexible pipe body, the flexible pipe body includes a composite plate 20, the composite plate 20 includes an upper shell 28 and a lower shell 29, the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 form a closed tube cavity 21, the liquid wick 10 is arranged in the tube cavity 21, and the tube cavity 21 is filled with a working medium, and a sealing layer 30 is plated at the connection between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29. It should be noted that the flexible heat pipe 100 of the present invention can dissipate heat by conducting heat, and the flexible heat pipe 100 can be applied to a variety of virtual reality complete equipment such as head-mounted display devices, AR glasses, VR glasses, etc. to play a role in rapid heat dissipation. In this embodiment, only the application of the flexible heat pipe 100 to a head-mounted display device is used as an example for explanation.

[0059] Specifically, the flexible tube body is coated on the outside of the liquid absorbent core 10, that is, the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 are arranged around the outer periphery of the liquid absorbent core 10, and the edge of the upper shell 28 and the edge of the lower shell 29 are connected to each other to form a closed tube cavity 21, the two ends of the tube cavity 21 are sealed and the tube cavity 21 is filled with a working medium that can conduct heat through phase change, such as water, methanol, acetone and other liquid working media, and the liquid absorbent core 10 has capillary suction ability and is arranged in the tube cavity 21; when the flexible heat pipe 100 dissipates heat, the working medium in the first end of the tube cavity 21 is heated and evaporates and conducts the heat to the second end of the tube cavity 21 along the extension direction of the tube cavity 21, and the evaporated working medium condenses into liquid in the second end of the tube cavity 21, and flows back to the first end of the tube cavity 21 under the action of the capillary suction force of the liquid absorbent core 10, completing the heat conduction from the first end of the tube cavity 21 to the second end of the tube cavity 21, and has the advantage of high heat conduction efficiency. In addition, the composite plate 20 can be bent to fit the curved structure of the head-mounted display device, effectively increasing the heat dissipation area and meeting the heat dissipation requirements of the device; and the connection between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 is vacuum-plated to form a sealing layer 30, so that the sealing layer 30 can effectively seal the connection between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29, greatly improving the sealing of the flexible heat pipe 100, ensuring the heat dissipation performance of the flexible heat pipe 100, and extending the service life of the flexible heat pipe 100.

[0060] In the flexible heat pipe 100 of this embodiment, a connecting section 22 is provided on at least one side of the upper shell 28 and at least one side of the lower shell 29. Each connecting section 22 is symmetrically arranged and connected to the connecting section 22 adjacent to it, and a sealing end surface 23 is formed at the connection between the two connecting sections 22. A sealing layer 30 is plated on the sealing end surface 23.

[0061] In one embodiment, if Figures 1 to 4 As shown, the composite plate 20 is a split structure, the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 are symmetrically arranged and distributed on both sides of the absorbent core 10, both sides of the upper shell 28 and both sides of the lower shell 29 are bent to form connecting sections 22, and each connecting section 22 and the connecting section 22 adjacent to it are symmetrically arranged and interconnected, so that a closed tube cavity 21 is surrounded by the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29, and the connection between the two interconnected connecting sections 22 forms a sealing end surface 23, and a sealing layer 30 is plated on the sealing end surface 23 by vacuum plating to improve the sealing of the tube cavity 21, and the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 connected by the connecting section 22 have the advantage of convenient and quick connection.

[0062] In another embodiment, if Figure 5 As shown, the composite plate 20 is an integrally formed part, that is, the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 are integrally formed. Specifically, the composite plate 20 is bent to form an upper shell 28 and a lower shell 29 that are arranged opposite to each other. The side of the upper shell 28 away from the lower shell 29 is bent to form a connecting section 22, and the side of the lower shell 29 away from the upper shell 28 is bent to form a connecting section 22. The two connecting sections 22 are symmetrically arranged and interconnected to form a closed tube cavity 21 between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29, and the connection between the two interconnected connecting sections 22 forms a sealing end face 23. A sealing layer 30 is plated on the sealing end face 23 by vacuum plating to improve the sealing of the tube cavity 21. The integrally formed upper shell 28 and lower shell 29 have the advantages of further improving the sealing and saving assembly steps.

