JP2000082890A - Cooling fan unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a card cooling means which prevents malfunction or fault due to rising of a card temperature for improved parts mounting density, and a means which allows cooling of a card with no structural change to a device comprising an existing slot. SOLUTION: A cross flow fan 3 is incorporated in a case 1 of the material of good heat conduction, and supplied with a power source from a PCMCIA(PC memory card international association) socket 4 through a cable 5 for rotation. When the cross flow fan 3 is rotated with a lid 2 of the same material as the case 1 capped, an outside air is taken-in through an intake port 6, and discharged through a discharge port 7 by way of a groove 8 in the case 1. Here, the outside air passing in the case 1 takes a heat, which cools the surfaces of the case 1 and the lid 2. The case 1 is of the same form as the PCMCIA card TYPEII with the lid 2 capped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a PCMCIA (P
C Memory Card International
al Association).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A PCMCIA card is configured by housing a printed circuit board on which electronic components such as an LSI are mounted in a metal case or the like having a box-shaped card. Communication modem, LAN,
And various interface adapters, etc., and are used by being inserted into a notebook computer equipped with a PCMCIA slot as required.

[0003]

Conventionally, PCMCIA
No special cooling measures have been taken for the card, and its self-heating is large, causing a problem such as malfunction or failure due to temperature rise. Also, there is a problem in increasing the component mounting density of the printed circuit board in the PCMCIA card in order to enhance the function of the PCMCIA card, because there is a problem due to the temperature rise.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a cooling means for a card which prevents malfunctions and failures due to a rise in the temperature of the card and which can improve the density of component mounting. Another object of the present invention is to provide a means for cooling a card without making a structural change.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, there is provided a device having the same shape as a function expansion card and having a slot into which the card is inserted, inserted into the slot. Accordingly, a cooling fan unit having a built-in fan for cooling the adjacent function expansion card and the device is provided.

In the above-mentioned cooling fan unit, a suction port and a discharge port for outside air are provided in the same plane as the slot port.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention with a lid removed. In FIG. 1, 1
Is case, 2 is lid, 3 is cross flow fan, 4 is P
A CMCIA socket, 5 is a cable, 6 is an outside air inlet, 7 is an outlet, and 8 is a groove. The cross flow fan 3 is built in a case 1 made of a material having good thermal conductivity such as aluminum, and is rotated by being supplied with power from a PCMCIA socket 4 through a cable 5. By rotating the cross flow fan 3 with the lid 2 made of the same material as the case 1 placed on the case 1, outside air is taken in from the suction port 6 and discharged through the groove 8 provided in the case 1. It is exhaled from 7. At this time, heat is taken away by the outside air passing through the inside of case 1, and as a result, the surfaces of case 1 and lid 2 are cooled.

The case 1 is configured so as to have the same shape as a PCMCIA card TYPEII (thickness: 5 mm) with the cover 2 covered, and is inserted into a PCMCIA slot mounted on a notebook personal computer or the like. ,
The PCMCIA socket 4 enables connection to a main body such as a notebook personal computer. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram in which the embodiment of the present invention is used in a notebook personal computer. 2, 10 is a cooling fan unit of the present invention, 11 is a PCMCIA card to be cooled, 12 is a notebook computer, 13
Is a PCMCIA slot. Cooling fan unit 1
By inserting “0” into the PCMCIA slot 13 of the notebook computer 12 together with the PCMCIA card 11 to be cooled, the cooling fan unit 10 can cool the PCMCIA card 11 to be cooled through its outer surface. Even when the positional relationship between the cooling fan unit 10 and the PCMCIA card 11 to be cooled is upside down, the same cooling effect can be obtained.

The cooling fan unit 10 is a PCM.
Because it has the same shape as the CIA card, when it is inserted into the PCMCIA slot 13, it is completely
, The space around the notebook computer 12 is not affected. In the above description of the embodiment, the PCMCIA card TYPE II was used, but other types (TYPE: thickness 3.3 mm, TYPE II
I: thickness 10.5 mm, Thick TYPE: thickness 1
8.0 mm), and of course a card other than a PCMCIA card.

[0010]

According to the present invention, since the function expansion card can be cooled, it is possible to prevent a malfunction or a failure due to a rise in the temperature of the card, and to cope with an improvement in the component mounting density of the card. Further, the cooling fan unit of the present invention is not limited to the purpose of cooling the card, but it is also possible to cool a device such as a notebook computer by inserting the card alone into a slot of the device such as a notebook computer.

Further, the cooling fan unit of the present invention is characterized in that it is used by inserting it into a slot. Therefore, even if it is an existing device, if a slot is available, a new structure is provided. It is possible to cool the card and the equipment equipped with the card without the need for strategic changes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention with a lid removed.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram in which an embodiment of the present invention is used in a notebook computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Case, 2 ... Lid, 3 ... Cross flow fan, 4 ...
PCMCIA socket, 5 cable, 6 suction port, 7 discharge port, 8 groove, 10 cooling fan unit, 11 PCMCIA card to be cooled, 12 notebook PC, 13 PCMCIA slot.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A device which has the same shape as a function expansion card and has a built-in fan for cooling an adjacent function expansion card and an adjacent function expansion card by being inserted into the slot of the device equipped with the slot into which the card is inserted. A cooling fan unit. 2. The cooling fan unit according to claim 1, wherein a suction port and a discharge port for outside air are provided in the same plane as the slot port.