electronic equipment

Abstract

To obtain an electronic apparatus with a new configuration improved to be less inconvenient.SOLUTION: An electronic apparatus according to an embodiment includes a housing, an integrated circuit, a plurality of axial fans, and a control circuit. The housing includes an air inlet and an air outlet spaced apart from the air inlet in the first direction. The integrated circuit is positioned between the air inlet and the air outlet and a heat sink is attached to the integrated circuit. The plurality of axial fans includes a first fan that generate an air flow from the air inlet to the air outlet, and is positioned between the air inlet and the heat sink and a second fan not positioned between the air inlet and the heat sink. The control circuit is housed in the housing, outputs a control signal to make a rotational speed of the second fan smaller than the rotational speed of the first fan, and controls the plurality of axial fans.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD An embodiment of the present invention relates to an electronic device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, electronic devices have been known that include a housing that houses heat-generating components such as a central processing unit and an auxiliary storage device, a fan attached to the housing, and a guide member (such as a duct) that is housed in the housing and guides the cooling air from the fan toward the heat-generating components. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-067888 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] It would be beneficial to have new and improved configurations for this type of electronic equipment that would result in fewer inconveniences. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] An electronic device according to an embodiment includes a housing, an integrated circuit, multiple axial fans, and a control circuit. The housing has an air intake and an exhaust port spaced apart from the air intake in a first direction. The integrated circuit is disposed between the air intake and the exhaust port, and has a heat sink attached thereto. The multiple axial fans generate an airflow from the air intake to the exhaust port, and include a first fan disposed between the air intake and the heat sink, and a second fan not disposed between the air intake and the heat sink. The control circuit is housed in the housing and controls the multiple axial fans by outputting a control signal that reduces the rotation speed of the second fan below the rotation speed of the first fan. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0006] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an exemplary schematic plan view of an electronic device. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the volume of cooling air from the electronic device of the embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of the volume of cooling air in an electronic device of a comparative example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are disclosed below. The configurations of the embodiments described below, as well as the actions and effects brought about by the configurations, are merely examples. The present invention can also be realized by configurations other than those disclosed in the following embodiments. Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain at least one of the various effects (including derivative effects) obtained by the configurations.

[0008] In this specification, ordinal numbers are used only to distinguish between parts, members, portions, positions, directions, etc., and do not indicate order or priority.

[0009] 1 is an exemplary schematic plan view of an electronic device 1. In the following drawings, for convenience, three mutually orthogonal directions, that is, an X direction, a Y direction, and a Z direction, are defined.

[0010] The electronic device 1 is, for example, a rack-mounted industrial computer. The electronic device 1 includes a housing 2, fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c, power supply units 4a and 4b, a main board 5, central processing units (CPUs) 7a and 7b, memory cards 8a, 8b, and 8c, heat sinks 9a and 9b, expansion card holders 11a and 11b, and a platform controller hub (PCH) 12. Note that the electronic device 1 is not limited to this example and may be a desktop personal computer, a notebook personal computer, or the like.

[0011] The housing 2 is configured, for example, in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped box that is thin in the Z direction. The housing 2 has a plurality of walls, such as a bottom wall (not shown), a top wall (not shown), a front wall 2c, a left wall 2d, a rear wall 2e, and a right wall 2f. The front wall 2c, the left wall 2d, the rear wall 2e, and the right wall 2f are examples of side walls. The bottom wall is also referred to as a lower wall, and the top wall is also referred to as an upper wall.

[0012] The bottom wall and top wall are provided parallel to an XY plane perpendicular to the Z direction and spaced apart in the Z direction. The bottom wall forms the lower end of the housing 2, and the top wall forms the upper end of the housing 2. A plurality of rubber feet or the like may be provided on the underside of the bottom wall to support the housing 2 while keeping it spaced apart from a mounting portion such as a shelf, desk, or stand (not shown).

[0013] The left wall 2d and the right wall 2f are provided parallel to the XZ plane perpendicular to the Y direction and spaced apart in the Y direction. The left wall 2d spans between one end of the bottom wall and one end of the top wall in the Y direction, and the right wall 2f spans between the other end of the bottom wall and one end of the top wall in the Y direction. The left wall 2d forms the left end of the housing 2, and the right wall 2f forms the right end of the housing 2.

