Piezo pumped heat pipe

Abstract

An arrangement is provided for cooling a heat-generating device (e.g., an integrated circuit chip) in a system such as a laptop computer. The arrangement includes a piezo pumped heat pipe having a piezoelectric device near an evaporator in the heat pipe. The piezoelectric device, when actuated, helps reduce evaporator resistance when the evaporator evaporates a liquid coolant in the heat pipe.

1 . A cooling apparatus, comprising: 
 a piezo pumped heat pipe to transfer heat from a first section to a second section; and    a heat exchanger, coupled to the piezo pumped heat pipe, to dissipate heat from the second section of the piezo pumped heat pipe.    
   
   
       2 . The cooling apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first section corresponds to an evaporator section in the piezo pumped heat pipe, and the second section corresponds to a condenser section in the piezo pumped heat pipe.  
   
   
       3 . The cooling apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the piezo pumped heat pipe comprises: 
 a liquid coolant;    an evaporator, when heated, to evaporate at least a portion of the liquid coolant;    a wick structure to bring the at least a portion of the liquid coolant to the evaporator; and    a piezoelectric device adjacent to the evaporator to help reduce evaporator resistance when the evaporator evaporates the at least a portion of the liquid coolant.    
   
   
       4 . The cooling apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the piezo pumped heat pipe further comprises a container to enclose the evaporator, the wick structure, the liquid coolant, and the piezoelectric device.  
   
   
       5 . The cooling apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the piezoelectric device is actuated by an oscillating voltage source.  
   
   
       6 . The cooling apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the piezoelectric device, when actuated, generates wavy motions in at least a portion of the liquid coolant, the wavy motions capable of increasing flow velocities in the liquid coolant near the evaporator.  
   
   
       7 . The cooling apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising an oscillating voltage source to actuate a piezoelectric device in the piezo pumped heat pipe.  
   
   
       8 . The cooling apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger extracts heat from vapor in the second section to condense the vapor to liquid.  
   
   
       9 . The cooling apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises a fan to enhance air flow and a plurality of fins to dissipate heat extracted from the vapor to ambient air.  
   
   
       10 . A piezo pumped heat pipe, comprising: 
 a liquid coolant;    an evaporator, when heated, to evaporate at least a portion of the liquid coolant; and    a piezoelectric device adjacent to the evaporator to help reduce evaporator resistance when the evaporator evaporates the at least a portion of the liquid coolant.    
   
   
       11 . The piezo pumped heat pipe of  claim 10 , further comprising a wick structure to bring at least a portion of the liquid coolant to the evaporator.  
   
   
       12 . The piezo pumped heat pipe of  claim 10 , further comprising a container to enclose the evaporator, the liquid coolant, the piezoelectric device, and a wick structure.  
   
   
       13 . The piezo pumped heat pipe of  claim 10 , wherein the piezoelectric device is actuated by an oscillating voltage source.  
   
   
       14 . The piezo pumped heat pipe of  claim 13 , wherein the piezoelectric device, when actuated, generates wavy motions in at least a portion of the liquid coolant, the wavy motions capable of increasing flow velocities in the liquid coolant near the evaporator.  
   
   
       15 . A system, comprising: 
 a heat-generating device; and    a cooling system to dissipate heat generated by the heat-generating device using a piezo pumped heat pipe.    
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the heat-generating device comprises an integrated circuit chip.  
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the cooling system comprises: 
 a piezo pumped heat pipe, including an evaporator section and a condenser section, to transfer heat from the evaporator section to a condenser section;    a heat exchanger, coupled to the piezo pumped heat pipe, to dissipate heat from the condenser section; and    an oscillating voltage source to actuate a piezoelectric device in the piezo pumped heat pipe.    
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the piezo pumped heat pipe comprises: 
 a liquid coolant;    an evaporator, when heated, to evaporate at least a portion of the liquid coolant;    a wick structure to bring the at least a portion of the liquid coolant to the evaporator; and    the piezoelectric device adjacent to the evaporator to help reduce evaporator resistance when the evaporator evaporates the at least a portion of the liquid coolant.    
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the piezo pumped heat pipe further comprises a container to enclose the evaporator, the wick structure, the liquid coolant, and the piezoelectric device.  
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the piezoelectric device, when actuated, generates wavy motions in at least a portion of the liquid coolant, the wavy motions capable of increasing flow velocities in the liquid coolant near the evaporator.  
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the heat exchanger extracts heat from vapor in the condenser section to condense the vapor to liquid.  
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises a fan to enhance air flow and a plurality of fins to dissipate heat extracted from the vapor to ambient air.