Interference Fit Heat Pipe Mounting Without Solder
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heat dissipation apparatuses using soldered heat pipes pose environmental and health risks due to heavy metals, necessitating a solution that maintains high heat conductive efficiency without using hazardous materials.
Innovation Solution
A heat dissipation apparatus where heat pipes are securely mounted within fins using an interference fit, eliminating the need for solder by expanding collars to intimately contact the pipes, ensuring thermal contact without heavy metals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If solder is used to mount heat pipes in fins, then heat conductive efficiency is improved, but environmental and health safety deteriorates due to heavy metals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes solder entirely from the heat pipe mounting process. Instead of using solder to join heat pipes to fins, the invention uses an interference fit mechanism where the heat pipe is inserted through a collar that expands to create a secure mechanical connection, completely eliminating the harmful solder material while maintaining thermal contact
Solution Approach 2:
The collar serves as an intermediary component between the heat pipe and the fin. The collar receives the heat pipe, expands via interference fit to secure it, and maintains thermal contact without requiring solder. This intermediary mechanism enables both mechanical fixation and thermal conduction without harmful materials
2Object-affected harmful factors
If interference fit is used to mount heat pipes, then environmental safety is improved by eliminating heavy metals, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The collar is pre-designed with specific dimensional tolerances and elastic properties that enable automatic interference fit engagement. The heat pipe diameter is slightly larger than the collar's inner diameter, ensuring that upon insertion, the collar expands to secure the heat pipe without requiring additional manufacturing steps or complex assembly procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes controlled dimensional parameters and material elasticity to achieve the interference fit. By carefully selecting the heat pipe diameter, collar inner diameter, and collar material elastic modulus, the system achieves secure mechanical bonding through simple insertion, transforming a potentially complex joining process into a straightforward assembly operation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution effectively dissipates heat while avoiding the use of harmful heavy metals, ensuring both environmental safety and efficient thermal conductivity.
Implementation Method 1
an inner diameter of the collar gradually decreases along a direction away from the fin from which the collar extends, so that when the heat pipe extends through the collar, the collar is pushed to expand by the heat pipe, and intimately contacts the heat pipe
Implementation Method 2
four heat pipes fixed on and thermally contacting the base, ensuring both environmental safety and efficient thermal conductivity
Data Source
AI summary
An exemplary heat dissipation apparatus includes a number of fins and a heat pipe. Each fin defines a through hole therein. A collar extends from each fin at an edge of the through hole. The collar inclines toward a center of the through hole. An inner diameter of the collar gradually decreases along a direction away form the fin. A diameter of the heat pipe is larger than a minimum inner diameter of the collar when the collar in a natural state. When the heat pipe extends through the through hole of the fin, the collar is pushed by the heat pipe to expand outwardly, so that the heat pipe intimately contacts an inner face of the collar.