COMPOSITE FIBER CAPILLARY STRUCTURE, HEAT PIPE THEREOF AND FABRICATING METHOD FOR THE SAME

Abstract

A composite fiber capillary structure includes a first interlacing layer and a second interlacing layer. The first interlacing layer is formed as a hollow cylindrical net structure by metal wires with a first diameter. The second interlacing layer is also formed as a hollow cylindrical net structure by metal wires with a second diameter. The first diameter is larger than the second diameter, and the second interlacing layer covers the first interlacing layer in a sleeving manner. In addition, a fabricating method of the composite fiber capillary structure and a heat pipe with the composite fiber capillary structure are also provided.

Claims

1. A composite fiber capillary structure, comprising: a first interlacing layer, formed as a hollow cylindrical net structure by metal wires with a first diameter; and a second interlacing layer, formed as another hollow cylindrical net structure by another metal wires with a second diameter, the first diameter being larger than the second diameter, the second interlacing layer covering the first interlacing layer in a sleeving manner.

2. The composite fiber capillary structure of claim 1, wherein the first interlacing layer is the net structure formed by interlacing at least one strand of the metal wires with the first diameter, and the second interlacing layer is the another net structure formed by interlacing at least one strand of the another metal wires with the second diameter.

3. The composite fiber capillary structure of claim 1, wherein the metal wires and the another metal wires are both made of metallic materials with predetermined thermal conductivity.

4. A fabricating method of a composite fiber capillary structure, comprising the steps of: preparing a core wire; wrapping the core wire by a first interlacing layer, the first interlacing layer being formed as a net structure of metal wires with a first diameter; wrapping the first interlacing layer by a second interlacing layer, the second interlacing layer being formed as another net structure of metal wires with a second diameter, the first diameter being larger than the second diameter; and pulling away the core wire.

5. The fabricating method of a composite fiber capillary structure of claim 4, wherein a determination of the second diameter and a thickness of the second interlacing layer is prior to that of the first diameter, a thickness of the first interlacing layer and a diameter of the core wire.

6. The fabricating method of a composite fiber capillary structure of claim 4, wherein the net structure of the first interlacing layer is formed by interlacing at least one strand of the metal wires with the first diameter, and the another net structure of the second interlacing layer is formed by interlacing at least one strand of the another metal wires with the second diameter.

7. The fabricating method of a composite fiber capillary structure of claim 4, wherein the metal wires and the another metal wires are both made of metallic materials with predetermined thermal conductivity.

8. A heat pipe, comprising: an outer chamber structure, vacuum sealed, containing thereinside a work fluid; and a composite fiber capillary structure, located inside the outer chamber structure, further comprising: a first interlacing layer, formed as a hollow cylindrical net structure by metal wires with a first diameter; and a second interlacing layer, formed as another hollow cylindrical net structure by another metal wires with a second diameter, the first diameter being larger than the second diameter, the second interlacing layer covering the first interlacing layer in a sleeving manner.

9. The heat pipe of claim 8, wherein the net structure of the first interlacing layer is formed by interlacing at least one strand of the metal wires with the first diameter, and the another net structure of the second interlacing layer is formed by interlacing at least one strand of the another metal wires with the second diameter.

10. The heat pipe of claim 8, wherein the metal wires and the another metal wires are both made of metallic materials with predetermined thermal conductivity.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present disclosure and wherein:

[0025] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of the composite fiber capillary structure in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0026] FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of area A of FIG. 1;

[0027] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view along line B-B of FIG. 1;

[0028] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a fabricating method of the composite fiber capillary structure in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0029] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the heat pipe in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0030] FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view along line C-C of FIG. 5; and

[0031] FIG. 7 shows relationships of the thermal resistance and the operational power (heat transfer capacity) for both the conventional capillary-structured heat pipe and the heat pipe of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.

[0033] Referring now to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a composite fiber capillary structure 100 of this disclosure includes a first interlacing layer 110 and a second interlacing layer 120. The first interlacing layer 110 is formed as a longitudinal hollow cylindrical net structure by interlacing at least a strand of metal wires 111 having a first diameter 1. On the other hand, the second interlacing layer 120 is formed as a longitudinal hollow cylindrical net structure by interlacing at least a strand of metal wires 121 having a second diameter 2. In particular, the first diameter 1 is larger than the second diameter 2. As shown, the second interlacing layer 120 covers the first interlacing layer 110 in a sleeving manner. The metal wires 111, 121 are both made of a metallic material with comprehensive thermal conductivity.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 2, the second interlacing layer 120 is, but not limited to be, formed by interlacing bundles of the metal wires 121, preferably four strands of metal wires 121 in a bundle. In practice, the number of strands of the metal wires 121 in a bundle is per requirement to the specific needs. Also, the formation of the first interlacing layer 110 of the metal wires 111 is similar to that of the second interlacing layer 120.

