US Patent 9036353 Flexible thermal interface for electronics

A planar heat pipe for removing heat from an electronic device. The heat pipe includes a planar portion defining a cool end of the heat pipe and a plate portion mounted to the electronic device and defining a hot end of the heat pipe. The heat pipe also includes a serpentine portion coupled to the planar portion and the plate portion, where each of the planar portion, the plate portion and the serpentine portion include an internal chamber being in fluid communication with each other and containing a working fluid. The serpentine portion can include a plurality of elements where each element is coupled to an adjacent element at substantially a 90° angle so as to allow the serpentine portion to flex in three-degrees of freedom.