Cooling pump module and auxiliary connecting device thereof

Abstract

This disclosure discloses a cooling pump module and its auxiliary connection device. The auxiliary connection device includes a tray, a base, and a guide rod. The tray has a first bearing fixed thereon. The base is slidably disposed on the tray. The base has a second bearing fixed thereon. The guide rod is rotatably disposed and passes through the second bearing. When the base slides relative to the tray, the guide rod moves toward the first bearing. When the guide rod moves close to the first bearing, the guide rod is allowed to rotate to engage with the first bearing. When the guide rod rotates in the first bearing, the guide rod pushes against the second bearing to apply force to the base.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a cooling pump module and its auxiliary connection device, which can be used to assist in the docking between liquid cooling pipelines. Prior Technology

[0002] For cooling equipment currently used in server machines, there is a need to perform maintenance or replace parts while the server machine is running, which relates to the so-called hot-swap technology. However, to prevent coolant leakage during hot-swapping, current designs incorporate a certain degree of obstruction at the joints between cooling devices. Overcoming this obstruction and reconnecting the joints requires applying significant external force.

[0003] Therefore, designing an improved solution to make the connection between liquid cooling pipelines smoother is a direction that practitioners in this field are committed to developing. Summary of the Invention

[0004] According to one aspect of this disclosure, an auxiliary connecting device is proposed. The auxiliary connecting device includes a tray, a base, and a guide rod. The tray has a first bearing fixed thereon. The base is slidably disposed on the tray. The base has a second bearing fixed thereon. The guide rod is rotatably disposed and passes through the second bearing. When the base slides relative to the tray, the guide rod moves toward the first bearing. When the guide rod moves close to the first bearing, the guide rod is allowed to rotate to engage with the first bearing. When the guide rod rotates in the first bearing, the guide rod pushes against the second bearing to apply force to the base.

[0005] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a cooling pump module is proposed for supplying coolant to a second liquid cooling line of an electronic device via a first liquid cooling line. The cooling pump module includes a cooling pump and an auxiliary connection device. The cooling pump has a first liquid cooling line. The auxiliary connection device is used to connect the first liquid cooling line and the second liquid cooling line to each other. The auxiliary connection device includes a tray, a base, and a guide rod. The tray has a first bearing. The first bearing is disposed on one side of the tray facing the cooling pump. The base is slidably disposed on the tray. One side of the base supports the cooling pump. The other side of the base has a second bearing disposed thereon. The guide rod is rotatably disposed and passes through the second bearing, and engages with the first bearing.

[0006] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a cooling pump module is provided for providing coolant input to an electronic device. The cooling pump module includes a cooling pump and an auxiliary connection device. The auxiliary connection device is used to interconnect the cooling pump with the liquid cooling piping of the electronic device. A tray has a first bearing. The first bearing is disposed on the side of the tray facing the cooling pump. A base is slidably disposed on the tray. One side of the base supports the cooling pump. The other side of the base has a second bearing fixed thereon. A space is formed between the base and the tray. A guide rod is disposed in the space between the tray and the base. The guide rod is rotatably disposed and passes through the second bearing, and is allowed to rotate to engage with the first bearing.

[0007] The auxiliary connection device disclosed herein features a design that allows the base and tray to slide relative to each other, a guide rod of a bearing mounted on the base to move and rotate to engage with a bearing on the tray, and a guide rod that, when rotating within the bearing on the tray, can push against a second bearing to apply force to the base. This auxiliary connection device allows for easy connection of a liquid cooling line mounted on the base to another liquid cooling line mounted on the tray, thus providing a labor-saving effect.

[0008] To provide a better understanding of the above and other aspects of this disclosure, specific embodiments are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings: Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0009] Figure 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an auxiliary connection device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, used for docking between liquid cooling pipelines. Figure 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an auxiliary connection device according to an embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 3 shows an exploded view of an auxiliary connection device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figures 4A, 4B, and 4C illustrate bottom views of the operation phase of an auxiliary connection device according to an embodiment disclosed herein. Figure 5 shows a bottom view of some components of an auxiliary connection device according to another embodiment of the present invention. Implementation

[0010] The embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below, with accompanying drawings as examples. In addition to these detailed descriptions, this disclosure can be widely implemented in other embodiments, and any easy substitutions, modifications, or equivalent changes to the described embodiments are included within the scope of this disclosure and are subject to the claims that follow. In the description of the specification, many specific details are provided to give the reader a more complete understanding of this disclosure; however, this disclosure may still be implemented even if some or all of these specific details are omitted. Furthermore, well-known common steps or elements are not described in the details to avoid creating unnecessary limitations to this disclosure. Identical or similar elements in the drawings will be represented by the same or similar symbols.

