JP5307853B2 - Fan unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fan unit, and more particularly to a fan unit suitable for cooling an electronic device.

  An indoor radio base station apparatus includes a subrack (shelf) that supports a large number of card-type electronic components in an open rack structure. In recent years, radio base station apparatuses have become particularly highly mounted, and how to efficiently cool the heat generated from a large number of electronic components has become an important issue. A conventional cooling structure for a radio base station apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a schematic structure of a conventional radio base station apparatus, and (a) to (c) show a front view, a side view, and a plan view, respectively. In addition, the flow of the cooling air generated by the cooling fan is added to the side view. In the apparatus housing 21, a plurality of sub-rack 23 each supporting a large number of card-type electronic components 22 are vertically arranged, and a cooling fan unit 24 for cooling the card-type electronic components 22 is supported. It is attached to Black 23. In the illustrated example, one fan unit 24 is attached to the uppermost subrack 23, and a common fan unit 24 is attached to the middle and lower subrack 23.

  In the example of FIG. 12, in order to increase the number of subracks 23 mounted in the apparatus housing 21, a fan unit 24 is provided in common for a plurality of subracks 23. The fan unit 24 generally employs an axial fan. In the axial fan, the cooling air 25 is directed in the axial direction, and the cooling air 25 is exhausted upward. Such a direction of the cooling air 25 has a great influence on the arrangement of the sub-rack 23, while restricting the size of the fan unit 24. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe cooling structures for cooling the electronic component 22 with an axial fan.

  In FIG. 12, in order to avoid interference between the exhaust of the middle fan unit 24 and the intake of the upper fan unit 24 caused by the use of an axial fan between the middle subrack 23 and the upper subrack 23. Further, a partition plate 26 that forms a flow path of the cooling air 25 is disposed. Cooling air from the upper fan unit 24 is exhausted from the upper part of the device rack 21 having an open rack structure, and cooling air 25 blocked by the partition plate 26 is exhausted to the back side of the device housing 21. Yes. In this conventional radio base station apparatus, there is a problem that the partition plate 26 that partitions the sub-rack 23 reduces the accommodation efficiency of the sub-rack 23 in the apparatus housing 21.

  An example in which a radial fan is used as a fan unit for cooling the subrack is also known. In a fan unit employing a radial fan, one radial fan is accommodated in one fan unit in order to avoid interference with exhaust. However, if a radial fan with a thin structure is adopted, the capacity of one cooling fan is insufficient, and therefore it is indispensable to arrange a plurality of cooling fans in an electronic device that generates a large amount of heat. In order to arrange a plurality of radial fans, considering interference of exhaust from each radial fan, as shown in FIG. 13, radial fans 28 are arranged in a row in the fan unit 27, and the rear side In general, an exhaust port 29 is provided in the main body. Note that Patent Document 1 describes that a radial fan can be used.

  However, multiple rows of radial fans may be required to ensure the required cooling capacity. Such an example is shown in FIG. 14 as a comparative example. FIG. 14A is a side sectional view of the subrack, and FIG. 14B is a plan view thereof. In this comparative example, two fan units 27 are attached to the sub-rack 23, and a plurality of radial fans 28 are arranged in a row in each fan unit 27. Both fan units 27 are arranged with different mounting heights in consideration of exhausting to the back side of the apparatus housing. However, when such an arrangement is adopted, the subrack accommodation efficiency in the apparatus housing is reduced, as in the example of the partition plate of the axial fan.

JP 2000-59061 A JP 2002-118387 A

  As described above, the accommodation efficiency of the subrack accommodated in the radio base station apparatus is greatly influenced by the cooling structure. However, conventionally, there has been a problem that a cooling structure having an appropriate structure for the radio base station apparatus cannot be obtained, and the subrack accommodation efficiency cannot be increased. Therefore, the present invention provides a fan unit that can be used suitably for an electronic apparatus having an improved cooling structure, for example, capable of increasing the accommodation efficiency so that sub-racks can be stacked in four stages. For the purpose.

In order to achieve the above object, a fan unit according to the present invention is arranged at an upper part of an electronic device, and generates a cooling air for cooling the electronic device.
A unit housing having an air inlet formed on the lower surface, a rear surface and an air outlet formed on at least one side surface, and the fan unit is divided into front and rear portions with the back side of the fan unit as the rear side. With multiple radial fans installed,
The unit housing is divided into a plurality of spaces by a partition plate, and each of the plurality of spaces accommodates at least one radial fan and communicates with the outside through the exhaust port.

