Cooling device for electronic equipment

Abstract

A cooling device for an electronic device supplies cooling air to a heat exchanger of the electronic device. The cooling device includes a fan and a body frame holding the fan. The fan includes blades housed in a shroud and rotating about a fan axis, and discharges air introduced from a fan intake opening of the shroud to a fan discharge opening of the shroud. The fan intake opening surrounds the fan axis. The fan discharge opening is disposed in a tangential direction to a direction of rotation of the blades. The body frame includes an air guide duct that supplies air discharged to the fan discharge opening to the heat exchanger. A first direction is a direction in which air is supplied from the air guide duct to the heat exchanger, a first plane is a plane orthogonal to the first direction, and a second plane is a plane parallel to the first direction. The fan is tilted by a first tilt with respect to the first plane so that the fan discharge opening is closer to the heat exchanger than the blades in the first direction, and the fan is tilted by a second tilt about the fan axis so that the fan discharge opening is tilted from a parallel direction of the second plane when viewed from the first direction.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] One aspect of the implementation relates to a cooling device used as an external device for electronic devices such as camera equipment. Background Technology

[0002] In imaging devices such as digital cameras, internal electronic components such as image sensors and image processing elements are cooled by dissipating the heat generated by these components. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-71516 discloses a cooling device attached to a camera, which includes a duct for supplying cooling air to the image sensor and a fan for supplying air to the duct.

[0003] To efficiently cool the numerous electronic components arranged across a wide range within the camera equipment, a fan supplies sufficient airflow to the camera. In this case, the fan can be as large as possible and can rotate at a low speed so that noise and vibration caused by the fan's rotation do not affect image formation.

[0004] However, if a large fan is simply placed inside the cooling device, the cooling device becomes larger. The cooling device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-71516 has a layout in which the fan and battery storage section are stacked in two stages, but if the size of the fan is increased in this layout, the cooling device becomes larger. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This disclosure provides a small cooling device that can efficiently supply cooling air to electronic devices using a fan.

[0006] A cooling device according to one aspect of the present disclosure supplies cooling air to a heat exchanger of an electronic device. The cooling device includes a fan and a body frame configured to hold the fan. The fan includes blades configured to be housed within a housing and rotate about a fan axis, and exhausts air introduced from a fan inlet in the housing to a fan exhaust outlet in the housing. The fan inlet surrounds the fan axis. The fan exhaust outlet is disposed tangentially to the direction of rotation of the blades. The body frame includes an air guide duct configured to supply air exhausted into the fan exhaust outlet to the heat exchanger. A first direction is the direction in which air is supplied from the air guide duct to the heat exchanger, a first plane is a plane orthogonal to the first direction, and a second plane is a plane parallel to the first direction. The fan is tilted relative to the first plane by a first tilt angle such that the fan exhaust outlet is closer to the heat exchanger than the blades in the first direction, and the fan is tilted about the fan axis by a second tilt angle such that, when viewed from the first direction, the fan exhaust outlet is tilted relative to a direction parallel to the second plane.

[0007] Electronic devices including cooling equipment and camera devices including cooling equipment also constitute aspects of the implementation method.

[0008] Other features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0009] Figure 1A and Figure 1B This is a perspective view showing the appearance of the cooling accessory and camera body according to the embodiment.

[0010] Figure 2A and Figure 2B It is a three-dimensional view showing the appearance of the camera body.

[0011] Figure 3 This is a perspective view showing the appearance of the cooling accessories.

[0012] Figure 4A and Figure 4B It is an exploded 3D view showing the main body of the camera.

[0013] Figure 5 This is an exploded perspective view showing the pipes on the rear surface of the camera body.

[0014] Figure 6 This is an exploded perspective view showing the cooling accessories.

[0015] Figure 7A and Figure 7B This is a plan view showing the internal structure of the cooling accessories.

[0016] Figure 8 This is a side sectional view of the cooling accessories and the camera body.

[0017] Figure 9 This is a rear sectional view of the cooling accessories and the camera body. Detailed Implementation

[0018] A description of embodiments according to this disclosure is now given with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0019] Figure 1A and Figure 1B The images show exterior views of a cooling attachment 3, which serves as a cooling device, and a camera 2, which is an electronic device attached to the cooling attachment 3, viewed from the front and bottom sides, respectively, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The camera 2 is a mirrorless digital camera excluding a fast-return mirror. Figure 1A As shown, the camera 2 includes an interface 21 on its front surface, to which an interchangeable lens unit (not shown) is detachably attached. A communication terminal 202 is provided inside the interface 21, enabling communication between the camera 2 and the interchangeable lens unit.

[0020] At the right end, the camera 2 includes a grip 22 for a user to hold the camera 2 by hand. The grip 22 is provided by a grip protrusion 23 extending from the front side. Figure 1B The area shown is on the rear surface rubber 205. The aperture narrowing button 206 is located on the front surface of the camera 2 between the interface 21 and the grip protrusion 23. When the user presses the aperture narrowing button 206, the camera 2 transmits an aperture narrowing command to the interchangeable lens unit, and the interchangeable lens unit narrows the aperture opening inside its compartment. This allows the user to check the depth of field.

[0021] In the area above the grip 22, the upper surface cover 24 of the camera 2 includes a shutter button 211, a main electronic dial 212, a motion imaging start / stop button 213, and an upper display panel 214. The shutter button 211 is operated to provide commands for still imaging, and the main electronic dial 212 is operated to select the imaging mode of the camera 2, etc. The motion imaging start / stop button 213 is operated to provide commands for starting and stopping motion imaging, and the upper display panel 214 displays the selected imaging mode or settings such as shutter speed and aperture value.