[0014] The front wall 2c and the rear wall 2e are provided parallel to a YZ plane perpendicular to the X direction and spaced apart in the X direction. The front wall 2c extends between the other ends of the bottom wall and the top wall in the X direction, and the rear wall 2e extends between one ends of the bottom wall and the top wall in the X direction. The front wall 2c forms the front end of the housing 2, and the rear wall 2e forms the rear end of the housing 2.

[0015] An intake port 2r is provided over substantially the entire front wall 2c of the housing 2. A plurality of fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c are attached to the inside of the front wall 2c. Components such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) board and a drive unit may also be disposed inside the front wall 2c. The X direction is an example of a first direction.

[0016] The fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c are configured to be detachable from the electronic device 1. Any method for attaching and detaching the fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c may be used, but for example, the electronic device 1 may be configured to include a fan holder 14 for attaching and detaching the fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c.

[0017] For example, the fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c each have a fan that can be hot-plugged into the fan holder 14, and a motor for rotating the fan. The fan generates an airflow from the intake port 2r toward the exhaust port 2p provided in the rear wall 2e. The fan is, for example, an axial fan whose rotation axis faces in the X direction. The fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c can introduce air into the housing 2 by rotating around their respective rotation axes.

[0018] The fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c are arranged side by side in the Y direction. The fan unit 3a is arranged between the air intake 2r and the heat sink 9a, side by side with the heat sink 9a in the X direction. The fan unit 3b is arranged between the air intake 2r and the heat sink 9b, side by side with the heat sink 9b in the X direction. The fan unit 3c is not arranged between the air intake 2r and the heat sinks 9a and 9b. The fans provided in the fan units 3a and 3b are an example of a first fan. The fan provided in the fan unit 3c is an example of a second fan. The fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c have similar configurations, and therefore will be referred to as fan unit 3 when there is no need to distinguish between them.

[0019] The fan holder 14 is disposed, for example, on the bottom plate of the housing 2, and has a plurality of pockets that respectively hold a plurality of fan units 3. The pockets are electrically connected, for example, to the power supply 4b. The pockets may be provided with mating connectors to which connectors for hot swapping of the fan units 3 are detachably connected. The mating connectors are electrically connected to the power supply 4b in the housing 2 via cables or the like. For example, the mating connectors of the three pockets corresponding to the fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c are electrically connected to the power supply 4b via cables 13a, 13b, and 13c, respectively.

[0020] The cables 13a, 13b, and 13c are arranged so as to be as short as possible and gathered on the right wall 2f side of the housing 2. This makes it possible to reduce the resistance of the cables 13a, 13b, and 13c to the cooling airflow (airflow).

[0021] An exhaust port 2p is provided over substantially the entire rear wall 2e of the housing 2. The exhaust port 2p can exhaust cooling air from the fan unit 3 that has exchanged heat with heat-generating elements such as the power supply devices 4a and 4b, the central processing units 7a and 7b, the memory cards 8a, 8b, and 8c, and the heat sinks 9a and 9b, to the outside of the housing 2. The Y direction is an example of the second direction.

[0022] The power supply devices 4a and 4b are aligned in the X direction with a gap between them and the fan unit 3c, which is located at the right end in the Y direction among the multiple fan units 3, and are cooled by the fan unit 3c. The power supply devices 4a and 4b are an example of a heat generating element.

[0023] The main board 5 is configured as a plate parallel to the bottom wall (X direction and Y direction) of the housing 2. To improve the performance of the electronic device 1, such as by increasing memory capacity, the main board 5 may be required to have a larger mounting area. To achieve a larger mounting area, the main board 5 of this embodiment is configured to include an area extending between the fan holder 14 and the rear wall 2e, and an area extending between the left wall 2d and the right wall 2f.

[0024] Multiple electronic components such as central processing units 7a, 7b, memory cards 8a, 8b, 8c, expansion card holders 11a, 11b, and a PCH 12 are mounted on the top surface of the main board 5. The wiring within the main board 5 and these multiple electronic components form a control circuit for the electronic device 1. The main board 5 may also be called a main board, a motherboard, a circuit board, a control board, etc.

[0025] Heat sinks 9a and 9b are attached to the upper surfaces of the central processing units 7a and 7b, respectively. The central processing units 7a and 7b are disposed between the intake port 2r and the exhaust port 2p and are an example of an integrated circuit to which a heat sink is attached. The integrated circuit is not limited to the central processing units 7a and 7b, but may be any other circuit, such as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The pair of the central processing unit 7 and the heat sink 9 may be covered by a duct. In this case, the heat sinks 9a and 9b are connected to the fan units 3a and 3b via the ducts, respectively.

