JP2001307474A - Disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that the cooling function of a magnetic disk drive becomes deficient owing to a decrease in wind volume resulting from the air resistance of an air cooling path when a magnetic disk drive is mounted with high density. SOLUTION: This disk device is equipped with disk boxes 10-1 to 10-8 having magnetic disk drives for recording and reproducing information and air- discharging fan units and a device housing which has an air intake 2a and an air outlet 4; and the disk boxes are stacked in >=2 stages and air blown to the disk boxes 10-1 and 10-5 arranged in the frontmost part of the air blowing passage from the intake to the outlet passes through the disk boxes by the fan units 30 and then reaches an air discharging duct 7 in the disk device. The stack of the disk boxes in >=2 stages is composed of upper and lower coupled bodies each of one and/or two boxes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk drive used as an external storage device of a computer, and more particularly to a cooling structure of a disk drive having a plurality of magnetic disk drives mounted in one housing. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, space saving, high capacity, and high-density mounting of disk devices have been advanced, and accordingly, a structure for efficiently cooling is required.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional apparatus is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-12 / 08.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 4375, the front and rear surfaces of each of a plurality of disk boxes are formed as two sets as one set.
A total of eight units are mounted in the disk unit, and the air taken in from the cooling air intake is taken in from the lower surface of the lower disk box among the two units. One having an air-cooling path for ventilating upward and exhausting from the upper surface of the disk box to the outside of the device through a duct formed in the gap between the front and rear disk boxes or from an exhaust port provided on the device ceiling, that is, stacked vertically Having an air cooling path from below the lower disk box to above the upper disk box of the two disk boxes;
Has been proposed.

[0003]

However, in the air cooling path in the above-mentioned prior art (a configuration example in which two sets of upper and lower disk boxes are set as one set and another set is stacked),
The duct for guiding the wind bends, and the duct resistance is caused by a change in the shape of the cooling duct. In particular, the disk box connected as a pair of two lower disks in the stacked disk box is for sending air to a duct after exhausting (an exhaust space arranged between the front and rear of the pair of upper two disk boxes). Pipeline resistance is generated, and the pipeline resistance is larger than that of the disk boxes connected as a pair of two upper units.

Conventionally, the cooling function was sufficient in the above-described disk box arrangement, but when the magnetic disk drive is mounted at a higher density than before, the air volume is reduced due to a decrease in the pipe area. In addition, the cooling function may be insufficient, and the magnetic disk drive at the mounting position where the pipeline resistance is large may become hot. In order to avoid this, it is conceivable to increase the wind speed or attach a heat sink. However, it is necessary to use a fan with a large air volume and high pressure, which may result in an expensive device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a disk device which can be efficiently cooled while being mounted at a high density.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention mainly employs the following configuration.

[0007] In a disk device comprising a disk box having a plurality of magnetic disk drives for recording and reproducing information and an exhaust fan unit, and a device housing having an intake port and an exhaust port, the disk box has a capacity of 2 units.
The air blown to the disk box, which is stacked more than one level and is arranged at the forefront of the air blowing path from the intake port to the exhaust port, is guided by the exhaust fan unit to the exhaust duct in the disk device after passing through the disk box. Disk unit to be inserted.

Further, in a disk device having a disk box having a plurality of magnetic disk drives for recording and reproducing information and an exhaust fan unit, and a device housing having an intake port and an exhaust port, the disk box has Two or more rows are stacked and two or more rows are installed,
Ventilation to the disk box arranged at the forefront of the ventilation path from the intake port to the exhaust port is guided by the exhaust fan unit to the exhaust duct in the disk device after passing through the disk box by the ventilation of the exhaust fan unit. And the gap between the adjacent disk boxes arranged adjacent to each other is narrower than the gap between the adjacent disk boxes in stages other than the foremost stream.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A disk drive provided with a plurality of disk boxes according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a disk box arrangement state in a disk device according to the present invention. A total of 8 disk boxes 10-1 to 10-8 are provided on the front and rear surfaces of the rack-shaped frame 5.
Have been implemented. A gap is provided between the front and rear disk boxes, and has a function as an exhaust duct 7.

