JPH1093274A - Structure for cooling electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance low-noise effect and to enhance cooling effect by providing an air blow-in port in a partition wall for forming a partition chamber, and forming an air flow passage from the discharge port to an air exhaust port in a housing. SOLUTION: An air flow passage 23, communicating with an air blow-in port 21b is connected to the port 21b. The passage 23 is extended from a spiral center out of a partition chamber 20 with the port 21b as a spiral center, and formed by a flat surface substantially spiral passage to an air exhaust port 12b. Thus, an air flow by a cooling fan 19 in the chamber 20 is discharged from the port 12b out of the chamber 20, as indicated by an arrow b2 , and exhausted from the port 12b out of the housing 12 via the passage 23, i.e., circulation in the housing 12. At this time, a CPU 18 in the chamber 20 is cooled by the fan 19, and a mother board 15, an FDD 16, an HDD 17 which are outside the chamber 20 are efficiently cooled.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooling structure of an electronic apparatus suitable for an information processing apparatus such as a desktop personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, the power consumption has been remarkably increased with the recent increase in processing speed. For this reason, the amount of heat generated from the apparatus also inevitably increases, and it is important to effectively cool the heat.

Conventionally, in a cooling structure of this kind of electronic equipment, a cooling fan using an axial flow type fan has been adopted, and is configured as shown in FIG. This will be described with reference to FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a personal computer main body denoted by reference numeral 1 includes a device housing 2, a power supply 3, an expansion board 4, a floppy disk drive (FDD) 5, a hard disk drive (HDD) 6, And a cooling fan 7.

The equipment housing 2 has a built-in CPU (Central Processing Unit), and is provided with an air inlet 2a and an air outlet 2b substantially at the center of the front panel and at the right side of the rear panel.

[0005] The power supply 3 is located near the air outlet 2b, and is disposed at one corner in the housing 2.

The extension board 4 is composed of a plurality of printed circuit boards which are arranged side by side at predetermined intervals in the left-right direction, and is arranged on the left side of the housing 2.

[0007] The FDD 5 is disposed in front of the power supply 3 and is housed in the right side of the equipment housing 2. In the front part of the FDD 5, a disk insertion / extraction opening (not shown) which opens inside and outside the device housing 2 is provided.

The HDD 6 is located near the air suction port 2a and is disposed between the expansion board 4 and the FDD 5.

The cooling fan 7 comprises an axial fan.
It is attached to the peripheral edge of the inner opening of the air inlet 2a.

[0010] In the cooling structure of the electronic device, air outside the housing 2 is sucked from the air suction port 2a, as shown by the arrow a ₁ in the housing 2 in Figure 3, each heating element HDD5 such the cooled cooling as shown by the arrow in FIG b ₁ fan 7
As a result, the air is discharged from the housing 2 through the air outlet 2b.

[0011]

By the way, in the cooling structure of this kind of electronic equipment, the cooling fan 7 is attached to the peripheral edge of the inside opening of the air outlet 2b, that is, extremely close to the outer surface of the personal computer body 1. Since it is mounted at a close position, if the number of cooling fans 7 is increased or the fan airflow is increased in response to an increase in the amount of heat generated due to an increase in computer processing speed, there is a problem that noise increases. .

Therefore, it is conceivable to mount the cooling fan 7 on each heating element such as the HDD 6 in the equipment housing 2 to directly cool the heating element. In this case, only a limited area including the heating element is cooled. However, there is a problem that the cooling efficiency is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a cooling structure of an electronic device capable of improving the noise reduction effect and improving the cooling efficiency.

[0014]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooling structure for an electronic device having an air inlet and an air outlet and including a plurality of heating elements. And a cooling fan provided in the device housing and mounted on the heating element, and a partition wall forming a compartment communicating with the air intake port is provided around the cooling fan and the heating element. The partition wall is provided with an air discharge port for discharging the air flow from the cooling fan to the outside of the compartment, and an air outflow path from the air discharge port to the air discharge port is formed in the equipment housing. Therefore, the airflow is discharged from the air outlet to the outside of the compartment by the cooling fan in the compartment communicating with the air inlet, and is discharged from the air outlet through the air outlet to the outside of the equipment housing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cooling structure for an electronic device according to the first aspect, the cooling fan comprises a centrifugal fan. Therefore, the cooling capacity in the equipment housing is enhanced by the performance of the centrifugal fan.

The third aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect.
In the cooling structure of the electronic device described above, the air outflow path is configured to include a substantially spiral air outflow path that extends from the vicinity of the central portion in the housing toward the air outlet. Therefore, the air flow discharged from the air discharge port passes through the air outflow passage having a substantially spiral shape in a plane, so that the inside of the device housing is more effectively cooled.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cooling structure for an electronic device according to the first, second, or third aspect, the cooling fan is detachably attached to the heating element. Therefore, when exchanging the heating element, the heating element is removed from the cooling fan, and another heating element is attached to the cooling fan.