[0026] The heat sinks 9a and 9b have multiple fins arranged at intervals in the Y direction, and can cool the central processing units 7a and 7b by heat exchange with the cooling air from the fan units 3a and 3b that flows between the multiple fins. The heat sinks 9a and 9b are an example of a heat generating element.

[0027] The number of each component (power supplies 4a, 4b, central processing units 7a, 7b, memory cards 8a, 8b, 8c, heat sinks 9a, 9b, expansion card holders 11a, 11b, PCH 12) is not limited to the number shown in FIG. 1. Furthermore, components that are provided in multiple locations may be denoted by the same reference numerals when there is no need to distinguish between them. For example, power supplies 4a, 4b will be referred to as power supply unit 4 when there is no need to distinguish between them. Central processing units 7a, 7b will be referred to as central processing unit 7 when there is no need to distinguish between them. Memory cards 8a, 8b, 8c will be referred to as memory cards 8 when there is no need to distinguish between them. Heat sinks 9a, 9b will be referred to as heat sink 9 when there is no need to distinguish between them. Expansion card holders 11a, 11b will be referred to as expansion card holder 11 when there is no need to distinguish between them.

[0028] In this embodiment, two central processing units 7a and 7b are mounted on the main board 5 and are spaced apart in the Y direction when viewed from the X direction. When viewed from the Z direction, the pair of the central processing unit 7a and heat sink 9a is arranged next to the fan unit 3a and spaced apart in the X direction, and is cooled by the fan unit 3a. When viewed from the Z direction, the pair of the central processing unit 7b and heat sink 9b is arranged next to the fan unit 3b and spaced apart in the X direction, and is cooled by the fan unit 3b. The central processing unit 7 is an example of a heat-generating element.

[0029] By arranging the heat sink 9 next to the fan unit 3 in the X direction, the cooling performance for the central processing unit 7 can be further improved. Note that the number of central processing units 7 and the number of fan units 3 arranged next to the heat sink 9 in the X direction are not limited to two, and may be one or three or more. Furthermore, the heat generating element arranged next to the fan unit 3 in the X direction is not limited to the heat sink 9 connected to the central processing unit 7.

[0030] The memory card 8 is inserted into a slot provided in the main board 5. The memory card 8 is arranged next to the fan unit 3 at an interval in the X direction, and is cooled by the fan unit 3. The memory card 8 is an example of a heat generating element.

[0031] In the electronic device 1, the fan unit 3a and the heat sink 9a may be connected by a duct to increase the amount of airflow to the heat sink 9a, and the fan unit 3b and the heat sink 9b may be connected by a duct to increase the amount of airflow to the heat sink 9b. This allows the electronic device 1 to be structured so that the cooling air is not dispersed to the surrounding area. If air is blown only to the heat sink 9, it may not be possible to cool the entire housing 2. For this reason, the electronic device 1 is provided with a fan unit 3c for cooling the entire housing 2. Note that the flow paths of the cooling air provided by the fan units 3a and 3b are configured so that the cooling air is directed toward the heat sinks 9a and 9b, respectively, and are narrowed by the ducts, so that the resistance to the cooling air is greater than that of the flow path of the cooling air provided by the fan unit 3c.

[0032] In this way, the resistance of the multiple fan units 3 to the exhausted cooling air can change depending on whether they are arranged between the heat sink 9 and the intake port 2r or not.

[0033] 1, of the three fan units 3, two fan units 3a and 3b discharge cooling air toward heat generating elements (central processing units 7a and 7b, heat sinks 9a and 9b), and therefore provide relatively high resistance to the cooling air.Furthermore, fan unit 3c does not discharge cooling air toward the heat generating elements, but rather toward an area where the central processing unit 7 is not configured, and therefore provides relatively low resistance to the cooling air.

[0034] Therefore, the electronic device 1 of this embodiment adjusts the volume of air discharged from each of the multiple fan units 3, taking into account the resistance to the cooling air. Note that the volume of air entering the intake port 2r (intake volume) and the volume of air discharging from the exhaust port 2p (exhaust volume) are the same value. When the intake volume is constant, for example, increasing the volume of cooling air discharged from one fan unit 3 reduces the volume of cooling air discharged from the other fan units 3. In other words, the total volume of cooling air discharged from each fan unit 3 is constant. The electronic device 1 improves the cooling performance of the entire electronic device 1 by adjusting the distribution of the volume of air discharged from each fan unit 3 when the intake volume is constant.