The upper and lower surfaces of each disk box 10 are open so that air can enter and exit, and an exhaust fan unit 30 is detachably mounted on the upper surface. In this embodiment, a total of twelve canisters 20 can be mounted in each of the upper and lower stages in each disk box. Details of the disk box and canister will be described later with reference to FIGS.

Disk boxes 10-1 to 10-3, 1
Air plates 6-1 to 6-6 are located below 0-5 to 10-7.
6 as shown in FIG. 3 to be described later, the air sucked from the intake port 2a is supplied to the disk box 10-1.
-10-3, 10-5 to 10-7, and the disk box 10-1 to 10-2, 10-5.
The air evacuated from the upper surface of -10-6 is guided to the exhaust duct 7.

Disk boxes 10-3 to 10-4, 1
0-7 to 10-8 are 1 in a set of upper and lower connected
It constitutes one air cooling path.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the disk device completed as a disk device by attaching the door 2, side cover 3, and top cover 4 to the disk device shown in FIG.
A door 2 having an air inlet 2a on the front and rear surfaces of the disk device 1
Is openably and closably mounted, and a side cover 3 is mounted on a side surface. A top cover 4 having an exhaust port 4a is attached to the ceiling.

The cooling of the disk drive is performed by sucking outside air from an intake port 2a (an example of a structure in which a louver is provided) provided in the door 2 and by a filter (not shown) provided inside the intake port 2a. After removing the dust, cooling is performed by ventilating the inside of the apparatus, and the exhaust port 4a
Is exhausted from the top cover 4 having

FIG. 3 is a side view for explaining an air cooling path in the disk device, and is a view of FIG. 1 as viewed from the left. Inhales outside air from an intake port 2a provided in the door 2,
Dust is removed when air passes through a filter 2b provided inside the door. In the air cooling path 8-1 of FIG. 3, the air that has passed through the filter 2b is guided by the upper surface of the air plate 6-1 to the lower surface of the disk box 10-1, and is sucked up by the exhaust fan unit 30-1. While the air passes through the disk box 10-1, it cools the devices, especially the magnetic disk drives in the disk box, and is exhausted from the upper surface of the disk box 10-1 by the exhaust fan unit 30-1.

The exhausted air hits the lower surface of the air plate 6-2 just above, and is guided to the exhaust duct 7 along the shape of the air plate. The exhaust duct 7 is a top cover 4 having an exhaust port 4a provided on the ceiling of the disk device 1.
The exhaust from the disk device 1 is performed through the exhaust port 4a. In this embodiment, the exhaust port 4a is formed of a sheet metal in the form of a punched metal, has a function as an exhaust port, and can prevent foreign substances from entering the apparatus and prevent harmful noise from flowing out. Air cooling path 8-2,
8-4 and 8-5 are cooled by the same air flow as in the air cooling path 8-1.

In the air cooling path 8-3, the air that has passed through the filter 2b is guided by the upper surface of the air plate 6-3 to the lower surface of the disk box 10-3, and
Sucked up by 0-3. After cooling the device while air passes through the disk box 10-3, the exhaust fan unit 30-3 controls the disk box 10-.
3 Exhausted from the upper surface. The exhausted air is sucked up again by the exhaust fan unit 30-4, passes through the disk box 10-4, and cools the device. The air that has passed through the disk box 10-4 is exhausted by the exhaust fan unit 30-4, and is exhausted from the disk device 1 through an exhaust port 4a provided on the ceiling of the disk device 1.

With respect to the air cooling path 8-6, the air cooling path 8-
Cooling is performed by the same air flow as in 3. Since the exhaust port 4a exists immediately above the disk box 10-4, the air resistance of the exhaust is reduced.
2, smaller than 10-5 to 10-6. For this reason, even if the disk box 10-3 is stacked and connected to the disk box 10-4, the exhaust resistance is not so large and the cooling efficiency is not significantly reduced.

At the mounting position of the lowermost disk boxes 10-1 and 10-5 where the air resistance of the exhaust is the largest, the disk boxes are connected to each other so that the exhaust direction is positively the same as the duct direction. By arranging the arrangement so as to be close to the center and adjacent to each other, by reducing the bending resistance of the exhaust (compared with the bending of the exhaust path of the disk boxes 10-2 and 10-6), the pipe resistance at the lowermost stage is reduced. are doing.