[0063] In this embodiment, in any two interconnected connecting sections 22, the two connecting sections 22 facing each other are both plated with a sealing layer 24. Figures 3 to 5 As shown, in the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29, a sealing layer 24 is provided on one side of each connecting section 22 facing the connecting section 22 symmetrically arranged therewith by vacuum plating, and the two symmetrically arranged connecting sections 22 are connected to each other so that the sealing layer 24 is sandwiched between the two connecting sections 22. The sealing layer 24 is used to separate the tube cavity 21 and the sealing layer 30, thereby playing the role of sealing the tube cavity 21 and reducing hygroscopicity, further improving the sealing of the tube cavity 21 and extending the service life of the flexible heat pipe 100.

[0064] In this embodiment, a corrugated structure 25 is formed on the upper shell 28, and the corrugated structure 25 includes a plurality of grooves 251 arranged in sequence along the extension direction of the upper shell 28; a corrugated structure 25 is formed on the lower shell 29, and the corrugated structure 25 includes a plurality of grooves 251 arranged in sequence along the extension direction of the lower shell 29. Figures 1 to 3 As shown, a plurality of corrugated structures 25 are formed on the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29. The corrugated structure 25 includes a plurality of grooves 251 opened on the composite plate 20, and the plurality of grooves 251 are arranged in sequence along the extension direction of the composite plate 20, so that the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 can be bent significantly through the corrugated structure 25, thereby improving the bending performance of the composite plate 20, and further enabling the flexible pipe body to fit a variety of three-dimensional curved surface structures, and having the advantages of high versatility and strong adaptability.

[0065] In a preferred embodiment, the sealing layer 30 is an aluminum layer, a nickel-chromium alloy layer or an oxide layer, and the thickness of the sealing layer 30 is 0.1 μm to 5.0 μm. Figure 2 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, a sealing end face 23 is formed at the connection between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29, and an aluminum layer, a nickel-chromium alloy layer or an oxide layer is vacuum-plated on the sealing end face 23 to form a sealing layer 30. The sealing layer 30 can seal the connection between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29, so as to greatly improve the sealing performance of the flexible heat pipe 100, effectively prevent the failure of the heat dissipation performance of the flexible heat pipe 100, and extend the service life. The thickness of the sealing layer 30 is 0.1μm to 5.0μm, and there is a linear relationship between the thickness of the sealing layer 30 and the gas permeability. For every 0.1μm increase in the thickness of the sealing layer 30, the gas permeability decreases by 1 / 10. Plating a sealing layer 30 of appropriate thickness on the sealing end face 23 according to actual use requirements can reduce the gas permeability and improve the sealing performance.

[0066] In this embodiment, the composite plate 20 includes a metal foil 26 and two polymer films 27 stacked on both sides of the metal foil 26. Figure 2 , Figure 4 and Figure 5As shown, the composite plate 20 includes a metal foil 26 and a polymer film 27 respectively stacked on both sides of the metal foil 26. The metal foil 26 and the polymer film 27 have the advantages of good flexibility, easy bending and light weight, so that each composite plate 20 can be bent to fit the curved structure of the head-mounted display device, and the metal foil 26 is sandwiched between the two polymer films 27, so that the metal foil 26 can effectively isolate the air permeability of the polymer film 27, ensuring that heat cannot penetrate the metal foil 26 to leak out of the tube cavity 21, thereby improving the sealing of the tube cavity 21. In addition, a sealing end surface 23 is formed at the connection between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29, and a sealing layer 30 is plated on the sealing end surface 23. The sealing layer 30 further improves the sealing effect and extends the service life of the flexible heat pipe 100.

[0067] In one embodiment, the polymer film 27 stacked on the side of the metal foil 26 facing the lumen 21 is an inner polymer film 27a, and the inner polymer film 27a is made of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyimide (PI) or polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), and the thickness of the inner polymer film 27a is 5μm to 500μm; the polymer film 27 stacked on the side of the metal foil 26 away from the lumen 21 is an outer polymer film 27b, and the outer polymer film 27b is made of polyamide (PA), polyethylene naphthalate diformic acid glycol ester (PEN) or polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PET). The outer polymer film 27b has a thickness of 20 μm to 1000 μm; the metal foil 26 is made of aluminum or copper, and has a thickness of 10 μm to 50 μm.