  Since the fan unit of the present invention employs a configuration in which a plurality of radial fans are arranged in the front and rear, the cooling of electronic devices and electronic components can be achieved by providing a plurality of radial fans while maintaining the thin structure of the fan unit. The necessary air volume can be ensured, and the exhaust ports are formed on the back side and side surfaces, thereby reducing the mutual interference of exhaust from a plurality of radial fans.

  In a preferred fan unit of the present invention, a louver is formed in at least a part of the exhaust port. The louver makes it possible to control the direction of the cooling air and allows efficient exhaust. It is also a preferred aspect of the present invention to form an exhaust opening on the side surface of the shelf corresponding to at least a part of the exhaust port on the side surface of the fan unit. By forming the exhaust opening in the shelf, the cooling air can be efficiently exhausted from the opening on the side surface of the fan unit.

  Furthermore, it is also a preferable aspect that the plurality of radial fans are arranged side by side in at least two front and rear rows and arranged in a staggered manner. The rear row radial fan mainly exhausts to the rear side exhaust port, and the front row radial fan mainly exhausts to the side exhaust port, thereby further reducing the interference between the front row and rear row radial fans.

  Further, the unit housing is partitioned into a plurality of spaces by a partition plate, and each of the plurality of spaces takes at least one radial fan and communicates with the outside through the exhaust port. Is also preferable. Interference of exhaust air between the radial fans is avoided by the partition plate.

  Furthermore, it is also a preferred aspect of the present invention that the unit housing is formed with an intake opening at a position adjacent to the bottom surface of at least one of the front surface, the side surface, and the back surface. Even if the intake openings are arranged in accordance with the restrictions on arrangement, effective intake can be realized. In addition, it is particularly preferable to form intake openings on all of the front surface, the side surface, and the back surface because a more uniform and large amount of airflow can be obtained.

(A)-(c) is the front view, side view, and top view of an electronic device concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention, respectively. (A)-(c) is the front view, side view, and top view which concern on the reference example of the subrack shown in FIG. 1, respectively. (A)-(c) is the front view, side view, and top view of a subrack of an electronic device concerning a reference example concerning the present invention , respectively. (A)-(c) is respectively the front view, side view, and top view which concern on the reference example of the fan unit shown in FIG. It is a plan elevational view of the fan unit of the reference example according to the present invention. It is a plan elevational view of the fan unit of the reference example according to the present invention. It is a plan elevational view of the fan unit of the reference example according to the present invention. It is a plan view of a variable Katachirei the fan unit of the first embodiment. It is a plan elevational view of the fan unit of the reference example according to the present invention. It is a plan elevational view of the fan unit of the reference example according to the present invention. (A)-(c) is respectively the front view, side view, and top view of a fan unit of an electronic device concerning a reference example concerning the present invention. (A)-(c) is the front view, side view, and top view of the conventional electronic device, respectively. It is a top view of the conventional fan unit which employ | adopted the radial fan. (A) And (b) is the side view and top view of the fan unit of the comparative example which employ | adopted the radial fan.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of an indoor radio base station apparatus, which is an electronic apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in a front view, a side view, and a plan view. The radio base station apparatus has an apparatus rack 1 having an open rack structure, and a subrack 2 vertically mounted in four stages is mounted in the apparatus casing 1.

FIG. 2 shows a reference example of the structure of the subrack 2 shown in FIG. 1 in a front view, a side view, and a plan view. The direction of the cooling air 10 is particularly shown in the side view and the plan view. Each subrack 2 supports a plurality of card-type electronic circuits (internal modules) 9 inserted vertically into the subrack housing (shelf) 3, and is attached to the upper part of the subrack housing 3. A cooling fan unit (fan unit) 6 for cooling the internal module 9 is attached.

  The fan unit 6 has two cooling fans (radial fans) arranged on the front side and three cooling fans (radial fans) on the back side, and has five radial fans 7 arranged in two rows in the front and rear. The radial fans 7 in the front and rear rows are arranged in a staggered manner in order to avoid interference between the exhaust rows flowing in the front and rear direction. On the lower side of the subrack housing 3, intake ports 8 are formed on the front side and the rear side of the subrack 2 for intake of the radial fan 7. The fan unit 6 is formed with exhaust ports 13 on the back side and both side surfaces thereof. The cooling air 10 from the radial fan 7 is sucked in horizontally from the air inlet 8 below the subrack 2 and passes through the gap between the internal modules 9 in the vertical direction to cool the internal modules 9. The cooled cooling air 10 flows in the horizontal direction from the inside of the blades of the radial fan 6 to the outside in the radial direction, and is exhausted through the exhaust ports 13 formed on the back side and both side surfaces of the fan unit 6.