In this embodiment, the flow of air in the air cooling path is ascending, but in the case of descending, the arrangement of the disk boxes is upside down. An air cooling path from the intake port 2a to the exhaust duct 7 is formed by one uppermost disk box 10-4 and one disk box 10-3. For the disk box 10-1 and the disk box 10-2, if the space between the exhaust port and the floor is small,
The exhaust resistance from the disk box 10-1 to the outside of the apparatus may increase. In this case disk box 1
It is necessary to provide an air-cooling path on a stand, and it is necessary to increase the interval between the exhaust ducts 7 in order to reduce the exhaust resistance in the exhaust ducts 7. When the space between the exhaust port and the floor is sufficiently large, the disk box 10-1 and the disk box 10-2 may be connected. Disc box 10-
Disk boxes 10-1 to 10-1 for 5-10-8
An air cooling path similar to that of 0-4 is used.

In this embodiment, the disk boxes 10 are mounted on both sides of the disk device in FIG. 3, but even in the case of mounting on only one side, if the exhaust duct is provided on the back surface of the disk box 10, It is possible to form the same air cooling path as in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the details of the disk box 10. The disk box 10 includes a canister 20, an interface board 12, an exhaust fan unit 30, a power supply 11 for supplying electricity thereto, and a board 13 for controlling these. The canister 20 includes a magnetic disk drive 21 and an adapter substrate 2 for mediating connection between the substrate 13 and the magnetic disk drive 21.
2 and a housing 23 for fixing them. The canister 20 is mounted on the substrate 13 by the adapter substrate 22.
It is a structure that can be attached and detached with a connector system.

The exhaust fan unit 30 includes fans 31-1 to 31-6 for cooling the magnetic disk drive, fans 32-1 to 32-2 for cooling the power supply 11, and an adapter for connecting to the substrate 13. It is composed of a substrate 33. The exhaust fan unit 30 includes an adapter board 33
This allows the connector to be attached to and detached from the substrate 13 by a connector method. The interface board 12 and the power supply 11 can be attached to and detached from the board 13 by a connector system. Further, in the disc box 10, a minimum beam for supporting the disc box 10 is provided between the canisters 20 in order to make a large duct for exhaust.

In this embodiment, the canister 20 is
However, the magnetic disk drive 21 may have a structure that can be attached to and detached from the disk box 10 even when the housing 23 is not provided. Further, regarding the adapter board 22,
In FIG. 4, the magnetic disk drive 21 is attached to the canister 20.
1, any configuration may be used. In this embodiment, the power supply 11 and the interface board 12 are mounted in the disk box, but may be provided in the disk device.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an air cooling path in the disk box 10. In the present embodiment, the disk box 10 is configured such that a total of twelve canisters 20-1 to 20-12 can be mounted in the upper and lower canisters. In the canisters 20-1 and 20-2 in FIG. 5, air 9 sucked from the lower side of the disk box 10 is moved by the exhaust fan 31-6 provided on the upper side of the disk box 10 to the magnetic disk drive cover side 25 or the canister adapter board. After passing through the side 24, the air is exhausted from the upper surface of the disk box 10 by the exhaust fan unit 30.
The other canisters 20-3 to 20-12 are also cooled by the same air flow as the canisters 20-1 to 20-2.

Further, the canister 20 arranged in the lateral direction
A partition plate 27 is provided between the partition plates, and an opening is provided in the center of the partition plate 27 so that cold air can freely flow in the left-right direction of the partition plate. Further, between the canisters 20-1 and 20-2 on the power supply side and the power supply 11 is partitioned by an insulating partition plate for insulation. (Unlike the opening)
The gap between the magnetic disk drive 21 side of the canister 20 and the insulating partition plate 26 is configured to be larger than the gap between the magnetic disk drive side and the partition plate 27, thereby providing a large cooling space.

