Blower and air quantity detection method

Abstract

To make a blower properly determine a state of waste heat.SOLUTION: A blower has an exhaust air quantity detection unit for detecting a waste air quantity discharged from an exhaust port which is formed at a device to which an own machine is attached, and a state detection unit for detecting a state of exhaust air in an internal space of the device on the basis of the exhaust air quantity which is detected by the waste air quantity detection unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a blower and an air volume detection method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there has been known a fan for discharging heat generated inside an apparatus to the outside of the apparatus. In such a fan, a technique is known in which an anemometer is provided at the outlet of the fan to detect the wind speed in order to detect an abnormal state of a filter unit provided at the outlet. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-95106 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The state of heat exhaust inside the device in which the fan is installed is judged by the amount of air exhausted from the device. Therefore, as in the above-mentioned conventional technology, the air speed at the outlet of the fan also detects the air speed circulating inside the device, making it difficult to properly judge the state of heat exhaust inside the device in which the fan is installed.

[0005] The disclosed technology has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to enable an appropriate determination of the state of exhaust heat. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The disclosed technology is a blower having an exhaust air volume detection unit (11, 11A) that detects the exhaust air volume from an exhaust port (120) formed in an apparatus (100) to which the blower (10, 10A) is attached, and a state detection unit (18) that detects the exhaust state of the internal space of the apparatus (100) based on the exhaust air volume detected by the exhaust air volume detection unit (11, 11A).

[0007] The reference symbols in parentheses are given for ease of understanding, are merely examples, and are not intended to be limiting of the embodiments shown in the drawings. Effect of the Invention

[0008] The state of exhaust heat can be appropriately determined. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a blower according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 4 is a diagram illustrating a pressure difference detection unit. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of air volume-static pressure characteristic data. [Diagram 5] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a calculation processing unit. [Figure 6] 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an exhaust air volume detection unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a blower according to a second embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a flow rate detection unit. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating flow rate-air volume characteristic data. [Figure 10] 11 is a diagram illustrating a method for calculating flow rate-air volume characteristic data. FIG. [Figure 11] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a configuration of an exhaust air volume detection unit according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] First Embodiment A first embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the present invention.

[0011] 1 shows a state in which the fan 10 is provided in an information processing device 100. The information processing device 100 has a housing 110, and the fan 10 is attached to the housing 110. In addition, an exhaust port 120 is formed in the housing 110.

[0012] The information processing device 100 of the present embodiment may be, for example, a server device arranged in a data center, etc. The operation state of the information processing device 100 may be monitored by, for example, a monitoring system that monitors the state of the data center.

[0013] In the information processing device 100 of this embodiment, the fan 10 blows air into the housing 110 , and the heat generated by the heating element 130 inside the housing 110 is exhausted to the outside of the housing 110 through the exhaust port 120 .

[0014] Here, the fan 10 of the present embodiment detects the exhaust airflow at the exhaust port 120 of the housing 110. The exhaust airflow indicates the amount of air exhausted per unit time from the exhaust port 120 of the housing 110. The exhaust airflow at the exhaust port 120 is the amount of air discharged from the discharge port of the fan 10.

[0015] Then, the fan 10 of the present embodiment outputs the detected exhaust air volume to an external system such as a monitoring system that monitors the state of the information processing device 100.

[0016] In this way, the blower 10 of the present embodiment can detect the amount of exhaust air from the housing of the device to which it is attached and notify an external system of the amount. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, a monitoring system or the like can be made to appropriately determine the state of exhaust heat.

[0017] The blower 10 of the present embodiment will be described below. Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the blower of the first embodiment.

[0018] The blower 10 of this embodiment has an exhaust air volume detection unit 11, a motor control unit 12, a motor drive unit 13, a motor 14, an impeller 15, and an input / output unit 16.

[0019] The exhaust airflow detection unit 11 of the present embodiment detects the exhaust airflow of the blower 10. Specifically, the exhaust airflow detection unit 11 of the present embodiment includes a pressure difference detection unit 17 and a calculation processing unit .

[0020] The pressure difference detection unit 17 is a pressure sensor that detects the difference in air pressure between the inlet side and the outlet side of the blower 10 .