[0011] Please refer to Figures 1, 2 and 3. Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the auxiliary connection device 100 of an embodiment of the present disclosure being applied to the docking between the first liquid cooling line P1 of the first device LC1 and the second liquid cooling line P2 of the second device LC2. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the auxiliary connection device 100, and Figure 3 shows an exploded view of the auxiliary connection device 100.

[0012] The first device LC1 is, for example, a cooling pump. The second device LC2 is, for example, an electronic device such as a server. In Figure 1, only a portion of the server is shown as an example for simplification. The first device LC1 and the auxiliary connection device 100 can constitute a cooling pump module 10. That is, the cooling pump module 10 of one embodiment of the present disclosure may include the first device LC1 and the auxiliary connection device 100. The cooling pump module 10 can be used to provide coolant to the second liquid cooling line P2 of the second device LC2 through the first liquid cooling line P1 of the first device LC1. Specifically, the first liquid cooling line P1 and the liquid cooling line P2 may each have a quick connector to enable hot-swapping when the first device LC1, such as the cooling pump, needs maintenance / replacement of parts, while the second device LC2, such as the server, is in operation. To prevent coolant leakage during hot-swapping, a spring-loaded design is generally provided in the quick connector, which results in a certain resistance when the two connectors are reconnected. The auxiliary connection device 100 can be used to assist in the quick connection between the first liquid cooling pipe P1 of the first device LC1 and the second liquid cooling pipe P2 of the second device LC2. That is, the auxiliary connection device 100 can be used to connect the first liquid cooling pipe P1 and the second liquid cooling pipe P2 to each other, so as to effectively overcome the resistance when the joint is connected, thereby providing a labor-saving effect.

[0013] The auxiliary connection device 100 may include a tray 110, a base 120, a guide rod 130, and a handle 140. Specifically, the base 120 may include a base 120B and a vertical plate 120P, which may be substantially perpendicular. A first device LC1 may be mounted on the base 120B of the base 120, and its first liquid cooling line P1 may be threaded through a corresponding through hole fixed to the vertical plate 120P. A second device LC2 may be mounted on one side of the tray 110, or configured adjacent to the tray 110. The first liquid cooling line P1 of the first device LC1 and the second liquid cooling line P2 of the second device LC2 are aligned in the YZ plane, thereby allowing docking along the X-axis. The tray 110 may have a first bearing 111 fixed thereon, the first bearing 111 may have internal threads, and the first bearing 111 may be disposed on one side of the tray 110 facing the first device LC1. The base 120 is slidably disposed on the tray 110, and one side of the base 120 may support the first device LC1. In detail, the inlet size W of the tray 110 (refer to Figure 3) is equivalent to that of the base 120B, allowing the base 120 to be placed directly on the tray 110 from above. The tray 110 may also have two sliding grooves 110R, which are located a distance after the inlet of the tray 110 and correspond to the two sides of the base 120B of the base 120, so that the base 120B can slide along the extension direction of the sliding grooves 110R. The sliding grooves 110R can be further divided into a first part 110R1 and a second part 110R2. As shown in Figure 3, the first part 110R1 is a plate-like structure extending along the XY plane, while the second part 110R2 is a plate-like structure extending along the XZ plane, meaning that the first part 110R1 and the second part 110R2 can be substantially perpendicular to each other. The second part 110R2 can be used to stop the base 120 from continuing to move towards the second liquid cooling pipe P2 in the X-axis direction. When the base 120 finally moves along the X-axis to the state shown in Figure 2, the second part 110R2 of the slide rail 110R abuts against the base 120 and provides a stop. Specifically, the second part 110R2 of the slide rail 110R can stop the base 120 by abutting against the base 120B of the base 120 and the support rail 122 fixed to the base 120.

[0014] The support rail 122, fixed to the base 120, is mainly used to support the base 120B, preventing the weight of the first device LC1 from deforming the base 120B. Specifically, the support rail 122 can be fixed to the base 120B of the base 120. In this embodiment, the number of support rails 122 is set to four, but this is not intended to limit the invention. The support rail 122 can abut against the tray 110, serving as a contact surface when the base 120 slides on the tray 110. The lengths of the plurality of support rails 122 may not be the same. In this embodiment, two of the support rails 122 located in the middle of the base 120 are of the same length, and the other two support rails 122 located on the outer side of the base 120 are of the same length. The length of the support rail 122 located in the middle of the base 120 is shorter than that of the support rail 122 located on the outer side of the base 120, but this is not intended to limit the invention.

