Fan failure protection system

Abstract

The present invention discloses a fan failure protection system applicable to an electronic device. The fan failure protection system includes at least one first fan and at least one second fan. The first fan includes a first control unit, and the first control unit has an output pin for outputting a rotation speed signal. The second fan includes a second control unit, and the second control unit has an input pin and a memory. A preset data is stored in the memory. The input pin of the second control unit is connected to the output pin of the first control unit through a transmission unit to receive the rotation speed signal. Wherein when the first fan fails and the second control unit detects that the data of the rotation speed signal is lower than or equal to the preset data, the second control unit controls the current rotation speed of the second fan to increase to a predetermined rotation speed, so as to stabilize the overall heat dissipation flow of the fan and achieve the effect of protecting the electronic device from overheating damage.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a fan failure protection system, and more particularly to a fan failure protection system in which when a second fan detects the failure of a first fan, the second fan can automatically increase its rotational speed to stabilize the overall flow rate of the fans and protect electronic devices from overheating damage. Background Art

[0002] Due to the continuous improvement of the transmission efficiency and speed of current network technologies, when electronic devices (such as computers or servers) process the above-mentioned large amounts of data operations, more hard disk drives (HDDs) need to be installed to perform related operations and other operations. However, the heat generated during the operation of multiple hard disks may cause a decrease in the performance of the multiple hard disks themselves or adjacent other electronic components, or even cause failures. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the excess heat energy to reduce the failure rate of the server. To solve the above heat dissipation problem, in the narrow and enclosed space of existing servers, multiple front fans and multiple rear fans are often provided at the front and rear ends of the server respectively (or a series of front and rear fans are connected in series inside the server), and the server controls and adjusts the rotational speeds of the multiple front fans to generate sufficient air volume (flow rate) to be introduced into the enclosed space of the server and take away the heat on multiple hard disks and other electronic components (such as central processing units, north-south bridge chips), and then the multiple rear fans discharge the heat inside the server.

[0003] Since the front fans in a server generally belong to the main air flow, fans with a high rotational speed such as 10000 rpm (revolutions per minute) and a duty cycle of 100% are used. For the front fans themselves, the rear fans belong to the auxiliary air flow, and fans with a lower rotational speed such as 8000 rpm and a duty cycle of 100% are used. Based on such conventional fan design factors, the rotational speed of the rear fans is not selected to be higher than that of the front fans, and the rear fans generally operate at a low rotational speed such as 4850 rpm and a fixed duty cycle of 50%. Therefore, when the rear fans of the server fail (or malfunction), the front fans can still maintain a certain flow rate to introduce heat dissipation into the server. Therefore, the failure (or malfunction) of the rear fans does not have a great impact on the overall flow rate of the fans.

[0004] However, when the front fan of the server fails (or malfunctions), it has a great impact on the overall flow rate of the fans. Since the flow rate generated by the rear fan, such as 4850 (or 8000) rpm, cannot reach the flow rate generated by the front fan, such as 10000 rpm, and the failure (malfunction) of the front fan is like forming a load or resistance, causing the rear fan to struggle to drive the blades of the failed (malfunctioned) front fan to rotate together, resulting in a further reduction in the flow rate of the rear fan. Consequently, the overall flow rate of the fans inside the server is insufficient to meet the preset heat dissipation flow rate requirement. Relatively, the heat on the hard disks and electronic components in the enclosed space of the server cannot be effectively and quickly discharged. In the mild case, it may cause the hard disks and electronic components to overheat, and in the severe case, it may lead to the paralysis and damage of the entire server. Summary of the Invention

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a fan failure protection system that can automatically increase the rotational speed of a fan when a second fan (or a first fan) detects the failure of a first fan (or a second fan), so as to stabilize the overall flow rate of the fans and achieve the effect of protecting electronic devices from overheating and damage.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a fan failure protection system applicable to an electronic device. The fan failure protection system includes at least one first fan and at least one second fan. The first fan includes a first control unit, and the first control unit has an output pin for outputting a rotational speed signal. The second fan includes a second control unit, and the second control unit has an input pin and a memory. A preset data is stored in the memory. The input pin of the second control unit is connected to the output pin of the first control unit through a transmission unit to receive the rotational speed signal. When the first fan fails and the second control unit detects that the data of the rotational speed signal is lower than or equal to the preset data, the second control unit controls the rotational speed of the second fan to increase to a predetermined rotational speed. Through the design of the fan failure protection system of the present invention, the overall heat dissipation flow rate of the fans is stabilized and the effect of protecting electronic devices from overheating and damage is achieved.

