JP5823444B2 - Electronics - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an electronic apparatus.

  In recent years, electronic devices such as POS (Point Of Sale) terminals are often used with high-performance CPUs (Central Processing Units) as various functions are added. For this reason, electronic devices such as POS terminals need to cool CPUs that generate more heat as performance increases.

  An electronic device such as a POS terminal may employ a cooling structure using a cooling fan and a cylindrical duct. Specifically, a cooling fan is attached to the exhaust side of the duct, and a CPU with a heat sink attached is arranged in the middle of the duct, and air is forcibly taken in from the intake side of the duct by driving the cooling fan. In the process of exhausting from the CPU, the CPU is cooled.

  However, according to the conventional duct, since there is only one air path, dust taken together with air from the intake port is caught by the heat sink, and cooling performance is lowered. Further, according to the conventional duct, since air is sucked from the intake port at once, noise due to wind noise has been generated.

The electronic device according to the embodiment includes an exterior cover, a substrate, a duct, and a fan. The substrate is provided with a cooling object provided in the exterior cover. The duct covered the object to be cooled, provided with an exhaust port at one of both ends, and provided with a plurality of intake ports on the opposite side of the exhaust port from the position of the object to be cooled. The fan is attached to an exhaust port of the duct, and discharges air in the duct to the outside of the exterior cover. And the said duct is provided with the said inlet of the area more than the cross-sectional area of the said duct just before the said cooling target in the flow of air.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a POS terminal according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a substrate inside the electronic apparatus. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a cooling fan control method. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the heat sink. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the upper surface of the exterior cover is removed.

  Exemplary embodiments of an electronic apparatus according to embodiments will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a POS terminal 100 according to the embodiment. The main body 101 of the POS terminal 100 which is an electronic device is placed on the drawer 102 and can control the opening operation of the drawer 103 of the drawer 102. A keyboard 104 as a user interface and an operator display 105 as a display unit are arranged on the upper right side of the main body 101, and a receipt / journal printer 106 is arranged on the left side of the upper surface. The operator display 105 is, for example, a liquid crystal display device. A customer display 107 is provided behind the upper surface of the main body 101. The exterior cover 101a of the main body 101 has innumerable openings 110.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the substrate 10 inside the POS terminal 100. The substrate 10 includes a cylindrical duct 20, a cooling fan 30, and a CPU 50 (see FIG. 3). The CPU 50 includes a heat sink 40 for cooling itself.

  The duct 20 includes intake ports 21 a, 21 b, 21 c, 21 d, 21 e and an exhaust port 22. The intake port 21a is vacated at a position farther from the exhaust port 22 (on the left side of the duct 20 in FIG. 2) than the intake ports of the intake ports 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e. The intake port 21b is closer to the exhaust port 22 than the intake port 21a, and is farther from the exhaust port 22 than the intake ports of the intake ports 21c, 21d, and 21e (the upper left end of the duct 20 in FIG. 2). The intake port 21c is closer to the exhaust port 22 than the intake ports 21a and 22b, and is opened at a position on the upper side of the duct 20 (approximately the center on the upper side of the duct 20 in FIG. 2). The intake port 21d is closer to the exhaust port 22 than the intake ports 21a and 22b, and is opened at the position of the side surface of the duct 20 (substantially the center of the back side surface of the duct 20 in FIG. 2). The intake port 21e is closer to the exhaust port 22 than the intake ports 21a and 22b, and is opened at a position on the side surface of the duct 20 (substantially the center on the front side surface of the duct 20 in FIG. 2). The exhaust port 22 is opened at the end of the duct 20 (the right end on the upper side of the duct 20 in FIG. 2). The duct 20 covers the CPU 50 that is an object to be cooled, and is provided with an exhaust port 22 at either one of both ends, and a plurality of intake ports on the opposite side of the exhaust port 22 from the position of the object to be cooled.

  Since air has viscosity, it is preferable that the size of each intake port 21 a, 21 b, 21 c, 21 d, 21 e is equal to or greater than the cross-sectional area of the duct 20. When the cross-sectional area of each intake port 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e is overwhelmingly smaller than the cross-sectional area of the duct 20, there is a possibility that the wind noise will increase. Since the size of each of the air inlets 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e is equal to or larger than the cross-sectional area of the duct 20, the cooling target can be efficiently cooled and noise can be suppressed.

  The duct 20 is disposed so as to cover the CPU 50 and the heat sink 40 on the substrate 10. The duct 20 includes a CPU 50 (see FIG. 3) in which a heat sink 40 is attached. When the cooling fan 30 rotates and starts to discharge air, outside air is sucked from the intake ports 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e. The sucked outside air is collected in the duct 20 and the wind speed is increased.

  The cooling fan 30 is attached to the exhaust port 22 of the duct 20. The cooling fan 30 is a device that cools the CPU 50 by generating air flow by discharging the air in the duct 20 by rotating the fan and cooling the heat sink 40. And the cooling fan 30 can change the rotation speed of a fan with the temperature of CPU50. Here, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing a control method of the cooling fan 30. As a method for controlling the cooling fan 30, a temperature sensor 51 inside the CPU 50 and a cooling fan control circuit 31 are used. The temperature sensor 51 is, for example, a thermistor. The cooling fan control circuit 31 changes the voltage supplied to the motor that rotates the cooling fan 30 according to the temperature output from the temperature sensor 51. When the voltage changes, the rotational speed of the motor changes, and the cooling fan control circuit 31 controls the rotational speed of the cooling fan 30.