[0035] Referring now to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the fabricating method 400 of the composite fiber capillary structure 100 comprises the following steps.

[0036] Step 402: Prepare a core wire 130, in which the core wire 130 is not limited to be made of any specific material, but requires to have a specific hardness for sustaining the wrapping process for forming the first interlacing layer 110 and the second interlacing layer 120.

[0037] Step 404: Wrap a first interlacing layer 110 around the core wire 130, in which the first interlacing layer 110 is a net structure consisted of metal wires 111 with a first diameter 1.

[0038] Step 406: Wrap a second interlacing layer 120 around the first interlacing layer 110, in which the second interlacing layer 120 is another net structure consisted of metal wires 121 with a second diameter 2. In this disclosure, the first diameter 1 is larger than the second diameter 2.

[0039] Step 408: Pull away the core wire 130 from the formation of the first and second interlacing layers 110, 120.

[0040] In this disclosure, a determination of the second diameter and a thickness of the second interlacing layer is prior to that of the first diameter, a thickness of the first interlacing layer and a diameter of the core wire.

[0041] Referring now to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, a thin heat pipe 300 of this disclosure is consisted of the composite fiber capillary structure 100 and an outer chamber structure 200. The composite fiber capillary structure 100 is formed as an inner chamber structure formed by an inner first interlacing layer 110 and an outer second interlacing layer 120. Both the outer chamber structure 200 and the metal wires for forming the inner chamber structure 100 (i.e. the same composite fiber capillary structure) including the first interlacing layer 110 and the second interlacing layer can be made of a metallic material with predetermined thermal conductivity, such as the copper, the aluminum, the stainless steel and so on. The formulation of the heat pipe 300 is to insert the inner chamber structure 100 in a shape of a longitudinal hollow cylinder as shown in FIG. 1 into the outer chamber structure 200 in the same shape. Then, the combination of the inner and outer chamber structures 100, 200 is depressed to become a flat structure shown in FIG. 6. One end of the combination is sealed, a vacuuming process is applied to vacuum the combination, a work fluid (water for example) is injected into the chamber structure 200, and finally another end of the combination is sealed as well. Upon such an arrangement, the composite fiber capillary structure 100 (i.e. the inner chamber structure) can be sealed inside the outer chamber structure 200 to have an appearance shown as FIG. 5 does.

[0042] Referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, it is proved that the embodiment in accordance with this disclosure does have improved performance. As shown in FIG. 6, when the heat pipe 300 has a 1.0-mm thickness T, the outer chamber structure 200 has an interior height h=0.7 mm, the metal wire for the first interlacing layer 110 has the first diameter 1=0.1 mm, the metal wire for the second interlacing layer 120 has the second diameter 2=0.05 mm, and the work fluid inside the outer chamber structure 200 is about a 116-mg water. Then, the operational power (the heat transfer capacity) W is plotted in FIG. 7 with respect to various thermal resistances. It is shown that the heat transfer capacity by the heat pipe with the composite fiber capillary structure of this disclosure is much superior to that by the conventional capillary-structured heat pipe. In addition, for the same operational power, the thin heat pipe with the composite fiber capillary structure of this disclosure is demonstrated to have a lower thermal resistance. For example in FIG. 7, to the operational power equal to 10 W, the thermal resistance for the heat pipe with the conventional capillary structure is about 0.2 K/W, while the thermal resistance for the heat pipe with the composite fiber capillary structure of this disclosure is reduced to about 0.1 K/W.

[0043] In summary, the composite fiber capillary structure provided by the present disclosure is a double-layer braided structure made up of metal wires. Since the sire size of the metal wire for the inner first interlacing layer is larger than that of the metal wire for the outer second interlacing layer, thus, while the composite fiber capillary structure provided by the present disclosure is applied to construct the heat pipe (especially the thin heat pipe), a larger work space can be provided for the interior wok fluid. Upon such an arrangement, the flow resistance can be reduced, the capillary forcing can be enhanced by the much denser second interlacing layer, and also the heat transfer capacity can be substantially increased.

[0044] With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present disclosure.