[0035] One possible method for adjusting the volume of cooling air is to provide a guide member that guides the cooling air in the width direction (Y direction) of the housing 2. However, there may be cases where it is not possible to secure space within the housing 2 for placing such a guide member, and therefore it is desirable to improve cooling performance using a method that does not use a guide member.

[0036] Therefore, the electronic device 1 of this embodiment does not control each fan unit 3 in the same way, but controls each fan unit 3 differently in order to improve the cooling performance for the heat generating body.

[0037] FIG. 2 shows an example of the cooling airflow volume when different controls are performed on each fan unit 3. The upward arrows in FIG. 2 indicate the direction of the airflow. The thickness of the arrows indicates the magnitude of the airflow volume. In other words, the thicker the arrow, the greater the airflow volume. As described above, the intake air volume, exhaust air volume, and the total volume of the cooling airflow discharged from each fan unit 3 are the same value.

[0038] In this embodiment, for example, the rotation speed of the fan in fan unit 3c is controlled to be lower than the rotation speed of the fans in fan units 3a and 3b. This reduces the air volume in the flow path through which cooling air flows toward the entire housing 2, and increases the air volume to the heat sinks 9a and 9b. By appropriately setting the rotation speed of the fan in fan unit 3c, the overall cooling performance of the electronic device 1 can be improved.

[0039] To achieve the above function, this embodiment uses a fan unit 3 that can change the rotation speed of the fan. For example, the fan unit 3 can change the rotation speed by changing the duty ratio of an input PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal.

[0040] The rotation speed of the fan in each fan unit 3 is controlled by a control circuit implemented by, for example, the main board 5. The control circuit controls each fan unit 3 so that the rotation speed of the fan in fan unit 3c is lower than the rotation speed of the fans in fan units 3a and 3b. In other words, the control circuit outputs a control signal (such as a PWM signal) that makes the rotation speed of the fan in fan unit 3c lower than the rotation speed of the fans in fan units 3a and 3b.

[0041] For example, the control circuit changes the duty ratio of a PWM signal (an example of a control signal) to control the rotation speed of the fan in each fan unit 3 to a desired value. The rotation speed of the fan in each fan unit 3 is set using, for example, the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) of the main board 5. The control circuit controls the rotation speed of the fan in each fan unit 3 to the rotation speed set by the BIOS.

[0042] The rotation speed setting value may be set by any method. For example, a method of setting the setting value as a percentage of the maximum rotation speed may be applied. For example, the rotation speeds of the fans of fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c are set to 60%, 60%, and 30% of the maximum rotation speed, respectively.

[0043] It may be possible to set different rotation speed settings for normal operation and when an abnormality is detected. For example, the electronic device 1 may be equipped with a temperature sensor that detects the ambient temperature (outside air temperature) or the temperature of a heat source, and may be equipped with a function to detect an abnormality when the detected temperature exceeds a threshold. The rotation speed setting when an abnormality is detected is set to a value different from that during normal operation. For example, the rotation speeds of fan units 3a, 3b, and 3c when an abnormality is detected are set to 100%, 100%, and 40% of the maximum value, respectively. When an abnormality is detected from the temperature sensor detection results, the control circuit controls the rotation speed of the fan in each fan unit 3 according to the rotation speed setting when the abnormality is detected.

[0044] The rotation speed can be determined based on the air pressure distribution or air volume obtained through simulation or measurement using an actual device. The determined rotation speed is set in the BIOS or other device and can be referenced by the control circuit.

[0045] 3 shows an example of the cooling airflow volume of an electronic device of a comparative example in which, unlike this embodiment, multiple fan units are controlled in the same way. Controlling in the same way means, for example, controlling the rotation speeds of the fan units to be the same.

[0046] The electronic device of the comparative example includes a high heat generation area 110 including heat generating elements such as multiple central processing units 101a and 101b, and multiple fan units 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d. In the comparative example, four fan units 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d, which is more than the number in the electronic device 1 of the embodiment, are arranged closely in the Y direction.