[0015] The base 120 has a second bearing 121 fixed thereon. In this embodiment, the number of second bearings 121 is set to two, but this is not intended to limit the invention. The second bearing 121 is disposed on and fixed to the other side of the base 120 relative to the side of the base 120 that supports the first device LC1. Specifically, the second bearing 121 can be fixed to the base 120B of the base 120 and is located on the side of the base 120B facing the tray 110. A space can be formed between the base 120 and the tray 110, and a guide rod 130 can be disposed in this space. The guide rod 130 is rotatably disposed and passes through the second bearing 121, which can support the rotating guide rod 130 and allow it to rotate smoothly. The second bearing 121 may be unthreaded. A handle 140 is fixed to one end of the guide rod 130. The handle 140 can provide a grip for the user, and rotating the handle 140 can cause the guide rod 130 to rotate synchronously. In this embodiment, both the first bearing 111 and the second bearing 121 are flange bearings. Flange bearings provide a locking position so that the first bearing 111 can be locked onto the tray 110, and the second bearing 121 can be locked onto the base 120.

[0016] Please refer to Figures 4A, 4B and 4C. Figure 4A shows the bottom view of the first actuation stage of the auxiliary connecting device 100, Figure 4B shows the bottom view of the second actuation stage of the auxiliary connecting device 100, and Figure 4C shows the bottom view of the second actuation stage of the auxiliary connecting device 100.

[0017] During the first actuation stage of the auxiliary connection device 100 shown in Figure 4A, the first liquid cooling pipe P1 of the first device LC1 and the second liquid cooling pipe P2 of the second device LC2 are not yet connected. Correspondingly, the end 130E of the guide rod 130 is exposed, and the end 130E is separated from the first bearing 111 on the tray 110 by a distance D. This distance D is approximately the same as the distance between the first liquid cooling pipe P1 of the first device LC1 and the second liquid cooling pipe P2 of the second device LC2. In addition, the guide rod 130 can be positioned between two support rails 122 located in the middle of the base 120. These two support rails 122 form an accommodating height on the Z-axis, which can prevent the guide rod 130 from interfering with the tray 110 during subsequent actuation. The base 120 can slide relative to the tray 110. For example, the user can directly apply a pushing force to the short side 120S of the base 120 along the X-axis, or apply a pushing force to the handle 140 along the X-axis to indirectly drive the base 120, so that the base 120 slides relative to the tray 110.

[0018] When the base 120 slides relative to the tray 110, the guide rod 130 can move toward the first bearing 111 on the tray 110 to shorten the distance D between the end 130E and the first bearing 111. Specifically, because the guide rod 130 is connected to the second bearing 121 on the base 120, the second bearing 121 can drive the guide rod 130 to approach the first bearing 111 along the X-axis. In the second actuation stage of the auxiliary connecting device 100 as shown in Figure 4B, the guide rod 130 gradually moves to approach the first bearing 111 until the two contact; correspondingly, at this time, the first liquid cooling pipe P1 of the first device LC1 and the second liquid cooling pipe P2 of the second device LC2 also contact, but the docking is still not complete.

[0019] When the guide rod 130 moves close to the first bearing 111 on the tray 110, the guide rod 130 can rotate to engage with the first bearing 111. Specifically, the guide rod 130 can be driven by rotating the handle 140 about the X-axis (e.g., clockwise), that is, when the guide rod 130 moves along the X-axis close to the first bearing 111, the guide rod 130 can be driven by the handle 140 to rotatably engage with the first bearing 111. During the third actuation phase of the auxiliary connecting device 100 shown in Figure 4C, the guide rod 130 engages and passes through the first bearing 111, at which time the guide rod 130 can continue to rotate in the first bearing 111. When the guide rod 130 rotates in the first bearing 111, the guide rod 130 can push against the second bearing 121 to apply force to the base 120. As mentioned above, the hole of the first bearing 111 can be designed to have an internal thread, and the shaft surface of the guide rod 130 corresponding to the end 130E of the first bearing 111 can be designed to have an external thread. That is, when the guide rod 130 moves close to the first bearing 111, the guide rod 130 can rotate so that the external thread of the guide rod 130 engages with the internal thread of the first bearing 111. Through the engagement between the two, the effect of saving effort can be achieved.

