JP2003273560A - Cooling device for electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cooing device for an electronic device wherein even if one cooling fan fails, the other one successively continues cooling the electronic device, and the fault is informed and the defective cooling fan can be replaced without stopping of the operation of the electronic device. <P>SOLUTION: When a failure detection means 15 detects failure of a first fan 13 which the first fan 13 is operated to forcedly cool an electronic device, a control means 16 connects a fan power supply 11 to a second fan 14 by means of a fan power supply switching circuit 12 and operates a second fan to continue forced air-cooling of the electronic device. The control means 16 visually indicates the failure of a fan on a failure display means 18 and sends a fan failure information to a remote monitoring device 30 through a communication device 19. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooling device for an electronic device, and more particularly to a cooling device for an electronic device in which even if one cooling fan fails, the other cooling fan can continue cooling the electronic device. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When cooling electronic devices that generate heat, such as power converters, a method has been used in which a fan for forced cooling is installed to perform effective cooling. However, due to the structure of the fan, the fan is liable to malfunction and has a short life. Therefore, measures have been taken by the following techniques.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-285422 discloses a fan device which detects the replacement time of the fan device and issues a warning. However, this device only issues a warning of a fan failure, so if the failure of the fan is not noticed, the electronic device such as the power conversion device will not be cooled.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 8-285422 has two fan motors, which are connected by a clutch.
There is disclosed a device that detects a failure with a wind pressure sensor when the other fan motor fails and drives a fan motor that has not failed. However, with this device,
Since the two fan motors are connected by the clutch, there is a problem that the device becomes large and expensive.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-145258 discloses a dual cooling fan so that if one fan unit fails, the other fan unit continues to cool, and the failed fan unit is replaced. A cooling device for an electronic device is described which enables work to be performed.
This cooling device for electronic devices includes a dual fan unit arranged in a cooling opening of a device to be cooled, a power supply device for operating the fan unit, and a power supply from the power supply device. A changeover switch for switching and supplying to the fan unit, each rotation detecting means provided for each fan unit to detect the rotation / stop state thereof, and a rotation operation state of each fan unit detected by each rotation detecting means are displayed. When the rotation stop state is detected by the rotation detecting means corresponding to the fan unit while power is being supplied to each of the operation display means and one of the fan units via the changeover switch, the power is supplied to the other by the changeover switch. And a switching control means for switching to the fan unit.

[0006]

In the conventional cooling device described in the above publication, each operation display means indicates whether each fan unit is in a rotating state or a stopped state. However, each operation display means does not directly indicate that the fan unit is out of order. If the user of the electronic device does not know in advance which fan unit has been in operation, which fan unit has failed when the fan unit that was in operation is stopped? Can't judge.
For this reason, if the display state of each operation display means is not regularly checked, a failure of the fan unit may be overlooked.

Therefore, when the fan unit fails, it has been desired to positively display it. Also,
Since the replacement of the fan unit is often performed by an administrator or maintenance person, not the user of the electronic device, not only the failure of the fan unit is displayed on the cooling device side, but also other persons such as an administrator or maintenance person. It has been desired to be able to notify the failure of the fan unit to a place monitoring device or the like.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide a cooling device for an electronic device capable of detecting a failure of a cooling fan and displaying the failure. Another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device for an electronic device, which can notify another device of a failure of the cooling fan.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a cooling device for an electronic device according to the present invention includes a plurality of cooling fans, a fan power supply for operating the cooling fans, and a plurality of cooling fans. A fan power supply switching circuit that selectively connects a fan power source to one fan, a failure detection unit that detects a failure of a cooling fan, a failure display unit that displays a failure of a cooling fan, and a failure detection signal of the failure detection unit. And a control means for controlling the fan power supply switching circuit so as to connect the fan power supply to another cooling fan based on the above, and for controlling the failure display means to indicate that a failure has occurred.

The electronic device cooling apparatus according to the present invention, when a failure of the currently operating cooling fan is detected, causes another cooling fan to operate and indicates that the cooling fan is defective.

In the cooling apparatus for electronic equipment according to the present invention, a plurality of cooling fans, a fan power supply for operating the cooling fans, and a fan power supply selectively to any one of the plurality of cooling fans. A fan power supply switching circuit that connects the cooling fan, a failure detection unit that detects a failure of the cooling fan, a communication device that sends failure information of the cooling fan, and a fan to another cooling fan based on the failure detection signal of the failure detection unit. And a control circuit for controlling the fan power supply switching circuit so as to connect the power supply and controlling the transmission of the failure information from the communication device.