[0047] Air entering through the intake vent flows into fan units 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d, each rotating at the same rotational speed. However, the volume of the cooling air discharged from each fan unit varies depending on the resistance to the cooling airflow from each fan unit. For example, fan unit 102d, which is not aligned with high heat generation area 110 in the X direction when viewed from the Z direction, has lower resistance to the cooling airflow it discharges than fan units 102a, 102b, and 102c, which are aligned with high heat generation area 110 in the X direction. As a result, fan unit 102d has a relatively large airflow volume, while fan units 102a, 102b, and 102c have a relatively small airflow volume. As a result, there is a risk that the cooling capacity for high heat generation area 110 will not be ensured.

[0048] This is because the distribution of the airflow rate discharged from each of the fan units 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d varies depending on the fluctuations in the ventilation resistance downstream of each of the fan units 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d. For this reason, even if the number of fan units is increased and the rotation speed of the fan of each fan unit is controlled to be maximized, it may not be possible to ensure a sufficient airflow rate, and a situation may arise in which the high heat generation area 110 cannot be properly cooled.

[0049] In this embodiment, the rotation speed of the fans of each fan unit 3 is controlled so as to appropriately adjust the distribution of the airflow discharged from each fan unit 3. This improves the cooling performance for the central processing unit 7 and also improves the cooling performance of the electronic device 1 as a whole.

[0050] Although increasing the fan rotation speed is one way to improve cooling performance, doing so may increase operating noise. In contrast, in this embodiment, the rotation speed of the fans in some of the fan units 3 is relatively reduced. This makes it possible to improve cooling performance while also increasing noise reduction.

[0051] As described above, in this embodiment, electronic device 1 includes: housing 2 having air intake 2r and exhaust outlet 2p spaced apart from air intake 2r in the X direction (first direction); central processing unit 7 (integrated circuit) arranged between air intake 2r and exhaust outlet 2p and having heat sink 9 attached; multiple axial fans that generate an airflow from air intake 2r toward exhaust outlet 2p and include fan units 3a and 3b (first fans) arranged between air intake 2r and heat sink 9 and fan unit 3c (second fan) that is not arranged between air intake 2r and heat sink 9; and a control circuit housed in housing 2 that outputs a control signal to control the multiple axial fans by setting the rotation speed of fan unit 3c to be lower than the rotation speed of fan units 3a and 3b.

[0052] This configuration increases the airflow to the fan unit 3, which is arranged alongside the heat sink 9 in the X direction, and improves the cooling performance for the central processing unit 7. Furthermore, by appropriately setting the rotation speed of the fan of the fan unit 3, it is possible to maintain the cooling performance for the entire electronic device 1. This makes it possible to obtain an electronic device 1 that is more likely to cool heat-generating elements such as the power supply device 4, central processing unit 7, and memory card 8, even in a compact, high-performance, high-end device.

[0053] Furthermore, because the fan units 3 can be individually hot-plugged, it is possible to more easily and smoothly perform maintenance work on the fan units 3. Specifically, when maintenance is required for one of the multiple fan units 3, the maintenance work can be performed while the other fan units 3 are still running, that is, while heat-generating elements such as the power supply device 4, central processing unit 7, and memory card 8 are still being cooled by the cooling air from the other fan units 3.

[0054] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims.

[0055] Furthermore, the specifications of each configuration and shape (structure, type, direction, format, size, length, width, thickness, height, number, arrangement, position, material, etc.) can be changed as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 1 Electronic equipment 2. Case 3 Fan Units 4 Power supply 5 Mainboard 7 Central Processing Unit 8. Memory Card 9 Heatsink 11 Expansion card holder 12 PCH 13 Cable 14 Fan holder

Claims

1. a housing having an air intake port and an air exhaust port spaced apart from the air intake port in a first direction; an integrated circuit disposed between the intake port and the exhaust port and having a heat sink attached thereto; a plurality of axial flow fans, each of which generates an airflow from the intake port toward the exhaust port, the first fan being disposed between the intake port and the heat sink, and a second fan not disposed between the intake port and the heat sink; a control circuit housed in the housing and controlling the plurality of axial flow fans, which constantly outputs a control signal to make the rotation speed of the second fan lower than the rotation speed of the first fan; An electronic device comprising:

2. a plurality of the integrated circuits arranged in a second direction in which the plurality of axial flow fans are arranged when viewed from the first direction; The electronic device according to claim 1 .

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