[0022] exist Figure 1B In the middle, the card slot cover 215 is provided on the side where the grip part 22 is located. The card slot cover 215 is a cover that covers the slot (not shown) to which the recording medium is attached, and the card slot cover 215 opens when the recording medium is inserted or ejected.

[0023] On the rear cover 26, the camera 2 includes a secondary electronic dial 216, a setting button 217, a multi-function controller 218, a variable angle monitor 27, and a viewfinder eyepiece 222. The secondary electronic dial 216 is operated in conjunction with the operation of the main electronic dial 212 when various settings need to be changed. The setting button 217, located at the center of the secondary electronic dial 216, is operated to select items in the camera 2's setting menu. The keycaps of the multi-function controller 218 can be pushed or tilted in eight directions and operated to move the metering frame or focus detection frame to change or confirm selections in the setting menu, etc.

[0024] The variable-angle monitor 27 includes a display device such as a TFT LCD, which displays a live view image before imaging and the captured image, as well as setting menus and various settings. The variable-angle monitor 27 can rotate in the vertical and horizontal directions around a hinge 221 provided on the side surface of the rear cover 26 opposite to the handle 22. The figure shows the variable-angle monitor 27 with its display surface facing the camera and the variable-angle monitor 27 housed in the monitor housing provided in the rear cover 26.

[0025] The viewfinder eyepiece 222 is a part that allows the user to bring their eye close to view an electronic viewfinder that displays the same image as the variable-angle monitor 27.

[0026] exist Figure 1B In the cooling accessory 3, a battery cover 302 is provided on the right side of the rear surface. This cover opens when the battery stored in the cooling accessory 3 is inserted or ejected. The battery powers the fan inside the cooling accessory 3 (described later). The right side surface of the cooling accessory 3 includes a main switch 303 operated by the user to turn the cooling accessory 3 on / off. The surface extending from the front to the side of the right side of the cooling accessory 3 is a grip auxiliary surface 304, which has a shape continuous with the grip portion 22 of the camera 2. The user can grip a wide area including the grip auxiliary surface 304 and the grip portion 22. Therefore, the right side of the cooling accessory 3 may not have a shape protruding from the grip portion 22 of the camera 2.

[0027] On the left side of the battery cover 302 on the rear surface of the cooling accessory 3 and Figure 1A The front surface of the front protrusion 31 shown is provided with grids 306 and 305, each including a lattice-like perforation. Grids 305 and 306 are located at an opening (accessory air inlet), through which external air enters the cooling accessory 3. The bottom part 32 of the cooling accessory 3 includes a tripod inner screw engagement portion 307 and a rotation stop boss hole 308. The tripod inner screw engagement portion 307 is used to fix the camera 2 to a tripod (another component, not shown) via the cooling accessory 3, and the rotation stop boss hole 308 engages with a rotation stop boss provided on the tripod. Near the left end of the front surface of the camera 2, a tripod screw engagement portion dial 312 is provided, which is rotated by the user when the cooling accessory 3 is attached to the bottom surface of the camera 2.

[0028] The camera battery cover 231, which has been removed from the camera 2 when the cooling accessory 3 is attached, is held by the battery cover retainer 309 provided on the bottom surface of the cooling accessory 3.

[0029] Figure 2A and Figure 2B The image shows a single camera 2 as viewed from the bottom surface side (cooling accessory 3 has been removed). Figure 2A As shown, the bottom surface 25 of camera 2 includes a camera battery compartment opening 232. The battery 235 is housed within the camera battery compartment opening 232. When camera 2 is used alone without the cooling accessory 3, the camera battery cover 231 is attached to the bottom surface 25 of camera 2, thereby closing the camera battery compartment opening 232, as shown. Figure 2B As shown. On the other hand, when the cooling accessory 3 is attached to the camera 2, the camera battery cover 231 is detached from the bottom part 25 of the camera 2, and the camera battery compartment opening 232 is opened, as shown. Figure 2AAs shown, this exposes the socket connector 234 located inside the camera battery compartment opening 232. The socket connector 234 is used to transmit / receive electrical signals with various accessories (including cooling accessory 3) that can be attached to the camera 2. Even when the camera battery compartment opening 232 is not closed by the camera battery cover 231, the battery 235 is held in place by the battery locking lever 236, so the battery 235 will not fall out.

[0030] The bottom surface forming portion 26a, which is part of the bottom portion 25 of the rear surface cover 26 of the camera 2, includes a camera air intake opening 241 with a rectangular shape. This rectangular shape is thin in the front-rear direction and has a width approximately one-third of the total width in the left-right direction of the camera 2. The left surface forming portion 26b, which is part of the left surface of the camera 2 and included in the rear surface cover 26, includes camera exhaust openings 242 and 243 adjacent to the hinge 221 of the variable angle monitor 27. In the front-rear direction of the camera 2, the positions of the camera exhaust openings 242 and 243 are the same as the positions of the camera air intake opening 241.

[0031] The bottom part 25 of the camera 2 includes a tripod internal threaded portion 237 and two positioning holes 238 on the left and right sides of the tripod internal threaded portion 237. The tripod internal threaded portion 237 is used to individually fix the camera 2 to the tripod and to attach the cooling accessory 3 to the bottom part 25 of the camera 2. The camera 2 and the cooling accessory 3 are positioned relative to each other by engaging the positioning pins provided on the cooling accessory 3 with the positioning holes 238.

