US20120168435A1

US20120168435A1 - Folding vapor chamber

Info

Publication number: US20120168435A1
Application number: US12/983,981
Authority: US
Inventors: Chang-Yin Chen; Lei-Lei LIU; Meng-Zhou WANG
Original assignee: Cooler Master Co Ltd
Current assignee: Cooler Master Co Ltd
Priority date: 2011-01-04
Filing date: 2011-01-04
Publication date: 2012-07-05

Abstract

A folding vapor chamber includes folding boards engaged and covered with one another, a folding edge formed between the adjacent folding boards and provided for connecting the folding boards integrally, and the adjacent folding boards being bent and folded by the corresponding folding edge and engaged with one another, and a capillary tissue installed at an internal surface between the folding boards. The casing is formed by the folding edge to reduce the length of the sealing edge of the vapor chamber, so as to achieve the effects of lowering the defective rate of the edge sealing operation, and preventing the sealing edge from being cracked easily.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a thermal conducting device, in particular to a vapor chamber produced by a folding method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In general, a vapor chamber is a hollow casing substantially in a flat slab shape, and the casing are formed by engaging two detachable folding boards, and a chamber is formed between the two folding boards and provided for installing a capillary tissue, an operating fluid and a support structure, etc. Since air must be removed or vacuumed in the casing, therefore the two folding boards must be soldered or thermally pressed after the two folding boards are engaged with each other, so as to seal the periphery of the two folding boards and facilitate the operation of removing air or vacuuming the vapor chamber.
However, the larger the edge of the vapor chamber, the more difficult is the manufacture of sealing the edge. As a result, the problems of a high defective rate and inconvenience arise. Particularly, the sealed edge may be cracked easily after the vapor chamber has been used in an environment of being heated on one surface of the vapor chamber and cooled on the other surface of the vapor chamber for a while, and the operating fluid sealed in the vapor chamber may be leaked, or the vapor chamber may fail to exchange heat when air enters into the chamber, or totally break down.
In view of the aforementioned shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally developed a folding vapor chamber in accordance with the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention is to provide a vapor chamber having a casing formed by folding a board, and at least one side of the casing being formed by a folding edge, such that the length of a sealing edge of the vapor chamber can be reduced to achieve the effects of lowering the defective rate of the manufacture, completing the edge sealing operation quickly, and preventing the sealing edge from being cracked to extend the using life of the vapor chamber.
Accordingly, the present invention discloses a folding vapor chamber comprising a plurality of folding boards covered and coupled with one another, a folding edge formed between the adjacent folding boards and provided for connecting folding boards integrally, and the adjacent folding boards being bent and covered onto one another by the corresponding folding edge, and a capillary tissue installed on an internal surface between the folding boards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an unfolded vapor chamber of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of folding a vapor chamber of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a folded vapor chamber of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a folded vapor chamber of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of folding a vapor chamber in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of folding a vapor chamber in accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The technical characteristics and contents of the present invention will become apparent with the following detailed description accompanied with related drawings. The drawings are provided for the purpose of illustrating the present invention only, but not intended for limiting the scope of the invention.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 for schematic views of an unfolded vapor chamber and an operation of folding the vapor chamber in accordance with the present invention respectively, the present invention provides a folding vapor chamber, comprising a casing 1 having at least two folding boards 10, 11 engaged and covered onto one another, and a folding edge 12 formed between the adjacent folding boards 10, 11 for connecting the folding boards 10, 11 integrally, wherein the adjacent folding boards 10, 11 are bent and covered onto one another by the corresponding folding edge 12 (as shown in FIG. 3), such that a hollow space is defined between the engaged folding boards 10, 11 (as shown in FIG. 4).
In the aforementioned preferred embodiment of the present invention, the casing 1 is comprised of two opposite folding boards 10, 11, and the areas of the two folding boards 10, 11 are substantially equal, and the folding edge 12 is formed between the two folding boards 10, 11. In FIG. 1, the capillary tissue 2 and the support structure 3 are installed on an internal surface of the casing 1, before the casing 1 is formed by engaging the two folding boards 10, 11 and folding the two folding boards 10, 11 at the folding edge 12, such that the capillary tissue 2 and the support structure 3 are disposed between the two folding boards 10, 11 (as shown in FIG. 4) after the two folding boards 10, 11 are folded at the folding edge 12. In addition, the capillary tissue 2 can be comprised of grooves, meshes or sintered powders and installed separately on the internal surface of the two folding boards 10, 11.
In FIGS. 2 and 3, a sealing edge 100, 110 is reserved at the periphery of each of the two folding boards 10, 11, such that after the two folding boards 10, 11 are folded, the sealing edges 100, 110 are overlapped for facilitating the edge sealing operation. In FIG. 4, after the two folding boards 10, 11 are folded at the folding edge 12, the sealing edges 100, 110 of the two folding boards 10, 11 are overlapped. After the two folding boards 10, 11 are folded, at least one side is sealed by the folding edge 12, so that the length formed by the folding edge 12 for performing the edge sealing operation can be reduced to achieve the effects of expediting the edge sealing operation, lowering the defective rate, and preventing the sealing edge from being cracked easily.
In FIGS. 2 and 3, an air removing tube 13 is formed at the sealing edges 100, 110 of the folding boards 10, 11 for facilitating the air removing operation at a later stage, and the casing 1 can be formed integrally. The air removing tube 13 can be formed at the sealing edge 100, 110 of any one of the folding boards 10, 11, or opposite half- tube portions 130, 131 can be formed at the sealing edges 100, 110 of the two folding boards 10, 11 respectively in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, such that after the two folding boards 10, 11 are folded at the folding edge 12, the two half- tube portions 130, 131 are stacked to form the air removing tube 13.
In FIGS. 5 and 6, the casing 1 is comprised of three folding boards 10, 11, 14, wherein one folding boards 10 has an area substantially equal to the sum of areas of the other two folding boards 11, 14, and a folding edge 12 is formed between adjacent folding boards 10, 11, 14 for connecting the three folding boards 10, 11, 14 integrally and provided for the other two folding boards 11, 14 to be folded and engaged onto the folding board 10 with a larger area by the corresponding folding edge 12.
With the aforementioned assembly, the folding vapor chamber of the present invention can be achieved.
In the folding vapor chamber of the present invention, the casing 1 of the vapor chamber is made by bending and folding a board. Compared with the conventional vapor chamber produced by two detachable folding boards, the present invention can reduce the sealing edge formed by the folding edge 12 and thus can lower the defective rate of the edge sealing operation and preventing the vapor chamber from being cracked at the sealing edge easily.
In summation of the description above, the present invention improves over the prior art and complies with the patent application requirements, and thus is duly filed for patent application.
While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