[0021] The calculation processing unit 18 obtains the exhaust air volume using the pressure difference detected by the pressure difference detection unit 17. Specifically, the calculation processing unit 18 has a memory unit 19, which stores air volume-static pressure characteristic data specific to the blower 10, and obtains the exhaust air volume based on the pressure difference detected by the pressure difference detection unit 17 and the air volume-static pressure characteristic data. The calculation processing unit 18 also causes the motor control unit 12 to control the motor 14.

[0022] Furthermore, the arithmetic processing unit 18 of the present embodiment detects the exhaust state of the internal space of the information processing device 100 according to the exhaust air volume. That is, the arithmetic processing unit 18 is an example of a state detection unit that detects the exhaust state of the internal space of the device to which the blower 10 is attached.

[0023] In this embodiment, motor control unit 12 controls motor drive unit 13 so that the rotation speed of motor 14 becomes a target value. Motor drive unit 13 rotates motor 14 in response to a control signal from motor control unit 12. Motor 14 is connected to impeller 15, and impeller 15 rotates in response to the rotation of motor 14.

[0024] The input / output unit 16 outputs the exhaust air volume detected by the exhaust air volume detection unit 11 to an external device. Specifically, the input / output unit 16 may output the exhaust air volume detected by the exhaust air volume detection unit 11 to the information processing device 100 to which the blower 10 is attached. In addition, the input / output unit 16 may notify the information processing device 100 of the exhaust state of the internal space of the information processing device 100 detected by the calculation processing unit 18.

[0025] 3 is a diagram illustrating the pressure difference detection unit 17 of the present embodiment. The pressure difference detection unit 17 detects the pressure difference between the inlet side and the outlet side of the blower 10.

[0026] Arrow 10a in FIG. 3 indicates the flow of air sucked in through the inlet of blower 10 by the rotation of impeller 15, and arrow 10b indicates the flow of air expelled from the outlet of blower 10.

[0027] In this embodiment, the pressure difference detection unit 17 detects the pressure difference, which is the difference between the pressure of the air sucked in through the suction port of the blower 10 and the pressure of the air expelled from the exhaust port of the blower 10, as the static pressure of the blower 10.

[0028] In this embodiment, when the pressure difference detection unit 17 detects the static pressure, the calculation processing unit 18 acquires air volume-static pressure characteristic data corresponding to the static pressure.

[0029] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of air volume-static pressure characteristic data, in which the vertical axis represents static pressure and the horizontal axis represents air volume, showing the relationship between air volume and static pressure of fan 10.

[0030] The calculation processing unit 18 of this embodiment holds the air volume-static pressure characteristic data shown in FIG. 4 in the memory unit 19, and when the static pressure is detected by the pressure difference detection unit 17, it refers to the air volume-static pressure characteristic data to obtain the air volume corresponding to the detected static pressure.

[0031] For example, when the static pressure (pressure difference) detected by the pressure difference detection unit 17 is Ps1 [Pa], the calculation processing unit 18 acquires the air volume Q1 corresponding to the static pressure (pressure difference) Ps1 [Pa] in the air volume-static pressure characteristic data as the exhaust air volume of the blower 10.

[0032] Then, the blower 10 outputs the exhaust air volume acquired by the calculation processing unit 18 to an external device via the input / output unit 16.

[0033] At this time, the calculation processing unit 18 of this embodiment may detect the exhaust state in the internal space of the information processing device 100 and the state of the blower 10 according to the exhaust air volume, and output the detected result together with the exhaust air volume to an external device via the input / output unit 16.

[0034] 5 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the arithmetic processing unit. The arithmetic processing unit 18 in this embodiment judges whether the rotation speed of the motor 14 is maintained at a target value or not (step S501). Specifically, in this embodiment, the rotation speed of the motor 14 may be detected by a rotation speed detection unit (not shown) and managed in the motor control unit 12. Therefore, the arithmetic processing unit 18 may obtain a judgment result as to whether the rotation speed of the motor 14 is maintained at a target value or not from the motor control unit 12.

[0035] In step S501, if the rotation speed of the motor 14 is not maintained at the target value, the calculation processing unit 18 ends the process. At this time, the calculation processing unit 18 may output a notification indicating that the rotation speed of the motor 14 is not maintained at the target value to the information processing device 100 via the input / output unit 16.