[0032] Figure 3 The cooling attachment 3 is shown as viewed from above. The upper part 33 of the cooling attachment 3 includes a tripod external threaded portion 311 and two locating pins 313, with the tripod external threaded portion 311 also... Figure 1A The tripod screw engagement dial 312 shown in the figure rotates by rotation, and each of the two positioning pins 313 engages with the aforementioned positioning hole 238 on the bottom surface 25 of the camera. When the tripod outer screw engagement 311, which is rotated via the tripod screw engagement dial 312, is screwed into the camera tripod inner screw engagement 237, the cooling accessory 3 is attached to the camera 2.

[0033] A protrusion 314 is provided on the gripping side of the upper part 33 of the cooling accessory 3. This protrusion 314 has a shape substantially the same as the camera battery compartment opening 232 and protrudes slightly upward. When the cooling accessory 3 is attached to the camera 2, the protrusion 314 closes the camera battery compartment opening 232 in place of the camera battery cover 231 when the camera battery cover 231 is removed. A drip-proof seal 315 surrounds the outer periphery of the protrusion 314 to fill the gap between the protrusion 314 and the camera battery compartment opening 232. A plug connector 316, which is to be connected to the socket connector 234 of the camera 2, is provided above the protrusion 314.

[0034] At the center of the upper part 33, the cooling accessory 3 includes an accessory air guide opening 317, which has the same shape as the camera air intake opening 241, and is connected to the camera air intake opening 241 when the cooling accessory 3 is attached to the camera 2. A resilient air guide opening seal 318 surrounds the accessory air guide opening 317 to prevent air leakage by sealing the gap between the accessory air guide opening 317 and the camera air intake opening 241.

[0035] Figure 4A The internal structure of the camera 2 is shown with external components such as the upper surface cover 24, the rear surface cover 26, and the card slot cover 215 removed. Figure 4B This shows some states where the internal structure has been decomposed.

[0036] exist Figure 4A In the camera 2, a main substrate 260 and a power supply substrate 261 smaller than the main substrate 260 are arranged on the rear surface side inside the camera 2. The power supply substrate 261 is a substrate on which electronic components related to the power circuit are mounted, and is supported by a plate 262, with a gap provided between the power supply substrate 261 and the main substrate 260. The power supply substrate 261 overlaps with the main substrate 260 in the front-rear direction, thereby achieving miniaturization of the camera 2 in the view viewed from the front. Two card slots 265 and 266 are attached to the right side of the power supply substrate 261 on the main substrate 260. Card slot 265 is, for example, a slot for an XQD card or a CF Express card, and card slot 266 is, for example, a slot for an SD card.

[0037] At the center of the main substrate 260, an image processing IC 263 and a DRAM 264 are mounted for temporary storage of data to be used in the processing performed by the image processing IC 263. The image processing IC 263 is used to process data from an image sensor ( Figure 8 The image processing IC 263 is a processing element that processes the signal output from the image processing IC (IS) to generate image data, and is also the electronic component that becomes the hottest heat source on the main substrate 260. In particular, the image processing IC 263 consumes a large amount of power and thus generates a large amount of heat when capturing moving images at a high pixel count or high frame rate. Thermally conductive rubber 267 is attached to the surface of the image processing IC 263.

[0038] Plate 262 is made of a metal material with high thermal conductivity, such as aluminum. Plate 262 is a component formed by bending a metal plate and has a heat-receiving surface 262a on the main substrate side and heat-transfer surfaces 262b and 262c on the rear surface side of the camera 2. A power supply board 261 is disposed between the heat-receiving surface 262a and the heat-transfer surfaces 262b and 262c of plate 262 and overlaps with the main substrate 260. The power supply board 261 and plate 262 are fixed inside the camera 2 by screwing them together. The heat-receiving surface 262a of plate 262 is in close contact with thermally conductive rubber 267 disposed on the surface of the image processing IC 263. Thermally conductive rubbers 268 and 269 are attached to the heat-transfer surfaces 262b and 262c of plate 262. This forms a heat dissipation path for the image processing IC 263.

[0039] Figure 5 The structure of the duct formed inside the rear cover 26 of the camera 2 is shown. The rear cover 26 has a partition wall 244 and walls 245, 246, 247, and 248, wherein the outer surface of the partition wall 244 faces the variable angle monitor 27 in the monitor housing, and the walls 245, 246, 247, and 248 surround the upper, lower, left, and right sides of the space facing the inner surface of the partition wall 244. A camera air intake opening 241 is formed in the bottom surface side of the wall 245, and a camera exhaust opening 242 and an opening 254 are formed in the right wall 246. A camera exhaust opening 243 is formed in the hinge retractable portion of the rear cover 26, which receives the hinge 221 of the variable angle monitor 27. A component (not shown) is attached between the opening 254 and the adjacent camera exhaust opening 243, forming an airflow path.

[0040] A heat dissipation metal sheet 250, made of aluminum or the like, with high thermal conductivity, is attached and fixed to the front end face of the walls 245 to 248 using frame-shaped double-sided tape 251. Fixing the heat dissipation metal sheet 250 to the front end face of the walls 245 to 248 forms a camera duct section 249 surrounded by the partition walls 244, walls 245 to 248, and the heat dissipation metal sheet 250. The heat dissipation metal sheet 250 is fixed to the walls 245 to 248 without gaps using double-sided tape 251, preventing air leakage and water and dust from entering the camera 2 through the camera duct section 249. The camera duct section 249 is an airflow path with a wide projected area in the front and rear views from the camera air inlet 241 to the camera exhaust outlets 242 and 243, and functions as a heat exchanger.

