Thin heat pipe

Abstract

A thin heat pipe includes a thin hollow tube and a capillary structure. The capillary structure is formed in at least half of an inner wall of the thin hollow tube by a chemical etching process.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A thin heat pipe comprising:
 a thin hollow tube; and   a capillary structure formed in at least half of an inner wall of the thin hollow tube by a chemical etching process.   
     
     
         2 . The thin heat pipe of  claim 1 , wherein a wall thickness of the thin hollow tube is between 0.2 mm and 0.3 mm. 
     
     
         3 . The thin heat pipe of  claim 1 , wherein the capillary structure is a groove-type capillary structure. 
     
     
         4 . The thin heat pipe of  claim 1 , wherein the capillary structure is a porous capillary structure comprising a plurality of micro-holes and a diameter of each micro-hole is between 1 μm and 100 μm. 
     
     
         5 . The thin heat pipe of  claim 4 , wherein a shape of each micro-hole is irregular. 
     
     
         6 . The thin heat pipe of  claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the capillary structure is between ⅓ times and ⅔ times a wall thickness of the thin hollow tube. 
     
     
         7 . The thin heat pipe of  claim 1 , wherein the thin hollow tube has an evaporation end and a condensation end, and the capillary structure at least covers the evaporation end. 
     
     
         8 . The thin heat pipe of  claim 7 , wherein the evaporation end is hydrophilic and the condensation end is hydrophobic.