HEAT SPREADING MODULE

Abstract

In a heat spreading module, a plurality of hollow paths is formed in a thin plate-shaped main body so as to pass though the heating portion, and the hollow paths communicate with each other in a heating portion, a working fluid is enclosed in the hollow paths, a wick is disposed in each of the hollow paths such that a vapor flow path in which vapor of the working fluid flows is formed in each of the hollow paths, a part of each wick is positioned at the heating portion, and the vapor flow paths formed in the hollow paths communicate with each other in the heating portion.

Claims

1. A heat spreading module comprising a heating portion, to which heat is transferred from an outside, disposed in a portion of a thin plate-shaped main body and dissipating the heat transferred to the heating portion from the heating portion into another portion in the main body, wherein: a plurality of hollow paths is formed in the main body so as to pass though the heating portion, and the hollow paths communicate with each other in the heating portion: a working fluid which evaporates by heating and condenses by heat dissipation is enclosed in the hollow paths: a wick which generates a capillary force by permeation of the working fluid in a liquid phase is disposed in each of the hollow paths such that a vapor flow path in which vapor of the working fluid flows is formed in each of the hollow paths: a part of each wick is positioned at the heating portion, and the vapor flow paths formed in the hollow paths communicate with each other in the heating portion; and the wick comprises two thin wire bundles disposed along a longitudinal direction of each of the hollow paths and a porous body disposed between the thin wire bundles, and the thickness of the porous body is smaller than the height of each of the thin wire bundles and the porous body is recessed with respect to each of the thin wire bundles.

2. The heat spreading module according to claim 1, wherein the main body comprises an upper plate, a lower plate disposed facing the upper plate, and a middle plate sandwiched between the upper plate and the lower plate, in which a portion corresponding to the hollow path is a penetrating portion.

3. The heat spreading module according to claim 2, wherein at least the upper plate and the lower plate among the upper plate, the lower plate, and the middle plate are formed of a clad material obtained by laminating copper plates on a front surface and a back surface of a stainless steel plate or an aluminum plate.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating an upper plate after a part thereof has been removed, showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view cut along line A-A in FIG. 1.

[0016] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view illustrating another example of a wick.

[0017] FIG. 4 is a plan view similar to FIG. 1 for describing another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] FIG. 1 is a plan view exemplifying a heat dissipation plate (heat spreading module) 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view cut along line A-A in FIG. 1. The heat dissipation plate 1 includes a main body 2 formed into a thin rectangular plate shape. The main body 2 includes an upper plate 3, a lower plate 4, and a middle plate 5 each of which is a metal plate. Among these plates 3, 4, and 5, at least the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4 are formed of a clad material integrated by laminating a stainless steel plate, an aluminum plate, or an aluminum alloy plate and copper plates disposed on a front surface and a back surface thereof. The middle plate 5 is preferably formed of a copper plate. The upper plate 3 and the middle plate 5 are bonded to each other and the middle plate 5 and the lower plate 4 are bonded to each other in an airtight state by an appropriate method. A preferable example of the bonding method is dissipation bonding using silver. Here, the following are examples of the thicknesses of these plates 3, 4, and 5. The thickness of each of the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4 is approximately 0.09 mm. The thickness of the middle plate 5 is approximately 0.2 mm. Therefore, the thickness of the main body 2 is approximately 0.38 mm. The following is an example of the size of the main body 2. The width is approximately 70 mm, and the length is approximately 110 mm.

[0019] The heat dissipation plate 1 dissipates heat transferred to a part thereof. In the heat dissipation plate 1, one end (lower side in FIG. 1) in a longitudinal direction of the main body 2, positioned in the center in a width direction thereof, is a heating portion 6 to which heat is transferred from an outside. The heating portion 6 is an area with which a heat-generating body such as a calculation element (not illustrated) is bought into contact so as to be able to transfer heat, and is illustrated by a broken line in FIG. 1.