  The heat sink 40 is a component for lowering the temperature of the attached CPU 50. The heat sink 40 is cooled by being deprived of heat by being exposed to wind. Thereby, CPU50 which is a cooling target object is cooled. Note that the object to be cooled may be other than the CPU 50. For example, the cooling object may be a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) or the like. Here, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the heat sink 40. The heat sink 40 is made using a material having high thermal conductivity such as aluminum or copper. The heat sink 40 includes a plurality of protrusions 41. The protrusion 41 has an effect of increasing the cooling capacity of the heat sink 40 by increasing the surface area.

  The exterior cover 101a includes a sufficient number of openings 110 to realize the discharge of the air discharged from the cooling fan 30 and the suction of the outside air taken in by the duct 20. Here, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the upper surface of the exterior cover 101a is removed. The duct 20 sucks air sucked from the opening 110 from the intake ports 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e. Thereafter, the duct 20 further exhausts the air exhausted by the cooling fan 30 from the exhaust port 22 from the opening 110. Further, in the air flow, each of the air inlets 21 a, 21 b, 21 c, 21 d, and 21 e is preferably located immediately before the CPU 50 and the heat sink 40. Because the cooled outside air is applied to the CPU 50 and the heat sink 40 depending on the positions of the intake ports 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e, the cooling efficiency is further improved.

  Here, the positions of the opening 110 and the intake port of the exterior cover 101a will be described with reference to FIG. The opening 110 on the left side surface of the exterior cover 101a and the intake ports 21a and 21b are in positions facing each other. Further, the opening 110 on the front surface of the exterior cover 101a and the air inlet 21e are in a position facing each other. Further, the opening 110 on the back surface of the exterior cover 101a and the air inlet 21d are in a position facing each other. Thus, since the intake ports 21a, 21b, 21e, and 21d are located at the positions facing the opening 110, it is possible to efficiently take in outside air. Further, the exhaust port 22 is near the opening 110 on the right side surface of the exterior cover 101a. Therefore, the air discharged from the exhaust port 22 is discharged without staying in the exterior cover 101a.

  Next, the cooling process when the cooling fan 30 is rotated will be described.

  When the cooling fan 30 rotates, air outside the main body 101 is sucked into the main body 101 through the opening 110. Outside air enters the duct 20 through air inlets 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e opened in the duct 20.

  And by being concentrated in the duct 20, the air increases the wind speed and passes through the heat sink 40 in the duct 20. In particular, when passing through the heat sink 40, the presence of the heat sink 40 reduces the cross-sectional area of the duct 20 and increases the wind speed.

  The air deprived of heat from the heat sink 40 is exhausted by the cooling fan 30 from the exhaust port 22 of the duct 20. Therefore, the CPU 50 attached to the heat sink 40 is cooled.

  Thus, the duct 20 takes in air from the plurality of intake ports 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e. Accordingly, the wind speed at each of the intake ports 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e is slower than that in the case of one intake port. Therefore, the duct 20 can reduce wind noise.

  The duct 20 sucks air from a plurality of intake ports 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e. For this reason, various airflows are generated, so that dust accumulates in places other than the heat sink 40, and the amount of dust collected in the heat sink 40 itself is reduced.

  Further, the intake ports 21c, 21d, and 21e are located close to the heat sink 40. Furthermore, the exterior cover 101a of the electronic device has a plurality of openings 110. Therefore, the intake ports 21c, 21d, and 21e can increase the cooling efficiency because the outside air is applied to the heat sink 40 instead of the heated air inside the electronic device.

  As described above, according to the electronic apparatus according to the present embodiment, the duct 20 includes a plurality of intake ports having a size equivalent to the cross-sectional area of the duct 20. As a result, the suction of air from the intake ports 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e becomes gentle, and the generation of noise can be suppressed. Further, by sucking from the intake ports 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e, dust does not accumulate only in the heat sink 40, and a reduction in cooling efficiency can be prevented.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  In the present embodiment, it is described that the motor that rotates the cooling fan 30 controls the rotation speed by changing the voltage. However, the method for controlling the rotational speed of the motor is not limited to this. For example, the rotational speed of the motor may be controlled by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control. In the case of PWM control, a voltage may be applied to the motor terminal during the on-time period.

  In the present embodiment, the air inlets 21 a, 21 b, 21 c, 21 d, 21 e of the duct 20 are disposed farther than the heat sink 40 with respect to the cooling fan 30. However, the location of the intake ports 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e is not limited to this. For example, the air inlets 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e may be disposed near the heat sink 40 with the cooling fan 30 as a reference. In this case, the newly provided intake port does not contribute to cooling of the heat sink 40, but since air suction becomes more gentle, quietness can be improved.

  In the present embodiment, the POS terminal 100 is described as an example of the electronic device. However, the electronic device is not limited to the POS terminal 100. For example, it may be a personal computer, a printer, a multifunction machine, a measuring instrument, or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 POS terminal 101a Exterior cover 110 Opening 10 Substrate 20 Duct 30 Cooling fan 40 Heat sink 50 CPU
21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e Intake port 22 Exhaust port

JP 2011-199205 A

Claims (3)

An exterior cover;
A substrate on which a cooling object provided in the exterior cover is disposed;
A duct that covers the object to be cooled, has an exhaust port on either one of both ends, and has a plurality of air intake ports on the opposite side of the exhaust port from the position of the object to be cooled;
The fan is attached to the exhaust port of the duct and includes a fan for discharging the air in the duct to the outside of the exterior cover,
The duct is an electronic device provided with the air inlet having an area equal to or larger than the cross-sectional area of the duct immediately before the object to be cooled in the flow of air . The exterior cover includes a plurality of openings on the opposite side of the duct.
The electronic device according to claim 1. A control circuit for controlling rotation of the fan;
Further comprising
The cooling object further includes a temperature sensor,
The control circuit speeds up the rotation of the fan as the temperature indicated by the temperature sensor increases.
The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2.

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