JP2000340975A - Fan unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a fan unit which cools a cabinet requiring forced air cooling, without being influenced by other electronic apparatus cabinets having no ventilating means, can be replaced from the front side and is easy for maintenance of the unit. SOLUTION: A fan unit 4 is composed of a body 5 removably insertable between a plurality of arranged cabinets 23 to be cooled, fans 1A, 1B for sending cooling air to the cabinets 23, fan mounts 2, 8A, 8B, etc., mounted on the ends of the body 5 at back sides 23a of the cabinets 23, for rotatably supporting the fans 1A, 1B about an axial line perpendicular to the inserting direction of the body 5, and preferably has inserting/removing means 6, 15, etc., for inserting/removing the fans 1A, 1B and the fan mounts 2, 8A, 8B, etc., together with the body, between the cabinets 23 from their front side 23b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fan unit, and more particularly, to a fan unit used for electronic equipment that requires forced air cooling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 7 and 8 show examples of the configuration of a fan unit conventionally used in electronic equipment or the like which requires forced air cooling.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which a fan unit 24 and electronic equipment (hereinafter referred to as a “cooled housing”) 23 are installed on a rack 25. The fan unit 24 is of a type that replaces the fan from the front surface 23 b side of the cooled housing 23. Here, in order to minimize the mounting height of the fan unit 24, the fan unit 24 is mounted so that the fan wind direction is vertical. A plurality of printed circuit boards 28 are mounted in parallel in the cooled housing 23.

In this case, in order to efficiently cool the heating element with respect to the vertical wind direction, the printed circuit board 28 as the heating element is mounted in parallel with the wind direction. The casing 23 to be cooled is provided with a large number of openings or slits (not shown) in order to secure a flow path for cooling air.

When the fan unit 24 installed above the cooled housing 23 operates, the air inside the cooled housing 23 is sucked up from the opening hole, and the air flows from below the cooled housing 23 upward. The flow occurs, and the printed circuit board 28 is cooled.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a configuration in which a plurality of enclosures 23 to be cooled are installed on a rack 25. In this case, the fan unit 24 is installed between each of the housings 23 to be cooled.
When the fan unit 24 is operating,
The printed circuit boards 28 in the plurality of cooled housings 23 are cooled by a continuous flow of air from the lower cooled housing 23 to the upper cooled housing 23 through the opening holes of the respective cooled housings 23. You.

[0007]

However, the fan unit shown in FIG. 8 does not have a housing to be cooled which requires forced air cooling and a ventilation means for preventing, for example, fine dust and the like from entering. When an electronic device housing or the like is provided alongside, the electronic device housing without ventilation means hinders the flow path of the cooling air flow, and is sufficient for the case to be cooled that requires forced air cooling. There is a problem that it is difficult to send a suitable cooling air.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the conventional fan unit, and requires forced air cooling without being affected by other electronic equipment housings having no ventilation means. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fan unit that cools a cooled housing and allows replacement of the fan unit from the front side, thereby facilitating maintenance.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A main body that can be inserted and removed between a plurality of the cooled housings, a fan for sending cooling air to the cooled housing, and a fan attached to a rear end of the cooled housing of the main body; And a fan mounting portion that supports the main body so as to be rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the insertion / extraction direction.

[0010] The invention according to claim 2 further comprises an insertion / extraction means for inserting / extracting the fan and the fan mounting portion between the main body and the cooled housing from the front side of the cooled housing. And

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a fan for sending cooling air can be installed on the back surface of the cooled housing, and the air in the cooled housing is moved to the back side of the cooled housing. In order to discharge the cooling air flow, only the rear side of the cooled housing passes, and the cooling air flow requiring forced air cooling is not affected by other devices installed above or below the cooled housing. The cooling housing can be cooled.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is further provided an insertion / extraction means for inserting / removing the fan and the fan mounting portion between the main body and the cooled housing from the front side of the cooled housing. Therefore, since it can be inserted and removed from the front side of the cooled housing, maintenance such as replacement of the fan is facilitated.