[0041] In this embodiment, both the camera air inlet 241 and the camera exhaust outlet 242 have an equally spaced grid shape. This is to prevent foreign objects from entering the interior of the camera duct section 249, and the grid separation can be omitted.

[0042] A thin heat dissipation component 253 is attached to the surface of the heat dissipation fin 250 opposite to the camera channel portion 249 using double-sided tape 252. The thin heat dissipation component 253 supplements the heat diffusion achieved by the heat dissipation fin 250; this thin heat dissipation component 253 is a vapor chamber or a graphite sheet. The thin heat dissipation component 253 can be secured to the heat dissipation fin 250 in close contact using thermal grease instead of double-sided tape 252. Alternatively, the thin heat dissipation component 253 may not be required.

[0043] Figure 8 A side sectional view of camera 2 is shown. When... Figure 5 When the rear cover 26, constructed as shown, is attached to the camera 2, the thin heat dissipation component 253 is in close contact with the thermally conductive rubbers 268 and 269 attached to the plate 262. Therefore, heat generated by the image processing IC 263 is transferred to the thin heat dissipation component 253 via the plate 262 and the thermally conductive rubbers 268 and 269. Through the thermal conduction effect of the thin heat dissipation component 253, the heat transferred to it diffuses over a wide area of ​​the heat dissipation sheet 250. The heat diffused to the heat dissipation sheet 250 is transferred to the air flowing from the cooling accessory 3 into the camera duct section 249 via the camera air inlet 241, and the hot air is released to the outside via the camera exhaust openings 242 and 243.

[0044] Figure 6 The internal structure of the cooling accessory 3 as viewed from the front is shown. The cooling accessory 3 is roughly divided into an upper cover 34 as an upper outer component, a lower cover 35 as a bottom surface outer component, and a main body unit 36 ​​as an internal structure.

[0045] The main body shell 37 serves as the base of the main body unit 36. Figure 6 The left side of the middle part is provided with a rear side (rear surface side). Figure 1B The battery cover 302 shown has a battery storage section 323. A fan storage section 324 with an upward opening is formed in the portion of the main body housing 37 excluding the battery storage section 323. The fan storage section 324 is tilted such that its height increases from front to back. The bottom surface 325 of the fan storage section 324 is connected to a lower air intake duct opening 326, which has a height increasing from front to back and opens towards the rear of the fan storage section 324. Above the lower air intake duct opening 326, an air guide duct wall portion 327 is formed that smoothly transitions from the tilted surface to a vertical surface.

[0046] The fan housing 324 internally houses a partition plate 328 and a fan retaining plate 329. The partition plate 328 has a centrally formed circular hole 328a, and the fan retaining plate 329 has a centrally formed circular hole 329a and retains the fan 330. A main body cover 38 is placed above the fan retaining plate 329 and is fixed to the main body housing 37 by screwing to close the upper opening of the fan housing 324. The partition plate 328 is directly attached to the fan housing 324, and the fan retaining plate 329 is attached to the main body cover 38 in a suspended manner. The main body housing 37 and the main body cover 38 are included in the body frame of the cooling accessory 3.

[0047] The fan 330 includes a thin housing 331 and rotatable blades 336 housed within the housing 331. For example... Figure 8 As shown, the upper surface 331a of the housing 331 has an upper fan intake opening 333 corresponding to the aforementioned circular hole 328a, and the lower surface 331b of the housing 331 has a lower fan intake opening 334 corresponding to the aforementioned circular hole 329a. That is, on both sides of the housing 331 extending along the rotational center axis of the blade 336 (hereinafter referred to as the fan shaft), the upper fan intake opening 333, serving as the first fan intake opening, and the lower fan intake opening 334, serving as the second fan intake opening, are provided around (enclosing) the fan shaft.

[0048] Fan 330 is a centrifugal fan that, when the blades 336 rotate, causes the air introduced from the upper fan inlet 333 and the lower fan inlet 334 to bend 90° within the housing 331 and exhaust the air into a fan exhaust opening 335 located in a specific tangential direction (on the rear side) relative to the rotation direction of the blades 336. The fan exhaust opening 335 has a thin rectangular shape extending parallel to the upper surface 331a and the lower surface 331b of the housing 331.

[0049] To reduce noise and vibration caused by fan rotation, the fan can be as large as possible and rotate at the lowest possible speed. Therefore, this embodiment uses a large fan housed within most of the interior of the cooling accessory 3, excluding the battery storage section 323, as the fan 330. Furthermore, the fan 330 is attached to the fan retaining plate 329 via a rubber bushing 337. This makes it difficult for vibrations from the fan 330 during rotation to be transmitted to the main body housing 37, the upper cover 34, and the lower cover 35 of the cooling accessory 3.

[0050] The sealing member 343 is attached to the upper end face 341 of the left and right walls of the fan housing 324, and the main cover 38 is in close contact with the sealing member 343. This prevents air from leaking from the inside of the fan housing 324.

