Adjustable Air-Guide Element for Telecommunication Device-Frame Cooling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing modular telecommunication equipment racks require excessive vertical space for cooling arrangements, leading to inefficient use of space and limiting the number of device-frames that can be installed, as cooling designs are often optimized for the most demanding conditions.
Innovation Solution
A device-frame with an adjustable air-guide element that can increase or decrease the air-intake flow area by changing its position relative to the body-section, allowing for customizable cooling solutions based on specific conditions, thereby optimizing the height of the device-frame and enabling more frames to be installed in a rack.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the air-intake is designed according to the most demanding circumstances, then the cooling performance is sufficient for all conditions, but the vertical space requirement increases unnecessarily in less demanding circumstances
Solution Approach 1:
The air guide element is made movable relative to the device frame body, allowing the air-intake flow area to be dynamically adjusted. In demanding cooling conditions, the air guide element positions to maximize the flow area for sufficient cooling performance. In less demanding conditions, it positions to reduce the vertical space requirement, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining reliable cooling and minimizing vertical space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of air-intake flow area by adjusting the position of the air guide element. This allows the cooling system to adapt to different thermal loads by varying the flow area parameter, thereby achieving adequate cooling performance only when needed while reducing vertical space in other operating conditions.
2Power
If the air-intake flow area is increased to ensure sufficient cooling, then the cooling capacity is improved, but the height of the device-frame increases reducing the number of frames that can be installed in a rack
Solution Approach 1:
The movable air guide element enables dynamic adjustment of the air-intake flow area. When high cooling capacity is required, the element positions to increase the flow area. When lower cooling capacity suffices, the element repositions to decrease the device-frame height, allowing more frames to be installed in a rack while maintaining adequate cooling when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adjusts the air-intake flow area parameter by changing the position of the air guide element, enabling the cooling capacity to be scaled according to actual thermal demands rather than being fixed at the maximum level, thus optimizing both cooling performance and space utilization.
3Reliability
If a fixed large air-intake is provided to handle peak cooling demands, then adequate cooling is ensured under all conditions, but space is wasted during normal operation
Solution Approach 1:
The air guide element can be positioned to provide a large air-intake flow area when peak cooling demands occur, ensuring adequate cooling under all conditions. During normal operation, the element is repositioned to reduce the flow area, thereby eliminating wasted space while maintaining cooling adequacy when required.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements variable control of the air-intake flow area parameter through the movable air guide element, allowing the system to match the cooling provision to actual thermal loads and avoid the continuous waste of space that would result from a fixed large air-intake design.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution allows for more efficient use of vertical space in less demanding cooling conditions, enabling a higher density of device-frames in a rack while maintaining effective cooling, and simplifies transportation and cabling by allowing adjustable air-guide elements to be positioned as needed.
Implementation Method 1
an air-intake for receiving cooling air and the upper part of the device-frame comprises an air-outlet through which the cooling air can leave the device-frame. When the cooling air flows from the air-intake to the air-outlet, the cooling air transfers heat from the plug-in units
Implementation Method 2
When the cooling air flows from the air-intake to the air-outlet, the cooling air transfers heat from the plug-in units that are installed in the plug-in unit places of the device-frame under consideration
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b~1c
AI summary
A device-frame (101) for telecommunication devices (117) comprises a body- section (104) that comprises plug-in unit places for the telecommunication devices. The device-frame further comprises an air-guide element (107) movably supported to the body-section so that a flow area of an air-intake of the device-frame is increasable by changing the position of the air-guide element with respect to the body-section so that the height of the device-frame increases and the flow area is decreasable by changing the position of the air-guide element so that the height of the device-frame decreases. The height of the device-frame can be adjusted to be smaller in cases where the circumstances are not the most demanding from the viewpoint of the cooling and therefore, in less demanding circumstances, it is possible to have more device-frames in a rack.