JP2009140111A - Temperature alarm system, its method, and information processor using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a temperature alarm system for quickly and effectively reducing the rise of the case surface temperature of an information processor. <P>SOLUTION: A temperature alarm system in an information processor includes temperature sensors 14 to 17 arranged just under a keyboard 10 and a palm rest part 11, respectively and a control CPU 7 for issuing multi-level alarm according to monitor results from those temperature sensors. Thus, it is possible to promote the interruption of the continuous use of the information processor by calling an operator's attention by positively notifying the operator of temperature circumstances, and to suppress the rise of the case surface temperature as a result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a temperature alarm system and method, and an information processing apparatus using the system, and more particularly to a temperature alarm system in an information processing apparatus such as a notebook personal computer.

  In recent years, with increasing demand for higher performance of information processing devices, CPU performance, graphics controller performance, memory speed, etc. have increased, and at the same time, power consumption has increased, resulting in CPU heat generation. The amount continues to increase. On the other hand, especially in information processing devices such as notebook type personal computers, there is a strong demand for downsizing and lightening of the casing in order to improve the portability. Increasingly, metal casings such as magnesium with high conductivity are used. As a result, the structure is likely to cause an increase in the casing temperature.

  On the other hand, in addition to effective heat dissipation technology and technology to control the operating frequency of the CPU, the operating speed of HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and graphics controllers are also controlled in order to suppress the temperature rise of the chassis. In addition, a technique for suppressing a temperature rise in a casing near a palm rest part or a keyboard is known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP 2000-250658 A Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-078320

  However, even if various temperature rise suppression technologies for various cases are used, the operation itself while touching the case that generates heat is not interrupted, and further requests for additional operations and requests for additional loads cannot be suppressed. In other words, even if advanced automation of the case temperature rise suppression control has progressed, the operation and processing of the information processing device will continue as long as the operator continues to use it. It is difficult to suppress the rise.

  Furthermore, the continuation of operation control by automation that suppresses the power consumption and heat generation of the HDD and graphics controller of the information processing device and suppresses the rise in the housing temperature is the continuous use in a state in which the performance of the device is lowered. This is unsatisfactory for the operator who keeps using it.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a temperature alarm system, a method thereof, an information processing apparatus using the same, and a program capable of effectively reducing a housing surface temperature rise in a short time.

  A temperature alarm system according to the present invention is a temperature alarm system in an information processing apparatus, and is a temperature sensor disposed at a position directly below a keyboard and a palm rest, and means for issuing a multi-stage alarm according to a monitor result by these temperature sensors. It is characterized by including.

  An information processing apparatus according to the present invention uses the above temperature alarm system.

  An information processing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized by using the temperature alarm system.

  A temperature alarm method according to the present invention is a temperature alarm method in an information processing apparatus, and includes a step of issuing a multi-step alarm according to a monitor result by a temperature sensor respectively disposed immediately below a keyboard and a palm rest. And

  The program according to the present invention is a program for causing a computer to execute a temperature warning method in an information processing apparatus, and issues a multi-step alarm according to the monitoring results by temperature sensors respectively disposed immediately below the keyboard and the palm rest. Including processing.

  According to the present invention, when the temperature monitored by the temperature sensors provided at a plurality of locations exceeds a preset threshold value, it has a function of issuing a multi-step alarm. The alerting by the notification can prompt the interruption of the continuous use of the information processing apparatus, and as a result, it is possible to suppress an increase in the housing surface temperature.

  In addition, since the suppression of the rise in the housing surface temperature is due to the suppression of the operation load of the main heat source such as a CPU in the information processing apparatus, the power consumption is substantially reduced by the suppression of the operation load. There is an effect that becomes possible.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing apparatus is a notebook personal computer. Referring to FIG. 1, the base cover 1 is a concave housing and houses an information processing apparatus component described later. The control board 2 includes a main CPU 3, a graphics controller 4, an I / O controller 5, a memory 6, and a control CPU 7 as main components, and performs main control of the information processing apparatus.