The cooling device for electronic equipment according to the present invention causes another cooling fan to operate when a failure of the currently operating cooling fan is detected, and also sends failure information of the cooling fan by the communication device. As a result, the failure of the cooling fan can be notified to a maintenance center or the like having an administrator or a maintenance person.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A cooling device for an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a cooling device for an electronic device and a remote monitoring device according to the present embodiment. The electronic device cooling device 10 according to the present embodiment is attached to various electronic devices to forcibly cool the electronic device. The electronic device cooling device 10 includes a plurality of cooling fans for forced air cooling, and the cooling fan currently in operation fails. In that case, forced cooling is continued by another cooling fan. Further, the cooling device 10 of the electronic device displays the failure of the cooling fan and informs the remote monitoring device 30 of the failure of the cooling fan.

As shown in FIG. 1, a cooling device 10 for electronic equipment according to the present embodiment has a fan power supply 11, a fan power supply switching circuit 12, a first cooling fan 13, and a second cooling device. Fan 14, failure detection means 15, control means 16, initialization operation section 17, failure display means 18,
The communication device 19 and a power source (not shown) for operating each unit other than the fans 13 and 14 are provided.

The fan power supply switching circuit 12 switches the connection destination of the fan power supply 11 based on the operation fan designating signal 16a input from the control means 16. The fan power supply switching circuit 12 is configured by using a relay and a semiconductor switching element.

Each of the fans 13 and 14 has a capability to forcibly cool the electronic equipment while operating independently.

The failure detection means 15 detects a failure (abnormal operation) of the fans 13 and 14. In this embodiment, the wind pressure sensor 15a and the failure determining means 15b constitute the failure detecting means 15. The wind pressure sensor 15a detects the pressure of the cooling air generated by the operation of the fans 13 and 14, and outputs an electric signal (wind pressure signal) corresponding to the detected pressure. The failure determination means 15b outputs a fan normal operation signal 15c when the wind pressure signal exceeds a preset normal operation determination value. The failure determination means 15b, when the wind pressure signal is equal to or lower than the preset failure determination value, continues for the preset failure determination time, the fan failure signal 15d.
Is output. The failure detection unit 15 may include an air flow sensor and detect the failure of the fans 13 and 14 based on the air flow.

The control means 16 operates when the initialization operation section 17 is operated to input a manual initialization signal 17a and when a power-on initial signal is input from a power-on initial circuit (not shown) (this cooling device). When the power is turned on), the fan power supply 11 is connected to the first cooling fan 13 via the fan power supply switching circuit 12. Then, the control means 16 controls the first cooling fan 13
When a fan normal operation signal is input from the failure detection means 15 within a preset monitoring time from the time when the fan power supply 11 is connected to the second cooling fan 14 via the fan power supply switching circuit 12. The fan power supply 11 is connected.

The control means 16 supplies the fan power supply 11 to the second cooling fan 14 via the fan power supply switching circuit 12.
When the fan normal operation signal 15c is input from the failure detection means 15 within the set monitoring time from the time when the is connected, it is determined that both fans 13 and 14 are operating normally, and normal operation confirmation is performed. The information 16d is output to the communication device 19. When the normal operation confirmation information 16d is input from the control means 16, the communication device 19 transmits the normal operation confirmation information to the remote monitoring device 30 side.

When the control means 16 confirms that both the fans 13 and 14 are operating normally, either one of the fans (the first cooling fan 13 in this embodiment).
The fan power supply 11 is connected to the fan to operate only one fan.

The control means 16 designates the other fan to the fan power supply switching circuit 12 when a fan failure signal is input from the failure detection means 15 while one fan is operating. Operating fan designation signal 16a
Is output, and the fan power supply 11 is connected to the other fan (the second cooling fan 14 in the present embodiment), and forced air cooling is continued by the other fan. Also, the control means 1
6 outputs a failure display command signal 16b to the failure display means 18 to display a failure. Further, the control means 16 outputs the fan failure information 16e to the communication device 19 and causes the fan failure information to be transmitted to the remote monitoring device 30 side via the communication device 19.