The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claims 1, 2, 3
In the cooling structure for an electronic device described in Item 4, the air suction port and the compartment are connected to each other by an air inflow passage. Therefore, the air outside the device housing is sucked into the compartment through the air inlet through the air inflow passage in the device housing.

The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claims 1, 2, 3
In the cooling structure for an electronic device described in Item 4, the device housing is configured to include a device housing for a personal computer.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of use of a cooling structure for an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a desktop personal computer main body denoted by reference numeral 11 includes a device housing 12, a power supply 13, a motherboard 14, an expansion board 15, a floppy disk drive (FDD) 16, a hard disk drive (HDD) 17, a CPU 18, and a cooling fan. 19 is provided.

An air inlet 12a opening forward is provided substantially at the center of the front panel of the equipment housing 12, and an air outlet 12b opening rearward is provided at the right side of the rear panel.

The power supply 13 is located in the vicinity of the air outlet 12b, and is disposed at one corner in the equipment housing 12.

The motherboard 14 is disposed on the left side of the bottom surface in the equipment housing 12 and is connected to the power supply 13.

The extension board 15 is composed of a plurality of printed circuit boards, each of which is arranged side by side at predetermined intervals in the left-right direction.
The motherboard 1 is disposed on the left side in the device housing 2 and
4 is implemented.

The FDD 16 is located in front of the power supply 13,
It is connected to the motherboard 14 and is disposed on the right side inside the device housing 12. In the front part of the FDD 16, a disk insertion opening (not shown) which opens inside and outside the device housing 2 is provided.

The HDD 17 is located near the air suction port 12a, and is disposed between the expansion board 15 and the FDD 16.
And it is connected to the motherboard 14.

The CPU 18 is mounted on the rear right side of the motherboard 14 and is disposed behind the HDD 17.

The cooling fan 19 is a centrifugal fan, and is detachably mounted on the CPU 18. Due to the performance of the cooling fan 19, the cooling capacity in the equipment housing 12 can be increased with a relatively small flow rate. Also, CPU
By exchanging 18, the upgrade work which increases the processing speed of the personal computer becomes possible. In addition, with respect to an increase in the amount of heat generated by replacement of the CPU 18,
Replace the cooling fan with a cooling capacity corresponding to this.

A partition wall 21 forming a compartment 20 is provided around the cooling fan 19 and the CPU 18.
The partition wall 21 has an air inlet 2a at the air inlet 12a.
An air suction port 21a communicating with the cooling fan 19 through the air outlet 2 and an air discharge port 21b for discharging an air flow generated by driving the cooling fan 19 to the outside of the compartment 20 are provided.

The air discharge port 21b has an air discharge port 1
An air outflow passage 23 communicating with 2b is connected. The air outflow passage 23 is formed by a planar substantially spiral path extending from the center of the spiral to the outside of the compartment 20 and extending to the air outlet 12b with the air discharge port 21b as the center of the spiral. . Thus, the airflow by the cooling fan 19 in the compartment 20 as indicated by arrow b ₂ in FIG. 1 is discharged to the outside compartment 20 from the air discharge port 12b, i.e. the apparatus housing 12 through the air outlet passage 23 And is discharged from the air outlet 12b to the outside of the device housing 12. At this time,
The cooling fan 19 cools the CPU 18 in the compartment 20, and the motherboard 14, the expansion board 15, the FDD 16, and the HDD 17 outside the compartment 20 are efficiently cooled.

It is desirable that the opening position of the air discharge port 21b is set near the center of the equipment housing 12 so that the inside of the equipment housing 12 is cooled over a wide range.

Further, the air inflow path 22 is connected to the air inlet 12
A is formed by a path extending rearward from a to the air suction port 21a. Thereby, as shown by a ₂ in FIG. 1, air outside the equipment housing 12 is sucked into the compartment 20 through the air inlet 22 from the air inlet 12 a. At this time, the air outside the device housing 12 passes below the HDD 17 in the air inflow path 22 and
Is cooled.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of use of a cooling structure for an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the same or equivalent members as those in FIG. Is omitted. In the figure,
A desktop personal computer main body indicated by reference numeral 31 includes a device housing 32, a power supply 13, a motherboard 14, an expansion board 15, and a floppy disk drive (FDD) 1.
6, hard disk drive (HDD) 17, and CPU 1
8 and a cooling fan 19.

