JPH0339880A - System control method in abnormal cooling fan - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve system reliability at the time a cooling fan is abnormal by dividing a plurality of the cooling fans in a predetermined group unit, and interrupting the system when a particular signal is issued in the group units. CONSTITUTION:For air-cooling plurality of shelves 3 mounted on an electronic instrument 1, a plurality of cooling fans 2a-2f are divided in longitudinal line unit thereof, i.e., divided to upper and lower three groups. Alternatively, an abnormal cooling fan detector circuit is provided corresponding to each cooling fan, and an alarm signal issuing circuit 4 is informed of an abnormal signal where the signal is sent as an alarm signal on one side and is branched on the other hand, and both are inputted into an AND element 5 which takes a logical product of upper and lower cooling fans of each group. An output from the AND element 5 in each group unit is fed to an OR element 6 and outputted to an upstream device as system interruption.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] This invention relates to a system control method when a cooling fan is abnormal;
In particular, when an abnormality occurs in multiple cooling fans placed in the upper and lower stages of an electronic device on which a shelf is mounted, an alarm is issued and the system is shut down. The purpose of this cooling fan is to improve the reliability of the system when an abnormality occurs in the multiple cooling fans placed above and below the electronic equipment on which the shelf is mounted, by issuing an alarm and shutting off the system. In the method for controlling the system in the event of an abnormality, the plurality of cooling fans are divided into predetermined groups, and the system is configured to be cut off when a special signal is issued in each group.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a system control method when a cooling fan is abnormal, and in particular, when an abnormality occurs in a plurality of cooling fans arranged in the upper and lower stages of an electronic device on which a shelf is mounted, an alarm is issued and the system is shut off. The present invention relates to a system control method when a cooling fan malfunctions.

Generally, in order to cool an electronic device that is mounted with a plurality of shelves, a plurality of cooling fans are provided in the upper and lower stages to perform air cooling. When an abnormality occurs in this cooling fan, an alarm is generated, a third party is notified, and then the system is shut off.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 2, an alarm signal line is connected to a control unit 24G corresponding to a plurality of cooling fans 22 provided on the upper and lower sides of a shelf 23, and this control unit 24 controls one fan. If the electronic device 21 is one in which two or more alarms are emitted, the system is cut off.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in conventional system control methods, if two or more alarm signals are issued to one electronic device, the system 11 is automatically cut off.
Even if an abnormality occurs in a cooling fan, the rotation speed of other cooling fans may be increased depending on the location where the abnormality occurs.For example, if an abnormality occurs in two or more cooling fans, the system must be shut down. That never happened.

This was undesirable from the viewpoint of non-stop computers, which have become increasingly desirable in recent years. It was also unfavorable from the standpoint of reliability during active maintenance.

An object of the present invention is to improve the reliability of the system in the event of an abnormality in the cooling fan.

[Means to solve the problem]

This purpose is to control the system in the event of a cooling fan abnormality by issuing an alarm and shutting off the system when an abnormality occurs in a plurality of cooling fans 2 placed above and below the electronic device 1 in which the Shigoruf 3 is installed. In the method, the plurality of cooling fans 2 are divided into predetermined groups, and the system is cut off when a special signal is issued in each group. This can be achieved by a method.

[Function] Normally, among the multiple cooling fans installed in one electronic device, abnormalities occur and the cooling efficiency is affected when the multiple cooling fans are divided into vertical lines. Appears when an abnormality occurs.

Focusing on this point of the present invention, a plurality of cooling fans are divided into predetermined groups, and when a special signal is issued in this group, the system is cut off, so that the system can be cut off at the minimum necessary level. can do.

〔Example〕

Examples of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is an electronic device, 23 to 2f are cooling fans,
3 is a shelf, 4 is an alarm signal sending circuit 5, 5 is an AN
A D element and 6 indicate an OR element, respectively.

When cooling the plurality of shelves 3 mounted in the electronic device 1 by air cooling, the plurality of cooling fans 2a to 2f are arranged in units of vertical lines, as shown by broken lines, that is, the cooling fans are divided into three upper and lower groups. It is divided.

On the other hand, a known cooling fan abnormality detection circuit is provided for each cooling fan, and the abnormality signal is notified to the alarm signal sending circuit 4. One side is sent out as an alarm signal, and the other is branched to each group. It is input to an AND element 5 which performs a logical product with the upper and lower cooling fans. The output from the AND element 5 for each group is supplied to the OR element 6 and output as a system failure to the host device.

To explain with an example, suppose that an abnormality has now occurred in the cooling fan 2a and the cooling fan 2d. This means 2 in one group.
Since two abnormalities have occurred, the alarm signal sending circuit 4 issues an alarm signal, and the AND element 5
is input. Then, the AND element 5 is opened and the signal is supplied to the OR element 6, and the host device is notified that the system is disconnected, and the system is disconnected.

On the other hand, even if an abnormality occurs in the cooling fans 2a and 2b, since two abnormalities do not occur in one group, an alarm signal is issued from the alarm signal sending circuit 4, but the AND element 5 The system will not be disconnected because it will not open even if the system is disconnected.

Furthermore, even if an abnormality occurs in cooling fan 2a and cooling fan 2f, it is not an alarm signal within the same group, so A
ND element 5 is closed and the system is not interrupted.

Although the present embodiment has been described assuming that the cooling fans are grouped in the vertical direction, the same effect can be obtained even if the cooling fans are grouped in the horizontal direction.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained in detail above, in the present invention, a group in which a plurality of cooling fans that cause a problem with the cooling capacity are abnormal is defined as one group, and the system is disconnected when a special signal is sent for each group. The system can be shut down to the minimum necessary level, providing redundancy and improving system reliability.

Additionally, reliability during active maintenance is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a conventional system configuration. In the figure, is electronic equipment, is a cooling fan, is a shelf, is an alarm signal sending circuit, is an AND element, is an OR element,

Claims (1)

[Claims] A cooling fan that issues an alarm and shuts off the system when an abnormality occurs in a plurality of cooling fans (2) placed above and below an electronic device (1) on which a shelf (3) is mounted. The method for controlling the system in the event of an abnormality is characterized in that the plurality of cooling fans (2) are divided into predetermined groups, and the system is cut off when a special signal is issued in each group. How to control the system when a cooling fan malfunctions.