Patents by Inventor Michael J. Rightley

Michael J. Rightley has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6827134
    Abstract: A parallel-plate heat pipe is disclosed that utilizes a plurality of evaporator regions at locations where heat sources (e.g. semiconductor chips) are to be provided. A plurality of curvilinear capillary grooves are formed on one or both major inner surfaces of the heat pipe to provide an independent flow of a liquid working fluid to the evaporator regions to optimize heat removal from different-size heat sources and to mitigate the possibility of heat-source shadowing. The parallel-plate heat pipe has applications for heat removal from high-density microelectronics and laptop computers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2004
    Assignee: Sandia Corporation
    Inventors: Michael J. Rightley, Douglas R. Adkins, James J. Mulhall, Charles V. Robino, Mark Reece, Paul M. Smith, Chris P. Tigges