An air intake port 32a that opens rearward is provided substantially at the center of the rear panel of the equipment housing 32, and air that opens rearward is located on the right side (upward in FIG. 3) of the air intake port 32a. An outlet 32b is provided.

A partition wall 34 forming a compartment 33 is provided around the cooling fan 19 and the CPU 18.
The partition wall 34 is provided with an air suction port 34 a communicating with the air suction port 32 a and an air discharge port 34 b for discharging an air flow generated by driving the cooling fan 19 to the outside of the compartment 33.

The air discharge port 34b has an air discharge port 3
An air outflow passage 35 communicating with 2b is connected. The air outflow passage 35 is formed by a planar substantially spiral path extending from the center of the spiral to the outside of the compartment 33 and extending to the air outlet 32b with the air discharge port 34b as the center of the spiral. . Thus, the airflow by the cooling fan 19 in the compartment 33 as indicated by an arrow b ₃ in FIG. 2 is discharged outside the compartment 33 from the air discharge port 34b, i.e. the apparatus housing 32 through the air outlet passage 35 And is discharged out of the device housing 32 from the air discharge port 32b. At this time,
The cooling fan 19 cools the CPU 18 in the compartment 33 and the motherboard 14, the expansion board 15, the FDD 16, and the HDD 17 outside the compartment 33 are efficiently cooled.

The air suction port 34a has an air suction port 3
2a is connected directly, thereby air from the air inlet 32a of the outside apparatus housing 32 as indicated by a ₃ in FIG. 2 is drawn into the compartment 20 in the apparatus housing 32.

The surface of the air flow path in the present invention is:
In order to suppress the loss due to the friction of the cooling air, it is desirable to eliminate asperities as much as possible. This means that increasing the air flow rate by the cooling fan against the increase in the amount of heat generated by the increase in computer processing speed is an effective means itself, but the friction loss in the flow path is proportional to the square of the air flow rate. This is because reducing the unevenness on the surface of the flow channel enhances the cooling effect.

In each embodiment, the cooling fan 19 is a centrifugal fan. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the case where the heat generation amount of the CPU 18 is small or the mounting density inside the housing is reduced. If it is not high, an axial fan may be used.

In addition, in each embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a desktop personal computer has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to an information processing apparatus such as a floor-standing computer and other electronic devices in the same manner as in the embodiment.

Further, the heating element according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes an auxiliary storage device such as a CD-ROM.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, a partition wall is formed around a heating element and a cooling fan to form a compartment communicating with an air suction port. An air outlet that discharges the air to the outside of the compartment is provided, and an air outflow path from this air outlet to the air outlet is formed in the equipment housing.The air flow is released by the cooling fan in the compartment that communicates with the air intake. The air is discharged from the discharge port to the outside of the compartment, passes through the air outflow passage, and is discharged from the air discharge port to the outside of the device housing.

Therefore, the cooling fan can be arranged at a position near the center in the equipment housing. Therefore, even if the number of cooling fans is increased or the fan air volume is increased in response to an increase in the amount of heat generated. , Can enhance the low noise effect.

Since the air flow is circulated in the equipment housing by the air outflow passage, the inside of the equipment housing is cooled over a wide area, and the cooling efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of use of a cooling structure for an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of use of a cooling structure for an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a usage example of a conventional cooling structure of an electronic device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Personal computer main body 12 Device housing 12a Air inlet 12b Air outlet 13 Power supply 16 FDD 17 HDD 18 CPU 19 Cooling fan 20 Partition wall 21 Partition wall 21a Air inlet 21b Air outlet 22 Air inlet 23 Air outlet

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus housing having an air inlet and an air outlet and including a plurality of heating elements, and a cooling fan disposed in the apparatus housing and mounted on the heating elements. A partition wall is formed around the cooling fan and the heating element, the partition wall forming a compartment communicating with the air intake port. The partition wall has an air discharge port for discharging airflow from the cooling fan to the outside of the compartment. A cooling structure for an electronic device, wherein an air outflow passage from the air discharge port to the air discharge port is formed in the device housing. 2. The cooling structure according to claim 1, wherein said cooling fan comprises a centrifugal fan. 3. The air outflow path according to claim 1, wherein the air outflow path is a substantially spiral air outflow path extending from the vicinity of a central portion in the device housing toward the air outlet. The cooling structure of the electronic device described in the above. 4. The cooling fan according to claim 1, wherein said cooling fan is detachably attached to said heating element.
Or a cooling structure for an electronic device according to item 3. 5. The air inlet and the compartment are communicated by an air inflow passage.
5. A cooling structure for an electronic device according to 2, 3, or 4. 6. The device housing according to claim 1, wherein the device housing comprises a personal computer device housing.
6. The cooling structure for an electronic device according to 3, 4, or 5.