[0013]

Next, a specific example of an embodiment of a fan unit according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, as in the case of the conventional example, a case will be described in which the fan unit according to the present invention is used for an electronic device that requires forced air cooling.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fan unit 4 according to the present invention is inserted and installed between a plurality of cooled housings 23 stacked on a rack 25.

As shown in FIG. 2, this fan unit 4
Is a main body 5, fans 1A and 1B, and these fans 1
A and 1B are configured by a fan fixing bracket 2 and the like as a part of a fan mounting portion that rotatably supports the main body 5.

The main body 5 is formed in a rectangular frame shape with an open top, and a bent portion 5a functioning as a stopper for a slide portion 6 described later is provided at the left end. Also, the main body 5
At the left end of the to restrict the movement of the slide part 6,
The support bracket 16 is fixed, and the support bracket 16 is provided with a fixed arm 13 that rotates about the pin 12. At the right end of the main body 5, a fan fixing bracket 2 described later is provided.
Metal fittings 7A and 7B for instructing to be rotatable.

The slide portion 6 is formed in a rectangular frame shape with an open top, like the main body 5. The vertical and horizontal movements of the slide portion 6 are regulated by the main body 5 and can slide only on the main body 5 in the front-rear direction (the direction of arrow A). A handle 15 is provided at the left end of the slide portion 6 to grip the slide portion 6 when sliding the slide portion 6 with respect to the main body 5. In the vicinity of the left end of the slide portion 6, a stopper 14 that can be engaged with the notch 13a of the fixed arm 13 is fixed. Further, a bent portion 6a is formed at the right end of the slide portion 6, and the pin 11A is inserted into a hole (not shown).

The fan fixture 2 includes support fixtures 7A and 7B.
Are supported rotatably with respect to the main body 5 around a pin 9A and a pin 9B which pass through holes (not shown). A bent portion 2a is formed at the left end of the fan fixing bracket 2, and the pins 10A and 10B are inserted into holes (not shown).

The arm 8A and the arm 8B
A, 10B, 11A, and 11B are rotatably supported, respectively, and connect the slide part 6 and the fan fixture 2 through the bent parts 2a and 6a.

Next, the operation of the fan unit 4 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. FIG.

FIG. 3 shows only the fan unit 4 and the cooled housing 23 installed on the rack 25 (FIG. 1). The fan unit 4 is installed above the cooled housing 23 by being inserted from the front side of the cooled housing 23.

First, the slide portion 6 is moved via the handle 15.
Is pressed in the direction of arrow B, a force in the direction of arrow B is applied to the portions of the pins 10A, 10B on the fan fixing bracket 2 via the arms 8A, 8B connected by the pins 11A, 11B, and the pins 9A, 9B With the fans 1A, 1B
And the fan fixing bracket 2 rotates in the direction of arrow C.

If the above operation is replaced with the principle diagram of FIG. 5, the pins 10A, 10A
The portion B corresponds to the portion of the force point 30 in FIG. 5, the pins 9A and 9B correspond to the fulcrum 31, and the fans 1A and 1B and the fan fixture 2 correspond to the movable member 29.

In FIG. 5, when a horizontal force F is applied to the force point 30 of the movable object 29, the movable object 29 rotates around the fulcrum 31 in the direction of arrow E by leverage principle.
Based on this principle, the fan fixing bracket 2 rotates as the slide portion 6 slides. Here, the rotation angle of the fan fixing bracket 2 is regulated by the position where the bent portion 5 a contacts the handle 15 and the position where the notch 13 a of the fixed arm 13 engages with the stopper 14.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the fan fixing bracket 2 of the fan unit 4 is rotated by approximately 90 degrees by the above operation, and reaches a position facing the back surface 23a of the housing 23 to be cooled.

