INTEGRATED VAPOR CHAMBER FOR THERMAL MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING DEVICES

• US 20150346784A1
• Filed: 06/02/2014
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Stellman, Taylor, Delano, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 10,698,458 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 15/0233 the conduits having a particular shape, e.g. non-circular cross-section, annular F28D15/0241, F28D15/0266 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 2015/0216 having particular orientation, e.g. slanted, or being orientation-independent
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/203 for portable computers, e.g. for laptops
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/201 Cooling arrangements using cooling fluid
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/427 Cooling by change of state, e.g. use of heat pipes by liquefied gas H01L23/445
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00

Abstract

A vapor chamber may be integrated with one or more components of a computing device to provide thermal management. The vapor chamber may include upper and lower portions forming the vapor chamber, and an annular space between the upper and lower portions that includes a fluid. The vapor chamber may be configured to absorb heat from a heat source of the computing device. Subsequently, the uniform heat transfer may enable the external surfaces of the computing device to achieve substantially isothermal external surface conditions, which may maximize a power dissipation of the computing device for a given ambient temperature ensuring a temperature of the computing device remains at or below safe limits while in use.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a vapor chamber configured to absorb heat from a heat source of a computing device, wherein the vapor chamber is integrated with a touch display module (TDM) of the computing device, the vapor chamber comprising;

an upper portion coupled to the TDM;

a lower portion coupled to the heat source, wherein the upper and lower portion form the vapor chamber; and

an annular space between the upper and lower portions comprising a fluid.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the upper portion of the vapor chamber coupled to the TDM replaces a piece of metal spanning a back side of the TDM.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vapor chamber is configured to maintain a maximum z-axis thermal resistance due to a location of the vapor chamber in a middle section of the computing device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein phase changes of the fluid include one of evaporation causing the fluid to change from a liquid to a vapor, and condensation causing the fluid to change from a vapor to a liquid.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein a portion of the fluid that is vapor is located within a vapor layer surrounded by one or more liquid layers comprising a remaining portion of the fluid that is liquid.

6. An apparatus comprising:

a vapor chamber integrated with a back case of the computing device, the vapor chamber comprising;

an upper portion comprising a metal coupled to the heat source;

a lower portion comprising a portion of the back case, wherein the lower portion is bound to the upper portion of the vapor chamber through diffusion to form the vapor chamber; and

an annular space between the upper and lower portions that is evacuated and charged with a fluid.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the lower portion of the vapor chamber is at least one of the external surfaces of the computing device enabling mechanical communication between the vapor chamber and an ambient environment.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein a rate of heat transfer is increased by one of forcing air over the at least one external surface of the computing device through one of a fan and a blower.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein a rate of heat transfer is increased by employing a heat sink on the at least external surface of the computing device.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the heat sink is configured to dissipate heat from the at least one external surface of the computing device into an ambient environment.

11. A method to provide thermal management for a computing device, the method comprising:

integrating a fluid-filled vapor chamber into one or more components of the computing device, wherein the vapor chamber includes an upper portion, a lower portion, and an annular space between the upper and lower portions that comprises the fluid.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the vapor chamber is integrated into one of a touch display module (TDM) and a back case of the computing device.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

enabling the one or more external surfaces of the computing device to achieve substantially isothermal external surface conditions in response to the uniform heat transfer.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

maximizing power dissipation of the computing device for a given ambient temperature in response to the achieving of the substantially isothermal external surface conditions.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

increasing a rate of the heat transfer by one of forcing air over the one or more external surfaces of the computing device and employing a heat sink on the one or more external surfaces of the computing device.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein a heat source of the computing device is a printed circuit board (PCB) of the computing device.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the fluid is dependent on a material composition of the vapor chamber.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the fluid is one or more of acetone and water.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the fluid has optimized transport properties including at least one of a dynamic viscosity, a thermal conductivity, and a surface tension of the fluid.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein the computing device is a mobile device including at least one of a tablet, a smart phone, a laptop, and a gaming device.