[0020] A thin belt-shaped penetrating portion 7 is formed in the middle plate 5. The penetrating portion 7 is formed in order to form a hollow path in the main body 2 by sandwiching the middle plate 5 between the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4. In an example illustrated in FIG. 1, three penetrating portions 7 communicating with each other in the heating portion 6 are formed. The penetrating portion 7 will be described as a hollow path 7 hereinafter. The hollow path 7 is formed by sandwiching the middle plate 5 having a penetrating portion formed between the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4. Therefore, the upper plate 3 or the lower plate 4 does not need to be subjected to processing such as grooving. Therefore, a surface of the upper plate 3 or the lower plate 4 can be kept flat.

[0021] In the present invention, the hollow path 7 may be formed into an appropriate shape as necessary. The shape of the hollow path 7 in the example illustrated in FIG. 1 will be described. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, three hollow paths 7 are disposed, and a hollow path 7a in the center is linearly extended from the heating portion 6 in a longitudinal direction of the main body 2. Each of the hollow paths 7b and 7c on the left and the right is bent to the left or the right of the main body from the heating portion 6 and is extended, and then is linearly extended in the longitudinal direction of the main body 2 to be parallel to the hollow path 7a in the center with a predetermined gap therebetween. Therefore, the hollow paths 7a, 7b, and 7c communicate with each other in the heating portion 6. The width W of the hollow path 7 is approximately 10 mm, for example. The height (depth) H thereof is approximately 0.2 mm, the same as the thickness of the middle plate 5.

[0022] A wick 8 is disposed in each of the hollow paths 7a, 7b, and 7c over the approximately full length thereof. The wick 8 generates a capillary force by permeation of a working fluid in a liquid phase described below. The wick 8 is formed into an appropriate shape having a cross section of a rectangular shape, an elliptical shape, a semielliptical shape, or the like with a porous sintered body, a mesh material, an ultrathin wire bundle, or the like. The width WU thereof is set to be smaller than the width W of the hollow path 7. The width WU is approximately ⅓ of the width W of the hollow path 7, for example. By disposition of the wick 8 in the hollow path 7, a space is generated in the hollow path 7 along the wick 8 and the space is a vapor flow path 9. As illustrated in FIG. 2, when the wick 8 is disposed in the center of a width direction of the hollow path 7, the vapor flow paths 9 are formed on both sides with the wick 8 therebetween. In this case, by making the height HU of the wick 8 lower than the height H of the hollow path 7, the vapor flow paths 9 on both sides with the wick 8 therebetween may communicate with each other.

[0023] The hollow path 7 communicates with a nozzle 10. The nozzle 10 is formed in order to discharge the air from the hollow path 7 and to inject a working fluid 11 into the hollow path 7. For example, the nozzle 10 is formed by cutting a part of the middle plate 5 or by disposing a predetermined tube in the cut part. The working fluid 11 is enclosed in the hollow path 7 by this nozzle 10. The working fluid 11 may be selected appropriately considering the temperature at which the heat dissipation plate 1 is used. For example, water is used. The air may be discharged from the hollow path 7 and the working fluid 11 may be enclosed in the hollow path 7 by injecting the working fluid 11 in a regulated amount or more from the nozzle 10 into the hollow path 7, then heating the main body 2 and boiling the working fluid 1, expelling the air from the hollow path 7 with the vapor, and then closing (pinching off) the nozzle 10.

[0024] Next, a function of the heat dissipation plate 1 will be described. The heat dissipation plate 1 is used for an information device such as a portable terminal, and is disposed in a case together with a substrate, a battery, or the like. A heat-generating part mounted in a substrate, such as CPU, is bought into contact with the heating portion 6. Meanwhile, a portion opposite to the heating portion 6 in the longitudinal direction of the main body 2 is bought into contact with a member having a large heat capacity and radiating heat to an outside, such as a battery or a display panel, so as to be able to transfer heat. The working fluid 11 is heated by heat transferred to the heating portion 6 and evaporates. The vapor flows toward a portion having a low pressure due to a low temperature through the vapor flow path 9 formed in the hollow path 7. The vapor of the working fluid radiates heat in a portion having a low temperature and condenses. The working fluid 11 in a liquid phase generated thereby permeates the wick 8. In a portion of the wick 8 on a side of the heating portion 6, the working fluid 11 evaporates, the meniscus in a fine void is lowered, and a capillary force is generated. Therefore, the working fluid 11 in a liquid phase which has permeated the wick 8 flows back toward the heating portion 6 due to the capillary force.