  The storage device 8 is connected to the control board 2 and stores an OS and other programs executed on the information processing device under the control of the I / O controller 5 and can write / read these programs. It has become. The keyboard frame 9 is a concave housing composed of a part on which the keyboard 10 is mounted and a part surrounding the keyboard 10, and fixes the keyboard 10 to the information processing apparatus.

  The palm rest 11 is a portion that is most frequently touched directly by the operator when the operator performs key input using the keyboard 10 in addition to being a housing for fixing the keyboard 10. The keyboard 10 transmits information input in response to an operator's key input to the control board 2 in order to give an operation instruction to the information processing apparatus.

  The LCD cover that does not appear in FIG. 1 is a concave housing that houses the LCD panel 12. The LCD panel 12 is connected to the control board 2 and displays the operation state of the information processing apparatus under the control of the graphics controller 4. The LCD frame 13 is a casing that surrounds the periphery of the LCD panel 12 and is used to fix the LCD panel 12 to the information processing apparatus.

  The temperature sensors 14 (# 1) and 15 (# 2) are arranged directly below the keyboard 10, and the temperature sensors 16 (# 3) and 17 (# 4) are arranged directly below the palm rest 11. Shall. Thereby, the temperature of the keyboard 10 touched directly by the operator and the casing temperature of the palm rest 11 are respectively monitored, and each monitor result is notified to the control CPU 7.

  Although not specifically shown in FIG. 1, in addition to these temperature sensors 14 to 17, a temperature sensor 20 that monitors the temperature of the main CPU 3 on the control board 2 and notifies the main CPU 3 of the monitoring result (see FIG. 2). Is provided.

  Indicators 18 (# 1) and 19 (# 2) are arranged at positions on the LCD frame 13 that are easy for the operator to visually recognize, and in response to an instruction from the control CPU 7, the housing temperature is set to a preset threshold T 1. If exceeded, the indicator 18 (# 1) flashes or lights as an initial alarm. When the housing temperature exceeds a threshold value T2 (T1 <T2) further exceeding the threshold value T1, the indicator 19 (# 2) blinks or lights up as a higher-order alarm instead of the indicator 18 (# 1). It is supposed to be.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram of the notebook personal computer according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, and the same components as those in FIG. Referring to FIG. 2, the main CPU 3 executes main operations of the information processing apparatus, and the maximum heat generation amount is the largest in the information processing apparatus due to the increase in the operation clock accompanying the improvement of the processing capability. It is a part. The graphics controller 4 is a component that controls calculations specialized in image processing, image drawing, and display. In the present embodiment, processing for displaying an image on the LCD panel 12 is performed.

  The I / O controller 5 is a component that controls internal and external peripheral functions of the information processing apparatus. In this embodiment, the I / O controller 5 controls the storage device 8 and is connected to the control CPU 7 for communication. The memory 6 includes a memory control unit and a memory main body unit, and performs random data write / read operations. The main CPU 3, the graphics controller 4, the I / O controller 5, and the memory 6 are all connected by dedicated buses, and control their operations under the control of the main CPU 3.

  The control CPU 7 is connected to the I / O controller 5 through a dedicated bus, and can perform not only communication with the main CPU 3 but also independent operation. Then, the control CPU 7 controls lighting and blinking of the temperature sensors 14 to 17 and the indicators 18 and 19 arranged in various places of the casing, and further controls the keyboard 10. At the same time, when the housing temperature rises, an instruction is issued inside the information processing device to suppress or stop the operation that causes the housing temperature to rise, such as reducing the operating load of the entire information processing device or suspending some functions. be able to.

  The storage device 8 is connected to the control board 2 and stores the OS and other programs executed on the information processing device under the control of the I / O controller 5 and can write / read these programs. .

  The temperature sensors 14 to 17 independently monitor the housing temperatures and notify the control CPU 7 of the monitoring results. The temperature sensor 20 monitors the temperature of the main CPU 3 on the control board 2 and notifies the main CPU 3 of the monitoring result. The main CPU 3 can independently control the operation according to the notification information from the temperature sensor 20 and the load status, and can suppress the amount of generated heat due to the variation of the clock frequency.