[0068] Specifically, an inner polymer film 27a and an outer polymer film 27 are respectively stacked on both sides of the metal foil 26, and the inner polymer film 27a is arranged close to the lumen 21. The outer polymer film 27b and the inner polymer film 27a have the advantages of good flexibility and easy bending. By laying the outer polymer film 27b and the inner polymer film 27a on both sides of the metal foil 26, the composite plate 20 can be bonded to a variety of three-dimensional curved surface structures, and the metal foil 26 separates the outer polymer film 27b and the inner polymer film 27a, thereby reducing the air permeability of the outer polymer film 27b and the inner polymer film 27a and improving the sealing of the lumen 21.

[0069] Moreover, in a preferred embodiment, the inner polymer film 27a is made of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), the outer polymer film 27b is made of polyamide (PA), the metal foil 26 is aluminum foil, and the temperature resistance of the outer polymer film 27b is better than that of the inner polymer film 27a, so that the composite plate 20 can be adaptively bent while having low air permeability, which not only meets the heat dissipation requirements of the equipment, but also has the advantage of long service life. In addition, the absorbent core 10 is made of hydrophilic metal mesh, fiber or other capillary porous material. In a preferred embodiment, the absorbent core 10 is made of hydrophilic copper mesh. The absorbent core 10 has capillary suction force, which can suck the liquid working medium at the second end of the tube cavity 21 to the first end of the tube cavity 21 to complete the heat conduction and the phase change cycle of the working medium. The structure is flexible and reliable, and the heat dissipation efficiency is improved.

[0070] The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing a flexible heat pipe. Figure 6 , is a schematic flow chart of a first embodiment of a method for manufacturing a flexible heat pipe according to the present invention, wherein the method for manufacturing a flexible heat pipe comprises the following steps:

[0071] Step S10, providing a liquid wick and a composite plate; wherein the composite plate includes an upper shell and a lower shell;

[0072] Step S20, hot-pressing the edges of the upper shell and the lower shell to form a flexible tube body wrapped around the absorbent core; wherein a tube cavity is enclosed between the upper shell and the lower shell;

[0073] The upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 of the composite plate 20 are arranged around the outer periphery of the liquid absorbent core 10 to cover the liquid absorbent core 10 in the flexible tube body. The edges of the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 are sealed by heat pressing to form a tube cavity 21 between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29. This is not only convenient for processing and manufacturing, but also makes the flexible heat pipe 100 have the advantages of small space occupation and large heat dissipation area. The liquid absorbent core 10 is located in the tube cavity 21 and is consistent with the extension direction of the tube cavity 21, thereby playing the role of capillary suction of the working medium.

[0074] Step S30, injecting a working medium into the lumen and sealing both ends of the lumen;

[0075] First, the lumen 21 is evacuated to a negative pressure and then filled with a working medium, which is a liquid working medium such as water, methanol, acetone, etc. that can conduct heat through phase change. The working medium is filled in the lumen 21 to achieve heat conduction, and then both ends of the lumen 21 are sealed to seal the working medium and the wick 10 in the lumen 21, thereby ensuring the stability of heat conduction.

[0076] Step S40, using vacuum plating to plate a sealing layer at the connection between the upper shell and the lower shell;

[0077] A vacuum plating process is performed at the connection between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29. For example, any one of vacuum plating processes such as vacuum ion sputtering, vacuum evaporation or vacuum ion plating can be used, so that the connection between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 is plated with a sealing layer 30. The sealing layer 30 can seal the connection between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29, thereby greatly improving the sealing performance and effectively preventing heat from penetrating the composite plate 20 and causing the service life of the flexible heat pipe 100 to be reduced.

[0078] The manufacturing method of the flexible heat pipe 100 of this embodiment connects the edges of the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 by hot pressing, so that a tube cavity 21 for heat transfer is formed between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29, and the composite plate 20 is easy to bend, so that the flexible heat pipe 100 has both heat transfer and bending functions, and by plating a sealing layer 30 at the connection between the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29, the sealing performance of the tube cavity 21 is further improved, the heat dissipation effect of the flexible heat pipe 100 is improved, and the service life of the flexible heat pipe 100 is extended.