  By forming the exhaust ports 13 on the rear side and both side surfaces of the fan unit 6, the cooling air 10 by the rear row radial fans flows mainly through the rear side exhaust ports 13. The cooling air is mainly exhausted from both sides. Such a configuration of the exhaust port 13 is coupled with a configuration in which the radial fans in the front and rear rows are arranged in a staggered manner, and reduces the interference of the exhaust of the radial fan 7 between the front and rear rows. The cooling air 10 exhausted from the exhaust port 13 passes between the fan unit casing 12 and the side plate of the subrack casing 3 and passes through the back side of the subrack 2 to Exhaust from the back side.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the subrack 3 in the electronic device according to the reference example related to the present invention, as in FIG. In this reference example , considering the large amount of heat generated by the internal module of the subrack 3, the number of radial fans 7 of the fan unit 6 is three in the front row and four in the rear row, and is similar to the previous reference example. In the row, the radial fans 7 are arranged in a staggered manner. Also in this reference example , the exhaust from the radial fan 7 in the rear row is mainly exhausted through the exhaust port 13 on the rear side, and the exhaust from the radial fan 7 in the front row is mainly exhausted from the exhaust ports 13 on both sides. In particular, the exhaust from the radial fan 7 in the center of the front row passes through the front of the adjacent radial fan 7 in the front row and is exhausted from the exhaust ports 13 on both side surfaces. As in the first embodiment, exhaust from the subrack 3 is limited to the rear side, so that interference of exhaust between the subrack 2 mounted in the adjacent apparatus housings is avoided.

FIG. 4 shows the detailed structure of the fan unit of the reference example shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, a lattice extending in the vertical direction is formed at the exhaust port 13 to prevent entry of foreign matter and the like.

According to the configuration of each of the above reference examples , the radial fan 7 in the rear row mainly exhausts via the exhaust port 13 on the back side of the fan unit 6, and the radial fan 7 in the front row mainly passes through the exhaust port 13 on the side surface. And exhaust. Therefore, even if the exhaust of the radial fans 7 in the front and rear rows interferes somewhat in the fan unit, it is possible to secure an air volume that is greater than that of the conventional fan unit shown in FIG. Further, since the radial fan 7 is arranged in the front row, the static pressure capacity of the fan unit 6 is increased more than the conventional fan unit having the radial fan in one row. The radial fan 7 in the front row has an effect of increasing the amount of air sucked out from the radial fan 7 in the rear row, and even if the exhaust of the radial fan 7 in the front row is suppressed by interference with the exhaust of the radial fan 7 in the rear row, The effect which supplements can be expected. Therefore, in each reference example, it is possible to substantially secure a flow rate as a fan unit according to the number of radial fans 7 arranged in the fan unit 6.

FIG. 5 is a reference example related to the present invention . As shown in FIG. 5, louvers 15 that control the direction of the cooling air are formed in the openings 13 on both side surfaces of the fan unit 6. The louver 15 is set at an angle along the desired wind direction so that the cooling air 10 smoothly passes through the gap between the side surface of the fan unit housing 12 and the side plate of the subrack housing 3.

FIG. 6 is a reference example related to the present invention . In the reference example of FIG. 5, there is interference of the cooling air 10 between the radial fans 7 arranged in the row direction in the front and rear rows. In the reference example of FIG. 6, there are two radial fans arranged in the front and rear rows, and a louver 15 is further arranged between the radial fans arranged in each row, thereby cooling between the radial fans 7 arranged in each row. Avoiding wind interference.

FIG. 7 is a reference example related to the present invention . In this reference example, the fan unit 6 is disposed close to one side surface of the subrack housing 3, and the gap between the fan unit 6 and the other side surface of the subrack housing 3 is widened. The passage of the cooling air 10 is secured using only the gap.

Figure 8 is a deformation example of the first embodiment further modified from the reference example of FIG. In this modification, the partition plate 14 is disposed between the front and rear rows of radial fans 7 from the reference example in FIG. 5 , and the side surface exhaust ports 13 are removed from the rear row radial fans 7. As a result, the radial fan 7 in the rear row is exhausted only to the rear side, further avoiding interference with the side exhaust from the radial fan 7 in the front row.

FIG. 9 is a reference example related to the present invention . In this reference example, the exhaust port 13 on the side surface of the fan unit 6 is removed from the modification of FIG. 8 , and the radial fan 7 at the center of the rear row is shifted from the row to reduce the row size of the rear row. The space on the rear row side vacated by the reduction in the row size is used as a passage for the cooling air 10 from the radial fan 7 in the front row. A partition plate 14 is also installed between the radial fans 7 in the front row.

