Temperature-controllable heat valve
First Claim
1. In the method of transferring heat by the evaporation of a working fluid in an evaporator and the condensing of the resulting vapor in a condenser to form condensate, the direction of heat flow being from the evaporator to the condenser, and the condensate being returned to the evaporator, the improvement for controlling the amount of heat flow comprising the steps of:
- interrupting the return flow of condensate to produce droplets of condensate, andcontrolling the temperature at the point of droplet production to control the rate of droplet production and, thus, the rate at which condensate is returned to the evaporator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The basic heat pipe principle is extended by providing means for interrupting and modulating the return of liquid condensate to the evaporator end of the heat pipe. This is done by interposing a metallic screen (called the control grid) in the fluid path. This will stop the flow if the pressure drop across the screen is insufficient to overcome the resistance offered by surface tension. Because this surface tension increased as the temperature of the control grid decreases, the resistance of the screen, and hence the strength of the return flow of condensate to the evaporator, can be varied by changing the temperature of the control grid. This control temperature can be considerably lower than the operating temperature of the heat pipe, which means that low-temperature control devices can be used to control high-temperature heat flow.
18 Citations
18 Claims
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1. In the method of transferring heat by the evaporation of a working fluid in an evaporator and the condensing of the resulting vapor in a condenser to form condensate, the direction of heat flow being from the evaporator to the condenser, and the condensate being returned to the evaporator, the improvement for controlling the amount of heat flow comprising the steps of:
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interrupting the return flow of condensate to produce droplets of condensate, and controlling the temperature at the point of droplet production to control the rate of droplet production and, thus, the rate at which condensate is returned to the evaporator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. In an heat-transferring device of the type in which heat is transferred by the evaporation of a working fluid in an evaporator and the condensing of the resulting vapor in a condenser to form a condensate, the direction of heat flow being from the evaporator to the condenser, and the condensate being returned to the evaporator, the improvement of means for controlling the amount of heat flow comprising:
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interrupting means for interrupting the return flow of condensate to produce droplets of condensate; and temperature-controlling means for controlling the temperature at the point of droplet production to control the rate of droplet production and, thus, the rate at which condensate is returned to the evaporator. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification