TWI698863B - Storage module and its housing - Google Patents

Abstract

A housing of a storage module comprises a frame, a motherboard, a plurality of assembly frames, and a plurality of partitions. The frame comprises a bottom plate, a top plate, a first side plate and a second side plate. The bottom plate has a front side and a rear side. The front side is opposite to the rear side. The bottom plate is opposite to the top plate. The first side plate is oppos4ite to the second side plate. The first side plate and the second side plate connect the bottom plate and the top plate and are located between the bottom plate and the top plate. The motherboard is disposed on the bottom plate, and the motherboard is between the front side and the rear side. The assembly frames are movably disposed between the first side plate and the second side plate. The partitions are disposed between the first side plate and the second side plate. The opposite ends of each of the partitions respectively connect to the top plate and the bottom plate. The assembly frames are separated by the partitions such that each of the assembly frames are located in separate airflow passages. .

Description

Storage module and its casing

The present invention relates to a storage module and its casing, in particular to a storage module with independent heat dissipation channels and its casing.

With the development of the Internet, cloud services provided by servers and the Internet have rapidly spread throughout the world in recent years. The demand of cloud services for hard disks of servers used to store more and more information and data has also increased. Therefore, the requirements for enclosures with storage modules used to store a large number of hard disks have also increased.

In the case of small space structure requirements, since a large number of storage units (for example, more than 100 storage units) are arranged in the casing of a storage module with a limited space, how to make the heat generated by the large number of storage units in operation can be Effective heat dissipation and designing heat dissipation channels that do not interfere with the heat dissipation effect is a problem that must be solved.

The present invention is to provide a storage module housing to solve the problem that the heat generated by a large number of storage modules during operation cannot be effectively dissipated.

The casing of the storage module disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention includes a rack, a main board, multiple assembly frames, and multiple partitions. The frame includes a bottom plate, a top plate, a first side plate and a second side plate. The bottom plate has a front side and a rear side. The front side is opposite to the back side. The bottom plate is opposite to the top plate. The first side plate is opposite to the second side plate. The first side plate and the second side plate connect the bottom plate and the top plate and are located between the bottom plate and the top plate. The main board is arranged on the bottom plate, and the main board is located between the front side and the back side. The assembly frame is movably arranged between the first side plate and the second side plate. The partition is arranged between the first side plate and the second side plate. The opposite ends of each partition are respectively connected to the top plate and the bottom plate. The partition divides the assembly frame, so that each assembly frame is located in a separate air flow channel.

According to the enclosure of the storage module disclosed in the above embodiment, since the enclosure of the storage module is provided with multiple partitions, the partitions separate the multiple assembly racks, so that each assembly rack is located independently The airflow channel. Therefore, the airflow channels of each assembly frame will not interfere with the airflow channels of adjacent assembly frames. Therefore, the heat generated during the operation of the multiple storage modules arranged in each assembly frame can be dissipated through independent air flow channels.

The above description of the content of the present invention and the description of the following embodiments are used to demonstrate and explain the principle of the present invention and provide a further explanation of the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail in the following embodiments. The content is sufficient to enable anyone familiar with the relevant art to understand the technical content of the present invention and implement it accordingly, and according to the content disclosed in this specification, the scope of patent application and the drawings Anyone who is familiar with relevant skills can easily understand the purpose and advantages of the present invention. The following examples further illustrate the viewpoints of the present invention in detail, but do not limit the scope of the present invention by any viewpoint.

Please refer to Figure 1 to Figure 6. FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a storage module according to an embodiment of the present invention with the top plate removed. 2 is an exploded view of the storage module and the opened top plate of the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a partial enlarged view of the storage module of FIG. 2. 3 is an exploded view of a single assembly frame of the storage module according to the embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a side view of the storage module of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a front view of the storage module of Fig. 1. FIG. 6 is a partial schematic diagram of the storage module of FIG. 2. The circuit diagram is not shown in the diagrams of this case, so as to concisely and clearly present the characteristics of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the storage module S1 of the embodiment of the present invention includes a casing 10, a plurality of fan units 20, a plurality of storage units 30 and a power supply 50. A plurality of fan units 20, a plurality of storage units 30 and a power supply 50 are provided in the cabinet 10.

The casing 10 includes a rack 100, a plurality of assembly frames 200, a plurality of partitions 300, a power distribution board 400, and a power supply installation module 500. A plurality of assembly frames 200, a plurality of partitions 300, a power distribution board 400 and a power supply installation module 500 are arranged in the rack 100. The plurality of partitions 300 separate the plurality of assembly frames 200 at a certain interval.

In detail, in the embodiment of the present invention, the rack 100 includes a bottom plate 110, a first side plate 120, a second side plate 130 and a top plate 140. The bottom plate 110 has a front side F and a rear side B. The front side F is opposite to the back side B. In the present invention, the front side F and the back side B assist in defining the direction of the case. In other words, the direction of the rear side B toward the front side F is from back to front, thereby defining the front and back positions and directions of each element. The bottom plate 110 is opposite to the top plate 140. The first side plate 120 is opposite to the second side plate 130. The first side plate 120 and the second side plate 130 connect the bottom plate 110 and the top plate 140 and stand between the bottom plate 110 and the top plate 140.

The bottom plate 110 near the front side F has a net hole 111. The net hole 111 is close to the front side F of the bottom plate 110 and close to the first side plate 120. In other embodiments, the net hole 111 is disposed on the bottom plate 110 close to the front side F of the bottom plate 110 and close to the second side plate 130. In another embodiment, the net hole 111 can be located anywhere near the front side F of the bottom plate 110. The network hole 111 is connected to the power distribution board 400 inwardly. The network hole 111 has a slot for the network cable to be inserted.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of assembly frames 200 are arranged in the rack 100. A plurality of assembling frames 200 are respectively movably arranged between the first side plate 120 and the second side plate 130. In detail, each assembling frame 200 can be independently slid on the front side F of the bottom plate 110, and therefore can be pulled out separately. One of the two assembly frames 200 does not need to pull out all the assembly frames 200 at the same time. In the embodiment of the present invention, the storage module S1 includes six assembly frames 200. In other embodiments, the number of assembling racks 200 can be set as required.

In the embodiment of the present invention, each assembly frame 200 includes a tray 210, a fan unit installation module 220, a plurality of storage unit installation modules 230, a circuit board 240, a plurality of signal connectors 250, and a power connector 260, a protection element 270 and a plurality of indicator lights 280. A fan unit installation module 220, a plurality of storage unit installation modules 230, a circuit board 240, a plurality of signal connectors 250, a power connector 260, a protection element 270, and a plurality of indicator lights 280 are arranged on the tray 210. The fan unit 20 is disposed in the fan unit installation module 220. The storage units 30 are disposed on the storage unit installation modules 230. Each assembly frame 200 can slide in and out of the front side F of the bottom plate 110 by each tray 210 so that each assembly frame 200 has a working state and a maintenance state.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, each tray 210 includes a tray front part 211, a tray middle part 212 and a tray rear part 213 connected to each other. The front part 211 of the tray has a plurality of holes for air flow. A circuit board 240, a power connector 260, and a plurality of storage unit installation modules 230 are provided on the middle portion 212 of the tray. The power connector 260 is connected to the circuit board 240. The power connector 260 is located at an end E of the middle part 212 of the tray closer to the back side B of the bottom plate 110. The circuit board 240 is provided with a plurality of signal connectors 250 and a plurality of indicator lights 280. The signal connectors 250 located in the middle 212 of the tray are close to the bottom plate 110. The signal connector 250 is used to connect external electronic components. Each indicator light 280 used for warning corresponds to a storage unit installation module 230 respectively. When the storage unit 30 in one of the racks 200 fails, the indicator light 280 (such as an LED) will flash to warn, and the operation of the storage unit 30 in the other racks 200 will not be affected. In the embodiment of the present invention, there are 8 indicator lights 280 in total. In other embodiments, the number of indicator lights 280 can be set as required. In another embodiment, the indicator light 280 may not be included.

A plurality of storage unit installation modules 230 are provided on the circuit board 240 and the power connector 260. A plurality of storage units 30 are disposed on the storage unit installation modules 230. In this embodiment, the number of storage unit installation modules 230 on each tray 210 is 8, and each storage unit installation module 230 can be provided with three storage units 30. In other embodiments, the number of storage unit installation modules 230 can be set as needed, and the number of storage units 30 of the storage unit installation module 230 can be set as needed.

The fan unit installation module 220 is disposed on the rear part 213 of the tray and the fan unit installation module 220 is close to the rear side B of the bottom plate 110. The fan unit installation module 220 is arranged behind the storage unit installation modules 230. The fan unit installation module 220 is used for installing the fan unit 20. The rear surface of the rear part 213 of the tray is used to support the fan unit installation module 220 and block the airflow formed by the fan unit 20 from escaping backward. The fan unit 20 is electrically connected to the power distribution board 400 through the power connector 260. The airflow generated by the fan unit 20 flows from back to front to dissipate heat from the storage unit 30 disposed in front of the fan unit installation module 220.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of partitions 300 are arranged between the first side plate 120 and the second side plate 130. The opposite ends of each partition 300 are respectively connected to the top plate 140 and the bottom plate 110. The plurality of partitions 300 are used to support and separate the plurality of assembly frames 200 so that each assembly frame 200 is located in a separate air flow channel V1. With the arrangement of the partition 300, the air flow channel V1 of each assembly frame 200 will not interfere with the air flow channel V1 of the adjacent assembly frame 200. Therefore, the heat generated during operation of the storage units 30 arranged in each assembly frame 200 can be dissipated in the airflow channel V1 through the airflow generated by the fan unit 20 arranged in the fan unit installation module 220 . Furthermore, foam can be set to fill the gap between the partition 300 and the bottom plate 110 or the top plate 140 so as to minimize the interference between two adjacent airflow channels V1, or the foam can be set at the corners of the frame 100 to strengthen The airtight effect of the 100 corners of the rack.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the power distribution board 400 is disposed on the bottom plate 110 and is close to the rear side B of the bottom plate 110. The power distribution board 400 has a plurality of power distribution connection ports 410, a power connection port 420 and a network connection port 430. As shown in FIG. 6, the network connection port 430 and a plurality of power distribution connection ports 410 are arranged at the front end E1 of one of the power distribution boards 400. The network connection port 430 is adjacent to the power distribution connection port 410. The network connection port 430 is used for connecting a wire to the network hole 111 on the base plate 110. Each power distribution connection port 410 is electrically connected to the power connector 260 of each tray 210 respectively. The power connection port 420 is disposed at a rear end E2 of the power distribution board 400 and the power connection port 420 is connected to the power supply 50.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the power supply installation module 500 is disposed on the bottom plate 110, the power supply installation module 500 is close to the back side B of the bottom plate 110, and the power distribution board 400 is located on the power supply installation module 500 and each circuit board 240 between. The power supply 50 is installed in the power supply installation module 500. The power connection port 420 is electrically connected to the power supply 50. The number of electrical element suppliers is four. In other embodiments, the number of electrical element suppliers can be set as required.

Please refer to FIG. 7, which is a partial schematic diagram of the single assembly frame of FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 7, there is a difference surface D1 between the middle part 212 of the tray and the rear part 213 of the tray. The protection element 270 is provided on the level difference surface D1. The protection element 270 may extend downward from the step surface D1 and protrude from the lower surface D2 of the middle portion 212 of the tray. The protection element 270 is arranged in the gap between the stepped surface D1 of the middle portion 212 of the tray and the power supply 50. The protection element 270 provides a buffer effect between the power distribution board 400 and the power supply 50 and between the power supply 50 and the middle part 212 of the tray.

