Heat exchange – Intermediate fluent heat exchange material receiving and... – Liquid fluent heat exchange material
Reexamination Certificate
1997-06-19
2001-02-06
Lazarus, Ira S. (Department: 3743)
Heat exchange
Intermediate fluent heat exchange material receiving and...
Liquid fluent heat exchange material
C165S104330, C165S200000, C165S080400, C062S259200, C361S699000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182742
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling apparatus for a liquid-cooled electronic system.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional cooling apparatuses for cooling electronic systems circulate a cooling liquid in a liquid-cooled electronic system such as a computer to cool the load. One of the conventional electronic system cooling apparatuses, for example that disclosed in Japanese Non-examined Patent Publication No. 61-125634, for example, normally has two units of pumps for supplying the cooling liquid, one for normal use and the other in standby mode for taking over the cooling operation when the former fails. Thus, providing the two units of pumps makes it practical to put the standby unit in the operating state if the normally operating unit fails for continued cooling.
However, in the prior-art systems, the cooling apparatus cannot be serviced when the electronic system such as a computer being cooled is in operation. To be specific, the prior-art electronic system cooling apparatus has a controller for controlling the operation of the pumps and valves. Any attempt to service the controller, such as upgrading the controller, requires the operator to stop the controller which halts the entire cooling apparatus because the cooling apparatus of the prior art has only one controller, making it impractical to service the cooling apparatus while it is in operation.
Recently, there is a strong demand for an around-the-clock operation capability for such cooling apparatuses that cool electronic systems, including computers, such as large main frame computers. However, the prior-art apparatuses cannot satisfy this requirement by reason of the above-mentioned problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electronic system cooling apparatus that ensures an around-the-clock performance capability of the electronic systems, including computers that are cooled by the cooling apparatus.
In carrying out the invention and according to one aspect thereof, there is provided an electronic system cooling apparatus having a plurality of pumps for supplying a cooling liquid to a liquid-cooled electronic system and a plurality of controllers for controlling operations of the plurality of pumps, wherein the plurality of controllers are provided for the plurality of pumps on a one for one basis to control the plurality of pumps separately. This arrangement provides around-the-clock availability to the electronic system cooling apparatus, according to the invention as explained in the following.
In particular, the electronic system cooling apparatus has a plurality of heat exchangers for cooling the cooling liquid; and a plurality of three-way valves for regulating a quantity of flow of the cooling liquid that flows to the plurality of heat exchangers, wherein the plurality of heat exchangers and three-way valves are provided for the plurality of controllers and pumps on a one for one basis. The plurality of controllers control the plurality of three-way valves and the corresponding units of the plurality of heat exchangers.
The plurality of three-way valves, the plurality of controllers and the plurality of pumps are constituted as separate cooling control units. This arrangement also provides for an around-the-clock operation capability for the electronic system cooling apparatus if a heat exchanger failure or a three-way valve failure occurs.
The above-mentioned electronic system cooling apparatus has a plurality of cooling units for cooling the cooling liquid, wherein the plurality of controllers controls the cooling efficiency of each of the plurality of cooling units. This arrangement also ensures an around-the-clock performance capability of the electronic system cooling apparatus if a cooling unit failure occurs.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals are used to identify the same or similar parts in several views.
REFERENCES:
patent: 61-125634 (1986-06-01), None
Ogata Tetsuo
Takahashi Tatsuya
Zushi Shizuo
Hitachi , Ltd.
Lazarus Ira S.
Mattingly Stanger & Malur, P.C.
McKinnon Terrell
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