[0079] Reference Figure 7 , is a flow chart of a second embodiment of a method for manufacturing a flexible heat pipe according to the present invention. Based on the first embodiment, the step S10 and the following steps are included:

[0080] Step S11, making a corrugated structure on the upper shell and the lower shell;

[0081] A plurality of grooves 251 are provided on both the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29. The plurality of grooves 251 are arranged in sequence to form a plurality of corrugated structures 25 on the composite plate 20. The corrugated structures 25 facilitate the bending of the composite plate 20, further improving the structural versatility and adaptability.

[0082] Reference Figure 8 , is a schematic flow chart of a third embodiment of a method for manufacturing a flexible heat pipe of the present invention. Based on the second embodiment, connecting sections 22 are formed on both sides of the corrugated structure 25;

[0083] The step S20 comprises:

[0084] Step S21, hot-pressing any two adjacent connecting segments to form the flexible pipe body by the upper shell and the lower shell; wherein a sealing end surface is formed at the connection of the two connecting segments;

[0085] Both sides of the upper shell 28 and both sides of the lower shell 29 are bent to form connecting sections 22, and the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 are symmetrically arranged and surrounded by the outer periphery of the absorbent core 10, and each connecting section 22 is hot-pressedly connected to a connecting section 22 adjacent to it, so that the upper shell 28 and the lower shell 29 are interconnected to form a flexible tube body wrapped around the outside of the absorbent core 10, and a sealing end surface 23 is formed at the connection between any two interconnected connecting sections 22.

[0086] The step S40 comprises:

[0087] Step S41, coating the sealing layer on the sealing end surface by vacuum coating;

[0088] The sealing layer 30 is plated on each sealing end face 23 by vacuum plating, for example, any vacuum plating process such as vacuum ion sputtering, vacuum evaporation or vacuum ion plating can be used, so that the sealing layer 30 further seals the tube cavity 21, thereby effectively improving the sealing effect.

[0089] In a preferred embodiment, the step S11 includes:

[0090] Step S12, coating a sealing layer on the opposite sides of any two adjacent connecting sections;

[0091] The flexible pipe body includes a split composite plate 20, which includes an upper shell 28 and a lower shell 29. Both sides of the upper shell 28 and both sides of the lower shell 29 are bent to form connecting sections 22. Each connecting section 22 is provided with a sealing layer 24 by vacuum plating on one side of the connecting section 22 symmetrically arranged therewith, and the two symmetrically arranged connecting sections 22 are hot-pressed connected so that the sealing layer 24 is sandwiched between the two connecting sections 22, thereby further improving the sealing performance.

[0092] In one embodiment, the step S41 includes:

[0093] The sealing layer 30 is plated on the sealing end surface 23 by vacuum ion sputtering, vacuum evaporation or vacuum ion plating; wherein the ultimate vacuum degree is less than 4.0*10 -4 pa, coating time is greater than 5min, and sputtering power is greater than 50W.

[0094] In a preferred embodiment, the sealing layer 30 is plated on the sealing end surface 23 by vacuum ion sputtering, and the ultimate vacuum degree of vacuum ion sputtering is less than 4.0*10 -4pa, the coating time is greater than 5min, the sputtering power is greater than 50W, the coating target material is single metal aluminum, nickel-chromium alloy or oxide coating, that is, the sealing layer 30 is an aluminum layer, a nickel-chromium alloy layer or an oxide layer, the thickness of the sealing layer 30 is 0.1μm to 5.0μm, there is a linear relationship between the thickness of the sealing layer 30 and the gas permeability, and the gas permeability decreases by 1 / 10 for every 0.1μm increase in the thickness of the sealing layer 30. The adhesion of the sealing layer 30 reaches 4B and above 4B, which can ensure the airtightness of the sealing layer 30 and prevent the sealing layer 30 from falling off and affecting the service life. The hardness of the sealing layer 30 is greater than 1300HV. Higher hardness is conducive to reducing the gas permeability and further extending the service life. After the sealing layer 30 is plated on the sealing end surface 23, the gas leakage (oxygen) at the sealing end surface 23 is less than 0.000035cm 3 .20μm / m 2 .day.atm, has the advantage of good sealing.