[0007] If the second control unit of the second fan fails to detect the aforementioned rotational speed signal, the second control unit controls the rotational speed of the second fan to increase to the predetermined rotational speed. After the second control unit controls the rotational speed of the second fan to increase to the predetermined rotational speed, when the second control unit detects that the data of the rotational speed signal is higher than the preset data or equal to another preset data stored in the memory, the second control unit controls the rotational speed of the second fan to decrease and return to the original rotational speed.

[0008] The above-mentioned second control unit is provided with a timer. When the second control unit detects that the data of the rotation speed signal is lower than or equal to the preset data, and when the timer counts up to a predetermined time, the second control unit controls the current rotation speed of the second fan to increase to the predetermined rotation speed. After the second control unit controls the current rotation speed of the second fan to increase to the predetermined rotation speed, when the second control unit detects that the data of the rotation speed signal is higher than the preset data, and when the timer counts up to the predetermined time, the second control unit controls the current rotation speed of the second fan to decrease and return to the original rotation speed.

[0009] The above-mentioned second control unit has an output pin for outputting another rotation speed signal. The first control unit has an input pin. The input pin of the first control unit is connected to the output pin of the second control unit through another transmission unit to receive the another rotation speed signal transmitted by the second control unit.

[0010] The above-mentioned preset data includes a preset rotation speed value. The above-mentioned predetermined rotation speed is greater than the full-speed rotation speed of the first fan. The above-mentioned transmission unit is a transmission line. The above-mentioned rotation speed signal is an FG signal. Description of the Drawings

[0011] Figure 1 It is a block schematic diagram of the fan failure protection system of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 2 It is a relationship curve diagram of the first fan of the present invention from stall to stable rotation speed recovery and the second fan's self-determination to increase the rotation speed to restore the original rotation speed.

[0013] Figure 3 It is a relationship curve diagram of the first fan of the present invention being completely stalled without rotation speed and the second fan's self-determination to increase the rotation speed and operate.

[0014] Description of the Reference Numerals: 1 - Fan failure protection system; 11 - First fan; 111 - First control unit; 1111 - Output pin; 1112 - Input pin; 1113 - Memory; 1114 - Timer; 12 - Second fan; 122 - Second control unit; 1221 - Output pin; 1222 - Input pin; 1223 - Memory; 1224 - Timer; 14 - Transmission unit; F1, F2 - First and second curves. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0015] The above-mentioned object, structure and functional characteristics of the present invention will be described with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0016] The present invention provides a fan failure protection system 1. Please refer to Figure 1 、 Figure 2, the fan failure protection system 1 is applicable to an electronic device (such as a server or a computer; not shown in the figure). In this embodiment, the electronic device is selected as a server, but it is not limited thereto. And the fan failure protection system 1 includes at least one first fan 11 and at least one second fan 12. In this embodiment, the first and second fans 11 and 12 are multiple and are respectively arranged at the front end and the rear end of a chassis of the electronic device (such as a server), and the first fan 11 serving as the front fan and the second fan 12 serving as the rear fan in the electronic device generally operate normally under the control of a processor (such as a central processing unit) of the electronic device. Among them, the first fan 11 includes a first control unit 111, and the first control unit 111 is such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller (MCU), or a digital signal processor (DSP). In a feasible embodiment, the first and second fans 11 and 12 are multiple, and each first fan 11 (front fan) and each second fan 12 (rear fan) are connected in series with each other to form a series fan, and the multiple series fans are arranged in the chassis of the electronic device (such as a server).

[0017] The first control unit 111 has an output pin 1111 and a memory 1113. The memory 1113 is used to store a fan instruction data and other data (such as fan specifications and model data), and the output pin 1111 is used to output a rotation speed signal (such as an FG (Frequency generation) signal) to the second fan 12. And in specific implementation, the first control unit 111 further includes multiple other pins such as input pins, power pins, ground pins, and other signal pins (such as PWM signal pins), and the above output pin 1111 is not limited to a single quantity and can also be multiple (such as two or more).