FIG. 10 is a reference example related to the present invention . In this reference example, except for the central radial fan in the rear row, the cooling air from the radial fan 7 in the front row is exhausted from the empty central space instead of the passages on both sides in the reference example in FIG. .

FIG. 11 shows the configuration of the subrack 2 in the electronic device according to the reference example of the present invention in the same manner as FIG. In this reference example , a side opening 16 is formed in the side plate of the subrack housing 3 at a position corresponding to the side opening of the fan unit 6, and the cooling air 10 from the side of the fan unit 6 is exhausted directly to the outside. Yes. A louver 15 is formed in the side opening 13 of the fan unit 6, and the cooling air 10 is smoothly discharged from the fan unit 6 to the outside of the subrack housing 3.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the preferred embodiment, the electronic device and the fan unit of the present invention are not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made from the configuration of the above embodiment. Further, modifications and changes are also included in the scope of the present invention. In addition, each configuration described as a preferred aspect of the present invention or each configuration described in the embodiment is preferably used together with the essential configuration of the present invention, but about a configuration that exhibits a beneficial effect even when used alone. However, it is not always necessary to use all the configurations described as the essential configurations of the present invention.

  A part and all of the above embodiments can be described as in the following supplementary notes, but are not limited thereto.

(Appendix 1)
In an electronic device comprising a device housing that houses a shelf that supports an electronic component and a fan unit that is disposed on the shelf and cools the electronic component.
The fan unit includes a unit housing having an air inlet formed on a lower surface and an exhaust port formed on a rear surface and at least one side surface, and a plurality of radial fans arranged in the front and rear of the unit housing. An electronic device comprising:

(Appendix 2)
The electronic device according to appendix 1, wherein a louver is formed in at least a part of the exhaust port.

(Appendix 3)
The electronic device according to appendix 1 or 2, wherein an exhaust opening is formed on a side surface of the shelf corresponding to at least a part of an exhaust port on the side surface of the fan unit.

(Appendix 4)
The electronic device according to any one of appendices 1 to 3, wherein the plurality of radial fans are arranged side by side in front and rear rows, and are arranged in a staggered manner in the front and rear rows.

(Appendix 5)
The unit housing is partitioned into a plurality of spaces by a partition plate, each of the plurality of spaces containing at least one radial fan and communicating with the outside through the exhaust port. The electronic device as described in any one.

(Appendix 6)
The electronic device according to any one of appendices 1 to 5, wherein the unit casing is formed with an intake opening at a position adjacent to a bottom surface of at least one of a front surface, a side surface, and a back surface.

(Appendix 7)
In a fan unit that is arranged at the top of an electronic device and generates cooling air that cools the electronic device,
A unit housing having an air inlet formed on the lower surface, a rear surface and an exhaust port formed on at least one side surface, and a plurality of radial fans arranged in the front and rear in the unit housing. Features a fan unit.

(Appendix 8)
The fan unit according to appendix 7, wherein a louver is formed in at least a part of the exhaust port.

(Appendix 9)
The fan unit according to appendix 7 or 8, wherein the plurality of radial fans are arranged side by side in front and rear rows, and are arranged in a staggered manner in the front and rear rows.

(Appendix 10)
The unit housing is partitioned into a plurality of spaces by a partition plate, each of the plurality of spaces containing at least one radial fan and communicating with the outside through the exhaust port. The fan unit as described in any one.

  The electronic device of the present invention can be used as an indoor wireless base station device, and the fan unit of the present invention can be used for cooling various electronic devices.

1: Device housing 2: Subrack 3: Subrack housing 6: Fan unit 7: Radial fan (cooling fan)
8: Air inlet 9: Internal module 10: Cooling air 12: Fan unit housing 13: Exhaust port 14: Partition plate 15: Louver 16: Subrack exhaust opening 21: Device housing 22: Internal module (card-type electronic component)
23: Subrack 24: Fan unit 25: Cooling air 26: Partition plate 27: Fan unit 28: Radial fan 29: Exhaust port

Claims (3)

In a fan unit that is arranged at the top of an electronic device and generates cooling air that cools the electronic device,
A unit housing having an air inlet formed on the lower surface, a rear surface and an air outlet formed on at least one side surface, and the fan unit is divided into front and rear portions with the back side of the fan unit as the rear side. With multiple radial fans installed,
The unit housing is divided into a plurality of spaces by a partition plate, and each of the plurality of spaces accommodates at least one radial fan and communicates with the outside through the exhaust port. unit.   The fan unit according to claim 1, wherein a louver is formed in at least a part of the exhaust port.   The fan unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of radial fans are arranged side by side in the front and rear rows, and are arranged in a staggered manner in the front and rear rows.

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