  The indicators 18 and 19 arranged in the LCD frame 13 operate as described above based on an instruction from the control CPU 7. That is, when the housing temperature exceeds a preset threshold value T1, the indicator 18 blinks or lights as an initial alarm, and when the case temperature exceeds a threshold value T2, which is a setting that further exceeds the threshold value T1, the indicator 18 Instead, the indicator 19 flashes or lights up as a higher order alarm. In this case, both indicators 18 and 19 may be blinked or lit as a higher order alarm.

  Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The control CPU 7 starts operation (step S1), and sets the threshold value T1 and threshold value T2 of each temperature sensor (step S2). Each of these threshold values is determined in advance after obtaining a safe area by actual measurement. The temperature sensors 14 to 17 respectively disposed immediately below the keyboard 10 and the palm rest 11 start notification of each temperature information to the control CPU 7 at a constant cycle.

  The control CPU 7 checks whether each temperature information of the temperature sensors 14 to 17 exceeds the threshold value T2. Further, the control CPU 7 checks whether each temperature information of the temperature sensors 14 to 17 exceeds the threshold value T1. In this way, after the control CPU 7 confirms that there is no restriction due to the casing temperature factor, operation permission is issued to each component of the information processing apparatus, and the information processing apparatus as a whole can be activated.

  After the start of the operation of the information processing apparatus, the temperature sensors 14 to 17 respectively disposed immediately below the keyboard 10 and the palm rest 11 notify the temperature information to the control CPU 7 at a constant cycle (step S3).

  Note that, during operation, the power consumption and heat generation suppression control of the main CPU 3, which is a known technique, is performed. In addition, it is of course possible to use in combination with advanced automation control for suppressing the rise in the casing temperature, which is a known technique.

  If at least one of the temperature information of the temperature sensors 14 to 17 exceeds a preset threshold T1 (step S4) and is less than or equal to a preset threshold T2 (T1 <T2) (step S5), the control CPU 7 blinks or lights the indicator 18 (# 1) as an initial alarm, and prompts the operator to interrupt the operation (step S6). In response to this, when the operation of the operator is interrupted (steps S7 and S8), the threshold temperature T1 is controlled by suppressing the operation causing the rise of the casing temperature as much as possible and effectively radiating heat in a short time. The indicator 18 (# 1) continues to blink or light up until the following casing temperature is restored.

  If the operation of the operator is not interrupted at this time, only the blinking or lighting of the indicator 18 is continued, and the alert to the operator is continued.

  When at least one of the temperature information of the temperature sensors 14 to 17 exceeds the preset threshold value T2 (step S5), the control CPU 7 uses the indicator 19 (# 2) instead of the indicator 18 (# 1). It blinks or lights up as a high-order alarm (step S9), and warns the operator of interruption of operation. In this case, both indicators 18 and 19 may be blinked or lit as higher order alarms.

  Here, regardless of whether or not the operation of the operator is interrupted, the control that causes the rise in the casing temperature is controlled to be suppressed within a possible range, for example, by partially suspending the operation after a certain time (step S10), and the effect in a short time The high-order alarm continues to blink or turn on until the casing temperature returns to the threshold value T2 or lower due to the typical heat dissipation.

  In this way, active issuance of alarms that encourage operators to operate themselves creates a situation in which it is easy to obtain a temporary unused period of operation that causes an increase in the casing temperature, and effective heat dissipation in a short period of time. The cooling can be realized.

  As another embodiment of the present invention, the basic configuration is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, but the temperature state notification mode for the operator is further devised. The structure is shown in FIG. 4, and the same part as FIG. 2 is shown with the same code | symbol. In FIG. 4, the difference from FIG. 2 is that a buzzer 21 is added to audibly notify the operator in addition to the method of visually notifying the temperature alarm by the indicators 18 and 19.

  The indicators 18 and 19 are arranged at positions where the operator of the LCD frame 13 can easily see, and blinking or lighting in response to an instruction from the control CPU 7 is the same as in the previous embodiment. In addition, the buzzer 21 is connected to the control CPU 7 and emits continuous or intermittent sounds of a specific frequency in conjunction with the blinking or lighting of these indicators 18 and 19.