[0018] The second fan 12 includes a second control unit 122. The selection of the second control unit 122 (such as CPU, MCU or DSP) can be the same as or different from the structure (such as specifications, models and the number of pins) and functions of the first control unit 111. In this embodiment, there is no timer set in the first and second control units 111 and 122, but this is not limited thereto. The second control unit 122 has an input pin 1222 and a memory 1223. A preset data, fan instruction data and other data (such as fan specifications and model data) are stored in the memory 1223 of the second control unit 122. The preset data is a preset speed value. In this embodiment, the preset data is a speed value that is a predetermined proportion of the speed of the first fan 11. For example, the preset data is half of the full speed of the first fan 11 (such as 10,000 rpm) (such as the preset speed value is 5,000 rpm) or three-quarters of the speed value (such as the preset speed value is 7,500 rpm). However, this is not limited thereto. The preset data can also be a speed value that is a predetermined proportion of the speed at which the first fan 11 is controlled to be maintained at a certain speed. For example, the first fan 11 was originally controlled by the processor of an electronic device (server; not shown in the figure) to be set at 5,450 rpm and operate at a duty cycle of 50%. Then the preset speed value is half of the speed at which the first fan 11 is controlled to be maintained at 5,450 rpm, such as 2,725 rpm.

[0019] The input pin 1222 of the second control unit 122 is used to receive the speed signal transmitted by the first fan 11. And in specific implementation, the second control unit 122 also includes multiple other pins, such as output pins, power pins, ground pins and other signal pins (such as PWM signal pins). And the number of the above input pins 1222 is not limited to one, and can also be multiple (such as two or more). In this embodiment, the second control unit 122 of the second fan 12 is connected to the output pin 1111 of the first control unit 111 through a transmission unit 14, such as a communication transmission line. The second control unit 122 detects the current operating condition (such as speed condition) of the first fan 11 according to the speed signal transmitted by the first fan 11 received from the input pin 1222, and compares the current speed of the first fan 11 with the preset speed value (i.e., preset data) in its own memory, and then judges whether the current operating state of the first fan 11 is stalled (or abnormal), so as to timely control the speed of the second fan 12 to be increased to a predetermined speed or restored to the original speed (such as the original fixed speed of 8,000 rpm and a duty cycle of 80%) to stabilize the overall flow of the fan.

[0020] The predetermined speed is greater than the full speed of the first fan 11, and the predetermined speed is set according to the fan overall heat dissipation flow rate that can be maintained stably within the electronic device. For example, the full speed of the first fan 11 is 10000 rpm and the duty cycle is 100%. When the first fan 11 stalls, the second fan 12 is controlled by the second control unit 122 to increase the speed from the original fixed speed of 4850 rpm to the predetermined speed of 11000 rpm and the duty cycle of 100% to maintain the stable overall fan flow rate. In addition, the original fixed speed of the second fan 12 can be appropriately adjusted according to the heat dissipation flow rate in the electronic device. For example, the original fixed speed can also be designed as 6000 rpm and the duty cycle is 60%.

[0021] For example, when the first fan 11 completely stalls (such as a fault) and does not operate (such as the speed is zero), the second control unit 122 of the second fan 12 cannot detect the speed signal of the first fan 11. At this time, the second control unit 122 determines by itself that the second fan 12 has escaped from the control of the processor of the electronic device (such as speed control). At the same time, the second control unit 122 controls the speed of the second fan 12 to increase to the predetermined speed (such as 11000 rpm and the duty cycle is 100%) to operate, so as to make up for the air volume lost by the first fan 11, and thus effectively maintain the overall fan heat dissipation flow rate.

[0022] Similarly, if the first fan 11 is about to stall (such as an abnormality) and operates at a low speed, the second control unit 122 of the second fan 12 detects that the data of the speed signal of the first fan 11 (such as the speed value is 4500 rpm and the duty cycle is 45%) is lower than the preset speed value (i.e., the preset data) of 5000 rpm, it will control the second fan 12 to escape from (not accept) the control of the processor of the electronic device. At the same time, the second control unit 122 controls the speed of the second fan 12 to increase to the predetermined speed (such as 11000 rpm and the duty cycle is 100%) to operate. Then, when the second control unit 122 of the second fan 12 detects again that the data of the speed signal of the first fan 11 (such as the speed value is 8500 rpm and the duty cycle is 80%) is higher than the preset speed value (i.e., the preset data) of 5000 rpm, the second control unit 122 controls the speed of the second fan 12 to decrease and return to the original speed (such as 8000 rpm and the duty cycle is 80%), and the second control unit 122 will also control the second fan 12 to resume accepting the control of the processor of the electronic device, so as to ensure that the heat dissipation flow rate within the electronic device can still be stable during the replacement by the maintenance personnel.