[0095] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. All equivalent structural changes made by using the contents of the present invention specification and drawings under the inventive concept of the present invention, or directly / indirectly applied in other related technical fields are included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A flexible heat pipe, It is characterized in that The flexible heat pipe comprises: Liquid wick; A flexible pipe body, the flexible pipe body includes a composite plate, the composite plate includes an upper shell and a lower shell, a tube cavity is formed between the upper shell and the lower shell, the liquid wick is arranged in the tube cavity, and the tube cavity is filled with a working medium, and a sealing layer is plated at the connection between the upper shell and the lower shell.

2. The flexible heat pipe according to claim 1, It is characterized in that At least one side of the upper shell and at least one side of the lower shell are provided with connecting sections, each connecting section and the connecting section adjacent thereto are symmetrically arranged and connected to each other, and a sealing end surface is formed at the connection between the two connecting sections, and the sealing end surface is plated with the sealing layer.

3. The flexible heat pipe according to claim 2, It is characterized in that In any two interconnected connecting sections, the sides of the two connecting sections facing each other are plated with a sealing layer.

4. The flexible heat pipe according to claim 2, It is characterized in that A corrugated structure is formed on the upper shell, and the corrugated structure includes a plurality of grooves arranged in sequence along the extension direction of the upper shell; And / or, a corrugated structure is formed on the lower shell, and the corrugated structure includes a plurality of grooves arranged in sequence along the extension direction of the lower shell.

5. The flexible heat pipe according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The sealing layer is an aluminum layer, a nickel-chromium alloy layer or an oxide layer.

6. The flexible heat pipe according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The sealing layer has a thickness of 0.1 μm to 5.0 μm.

7. The flexible heat pipe according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The composite plate comprises a metal foil and a polymer film respectively stacked on both sides of the metal foil.

8. The flexible heat pipe according to claim 7, It is characterized in that The polymer film stacked on the side of the metal foil facing the tube cavity is the inner polymer film, and the polymer film stacked on the side of the metal foil away from the tube cavity is the outer polymer film; The inner polymer film is made of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyimide or polyvinylidene chloride; And / or, the outer polymer film is made of polyamide, polyethylene naphthalate or polyethylene terephthalate; And / or, the metal foil is made of aluminum or copper.

9. The flexible heat pipe according to claim 8, It is characterized in that The thickness of the inner polymer film is 5 μm to 500 μm; And / or, the thickness of the outer polymer film is 20 μm to 1000 μm; And / or, the thickness of the metal foil is 10 μm to 50 μm.

10. A method for manufacturing a flexible heat pipe, It is characterized in that The method for manufacturing the flexible heat pipe comprises the following steps: A liquid absorbent core and a composite plate are provided; wherein the composite plate comprises an upper shell and a lower shell; The upper shell and the lower shell are connected by heat pressing to form a flexible tube body wrapped around the liquid absorbent core; wherein a tube cavity is enclosed between the upper shell and the lower shell; Infusing the lumen with a working fluid and sealing both ends of the lumen; A sealing layer is plated at the connection between the upper shell and the lower shell by vacuum plating.

11. The method for manufacturing the flexible heat pipe according to claim 10, It is characterized in that The step of providing the liquid absorbent core and the composite plate comprises: A corrugated structure is manufactured on the upper shell and the lower shell.

12. The method for manufacturing the flexible heat pipe according to claim 11, It is characterized in that Both sides of the corrugated structure form connecting sections; The step of heat-pressing the edges of the upper shell and the lower shell to form a flexible tube wrapped around the absorbent core comprises: Connect any two adjacent connecting sections by hot pressing, so that the upper shell and the lower shell form the flexible pipe body; wherein the connection between the two connecting sections forms a sealing end surface; The step of using vacuum plating to plate a sealing layer at the connection between the upper shell and the lower shell comprises: The sealing layer is plated on the sealing end surface by vacuum plating.

13. The method for manufacturing the flexible heat pipe according to claim 12, It is characterized in that After the step of making the corrugated structure on the upper shell and the lower shell, the following steps are included: A sealing layer is plated on the opposite sides of any two adjacent connecting sections.

14. The method for manufacturing the flexible heat pipe according to claim 12, It is characterized in that The step of plating the sealing layer on the sealing end surface by vacuum plating comprises: The sealing layer is plated on the sealing end surface by vacuum ion sputtering, vacuum evaporation or vacuum ion plating; wherein the ultimate vacuum degree is less than 4.0*10 -4 pa, coating time is greater than 5min, and sputtering power is greater than 50W.

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