The following describes how to switch between the working state and the maintenance state of the assembly frame 200 in the embodiment of this case. When the assembly frame 200 is in the working state, the assembly frame 200 is in a working position. The assembly frame 200 is completely located in the rack 100 and is shielded by the top plate 140. At least part of the power distribution board 400 is located below the middle part 212 of the tray. The power connector 260 provided on the tray 210 is connected to the power distribution connection port 410 of the power distribution board 400.

When a single storage unit 30 in the casing 10 is damaged or malfunctions and needs to be replaced, the assembling rack 200 containing the storage unit 30 to be replaced is pulled out from the casing 10 by sliding the assembling rack 200. In other words, when the assembly rack 200 changes from the working state to the maintenance state, the connection between the power connector 260 on the tray 210 and the power distribution connection port 410 of the power distribution board 400 is immediately disconnected, and then the tray 210 is moved from back to front to make The tray front 211 slides out of the front side F of the bottom plate 110 until the storage unit 30 that needs to be replaced is exposed through the front side F of the bottom plate 110, so that the assembling frame 200 is changed from the working state to the maintenance state. When the assembly frame 200 is in a maintenance state, the assembly frame 200 is in a maintenance position. At this time, the storage unit 30 that needs to be replaced in the assembly frame 200 is not covered by the top plate 140. Then, the storage unit 30 that needs to be replaced is extracted from the storage unit installation module 230 of the assembly rack 200, and the operation of other storage units 30 in the other assembly racks 200 will not be interrupted by the withdrawal of a single storage unit 30. In this way, the casing 10 can improve the efficiency and convenience of the user in installing, replacing or repairing the single storage unit 30 while maintaining the operation of the storage module S1.

Then, the storage unit 30 inserts the storage unit installation module 230 from top to bottom to complete the replacement and maintenance of the storage unit 30. Then, the pulled-out tray 210 is pushed into the rack 100 from the front and back through the front side F of the bottom plate 110 until the power connector 260 on the tray 210 is connected to the power distribution connection port 410 of the power distribution board 400, thereby connecting the rack 200 changes from the maintenance state to the working state. During the transition of the assembly frame 200 from the maintenance state to the working state, the protection element 270 provides a buffer effect between the power distribution board 400 and the power supply 50 and between the power supply 50 and the middle part 212 of the tray, so that the power distribution board 400, The power supply 50 and the middle part of the tray 212 will not be damaged due to excessive force of the tray 210 being pushed into the rack 100 from the front to back.

According to the storage module and its casing disclosed in the above embodiment, a plurality of partitions are provided, and the plurality of assembly frames are separated by the partitions, so that each assembly frame is located in a separate air flow channel. Therefore, the airflow channels of each assembly frame will not interfere with the airflow channels of adjacent assembly frames. Therefore, the heat generated during the operation of the multiple storage units arranged in each assembly frame can be dissipated in the airflow channel through the airflow generated by the fan unit arranged in the fan unit installation module.

In addition, according to the storage module and its casing disclosed in the above embodiment, by providing a plurality of slidable assembly racks, the assembly racks containing the storage units to be replaced are moved from The storage unit is pulled out from the casing, so that the casing can be replaced or repaired as a single storage unit as needed, and the operation of the storage units in other assembly frames will not be interrupted by pulling out the single storage unit. This improves the user's efficiency and convenience for installing, replacing or repairing a single storage unit, while maintaining the operation of the storage module.

In addition, the enclosure of the storage module disclosed in the above-mentioned embodiment is provided with a protective element. The protective element protects the power distribution board, power supply and the middle of the tray, so that the power distribution board, power supply and the middle of the tray will not be damaged by the tray. After being pushed into the rack, the force is too large and they are damaged by collision.

Although the present invention is disclosed in the foregoing embodiments as above, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone familiar with similar art can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, this The scope of patent protection for inventions shall be determined by the scope of patent applications attached to this specification.