[0023] In another embodiment, refer to Figure 2It is a relationship curve graph of the first fan 11 stalling until the rotational speed recovers and stabilizes and the second fan 12 self-determining to increase the rotational speed until it returns to the original rotational speed, and Figure 3 It is a relationship curve graph of the first fan 11 completely stalling without rotational speed and the second fan 12 self-determining to increase the rotational speed for operation and the matching Figure 1 As shown, the rotational speeds of the first fan 11 and the second fan 12 are respectively controlled and set by the processor of the electronic device to maintain operation at 5450 rpm (duty cycle 50%) and 4850 (duty cycle 50%). And in this other embodiment, the preset data is that the half rotational speed value of the first fan 11 maintained at 5450 rpm by the processor of the electronic device is 2725 rpm (i.e., the preset rotational speed value is 2725 rpm) for explanation. So when the second control unit 122 of the second fan 12 detects that the rotational speed data of the first fan 11 (such as the rotational speed value 2600 rpm) is lower than the preset rotational speed value (such as 2725 rpm), it will control the current second fan 12 to break away (not accept) the control of the processor of the electronic device. At the same time, the second control unit 122 will control the rotational speed of its own second fan 12 to increase to the predetermined rotational speed (such as 11000 rpm and duty cycle 100%) for operation. Then wait until the second control unit 122 of the second fan 12 detects the rotational speed signal data of the first fan 11 again (such as Figure 2 The labeled P point is the rotational speed value 4360 rpm) equal to (restored to) another preset data (such as 4360 rpm) stored in the memory 1223 of the second control unit 122, and the second control unit 122 will control the rotational speed of its own second fan 12 to decrease and return to the original rotational speed (such as the originally set rotational speed of 4850 rpm). Among them Figure 2 As shown, the position of the labeled P point is the position where the rotational speed of the first fan 11 recovers to 80% of the rotational speed. That is, taking the rotational speed of 5450 rpm at which the first fan 11 is set to maintain operation, the rotational speed restored to 80% is 4360 rpm. And the above-mentioned another preset data is the preset rotational speed value (such as 4360 rpm), and it is different from the previous preset data (such as the preset rotational speed value 2725 rpm).

[0024] Continue to refer to Figure 3 , when the first fan 11 suddenly fails (i.e., the first fan 11 completely stalls and the rotational speed is zero) while being controlled by the processor of the electronic device to maintain operation at 5450 rpm, the second control unit 122 of the second fan 12 cannot detect the rotational speed signal of the first fan 11. At this time, the second control unit 122 self-determines that the second fan 12 breaks away from the control of the processor of the electronic device (such as rotational speed control). At the same time, the second control unit 122 will control the rotational speed of its own second fan 12 to increase to the predetermined rotational speed (such as 11000 rpm and duty cycle 100%) and continue to operate. And regarding Figure 2 、 Figure 3In this case, the first curve F1 represents the first fan 11, the second curve F2 represents the second fan 12, the vertical axis represents the rotational speed (rpm), and the horizontal axis represents the time (s).

[0025] In an alternative embodiment, the second control unit 122 further includes a timer 1224. The second control unit 122 uses the timer 1224 to measure the time. After the data of the detected rotational speed signal is lower than (or equal to) the preset data for the predetermined time (such as 10 seconds) and is still lower than the preset data, it indicates that the first fan 11 is still stalled (such as abnormal). The second control unit 122 immediately controls the rotational speed of the second fan 12 to increase to the predetermined rotational speed (such as 11000 rpm and the duty cycle is 100%). Or, after the data of the rotational speed signal detected by the second control unit 122 using the timer 1224 is higher than the preset data for the predetermined time (such as 10 seconds) and is still higher than the preset data, it indicates that the operation of the first fan 11 is stable. The second control unit 122 controls the rotational speed of the second fan 12 to decrease and return to the original rotational speed (such as 8000 rpm and the duty cycle is 80%).