Claims

1. A folding vapor chamber, comprising:

a plurality of folding boards;

a folding edge, formed between two adjacent folding boards, for integrally coupling the folding boards, and folding the adjacent folding boards with respect to the folding edge to cover one another; and

a capillary tissue, installed on an internal surface within the folding boards.

2. The folding vapor chamber of claim 1, wherein the casing is comprised of the two corresponding folding boards, and the folding edge is formed at a corresponding position between the two folding boards.

3. The folding vapor chamber of claim 1, wherein the casing is comprised of three folding boards, and one of the folding boards has an area substantially equal to the sum of areas of the other two folding boards, and the folding edge is formed at a corresponding position between the folding boards and provided for the other two folding boards to be folded and covered onto the folding boards with the larger area with respect to the folding edge.

4. The folding vapor chamber of claim 1, wherein each of the folding boards has a sealing edge reserved at the external periphery of each folding board.

5. The folding vapor chamber of claim 4, wherein the sealing edge of any one of the folding boards has an air removing tube.

6. The folding vapor chamber of claim 4, wherein the sealing edge of the folding boards has opposite half-tube portions, and an air removing tube is formed after the half-tube portions are engaged and covered by the folding boards.

7. The folding vapor chamber of claim 1, further comprising a support structure installed between the folding boards.

8. The folding vapor chamber of claim 1, wherein the capillary tissue is comprised of grooves, meshes or sintered powders.