[0051] like Figure 8As shown, the partition plate 328 and the fan retaining plate 329 divide the fan housing 324 into three spaces, and the upper opening of the fan housing 324 is closed by the main body cover 38. The uppermost space serves as an upper air intake duct (first air intake duct) 347 for introducing air from the outside into the upper fan air intake opening 333, and the lowermost space serves as a lower air intake duct (second air intake duct) 345 for introducing air from the outside into the lower fan air intake opening 334. The middle space serves as an air guide duct 346, which guides the air already discharged into the fan exhaust opening 335 to the camera air intake opening 241 of the camera 2. The air guide duct 346 supplies air to the camera air intake opening 241 via the air guide duct outlet 348 and the accessory air guide opening 317. The direction D1 of the air supply from the air guide duct 346 (air guide duct outlet 348) to the camera air intake opening 241 is... Figure 8 The upward direction in the middle corresponds to the first direction.

[0052] The fan 330 is inclined relative to the upper part 33 and the lower part 32, such that in the cooling attachment 3, the rear side (fan exhaust opening side) of the fan 330 is positioned higher than the front side (blade side) of the fan 330. The upper part 33 and the lower part 32 correspond to a first plane orthogonal to a first direction, and are surfaces orthogonal to the rear cover 26 when the cooling attachment 3 is attached to the camera 2. The lower air intake duct 345 and the upper air intake duct 347 are spaces inclined relative to the upper part 33 and the lower part 32 and extending along the inclination of the fan 330.

[0053] The upper air intake duct 347 is connected to the outside via an upper air intake duct opening 320 formed between the front of the main body housing 37 and the front of the main body cover 38. The lower air intake duct 345 is connected to the outside of the cooling accessory 3 via a lower air intake duct opening 326 formed at the rear of the main body housing 37. Therefore, the upper air intake duct opening 320 and the lower air intake duct opening 326 are located on opposite sides of the body frame of the cooling accessory 3. The aforementioned grille 306 is attached to the lower air intake duct opening 326, and the aforementioned grille 305 is attached to the upper air intake duct opening 320.

[0054] An air guide duct 346 connected to the fan exhaust opening 335 is formed between an air guide duct wall portion 327 formed in the main body housing 37 and an air guide duct wall portion 339 formed in the main body cover 38. In the main body unit 36, the air guide duct 346 extends from the fan exhaust opening 335 with a gentle upward bend (at an angle greater than 90°) to an air guide duct outlet 348 connected to an accessory air guide opening 317. Furthermore, the air guide duct 346 has a shape that narrows towards the fan exhaust opening 335 and the accessory air guide opening 317, which is thinner than the fan exhaust opening 335. At a location between the air guide duct outlet 348 and the accessory air guide opening 317 on the bottom surface of the upper cover 34, an outlet sealing member 349 for preventing air leakage surrounds the air guide duct outlet 348 on the top surfaces of the air guide duct walls 327 and 339.

[0055] exist Figure 6 In this case, the accessory control board 351 is attached to the upper surface of the battery storage section 323 in the main body housing 37, and a microcomputer (CPU, etc., not shown) for controlling communication with the camera 2 and the rotation of the fan 330 is mounted on the accessory control board 351.

[0056] A recess on the upper surface of the main cover 38 receives the tripod outer threaded portion 311 and the tripod threaded portion dial 312, and a top plate 353 is attached to the main cover 38, thereby covering the tripod outer threaded portion 311 and the tripod threaded portion dial 312. The top plate 353 includes the two positioning pins 313 and rotatably holds the intermediate gear 352. When the top plate 353 is attached to the main cover 38, the intermediate gear 352 meshes with gears 311a and 312a formed on the tripod outer threaded portion 311 and the tripod threaded portion dial 312, forming a tripod threading mechanism 355. A stepped screw 354 passes through the top plate 353 and is screwed to the center of the tripod threaded portion dial 312. Thus, the tripod threaded portion dial 312 is rotatably held by the main cover 38 and the top plate 353.

[0057] Figure 7A The cooling accessory 3 is shown without the top cover 34 when viewed from above. The gear portion of the tripod engagement mechanism 355, located below the top plate 353, is indicated by dashed lines. The double-dotted line G indicates the outline of the front side of the cooling accessory 3 at the height of the tripod engagement mechanism 355. The tripod engagement mechanism 355 is located near the front surface of the cooling accessory 3 (double-dotted line G).

[0058] exist Figure 6 In the main switch unit 358, the battery storage portion 323 is attached to the right side surface of the main housing 37. The base plate 357, to which the tripod inner screw portion 307 is fixed, is attached to the lower surface of the main housing 37.

[0059] The bottom surface of the lower cover 35, which is attached to the main body housing 37 from the bottom, is integrally formed with the aforementioned rotation stop boss hole 308. Figure 3 The plug connector 316 shown is mounted on a plate (not shown) and attached to a top cover 34, which is attached to the upper side of the main body housing 37. The battery cover 302 is rotatably attached (attached so that the battery cover 302 can be opened and closed) to both the top cover 34 and the bottom cover 35 via a hinge axis 302a that engages with both the top cover 34 and the bottom cover 35.

[0060] Next reference Figure 8 This document provides a detailed description of the configuration of the fan 330 inside the cooling accessory 3. The cooling accessory 3 includes a front protrusion 31 projecting forward from the interface 21 when attached to the camera 2, and the fan 330 and air guide duct 346 are arranged such that they occupy the entire length of the interior of the cooling accessory 3 in the front-rear direction, including the front protrusion 31. The fan 330 (the upper surface 331a and lower surface 331b of the housing 331) is inclined at a first angle θ1 relative to the upper surface 33 and lower surface 32 of the cooling accessory 3. The upper air intake duct 347 and lower air intake duct 345 are also inclined along the fan 330.