[0026] In other alternative embodiments, referring to Figure 1 , the setting elements (including the memory 1113 and the timer 1114) in the first control unit 111 of the first fan 11 are the same as the setting elements (including the memory 1223 and the timer 1224) in the second control unit 122 of the second fan 12. The data stored in the memory 1113 of the first control unit 111 may be the same (or different) from the preset data, the fan command data, and other data in the memory 1223 of the second control unit. The input pin 1112 of the first control unit 111 is connected to the output pin 1221 of the second control unit 122 through another transmission unit 14 (such as a communication transmission line) to receive the another rotational speed signal (such as the FG signal) output from the output pin 1221 of the second control unit 122. The first control unit 111 can detect the current operating condition (such as the rotational speed condition) of the second fan 12 according to the rotational speed signal transmitted from the output pin 1221 of the second fan 12 received by the input pin 1112, so as to control the first fan 11 to increase the rotational speed or return to the original rotational speed in a timely manner. Therefore, through such a design, the first and second fans 11 and 12 transmit their own rotational speed signals to each other through the communication transmission line 14 to detect the current rotational speed of each other. Therefore, if any one of the fans (such as the first fan 11 or the second fan 12) stalls (or is abnormal), the rotational speed of the self-fan can be directly increased at any time by the other fan (such as the second fan 12 or the first fan 11) to stabilize the overall flow rate of the fans. And in specific implementation, the timer in one or both of the first control unit 111 and the second control unit 122 can be omitted.

[0027] Therefore, through the design of the fan failure protection system 1 of the present invention, the second fan 12 can receive the rotation speed signal transmitted by the first fan 11 to determine whether the first fan 11 stalls (or is abnormal), and when the first fan 11 fails (or is abnormal), the second fan 12 can increase its own rotation speed to make up for the overall flow rate of the fan, so as to effectively stabilize the overall flow rate of the fan and protect the electronic device from overheating damage.

Claims

1. A fan failure protection system applicable to an electronic device, characterized in that, the fan failure protection system includes: at least one first fan including a first control unit having an output pin for outputting a rotational speed signal; at least one second fan including a second control unit having an input pin and a memory in which a preset data is stored. The input pin of the second control unit is connected to the output pin of the first control unit through a transmission unit to receive the rotational speed signal; and the first and second fans are respectively arranged at the front end and the rear end positions of the electronic device. The electronic device includes a processor. The first fan and the second fan as the rear fan will be controlled by the processor of the electronic device to operate during normal operation; and wherein when the first fan fails and the second control unit detects that the data of the rotational speed signal is lower than or equal to the preset data, the second control unit will control the current second fan to break away from the control of the processor of the electronic device. Then the second control unit controls the rotational speed of the second fan to increase to a predetermined rotational speed. Then when the second control unit of the second fan detects again that the rotational speed signal of the first fan is higher than the preset data or equal to another preset data stored in the memory, the second control unit will control the rotational speed of the second fan to decrease and return to the original rotational speed, and the second control unit will also control the second fan to resume accepting the control of the processor of the electronic device; the predetermined rotational speed is greater than the full - speed rotational speed of the first fan.

2. The fan failure protection system according to claim 1, characterized in that, if the second control unit of the second fan fails to detect the aforementioned rotational speed signal, the second control unit will control the rotational speed of the second fan to increase to the predetermined rotational speed.

3. The fan failure protection system according to claim 1, characterized in that, the second control unit is provided with a timer. When the second control unit detects that the data of the rotational speed signal is lower than or equal to the preset data and the timer counts up to a predetermined time, the second control unit will control the rotational speed of the second fan to increase to the predetermined rotational speed.

4. The fan failure protection system according to claim 3, characterized in that, after the second control unit controls the rotational speed of the second fan to increase to the predetermined rotational speed, when the second control unit detects that the data of the rotational speed signal is higher than the preset data and the timer counts up to the predetermined time, the second control unit will control the rotational speed of the second fan to decrease and return to the original rotational speed.

5. The fan failure protection system according to claim 1, characterized in that, the second control unit has an output pin for outputting another rotational speed signal, and the first control unit has an input pin. The input pin of the first control unit is connected to the output pin of the second control unit through another transmission unit to receive the another rotational speed signal transmitted by the second control unit.

6. The fan failure protection system according to claim 1, characterized in that, the preset data includes a preset rotational speed value.

7. The fan failure protection system according to claim 1, Characterized in that The transmission unit is a transmission line.

8. The fan failure protection system according to claim 1 Characterized in that The rotational speed signal is an FG signal.

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