JP2014022377A - Cooling control device, cooling control system, cooling control method, and cooling control program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cooling control device for reducing noise generated during cooling an electronic device by air when an operator is in a vicinity of the electronic device.SOLUTION: A cooling control device of the present invention includes: an instruction output means which outputs an instruction to reduce the number of revolutions of a cooling fan of an electronic device during a predetermined period of time from last detection of person's presence in a vicinity of the electronic device.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling control device, a cooling control system, a cooling control method, and a cooling control program for reducing the number of rotations of an air cooling fan of an electronic device when an operator is near the electronic device.

  In recent electronic devices, since heat generating units each having a heat generating device mounted on a printed circuit board are mounted with high density, the amount of heat generated is large, and a large air flow is required when the cooling is performed by air cooling. In order to generate a large amount of air, it is necessary to rotate the cooling fan at a high speed. However, the larger the amount of air generated by increasing the number of rotations of the air cooling fan, the more noise is generated. Therefore, how to cool an electronic device with a large calorific value with a small air volume is an important issue.

  As a technique for dealing with such a problem, Patent Document 1 discloses that the distance between the projector apparatus and a person closest to the projector apparatus is measured, and the projected image of the projector apparatus is not disturbed. In addition, a device for controlling the number of rotations of the cooling fan according to the distance is disclosed.

  Patent Document 2 discloses an air supply amount for cooling an electric device so that a conversation between passengers is not hindered depending on the presence or absence of a passenger in a seat other than the driver's seat. A changing cooling system is available.

  In Patent Document 3, an air volume control unit that controls the area of the opening of the air inlet is mounted, so that the air volume from the air inlet is adjusted to the minimum air volume necessary for normal operation of the electronic device. A cooling system that can be cooled is disclosed.

JP 2005-17793 A JP 2008-41860 A JP 2010-182786 A

  Reducing noise generated from a cooling fan of an electronic device is an important issue for improving the work efficiency of workers in a data center or the like where a server or the like is installed. This is because it is possible to smoothly perform conversations between workers or by telephone by reducing noise.

  The device disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above is for reducing noise when an image is projected using a projector device. Moreover, the system of patent document 2 is for reducing the noise in a motor vehicle. In a conference room or an environment in a car, which is premised on Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, it is assumed that people hardly move around and that they are in a substantially constant place.

  On the other hand, in the data center, workers may move around, detect the presence of workers who are not necessarily in a certain place, reduce noise, and return to the original state after the workers are gone Is a problem. The techniques of Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 are not for solving this problem.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a cooling control device, a cooling control method, and a cooling control program that solve the above-described problems.

  A cooling control device according to an embodiment of the present invention provides a command for reducing the number of rotations of a cooling fan of the electronic device for a predetermined time after the last detection of the presence of a person in the vicinity of the electronic device. Command output means for outputting to the fan is provided.

  The cooling control method according to an embodiment of the present invention provides a command for reducing the rotation speed of the cooling fan of the electronic device for a predetermined time after the last detection of the presence of a person in the vicinity of the electronic device. Output to the fan.

  A cooling control program according to an embodiment of the present invention provides a command for reducing the number of rotations of the cooling fan of the electronic device for a predetermined time after the last detection of a person in the vicinity of the electronic device. Causes the computer to execute an instruction output process to be output to the computer.

  The present invention makes it possible to reduce noise generated when an electronic device is cooled by air cooling even if an operator moves around the electronic device.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the cooling control apparatus of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the cooling structure of the electronic device in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the cooling control apparatus of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the cooling structure of the electronic device in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the cooling control apparatus of 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a cooling structure of the electronic device in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the cooling control apparatus of 4th Embodiment of this invention.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the cooling control apparatus of this embodiment.

  The cooling control device 1 of the present embodiment includes a command output unit 10. The command output unit 10 includes an operation input detection unit 11, a count unit 12, and a detection signal output unit 13.

  FIG. 3 shows a cooling structure of the electronic device 31 that the cooling control device 1 controls cooling. The heat generating unit 33 mounted on the rack 32 of the electronic device 31 is cooled by the air cooling method by the fan unit 34 controlled by the cooling control device 1. The fan unit 34 sucks outside air from the air intake port at the lower part of the electronic device 31 and exhausts the warm air from the air exhaust port at the upper part of the electronic device 31. There are an intake air temperature sensor 35 and an exhaust air temperature sensor 36 at the intake port and the exhaust port, respectively, which measure the temperature of the air at the intake port and the exhaust port, respectively, and send the measurement data to the cooling control device 1. The cooling control device 1 controls the fan rotation speed of the fan unit 34 based on the temperature of the air at the intake port and the exhaust port.