[0036] In step S501, if the rotation speed of motor 14 is maintained at the target value, calculation processing unit 18 determines whether the detected exhaust air volume is less than the initial value (step S502). Note that calculation processing unit 18 may store the exhaust air volume when information processing device 100 to which blower 10 is attached starts operating as the initial value of the exhaust air volume in storage unit 19. In step S502, if the detected exhaust air volume is equal to or greater than the initial value, calculation processing unit 18 proceeds to step S504, which will be described later.

[0037] In step S502, if the detected exhaust air volume is smaller than the initial value, the calculation processing unit 18 determines that it is necessary to check the exhaust port of the blower 10, and outputs a notification to that effect to the input / output unit 16 (step S503).

[0038] The state in which it is necessary to check the exhaust port indicates, in other words, a state in which it is necessary to check the exhaust port 120 of the housing 110 of the information processing device 100 to which the fan 10 is attached. In this manner, the fan 10 of the present embodiment can detect the state of exhaust in the internal space of the device to which it is attached.

[0039] In step S502, if the detected exhaust air volume is equal to or greater than the initial value, the calculation processing unit 18 determines whether or not the static pressure has decreased below the initial value (step S504).

[0040] Specifically, the calculation processing unit 18 may store in the memory unit 19 the pressure difference (static pressure) detected by the pressure difference detection unit 17 when the information processing device 100 to which the blower 10 is attached starts operating, as the initial value of the static pressure.

[0041] When the pressure difference detected by pressure difference detection unit 17 falls below the initial value of the static pressure, calculation processing unit 18 determines that the state requires checking of the own machine, and outputs a notification indicating this to input / output unit 16 (step S505). In other words, a state in which checking of the own machine is required is a state in which impeller 15 is damaged, etc. In step S504, when the static pressure maintains the initial value, calculation processing unit 18 ends the process. In this way, blower 10 of the present embodiment can detect its own state.

[0042] In this embodiment, as described above, the exhaust air volume of the fan 10 can be output to the information processing device 100 to which the fan 10 is attached. Therefore, the information processing device 100 can notify the monitoring system that monitors the state of the information processing device 100 of the state of the heat exhausted from the housing 110, and the state of the heat exhausted in the information processing device 100 can be appropriately determined.

[0043] Moreover, the fan 10 of the present embodiment can diagnose its own state in accordance with the rotation speed of the motor 14 and the like, and notify the information processing device 100 of the diagnosis result. The fan 10 of the present embodiment can diagnose the exhaust state of the internal space of the information processing device 100 to which it is attached, based on the exhaust air volume, and output the diagnosis result to the information processing device 100 to which the fan 10 is attached.

[0044] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the state of the blower 10 and the exhaust state of the internal space of the information processing device 100 are detected and notified to the information processing device 100, so that the information processing device 100 can notify a monitoring system that monitors the state of the information processing device 100 of the cause of the decrease in exhaust air volume.

[0045] Next, the configuration of the exhaust airflow detection unit 11 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the exhaust airflow detection unit of the first embodiment. Fig. 6(A) is a diagram illustrating the mounting position of the exhaust airflow detection unit 11, and Fig. 6(B) is a cross-sectional view of the exhaust airflow detection unit 11 taken along line AA.

[0046] 6(A), in the blower 10 of the present embodiment, the motor 14, the impeller 15, etc. are attached to a frame 21. The frame 21 also has a mounting portion 22 on which the exhaust airflow detection unit 11 is mounted, and the exhaust airflow detection unit 11 is mounted on the mounting portion 22.

[0047] The exhaust airflow detection unit 11 of this embodiment includes a cylindrical case 23 having openings on both ends, and a pressure difference detection unit 17 (pressure sensor) installed inside the case 23. The exhaust airflow detection unit 11 is mounted on the frame 21 so that an opening 24 in the case 23 is on the intake side of the blower 10, and the other opening 25 is on the exhaust side.

[0048] In the exhaust airflow detection unit 11, a partition member 26 and a hole 27 are formed inside the case 23. The partition member 26 separates the space on the opening 24 side from the space on the opening 25 side, and the hole 27 connects the space on the opening 24 side to the space on the opening 25 side. In this embodiment, a pressure difference detection unit 17 (pressure sensor) is attached so as to overlap with the hole 27, and detects the difference in air pressure between the space on the opening 24 side (intake port side) and the space on the opening 25 side (exhaust port side).