[0025] The wick 8 includes a fine void such as a porous body, and therefore holds a working fluid in a liquid phase in the fine void. In the heat dissipation plate 1, the ends of all the wicks 8 are disposed in the heating portion 6. Therefore, a capillary force is applied to the working fluid 11 in a liquid phase permeating the wick 8, and the working fluid 11 flows back toward the heating portion 6. That is, the amount of the working fluid 11 left in a state in which the working fluid 11 permeating the wick 8 becomes zero or less. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, heat is transported by the working fluid 11 in all the three hollow paths 7a, 7b, and 7c, and therefore the amount of heat transportation or the amount of dissipated heat becomes larger to suppress the rise in the temperature of the heating portion 6 effectively.

[0026] In addition, in the heat dissipation plate 1, all the hollow paths 7 or vapor flow paths 9 communicate with each other at the ends thereof on a side of the heating portion 6. Therefore, the working fluid 11 can flow into any one of the hollow paths 7a, 7b, and 7c. Therefore, when there is a difference in the amount of heat to be transported among the hollow paths 7a, 7b, and 7c, the working fluid 11 in a hollow path having a small amount of heat transfer flows into a hollow path having a large amount of heat transfer, and insufficiency of the working fluid 11 with respect to the amount of heat transfer (or heat load) can be avoided in advance. That is, dry-out does not occur in any one of the plurality of hollow paths 7, and heat is transported sufficiently in all the hollow paths 7a, 7b, and 7c. Also in this point, the amount of heat transportation or the amount of dissipated heat becomes larger to suppress the rise in the temperature of the heating portion 6 effectively. In this way, the heat dissipation plate 1 mainly transports heat with latent heat of the working fluid 11 and dissipates the heat. Therefore, even when the main body 2 is thinner, the amount of heat transported or dissipated is not particularly reduced. Therefore, the main body 2 or the heat dissipation plate 1 itself can be thinner.

[0027] A part of heat transferred to the heating portion 6 is dissipated over the entire main body 2 due to thermal conduction of the main body 2. As described above, the amount of heat transported by the working fluid 11 and dissipated is larger than the amount of dissipated heat due to such thermal conduction. Therefore, when there is a portion to receive a large amount of dissipated heat, a part of any hollow path 7 is disposed in the portion. In this way, the heating portion 6 is connected to the portion to receive a large amount of heat by any hollow path 7, and heat can be transported toward the portion intensively. As described above, according to the heat dissipation plate 1, a portion to transport a large amount of heat can be selected, and therefore a heat dissipation function or a cooling function of the heating portion 6 can be improved.

[0028] When heat is not transferred to (does not enter) the heating portion 6, the working fluid 11 condenses to become a liquid phase. Therefore, the inner pressure of the hollow path 7 becomes negative. However, in the heat dissipation plate 1, the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4 included in the main body 2 are formed of a clad material obtained by disposing a stainless steel plate, an aluminum plate, or an aluminum alloy plate, and have a higher strength than a copper plate. Therefore, the upper plate 3 or the lower plate 4 is not recessed easily, and keeps a flat surface. Therefore, the flat surface of the heating portion 6 makes adhesion between the heating portion 6 and a heat-generating part such as CPU excellent to reduce heat resistance between the heat-generating part and the heating portion 6.

[0029] Another structure of the wick 8 which can be employed in the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the wick 8 including thin wire bundles 8a and 8b and a porous body 8c. The thin wire bundles 8a and 8b are formed into slender shapes so as to be disposed in a longitudinal direction of the hollow path 7, are disposed on both sides with the porous body 8c therebetween, and the thin wire bundles 8a and 8b and the porous body 8c are integrated to form the wick 8. The thickness Ts of the porous body 8c is smaller than the thickness Tf of each of the thin wire bundles 8a and 8b. Therefore, the portion of the porous body 8c is recessed. The thickness Tf of each of the thin wire bundles 8a and 8b is lower than the height H of the hollow path 7, and a small gap C is formed between each of the thin wire bundles 8a and 8b and an upper surface 7e of the hollow path 7 in FIG. 3. The thin wire bundles 8a and 8b are formed of an ultrathin wire such as a carbon fiber or a copper fiber. The porous body 8c is formed by sintering metal powder such as copper powder so as to have a porous structure.