[0020] In detail, the guide rod 130 may have a push structure 131 fixed thereto. For example, the push structure 131 may be a nut. In this embodiment, the number of nuts as the push structure 131 is set to four, with two nuts corresponding to the second bearing 121 on the left and the other two nuts corresponding to the second bearing 121 on the right, but this is not intended to limit the invention. That is, one or more nuts may be configured to pass through the guide rod 130. When the guide rod 130 rotates in the first bearing 111 on the tray 110, the push structure 131 may push against the second bearing 121 to apply force to the base 120. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 4C, the two pushing structures 131 of the second bearing 121 adjacent to the left, along with the engagement of the guide rod 130 and the first bearing 111, push against the second bearing 121 on the left along the X-axis. Since the second bearing 121 is fixed to the base 120, the force applied by the pushing structures 131 is transmitted to the base 120, causing the base 120 to move further relative to the tray 110. Correspondingly, at this time, the first liquid cooling pipe P1 of the first device LC1 mounted on the base 120 moves further due to the push from the base 120, and can have sufficient force to overcome the resistance present during the aforementioned docking, thereby completing the docking with the second liquid cooling pipe P2 of the second device LC2 mounted on the tray 110.

[0021] Conversely, when the handle 140 is rotated in the opposite direction around the X-axis (e.g., counterclockwise) to drive the guide rod 130, the guide rod 130 can rotate within the first bearing 111 and gradually disengage from the first bearing 111. For example, when the hole of the first bearing 111 is designed with internal threads and the shaft surface of the end 130E of the guide rod 130 is designed with external threads, as the handle 140 is rotated counterclockwise, the surface threads of the guide rod 130 can gradually rotate out of the threaded hole of the first bearing 111 until the guide rod 130 and the first bearing 111 are separated by a distance D as shown in Figure 4A. That is, the state of disengagement between the guide rod 130 and the first bearing 111 can be reversed according to the order of Figures 4C, 4B, and 4A. In addition, if the nut selected for the push structure 131 has threads, the guide rod needs to have corresponding threads for engagement. This design makes the installation and removal of the nut and the guide rod more flexible and convenient for maintenance. However, the nut selected for the push structure 131 may also be unthreaded. In this case, the nut and the guide rod need to be welded together to prevent them from moving relative to each other.

[0022] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 4A, 4B, and 4C, the base 120 may have a long side 120L and a short side 120S. The guide rod 130 may be designed to be located at the center of the short side 120S of the base 120. This allows the force exerted by the handle 140 to rotate the guide rod 130 and engage with the first bearing 111 to be more evenly distributed, avoiding the situation where the weight of the cooling pump prevents the base 120 from being pushed, thus achieving a further effort-saving effect. This disclosure utilizes the space between the tray 110 and the base 120 to design a force-saving structure. The space above the tray 110 can be entirely reserved for the cooling pump, which not only effectively saves space but also allows for greater design flexibility for the cooling pump and its surrounding piping. The base 120B may also be provided with an opening OP to expose the guide rod 130 and the first bearing 111, allowing observation of their engagement.

[0023] Please refer further to Figure 5, which shows a bottom view of the combination of the base 120, guide rod 130 and handle 140 of the auxiliary connecting device 100 of another embodiment disclosed herein.

[0024] In another embodiment shown in Figure 5, the auxiliary connecting device 100 may employ the general implementation details described above, which will not be repeated here. The changes will be explained here. In this embodiment, the aforementioned second bearing 121 is replaced with a second bearing 221, and the guide rod 130 is disposed within the second bearing 221. Specifically, the second bearing 221 is a nut, which can be welded to the base 120 to secure it to the side of the base 120 facing the tray 110. Both the second bearing 221 and the pushing structure 131 are nuts, but the pushing structure 131 is a nut fixed to the guide rod 130, while the second bearing 221 is a nut that can move relative to the guide rod 130, so that the guide rod 130 is rotatably disposed and passes through the second bearing 221.

[0025] As disclosed herein, the auxiliary connection device of the above embodiments features a base and a tray that can slide relative to each other, a guide rod of a bearing mounted on the base that can move and rotate to engage with a bearing on the tray, and a guide rod that can push against a second bearing to apply force to the base when rotating in the bearing on the tray. Therefore, the auxiliary connection device disclosed herein can use these designs to easily connect a liquid cooling pipe mounted on the base to another liquid cooling pipe mounted on the tray, thereby providing a labor-saving effect.

[0026] In summary, although this disclosure has been presented above with examples, it is not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art to which this disclosure pertains can make various modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of this disclosure shall be determined by the appended claims.