[0061] The tripod external screw portion 311, included in the tripod screw mechanism 355, is located in a space 360 ​​formed above the upper air intake duct 347 in the main body cover 38 by the inclination of the fan 330 and the upper air intake duct 347. The upper surface of the front protrusion 31 is formed such that its height decreases towards the front as the upper air intake duct 347 is inclination. The replaceable lens unit 4, extending forward from the camera 2, is attached to the interface 21, as shown by the double-dotted line in the figure. At this time, the upper surface of the front protrusion 31 facing the replaceable lens unit 4 is formed such that the upper surface faces forward (in the lens extension direction) away from the optical axis of the replaceable lens unit 4.

[0062] The rotation stop boss hole 308 and the tripod inner threaded part 307 are located in space 361 (the area where the main body housing 37 overlaps with the lower air intake pipe 345 in the first direction). This space 361 is formed below the lower air intake pipe 345 in the main body housing 37 by the inclination of the fan 330 and the lower air intake pipe 345. The tripod outer threaded part 311, the rotation stop boss hole 308, and the tripod inner threaded part 307 form a mounting mechanism, and this mounting mechanism forms a second functional unit.

[0063] Figure 7BThe figure shows the fan 330 in the cooling accessory 3 as viewed from above. The figure shows the cooling accessory 3 with all components above the fan 330 removed, and the dashed line indicates the opening range of the air guide duct outlet 348 (and the accessory air guide opening 317 above it). The fan 330 is arranged inside the fan housing 324 adjacent to the battery housing 323 in the left-right direction.

[0064] If the fan 330 is configured such that the longitudinal direction of the fan exhaust opening 335 is parallel to the rear face 30 of the cooling accessory 3 (so that the fan exhaust opening faces directly to the rear), then the fan 330 is not fitted inside the fan housing 324, whose dimensions are limited by the aforementioned constraints of the holding auxiliary surface 304. Specifically, if the fan exhaust opening 335 is rotated clockwise about the fan axis from the position shown in the figure, so that the fan exhaust opening 335 faces directly to the rear, then the fan exhaust opening 335 is displaced to the left (right side in the figure) relative to the accessory air guide opening 317. In this case, air cannot be efficiently guided from the accessory air guide opening 317 to the entire camera air intake opening 241.

[0065] For this reason, in this implementation method, Figure 7B In the top view, the fan 330 is tilted counterclockwise by a second tilt angle θ2 about the fan axis, such that the longitudinal direction of the fan exhaust opening 335 is not parallel (but rather parallel) to the left-right direction along which the rear face 30 of the cooling attachment 3 extends. The rear face 30 corresponds to a second plane that is parallel to the first direction (orthogonal to the first plane), and the left-right direction corresponds to the second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction and parallel to the second plane.

[0066] In the left-right direction, the center of the air guide duct 346 (air guide duct outlet 348) is located on the left side (first side) of the fan shaft. The second tilt angle causes the fan 330 to rotate around the fan shaft so that the fan exhaust opening 335 faces the air guide duct 346. Thus, without complicating the shape of the air guide duct 346, air exhausted from the fan 330 can be efficiently supplied from the air guide duct 346 and the accessory air guide opening 317 to the camera air intake opening 241.

[0067] In this embodiment, the magnitude of the first tilt angle of the fan 330 relative to the front-back direction is constant in the left-right direction, but the fan can be positioned such that the magnitude of the first tilt angle changes in the left-right direction. That is, the fan can tilt relative to the front-back direction and also relative to the left-right direction. Furthermore, the fan tilted relative to the front-back direction and relative to the left-right direction can rotate around the center of the fan, such that the longitudinal direction of the fan exhaust opening is tilted by a second tilt angle relative to the left-right direction.

[0068] As described above, the entire longitudinal direction of the fan exhaust opening 335 faces the entire longitudinal direction of the accessory air guide opening 317. However, the second inclination angle causes the distance from the fan exhaust opening 335 to the accessory air guide opening 317, i.e., the flow path length of the air guide duct 346, to be unequal in the longitudinal direction of the fan exhaust opening 335 and the accessory air guide opening 317. Specifically, the flow path length of the air guide duct 346 is... Figure 7B The left side is longer, while Figure 7B The right side is shorter. This difference in flow path length leads to a difference in flow path resistance in the longitudinal direction of the fan exhaust opening 335 and the accessory air guide opening 317, and affects the airflow in the air guide duct 346. Therefore, this embodiment employs the following positioning of the fan 330 to reduce the impact of the aforementioned difference in flow path length.

[0069] The blades 336 of fan 330 rotate clockwise, as shown below. Figure 7B As indicated by arrow R in the figure. In this case, the characteristics of the centrifugal fan cause the amount (velocity) of air discharged from the fan exhaust opening 335 to have a distribution represented by the lengths of arrows FV1 and FV2 in the figure. That is, the velocity of the air discharged from the left region (first region) of the fan exhaust opening 335 is faster than the velocity of the air discharged from the right region (second region) of the fan exhaust opening 335. At this time, the side with the faster velocity of the air discharged from the fan exhaust opening 335 can be located on the side with a longer flow path from the fan exhaust opening 335 to the air guide duct outlet 348. As a result, there is a margin for losses caused by flow path resistance, and thus the impact on the airflow in the air guide duct 346 can be reduced.

[0070] Next, the relationship between the first tilt angle and the second tilt angle of fan 330 will be explained. Figure 9 A rear sectional view of the camera 2 with the cooling accessory 3 attached is shown. In this figure, the cooling accessory 3 and the camera 2 are cut at the center in the front-rear direction of the accessory air guide opening 317 and the camera air inlet opening 241.