In the configuration example shown in FIG.
0-1 to 20-12 are all mounted with the magnetic disk drive 21 on the left and the adapter board 22 on the right so that the magnetic disk drive which generates the most heat in the canister 20 is efficiently cooled. Exhaust fan 3
The arrangement of the canister and the exhaust fan is determined in consideration of the wind speed distribution according to (1). That is, the canisters 20-1 to 20-
4, the exhaust fan 31-6 and the exhaust fan 31-
The two units having the high wind speed distribution of No. 5 are efficiently cooled in accordance with the magnetic disk drive side.

As described above, the embodiments of the present invention include those having the following configurations, functions, and actions. As for the arrangement of the disk box, the air cooling path from the intake port of the disk device to the exhaust duct is changed to the conventional upper and lower positions for the disk box at the mounting position where the pipeline resistance is large.
While one set of one disk box was used as one air cooling path, each disk box was configured as one cooling system. This makes it possible to reduce the pipeline resistance and send the wind to the disk drive exhaust port while maintaining the wind pressure.

Further, the disk boxes are arranged adjacent to each other up to the center of the duct so that the exhaust direction is positively the same as the direction of the duct at the mounting position of the lowermost disk box having the highest pipe resistance. By reducing the resistance, the lowermost pipeline resistance can be reduced.

[0030]

According to the present invention, the exhaust resistance of a disk box with poor cooling efficiency is kept low, and the cooling efficiency of the entire disk device can be increased. As a result, high-density mounting of a magnetic disk drive can be supported.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an arrangement state of a disk box in a disk device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a disk device completed as a disk device by attaching a door, a side cover, and a top cover to the disk device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a cooling path in the disk device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a specific structure of the disc box.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a cooling path in the disk box.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 disk device 2a intake port 4a exhaust port 5 frame 6 air plate 7 duct 8 disk device air 9 disk box air 10 disk box 11 power supply 20 canister 21 magnetic disk drive 22 adapter board 26 insulating partition plate 27 partition plate 30 exhaust fan Unit 31 exhaust fan

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshio Ohira 2880 Kozu, Kozuhara-shi, Kanagawa Pref.Hitachi, Ltd.Storage Systems Division (72) Inventor Kenji Matsuda 2880 Kozu, Kozu, Odawara-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi Storage System Division

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A disk device comprising: a disk box having one or more magnetic disk drives and an exhaust fan unit for recording and reproducing information; and a device housing having an intake port and an exhaust port, The disk box is stacked in two or more stages, and the air to the disk box arranged at the forefront of the air supply path from the intake port to the exhaust port is blown by the exhaust fan unit and passes through the disk box after being passed through the disk box. A disk device which is guided to an exhaust duct. 2. The disk device according to claim 1, wherein the loading state of two or more stages of said disk box is one for each of upper and lower sides.
And / or two upper and lower connected bodies, each of the upper and lower one disk box is formed with a ventilation path from the intake port to the exhaust duct, and the connected disk box is provided with the intake port A ventilation path to an exhaust port through two disk boxes. 3. The disk device according to claim 1, wherein the direction of the air flow path is ascending, and the direction of the air path through the disk box arranged at the lowermost level when the direction of the air path is lower, or directly at the lowermost level. A disk device, wherein the disk device reaches the exhaust duct. 4. A disk device comprising: a disk box having one or more magnetic disk drives and an exhaust fan unit for recording and reproducing information; and a device housing having an intake port and an exhaust port, The disk box is loaded with two or more
The air blown to the disk box arranged at the forefront of the air flow path from the intake port to the exhaust port is passed by the exhaust fan unit, and is guided to the exhaust duct in the disk device after passing through the disk box. The disk device, wherein a gap between the adjacent disk boxes arranged at the forefront and adjacent to each other is narrower than a gap between the adjacent disk boxes at stages other than the foremost stream. 5. The disk device according to claim 4, wherein the exhaust duct is formed by a gap between adjacent disk boxes in stages other than the foremost stream. 6. A disk device comprising: a disk box having one or a plurality of magnetic disk drives and an exhaust fan unit for recording and reproducing information; and a device housing having an intake port and an exhaust port. The disk box has a plurality of magnetic disk drives partitioned by a partition plate having an opening,
A power supply section separated from the magnetic disk drive by an insulating partition; a gap between the insulating partition and the magnetic disk drive being larger than a gap between the opening partition and the magnetic disk drive; A disk device characterized by being stacked in stages or more.