[0027] 10: Cooling pump module 100: Auxiliary connecting device 110: Pallet 110R: Slide 110R1: Part 1 110R2: Part Two 111: First Bearing 120: Base 120B: Base 120P: Vertical Board 120L: Long side 120S: Short side 121,221: Second bearing 122: Support rail 130: Guide rod 130E: End 131: Promoting Structure 140: Handle D: Distance LC1: First Equipment LC2: Second device OP: Open P1: First liquid cooling pipeline P2: Second liquid cooling line W: Entrance size

Claims

1. An auxiliary connection device, comprising: A tray having a first bearing fixed thereon; A base slidably disposed on the tray, the base having a second bearing fixed thereon; and a guide rod rotatably disposed and passing through the second bearing; wherein, when the base slides relative to the tray, the guide rod moves toward the first bearing; when the guide rod moves close to the first bearing, the guide rod is allowed to rotate to engage with the first bearing; and when the guide rod rotates in the first bearing, the guide rod pushes against the second bearing to apply force to the base.

2. The auxiliary connection device as described in claim 1, further comprising: A handle is fixed to one end of the guide rod, wherein when the guide rod moves close to the first bearing, the guide rod is allowed to be rotated and engaged with the first bearing by the handle.

3. The auxiliary connecting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the guide rod has a push structure fixed thereon, which pushes against the second bearing to apply force to the base when the guide rod rotates in the first bearing.

4. The auxiliary connection device as described in claim 3, wherein the pushing structure is a nut, and one or more of the nuts are inserted through the guide rod.

5. The auxiliary connecting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first bearing has an internal thread, the guide rod has an external thread at one end corresponding to the first bearing, and when the guide rod moves close to the first bearing, the guide rod is allowed to rotate so that the external thread of the guide rod engages with the internal thread of the first bearing.

6. The auxiliary connection device as described in claim 1, wherein the first bearing is a flange bearing and is locked onto the tray.

7. The auxiliary connection device as described in claim 1, wherein the second bearing is a flange bearing and is locked to the base.

8. The auxiliary connecting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second bearing is a nut and the second bearing is welded to the base.

9. The auxiliary connecting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base has a long side and a short side, and the guide rod is located at the center of the short side.

10. The auxiliary connection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base has a support rail fixed thereon, the support rail abutting against the tray.

11. A cooling pump module for supplying coolant to a second liquid cooling line of an electronic device through a first liquid cooling line, comprising: A cooling pump having the first liquid cooling pipeline; And an auxiliary connecting device for interconnecting the first liquid cooling line and the second liquid cooling line, comprising: a tray having a first bearing disposed on the tray on one side opposite the cooling pump; a base slidably disposed on the tray, one side of the base supporting the cooling pump, and the other side of the base having a second bearing disposed thereon; and a guide rod rotatably disposed and passing through the second bearing, and being rotatable to engage with the first bearing.

12. The cooling pump module as described in claim 11, wherein the auxiliary connection device further comprises: A handle is fixed to one end of the guide rod, wherein when the guide rod moves close to the first bearing, the guide rod is allowed to be rotated and engaged with the first bearing by the handle.

13. The cooling pump module as claimed in claim 11, wherein the guide rod has a push structure fixed thereon, which pushes against the second bearing to apply force to the base when the guide rod rotates in the first bearing.

14. The cooling pump module as claimed in claim 11, wherein the first bearing has an internal thread, the guide rod has an external thread at one end corresponding to the first bearing, and the guide rod is allowed to rotate so that the external thread of the guide rod engages with the internal thread of the first bearing when the guide rod moves close to the first bearing.

15. The cooling pump module as claimed in claim 11, wherein the base has a support rail fixed thereon, the support rail abutting against the tray.

16. A cooling pump module for providing a coolant input to an electronic device, comprising: A cooling pump; And an auxiliary connecting device for interconnecting the cooling pump with the liquid cooling pipeline of the electronic device, comprising: a tray having a first bearing disposed on one side of the tray opposite the cooling pump; a base slidably disposed on the tray, one side of the base supporting the cooling pump, and the other side of the base having a second bearing fixed thereon, forming a space between the base and the tray; and a guide rod disposed in the space between the tray and the base, rotatably disposed and passing through the second bearing, and allowing rotation to engage with the first bearing.

17. The cooling pump module as described in claim 16, wherein the auxiliary connection device further comprises: A handle is fixed to one end of the guide rod, wherein when the guide rod moves close to the first bearing, the guide rod is allowed to be rotated and engaged with the first bearing by the handle.

18. The cooling pump module as claimed in claim 16, wherein the guide rod has a push structure fixed thereon, which pushes against the second bearing to apply force to the base when the guide rod rotates in the first bearing.

19. The cooling pump module as claimed in claim 16, wherein the first bearing has an internal thread, the guide rod has an external thread at one end corresponding to the first bearing, and the guide rod is allowed to rotate so that the external thread of the guide rod engages with the internal thread of the first bearing when the guide rod moves close to the first bearing.

20. The cooling pump module as claimed in claim 16, wherein the base has a support rail fixed thereon, the support rail abutting against the tray.

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