Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Self-sustaining carbon mass or layer with impregnant or...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-31
2004-08-17
Bahta, Abraham (Department: 1775)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Self-sustaining carbon mass or layer with impregnant or...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06777086
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to laminates prepared from resin impregnated flexible graphite sheets. The laminates, which may also include layers of other materials such as metals and plastics, are cured under heat and pressure and are machinable structures useful in applications such as heat transporters used in electronic thermal management (ETM).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Laminates in which one or more of the layers consist of flexible graphite sheets are known in the art. These structures find utility, for example, in gasket manufacture. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,991 to Howard. Howard discloses various laminate structures which contain metal or plastic sheets, bonded between sheets of flexible graphite. Howard discloses that such structures can be prepared by cold-working a flexible graphite sheet on both sides of a metal net and then press-adhering the graphite to the metal net. Howard also discloses placing a polymer resin coated cloth between two sheets of flexible graphite while heating to a temperature sufficient to soften the polymer resin, thereby bonding the polymer resin coated cloth between the two sheets of flexible graphite to produce a flexible graphite laminate. Similarly, Hirschvogel, U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,993, discloses flexible graphite/metal laminates prepared by a process which involves as a first step applying a surface active agent to one of the surfaces to be bonded. Mercuri, U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,605, also forms laminates from flexible graphite sheets bonded to a core material which may be metal, fiberglass or carbon. Mercuri deposits and then cures a coating of an epoxy resin and particles of a thermoplastic agent on the core material before feeding core material and flexible graphite through calender rolls to form the laminate.
In addition to their utility in gasket materials, graphite laminates also find utility as heat transfer or cooling apparatus. The use of various solid structures as heat transporters is known in the art. For example, Banks, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,316,080 and 5,224,030 discloses the utility of diamonds and gas-derived graphite fibers, joined with a suitable binder, as heat transfer devices. Such devices are employed to passively conduct heat from a source, such as a semiconductor, to a heat sink.
Graphite layered thermal management components offer several advantages in electronic applications and can help eliminate the potential negative impacts of heat generating components in computers, communications equipment, and other electronic devices. Graphite based thermal management components include heat sinks, heat pipes and heat spreaders. All offer thermal conductivity equivalent to or better than copper or aluminum, but are a fraction of the weight of those materials, and provide significantly greater design flexibility. Graphite based thermal management products take advantage of the highly directional properties of graphite to move heat away from sensitive components. Compared to typical aluminum alloys used for heat management, graphite components can exhibit up to 300% higher thermal conductivity, with values comparable to copper (~400 watts per meter degree Kelvin, i.e., W/mC) or greater attainable. Further, aluminum and copper are isotropic, making it impossible to channel the heat in a preferred direction.
The flexible graphite preferred for use in the laminate of this invention is flexible graphite sheet material.
The following is a brief description of graphite and the manner in which it is typically processed to form flexible sheet materials. Graphite, on a microscopic scale, is made up of layer planes of hexagonal arrays or networks of carbon atoms. These layer planes of hexagonally arranged carbon atoms are substantially flat and are oriented or ordered so as to be substantially parallel and equidistant to one another. The substantially-flat, parallel, equidistant sheets or layers of carbon atoms, usually referred to as graphene layers or basal planes, are linked or bonded together and groups thereof are arranged in crystallites. Highly-ordered graphite materials consist of crystallites of considerable size, the crystallites being highly aligned or oriented with respect to each other and having well ordered carbon layers. In other words, highly ordered graphites have a high degree of preferred crystallite orientation. It should be noted that graphites, by definition, possess anisotropic structures and thus exhibit or possess many characteristics that are highly directional, e.g., thermal and electrical conductivity and fluid diffusion.
Briefly, graphites may be characterized as laminated structures of carbon, that is, structures consisting of superposed layers or laminae of carbon atoms joined together by weak van der Waals forces. In considering the graphite structure, two axes or directions are usually noted, to wit, the “c” axis or direction and the “a” axes or directions. For simplicity, the “c” axis or direction may be considered as the direction perpendicular to the carbon layers. The “a” axes or directions may be considered as the directions parallel to the carbon layers or the directions perpendicular to the “c” direction. The graphites suitable for manufacturing flexible graphite sheets possess a very high degree of orientation.
As noted above, the bonding forces holding the parallel layers of carbon atoms together are only weak van der Waals forces. Natural graphites can be chemically treated so that the spacing between the superposed carbon layers or laminae can be appreciably opened up so as to provide a marked expansion in the direction perpendicular to the layers, that is, in the “c” direction, and thus form an expanded or intumesced graphite structure in which the laminar character of the carbon layers is substantially retained.
Graphite flake which has been chemically or thermally expanded and more particularly expanded so as to have a final thickness or “c” direction dimension which is as much as about 80 or more times the original “c” direction dimension, can be formed without the use of a binder into cohesive or integrated sheets of expanded graphite, e.g. webs, papers, strips, tapes, or the like (typically referred to as “flexible graphite”). The formation of graphite particles which have been expanded to have a final thickness or “c” dimension which is as much as about 80 times or more the original “c” direction dimension into integrated flexible sheets by compression, without the use of any binding material, is believed to be possible due to the mechanical interlocking, or cohesion, which is achieved between the voluminously expanded graphite particles.
In addition to flexibility, the sheet material, as noted above, has also been found to possess a high degree of anisotropy to thermal and electrical conductivity and fluid diffusion, somewhat less, but comparable to the natural graphite starting material due to orientation of the expanded graphite particles substantially parallel to the opposed faces of the sheet resulting from very high compression, e.g. roll processing. Sheet material thus produced has excellent flexibility, good strength and a very high degree or orientation. There is a need for processing that more fully takes advantage of these properties.
Briefly, the process of producing flexible, binderless anisotropic graphite sheet material, e.g. web, paper, strip, tape, foil, mat, or the like, comprises compressing or compacting under a predetermined load and in the absence of a binder, expanded graphite particles which have a “c” direction dimension which is as much as about 80 or more times that of the original particles so as to form a substantially flat, flexible, integrated graphite sheet. The expanded graphite particles that generally are worm-like or vermiform in appearance will, once compressed, maintain the compression set and alignment with the opposed major surfaces of the sheet. Properties of the sheets may be altered by coatings and/or the addition of binders or additives prior to the compression step. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,061 to Shane, et al. The density and thickn
Brady John Joseph
Getz George
Klug Jeremy
Norley Julian
Bahta Abraham
Cartiglia James R.
Waddey & Patterson
LandOfFree
Laminates prepared from impregnated flexible graphite sheets does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Laminates prepared from impregnated flexible graphite sheets, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Laminates prepared from impregnated flexible graphite sheets will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3331970