Cooling structure for electronic circuit unit

Details Cooling structure for electronic circuit unit Cooling structure for electronic circuit unit

2002-10-17

2004-04-06

Chervinsky, Boris (Department: 2835)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C361S688000, C361S689000, C454S184000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06717807

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling structure for an electronic circuit unit in which the electronic circuit unit, including, for example, a printed-circuit board, is arranged horizontally, and cooling air for the electronic circuit unit is forced to flow in the horizontal direction. This cooling structure may be applied to various information processing devices, communication devices, and other electronic devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1A and 1B
schematically show a communication device subunit
1
(i.e., a subunit
1
of the communication device) with
FIG. 1A
being a front view and
FIG. 1B
being a plan view. In
FIG. 1A
, first electronic circuit units
2
, including printed-circuit boards, are attached to a frame from the front side. The first electronic circuit units
2
are horizontally disposed. Six layers of the first electronic circuit units
2
are individually attached such that these six electronic circuit units
2
are attachable to and detachable from the frame. Two power units
3
are inserted at the right and left sides below the first electronic circuit units
2
.
A back board
4
, also including a printed-circuit board, is indicated by the dashed line around the center of
FIG. 1B
, and extends in a vertical direction. This back board
4
has connectors which are connected to back side connectors (not shown) of the first electronic circuit units
2
by plug connections. The back board
4
is connected to the power units
3
by plug connections.
A plurality of second electronic circuit units
5
similar to the first electronic units
2
are attachably and detachably mounted at the back side opposite the front side. The second electronic circuit units
5
are horizontally disposed. These second electronic circuit units
5
are connected to the back board
4
by plug connectors.
At the left side of
FIG. 1B
, a first fan unit
6
is inserted toward one side of the back board
4
from the front side of the subunit
1
, and a second fan unit
7
is inserted toward the other side of the back board
4
from the back side of the subunit
1
. The first and second fan units
6
and
7
are also connected to the back board
4
by plug connectors. At the right side of
FIG. 1B
, a wide air filter
8
is inserted from the front side of the subunit
1
, and extends substantially over a range where the first electronic circuit units
2
and the second electronic circuit units
5
are positioned.
Panel boards are provided to cover exposed sides of the first electronic circuit units
2
, the second electronic circuit units
5
, the power units
3
, the first fan unit
6
, the second fan unit
7
, and the air filter
8
. The panel boards are fixed to the frame by means of attaching screws. In this manner, the front side and back side of the communication device subunit
1
are closed by the respective panel boards without an opening to the outside.
Fitting metals
9
which are L-shaped in
FIG. 1B
are attached at the right and left sides of the front side, as shown in FIG.
1
A. The communication device subunit
1
is attached to a rack (which will be described later) by attaching holes
11
of the attaching metals
9
.
FIG. 2
is a side view showing the left side of
FIGS. 1A and 1B
. The first fan unit
6
has nine fans
12
, and the second fan unit
7
has six fans
13
.
Although an upper surface and both side surfaces are covered by a cover
14
, many air holes for air passage are provided on the both side surfaces over a wide range. Electric circuits and signal circuits are connected between the respective internal units via the back board
4
. The internal units may be connected to electric circuits and signal circuits used for connection with external devices or the like by using connectors (not shown). Electronic components which operate at a high speed are disposed in high density on the first electronic circuit units
2
and the second electronic circuit units
5
. Accordingly, when the first and second electronic circuit units
2
and
5
operate, considerable heat is generated. For this reason, the first fan unit
6
and the second fan unit
7
are actuated in order to discharge the heated air to the outside of the left side of the communication device subunit
1
in
FIG. 1B
via the air holes formed on the cover
14
. Cool air of the outside is introduced from the right side of
FIG. 1B
via air holes formed on the cover
14
and the air filter
8
.
The introduced air passes by the arranged circuit boards of the first and second electronic circuit units
2
and
5
, absorbs the heat generated from the electronic components, and is discharged to the outside by the first and second fan units
6
and
7
. Thus, the electronic components are cooled. The power units
3
are cooled by the first fan unit
6
in the same manner.
FIG. 3
is a cross sectional view of the rack which accommodates the communication device subunits
1
. In
FIG. 3
, the lower side is the front side of the rack, and the upper side is the back side of the rack. As a basic structure, this rack
21
includes a pair of longitudinal frames
22
and a pair of longitudinal frames
23
, a ceiling member
24
, and a bottom sheet member shown in FIG.
4
. The pair of the longitudinal frames
22
are provided at the front side of the rack
21
, and the pair of the longitudinal frames
23
are provided at the back side of the rack
21
. The longitudinal frames
22
and
23
are made of sheet metal, and are formed by folding the sheet metal. The ceiling member
24
and the bottom sheet member
25
are coupled to the longitudinal frames
22
and
23
at the upper side and the bottom side, respectively.
In
FIG. 3
, reinforcing members for coupling the longitudinal frames
22
and
23
with each other, various members of the bottom sheet member
25
, and attaching screws are omitted for the sake of the simple illustration. These members are also omitted in other drawings. In the rack
21
, side covers
26
on both sides, and a back side boor
27
on the back side which can be opened and closed are provided, but are not necessary in some cases. When the side covers
26
and the back side door
27
are provided, appropriate air holes are formed in them for the reason which will be described later.
Pairs of guide supporting members
28
or rails are attached at front end surfaces and back end surfaces of the longitudinal frames
22
and
23
inside the rack
21
. The rails
28
are attached at predetermined intervals in a vertical disposition such that a pair of rails
28
are symmetrical with respect to the right and left sides. The rails
28
are used for guiding the communication device subunit
1
when the communication sub unit
1
is inserted into the rack
21
.
FIG. 4
is a front view of the rack
21
into which the communication device subunits
1
have been inserted. The communication device subunit
1
is placed on the rails
28
, and inserted into the rack
21
. The communication device subunit
1
is then fixed to the front surfaces of the longitudinal frames
22
at the front side of the rack
21
, by applying screws to attaching holes
11
of the attaching metals
9
. The state in which the communication device subunits
1
have been attached in this manner is shown in FIG.
4
.
Appropriate spaces are provided between the communication device subunits
1
. Furthermore, an appropriate space is provided at the upper side of the top most communication device subunit
1
, and an appropriate space is also provided at the lower side of the bottom most communication device subunit
1
. In order to close these spaces, panel boards
29
whose vertical width are narrow are attached to the rack
21
by means of screws, as shown in FIG.
4
. In addition, a strong base frame
31
is provided at the bottom of the rack
21
for supporting the entire rack
21
, and firmly stabilizing (or fixing by means of screws) the rack
21
on a floor or the like.
FIG. 5
is a cross sectional view of the rack
21
shown in
FIG. 4
, and sho

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