The control means 16 includes a first cooling fan 13
When the fan normal operation signal is not output from the failure detection means 15 within a preset monitoring time from the time when the fan power supply 11 is connected to the second cooling fan 14 via the fan power supply switching circuit 12. Connect the power supply 11. When the fan normal operation signal is input from the failure detection unit 15 within the preset monitoring time from the time when the fan power supply 11 is connected to the second cooling fan 14, the control unit 16 performs the first cooling operation. It is determined that the fan 13 is out of order.

The control means 16 includes a first cooling fan 13
If it is determined that the first cooling fan 13 has failed, the failure display command signal 16b is output to the failure display means 18 to display the failure, and a fan failure indicating that the first cooling fan 13 has failed. The information 16e is output to the communication device 19 and the fan failure information is transmitted to the remote monitoring device 30 side via the communication device 19.

The control means 16 includes a first cooling fan 13
No fan normal operation signal is input from the failure detection means 15 within a preset monitoring time from the time when the fan power supply 11 is connected to the second cooling fan 14 via the fan power supply switching circuit 12. When the fan normal operation signal is not input from the failure detection unit 15 within a preset monitoring time from the time when the power supply 11 is connected, it is determined that a serious failure has occurred in this cooling device. This is because both the fans 13 and 14 may be out of order, and the fan power supply 11, the fan power supply switching circuit 12, the failure detection means 15, etc. may not be operating normally.

When the control means 16 determines that a serious failure has occurred in the cooling device, it outputs the failure display command signal 16c to the failure display means 18 to display the failure and also causes the failure. The information 16f is output to the communication device 19, and the failure occurrence information is transmitted to the remote monitoring device 30 side via the communication device 19.

The control means 16 switches the operating fan to the other fan when the time during which one of the fans is operated reaches the preset continuous operation time (for example, 12 hours). The control means 16 controls the fan normal operation signal 1 from the failure detection means 15 within a preset monitoring time from the time when the fan power supply 11 is connected to the other fan.
When 5c is input, the normal operation confirmation information 16d is output to the communication device 19, and the normal operation confirmation information 16d is transmitted to the remote monitoring device 30 side via the communication device 19. When the fan normal operation signal 15c is not input from the failure detection unit 15 within a preset monitoring time from the time when the fan power supply 11 is connected to the other fan, the control unit 16 determines the operating fan as the original fan. Back to
It is determined that the other fan has a failure, and failure display and fan failure information are transmitted.

It should be noted that the fan to be operated is not switched every time the continuous operation time elapses, but it is confirmed whether the other fan normally operates at the time when the continuous operation time elapses, and then the original fan is operated. The operation may be continued. As described above, even when the continuous operation is performed by using only one fan, it is possible to detect the failure of the waiting fan by periodically checking whether or not the other fan normally operates.

The failure display means 18 is an audible display unit having a visual display unit including a visual display such as an LED (light emitting diode) or a lamp and its drive circuit, a sounding body such as a buzzer and its drive circuit. With. The failure display means 18 is
When the failure display command signal 16b is input from the control means 16, a visual display device such as an LED or a lamp is turned on to visually display that one of the fans is out of order. It should be noted that a plurality of visible indicators may be provided to indicate which fan is out of order. When the failure display command signal 16c is input from the control means 16, the failure display means 18 blinks a visual display device such as an LED or a lamp and sounds a sounding body such as a buzzer to cool the cooling device 1.
0 is audibly displayed that a failure has occurred.

The communication device 19 performs data communication based on a preset communication protocol. The communication device 19 is
A wired cable may be used or wireless communication may be performed. Further, the communication device 19 may perform data communication via the power line by using the power line carrier technology. The communication device 19 is configured to be capable of transmitting various information including preset device identification information to the cooling device 10.

The communication device 19 may output the operation state confirmation request information to the control means 16 when the operation state confirmation request information is input from the remote monitoring device 30 side. In this case, the control means 16 checks whether or not the fans 13 and 14 are operating normally based on the operation state confirmation request information, and the check result is sent to the communication device 19.
It is transmitted to the remote monitoring device 30 side via. Thereby, the operating state of the cooling device 10 can be monitored from the remote monitoring device 30 side.