[0071] A battery storage section 323 is provided on the right side of the cooling accessory 3 in the figure. The accessory battery compartment 322 within the battery storage section 323, serving as a first functional unit related to the function of the cooling accessory 3, stores the battery 321. The left and right side portions 322a at the upper part of the accessory battery compartment 322 and the battery 321 are formed into convex curved surfaces.

[0072] Figure 9A portion of the fan exhaust opening 335 on the distal (front) side of the air guide duct 346 is shown. A first tilt of the fan 330 causes the proximal (rear) side of the air guide duct 346 to be positioned higher than the distal side, and a second tilt of the fan 330 causes the proximal side to be positioned to the right of the distal side in the figure, and then the air guide duct 346 connects to the accessory air guide opening 317 above it.

[0073] A portion of the air guide duct 346 near the accessory air guide opening 317 overlaps with the accessory battery compartment 322 in the vertical direction (first direction) by an overlap amount OL. This overlapping portion is located near the left and right side portions 322a at the upper part of the accessory battery compartment 322, and the air guide duct 346 is efficiently positioned inside the cooling accessory 3 according to its positional relationship with the fan 330, which has a first tilt angle and a second tilt angle. In other words, because the first tilt angle of the fan 330 positions the rear side of the air guide duct 346 higher than the front side of the air guide duct 346, the second tilt angle of the fan 330 allows the air guide duct 346 to be tilted to the right in the figure.

[0074] Figure 9 A heat dissipation sheet 250 forming part of a camera conduit 249 is shown. The double-dotted line in the right-hand region of the heat dissipation sheet 250 indicates the image processing IC 263 disposed on the front side (far side in the figure) of the heat dissipation sheet 250. The dashed lines indicate thermally conductive rubbers 268 and 269 in close contact with a thin heat dissipation component 253, which overlaps with the heat dissipation sheet 250 at the front side. Heat generated by the image processing IC 263 is transferred to the heat dissipation sheet 250 via the thermally conductive rubbers 268 and 269 and the thin heat dissipation component 253. Although the thin heat dissipation component 253 has a heat diffusion effect, the temperature rises most in the area of ​​the heat dissipation sheet 250 overlapping with the thermally conductive rubbers 268 and 269.

[0075] Air supplied from the lower side of the camera duct section 249 via the accessory air guide opening 317 through the camera air intake opening 241 flows within the camera duct section 249, while simultaneously turning 90° to the left as shown by the arrows in the figure, and is discharged to the outside through the camera exhaust openings 242 and 243. Due to the characteristics of the centrifugal fan described above, the air velocity supplied from the camera air intake opening 241 to the camera duct section 249 is affected by the longitudinal velocity distribution of the fan exhaust opening 335, and as shown by the lengths of arrows FVC1 and FVC2 in the figure, the airflow on the right side of the figure is faster.

[0076] In other words, the camera duct section 249 is formed at a location where the camera duct section 249 faces the hottest region on the heat sink 250 (the region thermally connected to the image processing IC 263: hereinafter referred to as the high-temperature region), and the camera air intake opening 241 is positioned so that air flows along the high-temperature region in the camera duct section 249. In this embodiment, the first and second tilt angles of the fan 330 in the cooling accessory 3 position the accessory air guide opening 317 relative to the camera air intake opening 241, which is fixed in position in the camera 2. Furthermore, the second tilt angle of the fan 330 allows air to flow along the high-temperature region in the camera duct section 249. In addition, in this embodiment, the fan exhaust opening 335 in the cooling accessory 3 is located as close as possible to the camera duct section 249, so that air flows through the camera duct section 249 at a high flow rate for efficient cooling.

[0077] The camera duct section 249 has a long region extending from the high-temperature region toward the camera exhaust openings 242 and 243, which enhances the cooling effect by dissipating heat from the high-temperature region as widely as possible. In addition to the image processing IC 263, the camera 2 also includes internal electronic components (such as the image sensor IS) that act as other heat sources, and the long region extending from the high-temperature region toward the camera exhaust openings 242 and 243 allows heat transferred from these other heat sources to be expelled. Various thermally conductive materials, such as thermally conductive rubber, graphite sheets, and heat pipes, can be used for the thermal connection between the other heat sources and the heat sink 250.

[0078] The advantages of the configuration of the fan 330 with first and second tilt angles are summarized as follows.

[0079] The first advantage of the first inclination is that... Figure 8 The cooling accessory 3 shown is miniaturized. Specifically, firstly, by tilting the fan 330, which allows air to be introduced from the upper fan intake opening 333 and the lower fan intake opening 334 of the housing 331, by a first tilt angle, upper air intake ducts 347 and lower air intake ducts 345, respectively connected to the upper fan intake opening 333 and the lower fan intake opening 334, can be formed, while reducing the height of the cooling accessory 3. Secondly, by arranging the tripod screwing mechanism 355, the tripod inner screwing portion 307, and the rotation stop boss hole 308 in areas that do not interfere with the upper air intake ducts 347 and lower air intake ducts 345 tilted along the fan 330 at the first tilt angle, the height of the cooling accessory 3 can be reduced. Thirdly, since the fan 330 is housed in the front protrusion 31 of the cooling accessory 3 when tilted at the first tilt angle, the front protrusion 31 can have a compact shape, such that the distance from the outer peripheral surface of the replaceable lens unit 4 increases towards the front. As a result, it is possible to prevent obstruction of operation of the interchangeable lens unit 4 and the aforementioned aperture narrowing button 206 of the camera 2.