  A control function for the buzzer 21 is added to the function of the control CPU 7. It is obvious that this function can be realized by adding a condition for sounding the buzzer 21 in accordance with each temperature condition setting of lighting or blinking of the indicators 18 and 19.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the buzzer linked to the blinking or lighting of the indicator has a function of notifying the operator of the temperature condition, and the alerting function is enhanced. The effect that it can be encouraged is obtained.

  Instead of the footer 21, a vibrator that appeals to the tactile sense of the operator, that is, a vibrator that transmits vibration may be used, but one or a combination of these visual, auditory, and tactile means may be used. It is. In the above embodiment, the two-stage alarm is generated. However, an alarm of a further stage may be generated.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since it has a function of issuing a multi-stage temperature alarm by an indicator or the like, it is possible to continue using the information processing apparatus by alerting the operator by actively notifying the temperature state. It is possible to prompt interruption, and as a result, it is possible to produce a situation where it is easy to obtain a temporary unused period of operation that causes an increase in the housing temperature, so that effective heat dissipation and cooling can be realized in a short period of time. become.

  Further, since the continuous use interruption of the information processing apparatus is urged by actively issuing an alarm prompting the operator to suppress operation, power consumption can be reduced by suppressing the operation load. Needless to say, this does not preclude the combined use of the configuration of the present invention and existing temperature rise suppression technology (for example, forced cooling technology using gas or liquid).

  The operation in each of the above embodiments can be configured such that the operation procedure is stored in advance in a storage medium as a program and is read and executed by a computer (CPU).

It is a disassembled perspective view of the information processing apparatus by embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of embodiment of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of other embodiments of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Base cover
2 Control board
3 Main CPU
4 Graphics controller
5 I / O controller
6 memory
7 Control CPU
8 Storage device
9 Keyboard frame
10 Keyboard
11 Palm rest
12 LCD panel
13 LCD frame 14-17, 20 Temperature sensor 18, 19 Indicator
21 Buzzer

Claims (12)

  A temperature alarm system for an information processing apparatus, comprising: a temperature sensor disposed at each of a position directly below a keyboard and a palm rest; and an alarm generation means for issuing a multi-step alarm according to a monitor result by the temperature sensor. System.   The alarm generation means issues a first-stage alarm when at least one of the monitoring results by the temperature sensor exceeds a first threshold, and at least one of the monitoring results is greater than the first threshold. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein a second-stage alarm is issued when the second threshold is exceeded.   3. The system according to claim 2, further comprising control means for performing an operation suppression control of a temperature rise factor in response to interruption of an input operation by an operator after the occurrence of the first-stage alarm.   4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the control means performs an operation suppression control of a temperature rise factor after a predetermined time has elapsed after the final stage alarm is generated.   The system according to claim 1, wherein the alarm appeals to at least one of an operator's visual sense, auditory sense, and tactile sense.   An information processing apparatus using the system according to claim 1.   A temperature warning method in an information processing apparatus, comprising: a step of issuing a multi-step alarm according to a monitoring result by a temperature sensor respectively disposed immediately below a keyboard and a palm rest portion.   When at least one of the monitoring results by the temperature sensor exceeds a first threshold, a step of issuing a first-stage alarm; and at least one of the monitoring results has a second threshold greater than the first threshold. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of: generating a second stage alarm when exceeded.   9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of performing an operation suppression control of a temperature rise factor in response to interruption of an input operation by an operator after the occurrence of the first stage alarm.   The method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of performing operation suppression control of a temperature rise factor after a predetermined time has elapsed after generation of the final-stage alarm.   The method according to claim 7, wherein the alarm appeals to at least one of an operator's visual sense, auditory sense, and tactile sense.   A program for causing a computer to execute a temperature alarm method in an information processing apparatus, including a process of issuing a multi-step alarm according to a monitor result by a temperature sensor respectively disposed immediately below a keyboard and a palm rest part Program.

Images