The remote monitoring device 30 has a communication device 31, a control unit 32, and a display unit 33. The remote monitoring device 30 is installed in a place where an administrator or a maintenance person is resident. The communication device 31 receives various information transmitted from the cooling device 10 side and outputs the received information to the control unit 32. The control unit 32 manages the operation state of each cooling device 10 based on the device identification information, and displays the operation state of each cooling device 10 on the screen of the image display device (display) in the display unit 33. . In addition, the control unit 32
If the fan of the cooling device 10 has failed or if there is a failure in the cooling device 10, this is displayed.
In addition to displaying on the screen of the image display device in 3, the audible display in the display unit 33 is driven to audibly display that a failure or a failure has occurred. Therefore, when the cooling fans 13 and 14 of the cooling device 10 fail,
Since the administrator or maintenance person can know the failure of the fan, the fan can be replaced promptly. In addition, the control unit 32 causes the display unit 33 to display that there is an abnormality in communication when the information is not transmitted from the cooling device 10 side even after the preset time has elapsed. , It is possible to quickly inspect and maintain even if there is a communication system error.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing an example of an electronic device provided with the cooling device for the electronic device according to the present embodiment.
First and second cooling fans 13, 1 of the electronic device 20
4 is a fan fixing screw 21 on the outside of the housing of the electronic device 20.
Is attached using. Although not shown, the power supply to the fan is connected by a connector,
The structure is such that the connector can be attached and detached without opening the housing of the electronic device 20. As a result, the failed fan can be replaced without stopping the operation of the electronic device 20. Further, a warning lamp 22 as a failure display means is provided in the housing of the electronic device 20. Further, a push button switch or the like which constitutes the initialization operation unit 17 is arranged below the blind cover 23. Specific examples of the electronic device 20 include a power supply device, a server computer, a disk array device, and a modem device, which are required to be continuously operated for a long time.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the cooling device 10 for electronic equipment according to the present embodiment. When the electronic device 20 is powered on, the cooling device 10 according to the present embodiment is also powered on, and the first cooling fan 13
Is operated to perform forced air cooling of the electronic device (step S1). While the first cooling fan 13 is operating normally, the first cooling fan 13 continues forced air cooling of the electronic device. When the first cooling fan 13 fails and the failure is detected by the failure detection means 15 (step S2), the control means 16 displays the failure of the fan and also transmits failure information to the remote monitoring device 30 ( Step S3), the operating fan is the second cooling fan 14
(Step S4). Thereby, forced air cooling of the electronic device can be continued. In addition, by transmitting the failure display and the failure information to the remote monitoring device 30,
The replacement work of the failed first cooling fan 13 can be promptly performed. If the failed fan has been replaced, when the failure of the second fan is detected in step S5, the failure of the fan is displayed in step S6 and the failure information is transmitted to the remote monitoring device 30. The forced air cooling of the electronic device can be continued by operating the first cooling fan.

[0034]

As described above, the cooling device for electronic equipment according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of cooling fans, and if one fan fails, the other fan is driven. Forced air cooling of equipment can be continued. In addition, it shows that the fan has failed, and
Since the failure of the fan is notified to other devices such as the remote monitoring device, it is possible to display that the fan has failed,
In addition, it is possible to promptly replace the fan.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a cooling device and a remote monitoring device for an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing an example of an electronic device including a cooling device for an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of a cooling device for an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Electronic device cooling devices 11 fan power supply 12 Fan power supply switching circuit 13 First cooling fan 14 Second cooling fan 15 Failure detection means 16 Control means 17 Initialization operation section 18 Failure display means 19 Communication equipment 20 electronic devices 21 Fan fixing screw 22 Warning lamp 30 Remote monitoring device 31 communication equipment 32 control unit 33 Display

Continued front page    F term (reference) 3L044 AA01 BA06 CA13 DA01 HA04                       KA02 KA03 KA05                 5E322 BB04 EA11

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of cooling fans, a fan power supply for operating the cooling fans, and a fan power supply switching circuit for selectively connecting the fan power supply to any one cooling fan of the plurality of cooling fans. A failure detection unit that detects a failure of the cooling fan; a failure display unit that displays a failure of the cooling fan; and a fan power source connected to another cooling fan based on a failure detection signal of the failure detection unit. And a control means for controlling the fan power supply switching circuit and controlling the failure display means to indicate that a failure has occurred. 2. A plurality of cooling fans, a fan power supply for operating the cooling fans, and a fan power supply switching circuit for selectively connecting the fan power supply to any one cooling fan of the plurality of cooling fans. A failure detecting means for detecting a failure of the cooling fan; a communication device for sending failure information of the cooling fan; and a fan power source connected to another cooling fan based on a failure detection signal of the failure detecting means. And a control circuit for controlling transmission of failure information from the communication device as well as controlling the fan power supply switching circuit.