[0049] Although not shown in FIG. 6B, a board for sending the pressure difference detected by pressure difference detection unit 17 to calculation processing unit 18 may be mounted.

[0050] As described above, in this embodiment, by attaching the blower 10 to the information processing device 100, the state of heat exhaust from a large number of information processing devices 100 deployed in a data center or the like can be grasped from a remote location, which contributes to the management of the information processing devices 100 from a remote location.

[0051] In this embodiment, the exhaust air volume of the device itself is detected only by the fan 10. Therefore, according to this embodiment, in order to determine the state of exhaust heat inside the housing 110 of the information processing device 100, it is not necessary to provide any other components than the fan 10 inside the housing 110, and the state of exhaust heat of the device to which the fan 10 is attached can be determined with a simple configuration.

[0052] Second Embodiment The second embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the flow rate of air between the inlet and outlet of the blower 10 is detected instead of the pressure difference between the air inlet and outlet. Therefore, in the following description of the second embodiment, the differences from the first embodiment will be described, and the same reference numerals as those used in the description of the first embodiment will be given to components having the same functional configuration as the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0053] 7 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a blower according to the second embodiment. A blower 10A of this embodiment has an exhaust air volume detection unit 11A, a motor control unit 12, a motor drive unit 13, a motor 14, an impeller 15, and an input / output unit 16.

[0054] Exhaust airflow detection unit 11A of the present embodiment detects the exhaust airflow of fan 10A. Specifically, exhaust airflow detection unit 11A of the present embodiment includes a flow rate detection unit 17A and a calculation processing unit 18A.

[0055] Flow rate detection unit 17A is a flow rate sensor that detects the flow rate of air flowing between the inlet and outlet of blower 10A.

[0056] The calculation processing unit 18A obtains the exhaust air volume of the blower 10A using the flow rate detected by the flow rate detection unit 17A. Specifically, the calculation processing unit 18A has a memory unit 19A in which flow rate-air volume characteristic data indicating the relationship between the flow rate of air flowing between the inlet and outlet and the exhaust air volume is stored, and obtains the exhaust air volume based on the flow rate detected by the flow rate detection unit 17A and the flow rate-air volume characteristic data.

[0057] The flow rate detection unit 17A of this embodiment will be described below with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining the flow rate detection unit.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 8, the flow rate detection unit 17A of the present embodiment has a flow path for air flowing from the discharge port to the inlet port of the blower 10, and detects the flow rate of air flowing through the flow path.

[0059] Next, the flow rate-air volume characteristic data of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining the flow rate-air volume characteristic data.

[0060] The flow rate-air volume characteristic data 71 of the present embodiment may be calculated in advance based on the air volume-static pressure characteristic data 41 specific to the fan 10A, and stored in the storage unit 19A of the arithmetic processing unit 18A.

[0061] More specifically, the flow rate-air volume characteristic data 71 is calculated based on the relationship between the static pressure in the air volume-static pressure characteristic data 41 shown in FIG. 8 and the cross-sectional area of ​​the flow path of the flow rate detection unit 17A.

[0062] A method for calculating the flow rate-air volume characteristic data 71 from the air volume-static pressure characteristic data 41 will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0063] 10 is a diagram for explaining a method for calculating flow rate-air volume characteristic data. The flow rate Q of air flowing through a flow path is calculated by the following formula 1, where P is the static pressure, A is the area (cross-sectional area) of the cross section S of the flow path, and ρ is the fluid density.

[0064] Q=A×√(2P / ρ) Equation 1 Therefore, in this embodiment, the relationship between air volume and static pressure can be converted into the relationship between air volume and flow rate from the static pressure Ps in the air volume-static pressure characteristic data 41 and the cross-sectional area of ​​the flow path of the flow rate detection unit 17A.

[0065] In this embodiment, the flow rate-air volume characteristic data 71 is stored in the storage unit 19A, but is not limited to this. In this embodiment, the air volume-static pressure characteristic data 41 may also be stored in the storage unit 19A.

[0066] In this embodiment, by storing the air volume-static pressure characteristic data 41 in this manner, the calculation processing unit 18A can detect the state of the own device.

[0067] Specifically, the calculation processing unit 18A records the flow rate when the information processing device 100 to which the blower 10 is attached starts operating, and the static pressure obtained based on the flow rate-air volume characteristic data 71 and the air volume-static pressure characteristic data 41 as the initial value of the static pressure.