  The operation input detection unit 11 constantly monitors the operation input of the worker to the electronic device 31. When a worker performs a switch operation of the electronic device 31 or performs a command input from the console terminal of the electronic device 31, the operation input detection unit 11 detects the operation input and sends the detection result to the count unit 12. . When the worker continuously performs the operation input work, the operation input detection unit 11 continuously sends the operation input detection result to the counting unit 12 during the work of the worker.

  When the count unit 12 receives the detection result from the operation input detection unit 11, the count unit 12 resets the count value to 0 and then starts the count operation. When the worker continuously performs the operation input work, the count unit 12 continues to receive the detection result from the operation input detection unit 11. Therefore, in this case, the count unit 12 repeatedly performs 0 reset, and the count value of the count unit 12 maintains the state of 0.

  When the worker completes the operation input work, the operation input detection unit 11 stops transmitting the detection result to the count unit 12. Therefore, the count unit 12 does not repeat the above-described zero reset, and the count value starts to increase. That is, the count value of the count unit 12 indicates the time that has elapsed since the operation input detection unit 11 last detected the operation input by the worker. The count unit 12 always outputs the count value to the detection signal output unit 13.

  The detection signal output unit 13 stores an upper limit value 14 that is an upper limit of the count value of the count unit 12. The upper limit value 14 indicates the value of the elapsed time from the last detection of the operation input by the worker until it is assumed that there is no worker around the electronic device 31, and is determined by the administrator of the electronic device 31. Is set.

  When the count value received from the count unit 12 is less than the upper limit value 14, the detection signal output unit 13 considers that there is an operator around the electronic device 31, and instructs the fan unit 34 to rotate the fan at a low speed. Is output.

  When the count value received from the count unit 12 reaches the upper limit value 14, the detection signal output unit 13 outputs an instruction to stop the count operation to the count unit 12. The detection signal output unit 13 regards that there is no worker around the electronic device 31 and outputs a command for rotating the fan at a high speed to the fan unit 34.

  As described above, the cooling control device 1 controls the fan rotation speed of the fan unit 34 based on both the detection information of the operation input to the electronic device 31 and the temperature information of the air at the intake port and the exhaust port. The control policy of the cooling control device 1 such as which of the two pieces of information is prioritized is set by the administrator of the electronic device 31.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The operation input detection unit 11 monitors an operation input to the electronic device 31 by a worker (S101). When the operation input detection unit 11 detects an operation input (Yes in S102), the operation input detection unit 11 outputs a detection result to the count unit 12 (S103). When the operation input detection unit 11 does not detect an operation input (No in S102), the process branches to S105. The count unit 12 resets the count value to 0 and starts the count operation (S104).

  The count unit 12 outputs the count value to the detection signal output unit 13 (S105). The detection signal output unit 13 compares the received count value of the count unit 12 with the value of the upper limit value 14 (S106).

  When the count value of the count unit 12 is less than the upper limit value 14 (Yes in S107), the detection signal output unit 13 sets the fan rotation speed of the fan unit 34 to a low speed (S108), and the process returns to S101.

  When the count value of the count unit 12 is equal to or greater than the upper limit value 14 (No in S107), the detection signal output unit 13 instructs the count unit 12 to stop the count operation (S109). The count unit 12 stops the counting operation. (S110). The detection signal output unit 13 sets the fan rotation speed of the fan unit 34 to a high speed (S111), and the process returns to S101.

  In the present embodiment, when there is a worker in the vicinity of the electronic device, there is an effect of detecting the presence thereof and reducing noise generated from the cooling fan of the electronic device. The reason is that when the operation input detection unit 11 detects the operation input of the worker, the detection signal output unit 13 controls the fan of the fan unit 34 to rotate at a low speed.

  Since the noise generated from the cooling fan of the electronic device during the work of the worker is reduced, troubles in the conversation between the workers and the telephone conversation can be reduced, and the work efficiency of the worker can be improved.

  Furthermore, this embodiment has an effect of reducing noise even when an operator moves around the electronic device and does not perform operation input. The reason is that the count signal 12 counts the time since the operation input detection unit 11 last detected the operator's operation input, and until the count value reaches the upper limit value 14, the detection signal output unit 13 This is because the fan of the fan unit 34 is controlled to rotate at a low speed on the assumption that the worker is in the vicinity.

Usually, the worker does not constantly input the operation, but may check the console screen or work at a slightly distant place. As described above, the detection signal output unit 13 considers that the worker may still be in the vicinity of the electronic device for a predetermined time from the last operation input of the worker, even though the worker is present. Therefore, it is possible to avoid an increase in noise generated by returning the cooling fan to high speed rotation.
<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the cooling control device of the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The configuration of the cooling control device 1 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the cooling control device 1 of the first embodiment, except that the operation input detection unit 11 in the first embodiment is replaced with an infrared sensor 37. . The infrared sensor 37 may be replaced with an ultrasonic sensor or the like as long as it is a human sensor.