[0080] A second advantage of the first tilt angle is that, in the cooling accessory 3 with its limited height, tilting the fan 330 by the first tilt angle can mitigate the bending of the air guide duct 346 that connects the fan exhaust opening 335 to the accessory air guide opening 317. As a result, the air exhausted into the fan exhaust opening 335 can be smoothly supplied from the accessory air guide opening 317 to the camera air intake opening 241.

[0081] The advantage of the second tilt angle is that it reduces the width of the cooling accessory 3 in the left-right direction. If the battery storage part 323 is shifted to the right and outward in the cooling accessory 3, the fan 330 does not need to be tilted by the second tilt angle. However, by tilting the fan 330 by the second tilt angle, it is possible to achieve a reduced width of the cooling accessory 3 in the left-right direction and provide a gripping auxiliary surface 304.

[0082] Although the above embodiment describes a cooling accessory 3 constructed separately from the camera 2, the cooling device corresponding to the cooling accessory can be integrated with the imaging device that serves as the camera. Furthermore, although the above embodiment describes the cooling accessory 3 as having an accessory battery compartment 322 as a first functional unit, the functional unit can be a unit other than the battery compartment, such as an element forming an electronic circuit.

[0083] In the above embodiment, the fan 330 includes fan intake openings 333 and 334 on the upper and lower surfaces of the housing 331, respectively. However, a fan with a fan intake opening on only one of the upper and lower surfaces of the housing can be used.

[0084] According to the above embodiments, a small cooling device can be provided that can efficiently supply cooling air to electronic devices using a fan.

[0085] While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation to cover all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

Claims

1. A cooling device that supplies cooling air to a heat exchanger of an electronic device, the cooling device comprising: fan; and The main frame is configured to hold the fan. The fan is characterized in that it includes blades configured to be housed within a casing and rotate around a fan shaft, and to discharge air introduced from a fan intake opening of the casing to a fan exhaust opening of the casing, wherein the fan intake opening surrounds the fan shaft, and the fan exhaust opening is arranged tangentially to the rotation direction of the blades. The body frame includes an air guide duct configured to supply air exhausted into the fan exhaust opening to the heat exchanger. The first direction is the direction in which air is supplied from the air guide pipe to the heat exchanger; the first plane is a plane orthogonal to the first direction; and the second plane is a plane parallel to the first direction. The fan is tilted by a first degree relative to the first plane, such that the fan exhaust opening is closer to the heat exchanger than the blades in the first direction, and the fan is tilted by a second degree about the fan axis, such that the fan exhaust opening is tilted relative to a direction parallel to the second plane when viewed from the first direction.

2. The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein, In a second direction orthogonal to the first direction and parallel to the second plane, the center of the air guide duct is located on the first side of the fan shaft, and The second tilt angle causes the fan to tilt toward the first side from the orientation of the fan exhaust opening parallel to the second plane.

3. The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein, The air guide duct is formed such that it extends from the fan exhaust opening to the outlet of the air guide duct and bends toward the first direction at an angle greater than 90°.

4. The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein, In the fan, the airflow velocity discharged from the first region of the fan exhaust opening is faster than the airflow velocity discharged from the second region of the fan exhaust opening, and The second tilt angle causes the fan to tilt from the fan exhaust opening parallel to the second plane such that the flow path length from the first region to the outlet of the air guide duct is longer than the flow path length from the second region to the outlet of the air guide duct.

5. The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein, The body frame retains a first functional unit related to the function of the cooling device, and When the second direction is orthogonal to the first direction and parallel to the second plane, a portion of the air guide duct in the second direction overlaps with the first functional unit in the first direction.

6. The cooling device according to claim 5, wherein, The first functional unit is a battery compartment configured to house the battery used to drive the fan.

7. The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein, The body frame includes an air intake duct configured to connect to the fan intake opening and introduce air from the outside. The intake duct is inclined relative to the first plane such that the intake duct extends along the fan inclined at the first angle, and The body frame holds a second functional unit related to the function of the cooling device, the second functional unit being disposed in the area where the body frame and the air intake pipe overlap in the first direction.

8. The cooling device according to claim 7, wherein, The second functional unit is an attachment mechanism for attaching the cooling device to the electronic device or other components.

9. The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein, The housing includes a first fan intake opening and a second fan intake opening on both sides in the direction of the fan shaft extension, which serve as the fan intake openings. The main body frame includes a first air intake pipe and a second air intake pipe, which are respectively connected to the first fan air intake opening and the second fan air intake opening and introduce air from the outside. The air intake openings of the first air intake pipe and the second air intake pipe are located on different sides of the main body frame.

10. The cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein, The electronic device is a camera device, and the lens unit can be detachably attached to the camera device or the lens unit can be integrally formed with the camera device. The body frame includes a protrusion that protrudes relative to the camera device in the lens extension direction of the lens unit extending from the camera device. A portion of the fan, tilted at the first angle, is placed inside the protrusion, and The surface of the protrusion facing the lens unit is inclined such that as the surface extends along the lens extension direction, the surface becomes farther away from the optical axis of the lens unit.

11. An electronic device comprising: Heat exchanger; and The cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. A camera device as an electronic device, comprising: Image sensor; A processing element configured to process signals output from the image sensor; A heat exchanger, wherein at least one of the image sensor and the processing element is thermally connected to the heat exchanger; and The cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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