[0068] 5, calculation processing unit 18A may determine whether the static pressure obtained based on the flow rate detected by flow rate detection unit 17A, flow rate-air volume characteristic data 71, and air volume-static pressure characteristic data 41 has decreased below the initial value of the static pressure, and may determine the state of fan 10A according to the determination result. In this manner, in this embodiment, the state of the fan itself can be detected.

[0069] Next, the configuration of the exhaust airflow detection unit 11A of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the exhaust airflow detection unit of the second embodiment.

[0070] In the exhaust airflow detection unit 11A of this embodiment, the case 23A is a cylindrical case having openings 24, 25 at both ends, and the flow rate detection unit 17A (flow rate sensor) is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the case 23A. Although not shown in FIG. 11, a board that sends the flow rate detected by the flow rate detection unit 17A to the calculation processing unit 18A may be mounted.

[0071] In this embodiment, the flow rate-air volume characteristic data 71 of the blower 10A is stored in advance in the memory unit 19A of the calculation processing unit 18A, and the exhaust air volume is obtained based on the flow rate detected by the flow rate detection unit 17A and the flow rate-air volume characteristic data 71.

[0072] In this manner, in this embodiment, the exhaust air volume of fan 10A can be obtained based on the flow rate of air flowing from the discharge port to the inlet port of fan 10A, and can be notified to an external device.

[0073] Therefore, according to this embodiment, the state of exhaust heat within a device in which the fan 10A is installed can be appropriately determined.

[0074] In the above-described embodiments, the fan 10, 10A is attached to the information processing device 100, but the device to which the fan 10, 10A is attached is not limited to the information processing device.

[0075] Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the fans 10 and 10A have been described as fans for exhausting heat, but the present embodiments may be applied to fans for blowing air or ventilation.

[0076] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0077] 10, 10A blower, 11, 11A exhaust air volume detection unit, 12 motor control unit, 13 motor drive unit, 14 motor, 15 impeller, 16 input / output unit, 17 pressure difference detection unit, 17A flow rate detection unit, 18, 18A calculation processing unit, 19, 19A memory unit

Claims

1. an exhaust airflow detection unit that detects an exhaust airflow from an exhaust port formed in a device to which the device is attached; a state detection unit that detects an exhaust state of the internal space of the device based on the exhaust air volume detected by the exhaust air volume detection unit.

2. 2. The blower of claim 1, further comprising an output section for notifying said device of an exhaust state of the interior space of said device.

3. The exhaust air volume detection unit is a pressure difference detection unit that detects a pressure difference between a pressure at an intake port of the blower and a pressure at a discharge port of the blower; The blower according to claim 1 , further comprising: a calculation processing unit that obtains the exhaust air volume in accordance with the pressure difference detected by the pressure difference detection unit.

4. The arithmetic processing unit is A storage unit is provided in which air volume-static pressure characteristic data indicating the air volume-static pressure characteristic of the blower is stored, 4. The blower according to claim 3, wherein the exhaust air volume is obtained from the air volume-static pressure characteristic data and the pressure difference detected by the pressure difference detection unit.

5. The exhaust air volume detection unit is a flow rate detection unit that detects a flow rate of air flowing through an intake port of the blower and an exhaust port of the blower; The blower according to claim 1 , further comprising: a calculation processing unit that acquires the exhaust air volume in accordance with the flow rate detected by the flow rate detection unit.

6. The arithmetic processing unit is A storage unit is provided in which flow rate-air volume characteristic data indicating the flow rate-air volume characteristic of the blower is stored, The blower according to claim 5 , wherein the exhaust air volume is obtained from the flow rate-air volume characteristic data and the flow rate detected by the flow rate detection unit.

7. The state detection unit is A storage unit that stores an initial value of an exhaust air volume when the device starts operating; 3. The blower according to claim 1, further comprising: a detection unit for detecting a state of the blower by comparing the initial value with the exhaust air volume detected by the exhaust air volume detection unit.

8. a step of detecting an exhaust air volume from an exhaust port formed in a device to which the blower is attached, by an exhaust air volume detection unit of the blower; and detecting an exhaust state of the internal space of the device by a fan state detection unit based on the exhaust air volume detected by the exhaust air volume detection unit.

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