  FIG. 5 shows a cooling structure of the electronic device 31 of this embodiment. The infrared sensor 37 is installed on the front surface of the fan unit 34. The infrared sensor 37 detects the presence of a worker in the vicinity of the electronic device 31 by infrared rays, and continuously sends the detection result to the counting unit 12 while detecting the presence of the worker. The operation of each component of this embodiment excluding the infrared sensor 37 is as described in the operation description of the first embodiment.

  Similar to the first embodiment, the present embodiment has an effect of detecting the presence of a worker near the electronic device and reducing noise generated from the cooling fan of the electronic device. The reason is that when the infrared sensor 37 detects the presence of a worker, the detection signal output unit 13 controls the fan of the fan unit 34 to rotate at a low speed.

In the first embodiment, the cooling control device 1 does not detect the presence of the worker unless the worker performs some operation input to the electronic device 31. In the present embodiment, the worker does not detect the electronic device 31. Just by being in the vicinity, the cooling control device 1 detects the presence of a worker. Therefore, for example, even if the work content of the worker is only to visually check the output data of the electronic device 31 on the console screen and no operation input to the electronic device 31 is performed, the fan unit The noise generated from 34 can be reduced.
<Third embodiment>
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the cooling control device of the third embodiment of the present invention.

  The configuration of the cooling control device 1 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first and second embodiments except that the operation input detection unit 11 in the first embodiment is replaced with a door opening / closing sensor 38. It is the same as the device 1.

  FIG. 7 shows a cooling structure of the electronic device 31 of this embodiment. The door opening / closing sensor 38 is a push button switch. The door open / close sensor 38 detects the open / close state of the rack door 39 by pressing a push button switch when the rack door 39 of the electronic device 31 is closed. The door opening / closing sensor 38 detects the presence of an operator when the rack door 39 is open, and continuously sends the detection result to the detection signal output unit 13 while detecting the open state of the rack door 39. The operation of each component of the present embodiment excluding the door sensor 37 is as described in the operation description of the first embodiment.

  In this embodiment, as in the first and second embodiments, when there is a worker in the vicinity of the electronic device, the presence is detected and noise generated from the cooling fan of the electronic device is reduced. effective. The reason is that when the door opening / closing sensor 38 detects the presence of a worker with the door open, the detection signal output unit 13 controls the fan of the fan unit 34 to rotate at a low speed.

When the worker moves to a place some distance away from the electronic device 31 to work, there is a possibility that the infrared sensor 37 of the second embodiment cannot detect the presence of the worker. In contrast, the door opening / closing sensor 38 of the present embodiment can detect the presence of a worker regardless of the worker's work location.
<Fourth embodiment>
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the cooling control device of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

  The cooling control device 1 of the present embodiment includes a command output unit 10.

  The command output unit 10 rotates the fan unit 34 of the electronic device 31 for a predetermined time after the last detection of the presence of a worker in the vicinity of the electronic device 31 that is the cooling control target of the cooling control device 1. Reduce. The command output unit 10 may detect the presence of a worker in the same manner as the command output unit 10 in the first to third embodiments, or may be a camera installed near the electronic device 31. There may be a case where the image is detected by another worker at a remote location and a person detection signal is transmitted to the command output unit 10 from the remote location.

  In the present embodiment, as in the first to third embodiments, even if an operator moves around in the vicinity of the electronic device, the presence is recognized, and the noise generated from the cooling fan of the electronic device is reduced. There is. The reason is that the command output unit 10 controls the fan of the fan unit 34 to rotate at a low speed for a predetermined time after the command output unit 10 finally detects the presence of the worker.

  While the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cooling control apparatus 10 Command output part 11 Operation input detection part 12 Count part 13 Detection signal output part 14 Upper limit 31 Electronic device 32 Rack 33 Heat generating unit 34 Fan unit 35 Intake air temperature sensor 36 Exhaust temperature sensor 37 Infrared sensor 38 Door opening / closing sensor 39 Rack door

Claims (7)

A cooling control device comprising command output means for outputting a command to reduce the rotational speed of the cooling fan of the electronic device to the cooling fan during a predetermined time since the last detection of the presence of a person in the vicinity of the electronic device . The cooling control device according to claim 1, wherein the command output unit detects the presence of a person by detecting an operation input to the electronic device. The cooling control device according to claim 1, wherein the command output means detects the presence of a person by a human sensor. The cooling control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the command output means detects the presence of a person by a door opening / closing sensor of a housing of the electronic device detecting an open state of the door.   A cooling control system comprising the cooling control device according to claim 1 and the electronic device. A cooling control method for outputting a command to the cooling fan to reduce the number of rotations of the cooling fan of the electronic device during a predetermined time after the last detection of the presence of a person in the vicinity of the electronic device. Cooling that causes a computer to execute a command output process that outputs a command to the cooling fan to reduce the rotation speed of the cooling fan of the electronic device for a predetermined time after the last detection of the presence of a person in the vicinity of the electronic device Control program.

Images