When the fans 1A and 1B are operated in this state, the air in the housing 23 to be cooled
It is sucked through an opening (not shown) provided in 3a and discharged to the back surface 23a side. As a result, the cooling effect of the fan unit 4 is exerted only on the cooled housing 23 to be forcibly cooled.

The operation of the fan fixing bracket 2 in the above description is reversible. When the slide portion 6 is moved in the direction opposite to the direction B in FIG. 3, the fan fixing bracket 2 is moved to the same horizontal position as the main body 5. Can be restored.

With the above operation, the entire fan unit 4 can be inserted and removed from the front surface 23b between the plurality of cooled housings 23 stacked on the rack 25 or the like, and maintenance such as replacement of the fan becomes easy.

Next, another embodiment of the fan unit according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, the fan unit 4 having the same structure as that of the above-described embodiment is vertically installed in the cooled housing 23, and the fan unit 4 is inserted and mounted in parallel with the printed circuit board 28. Thereafter, the fan fixture 2 is rotated by 90 degrees and installed so as to face the back surface 23a in the cooled housing 23. With such a configuration, the air in the cooled housing 23 can be discharged to the rear surface 23a of the cooled housing 23, and the cooling air flow passes only through the rear surface 23a of the cooled housing 23. Then, the cooled housing 23 requiring forced air cooling can be cooled without being affected by other devices provided above or below the cooled housing 23. Further, the whole fan unit 4 can be inserted and removed from the front surface 23b side of the cooled housing 23, and maintenance such as replacement of the fan becomes easy.

In the above embodiment, the fans 1A, 1B are attached to the end of the main body 5 on the rear surface 23a side of the cooled housing 23, and the fans 1A, 1B are inserted into and removed from the cooled housing 23 of the main body 5. A fan mounting portion rotatably supported about a vertical axis, and a main body 5 including the fans 1A and 1B and the fan mounting portion.
At the same time, the insertion / extraction means for inserting / extracting from the front surface 23b side of the cooled housing 23 between the cooled housing 23 or the printed circuit board 28 includes the fan fixing bracket 2, the slide portion 6, and the support bracket 7.
A, 7B, arms 8A, 8B, etc., but the configurations of the fan mounting portion and the insertion / extraction means are not limited thereto, and various configurations can be adopted.

[0032]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a cooled object that requires forced air cooling without being affected by other devices installed above or below the enclosure to be cooled. A fan unit capable of cooling a housing can be provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above effects, the fan unit can be inserted / removed from the front side of the cooled housing, so that a fan unit which can easily perform maintenance such as replacement of the fan can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an installation example of a fan unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a fan unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view when the fan mounting portion is rotated by 90 degrees in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an operation principle diagram of the fan unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the fan unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of installation of a conventional fan unit.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of installation of a conventional fan unit used for a plurality of electronic devices requiring forced air cooling.

[Description of Signs] 1A, 1B fan 2 fan fixing bracket 2a bent section 4 fan unit 5 main body 5a bent section 6 slide section 6a bent section 7A, 7B support bracket 8A, 8B arm 9A, 9B pin 10A, 10B pin 11A, 11B Pin 12 Pin 13 Fixed arm 14 Stopper 15 Handle 16 Support bracket 23 Cooled housing 23a Back surface 23b Front surface 24 Fan unit 25 Frame 27 Front plate 28 Printed circuit board 29 Movable object 30 Power point 31 Support point 32 Wind direction

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A main body which can be inserted and withdrawn between a plurality of cooled housings, a fan for sending cooling air to the cooled housing, and a rear end of the main body on a back side of the cooled housing. A fan unit, comprising: a fan mounting portion which is mounted and supports the fan so as to be rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the insertion / removal direction of the main body. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an insertion / extraction unit for inserting / extracting the fan and the fan mounting portion together with the main body between the cooled housing from the front side of the cooled housing. Fan unit.