[0030] In the wick 8 having a structure illustrated in FIG. 3, the size of a void formed in each of the thin wire bundles 8a and 8b is larger than the size of a void formed in the porous body 8c, and there is a recessed space between the thin wire bundles 8a and 8b. The gap C is formed between each of the thin wire bundles 8a and 8b and the upper surface 7e of the hollow path 7. Therefore, the vapor flow paths 9 on both sides with the wick 8 therebetween communicate with each other through the space between the thin wire bundles 8a and 8b and the gap C. Therefore, vapor of the working fluid 11 is not enclosed in a specific vapor flow path 9, and the working fluid 11I can be supplied to the entire hollow path 7 to transport heat. The portion of the porous body 8c is recessed, and therefore, the working fluid 11 in a liquid phase can be held in the recessed portion as a liquid film. Therefore, evaporation of the working fluid 1 can be promoted particularly in the heating portion 6.

[0031] In the heat dissipation plate 1 according to the present invention, the number or the shape of the hollow path 7 can be an appropriate number or shape as necessary. For example, FIG. 4 is a plan view indicating another embodiment of the present invention. In an example illustrated in FIG. 4, four linear hollow paths 7 are formed in the main body 2. The first to third three hollow paths 7a, 7b, and 7c are linearly extended from the heating portion 6 toward an end of the main body 2 opposite to the heating portion 6. Among the three hollow paths 7a, 7b, and 7c, the two hollow paths 7b and 7c on the left and the right are formed while being inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the main body 2 so as to be isolated from each other on the opposite side to the heating portion 6 in the main body 2. A fourth hollow path 7d which acts as a so-called header with respect to these hollow paths 7a, 7b, and 7c is disposed. These hollow paths 7a to 7d can be formed by forming a penetrating portion in the middle plate 5 as in the example illustrated in FIG. 1 and sandwiching the middle plate 5 between the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4 to seal the penetrating portion.

[0032] The fourth hollow path 7d is formed in a width direction of the main body 2 so as to cross the heating portion 6. The wick 8 in the hollow path 7d is disposed at a position in contact with an inner wall surface, opposite to the portion in which the other hollow paths 7 communicate with each other. This disposition is made in order to prevent the vapor flow path 9 from being blocked by disposing one end in the heating portion 6 and making a space between a wick 8 disposed in the fourth hollow path 7d and a wick 8 disposed in another hollow path 7a, 7b, or 7c. The other structures in the example illustrated in FIG. 4 are similar to those described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Therefore, description thereof will be omitted by imparting similar signs to the signs imparted in FIGS. 1 and 2 in FIG. 4.

[0033] According to the heat dissipation plate 1 illustrated in FIG. 4, by transfer of heat to the heating portion 6, the working fluid 11 evaporates in each of the hollow paths 7a to 7d, the vapor flows toward an end apart from the heating portion 6 in each of the hollow paths 7a to 7d, and then radiates heat and condenses. That is, heat is diffused into a portion apart from the heating portion 6 by the working fluid 11. In this case, the hollow paths 7b and 7c inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the main body 2 are formed linearly. Therefore, the amount of dissipated heat (or dissipation distance) in the width direction of the main body 2 by the hollow paths 7b and 7c is small in a portion close to the heating portion 6 in the main body 2. Meanwhile, heat is dissipated from the heating portion 6 toward both sides in the width direction of the main body 2 by the fourth hollow path 7d. Therefore, heat dissipation in the width direction of the main body 2 due to the linear hollow paths 7b and 7c is supplemented with the fourth hollow path 7d. Heat dissipation performance comparing favorably with the heat dissipation plate 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is exhibited.

[0034] The present invention is not limited to the above specific examples. A communication path communicating the hollow paths 7 in a portion apart from the heating portion 6 may be disposed additionally. The shape of each of the hollow paths 7 may be an appropriate shape such as a meandering shape or a shape bent in zigzag in addition to a linear shape or a partially-curved shape.

[0035] While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Additions, omissions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as being limited by the foregoing description, and is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.