10: Chassis

20: Fan unit

30: storage unit

50: power supply

100: rack

110: bottom plate

111: Network hole

120: The first side panel

130: second side panel

140: top plate

200: Assembly frame

210: Pallet

211: The front of the tray

212: Pallet middle

213: Rear of the tray

220: Fan unit installation module

230: Storage unit installation module

240: circuit board

250: signal connector

260: power connector

270: Protection element

280: indicator light

300: partition

400: Distribution board

410: Power distribution connection port

420: Power connection port

430: network connection port

500: Power supply installation module

S1: Storage module

F: Front

B: back side

D1: Difference surface

V1: Airflow channel

E1: Front end

E2: backend

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a storage module according to an embodiment of the present invention with the top plate removed. 2 is an exploded view of the storage module and the opened top plate of the embodiment of the present invention. 3 is an exploded view of a single assembly frame of the storage module according to the embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a side view of the storage module of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a front view of the storage module of Fig. 1. FIG. 6 is a partial schematic diagram of the storage module of FIG. 2. Fig. 7 is a partial schematic diagram of the single assembly frame of Fig. 3.

10: Chassis

20: Fan unit

30: storage unit

100: rack

110: bottom plate

120: The first side panel

130: second side panel

200: Assembly frame

300: partition

S1: Storage module

F: Front

B: back side

Claims (6)

A storage module housing, comprising: a rack, including a bottom plate, a top plate, a first side plate and a second side plate. The bottom plate has a front side and a back side. The front side is opposite to the back side, and the bottom plate Relative to the top plate, the first side plate is opposite to the second side plate, the first side plate and the second side plate connect the bottom plate and the top plate and are located between the bottom plate and the top plate; a plurality of assembly frames, the plurality of assembly frames Movably arranged between the first side plate and the second side plate; and a plurality of partitions are arranged between the first side plate and the second side plate, and opposite ends of each partition are respectively connected to the top plate and The bottom plate and the partitions separate the assembly racks so that each assembly rack is located in a separate air flow channel; wherein each assembly rack includes a tray, a fan unit installation module and a plurality of storage units Installation module, the fan unit installation module is arranged on the tray and is located at one end of the tray close to the rear side of the bottom plate, the storage unit installation modules are arranged on the tray; wherein each assembly frame is also It includes a circuit board, the circuit board is arranged on the tray; wherein each of the assembly frames further includes a plurality of signal connectors, each of the trays includes a tray front, a tray middle, and a tray rear that are connected to each other. The signal connectors are arranged on the front part, the storage unit installation modules are arranged on the middle part of the tray, and the fan unit installation modules are arranged on the rear part of the tray; and each of the assembling frames further includes a protection element, the tray There is a difference surface between the middle part and the rear part of the tray, and the protection element is arranged on the difference surface. For the storage module case described in the first item of the scope of patent application, each of the assembling racks further includes a power connector, the power connector is arranged on the middle of the tray, and the power connector is connected to the circuit board . The enclosure of the storage module described in item 2 of the scope of the patent application further includes a power distribution board, the power distribution board is arranged on the bottom plate and is close to the rear side of the bottom plate, the power distribution board has a plurality of power distribution connection ports and A power connection port, the power distribution connection ports are arranged at a front end of the power distribution board, each power distribution connection port is electrically connected to each power connector, and the power connection port is arranged at a rear end of the power distribution board. As described in item 3 of the scope of patent application, the enclosure of the storage module further includes a power supply mounting module arranged on the bottom plate and located at an end of the bottom plate close to the rear side of the bottom plate, and the power distribution board is located at the Between the power supply installation module and each circuit board. In the case of the storage module described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, the protection element can extend downward from the step surface and protrude from a lower surface of the middle of the tray. For example, the enclosure of the storage module described in item 3 of the scope of patent application further includes a network hole arranged on the front side of the base plate, and the power distribution board also includes a network connection port. The hole is connected to the network connection port.

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