Thin Heat Pipe With Bosses and Thin-Sheet Member
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional thin heat pipe structures lack internal supporting strength, leading to collapse and reduced heat transfer performance, and have low vapor-liquid circulation efficiency and production yield.
Innovation Solution
A thin heat pipe structure incorporating a flat pipe body with a thin-sheet member and bosses, where the open spaces on the thin-sheet member increase liquid-vapor phase change and the bosses enhance supporting strength, allowing for improved capillary action and vapor-liquid circulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If no internal supporting structure is provided in the thin heat pipe, then the structure remains simple and manufacturing is easy, but the heat pipe collapses under pressure and loses heat transfer performance
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting structure is divided into multiple discrete ribs distributed throughout the hollow space, rather than using a single continuous support element. This segmentation provides adequate structural support while maintaining manufacturing simplicity and avoiding excessive complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a thin-walled pipe body structure that maintains flexibility while incorporating internal ribs for support. The thin walls combined with internal rib support achieve both simplicity and strength requirements
2Reliability
If conventional wick structures are used without proper support, then the structure remains simple, but the wick structure peels off from the inner wall surface under pressure reducing heat transfer performance
Solution Approach 1:
The ribs are pre-formed as integral parts of the pipe body structure before the wick structure is applied. This preliminary structural preparation ensures that the wick structure remains firmly attached to the inner wall surface under operating conditions, preventing peeling and maintaining reliable heat transfer performance
Solution Approach 2:
The ribs are strategically positioned at specific locations where structural support is most needed to prevent wick peeling. This localized reinforcement approach provides necessary support strength without adding excessive structural complexity throughout the entire heat pipe
3Volume of moving object
If the thin heat pipe structure is made thinner to reduce size, then the compactness increases, but the supporting strength decreases leading to collapse
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing wall thickness to improve strength, the patent adds internal ribs that extend in the radial dimension from the inner wall surface. This dimensional approach to reinforcement allows the heat pipe to maintain its thin overall profile while gaining substantial structural support strength through the three-dimensional rib architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting ribs are nested within the hollow space of the thin-walled pipe body, creating a compact nested structure. This nesting approach allows the supporting elements to be contained within the existing outer dimensions, maintaining the thin profile while providing necessary internal support
4Ease of manufacture
If metal powder is sintered to form wick structure, then the wick structure can be formed on inner wall surface, but the production yield is low and manufacturing cost is high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the expensive and low-yield metal powder sintering process with a simpler, more reliable method of forming wick structures. This substitution uses more economical manufacturing approaches that achieve the same functional result with higher production yield and lower cost
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the manufacturing parameters and methods for creating the wick structure, moving away from high-temperature sintering processes toward alternative formation methods. This parameter change enables better production yield and reduced manufacturing cost while maintaining the essential wick structure functionality
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
The solution provides increased supporting strength and heat transfer efficiency while reducing manufacturing costs and improving production yield.
Implementation Method 1
The open spaces on the thin-sheet member increase liquid-vapor phase change
Implementation Method 2
allowing for improved capillary action and vapor-liquid circulation
Data Source
AI summary
A thin heat pipe structure includes a pipe body, a thin-sheet member, and a plurality of bosses. The pipe body internally defines a receiving space, in which a working fluid is provided. The thin-sheet member includes a plurality of open spaces, and the bosses are provided in the open spaces, so that the bosses and the thin-sheet member are disposed in the receiving space of the pipe body at the same time. A method of manufacturing thin pipe structure is also disclosed for manufacturing thin heat pipe structure with reduced time and labor, and protecting a wick structure formed in the thin heat pipe structure against damage. Therefore the thin heat pipe structure can be manufactured with increased good yield and at reduced manufacturing cost.