Heat transfer device

Claim 1

A heat transfer device comprising a closed container including a wall of high thermal conductivity material located in one portion of said container and inCluding another wall of high thermal conductivity material located in another portion of said container, a layer of wicking material within said enclosure having a pair of opposed parallel surfaces, a portion of one of said surfaces in direct contact with said one wall and another portion of one of said surfaces adjacent to said other wall, said layer of wicking material including a multiplicity of capillary passages, each of small mean cross-sectional area extending in various directions and to various extents, and interconnected to move liquid therethrough from one surface region thereof to another, and including a plurality of openings each of large cross-sectional area in relation to the cross-sectional area of a capillary passage and each extending orthogonally from the surface portion of said layer in direct contact with said one wall to the surface opposite thereto to provide a relatively low impedance path to the passage of vapor therethrough, said layer of wicking material being saturated with a vaporizable liquid, said one wall being adapted to be connected to a heat source to cause said liquid in contact with said wall to vaporize, said other wall being adapted to be connected to a heat sink to cause said vapor in contact therewith to condense, whereby heat applied to said one wall causes liquid in contact therewith to change to a vapor which passes through said openings and moves in response to the pressure created thereby to the region adjacent said other wall where said vapor is condensed into a liquid, contacts said wicking material and is returned to said one wall.