JPH0675006A - Cooler for electronic appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance cooling efficiency by preventing the warmed air, discharged from each stage, from flowing into a board located at other stage. CONSTITUTION:A large number of boards 2, each mounting heating components, are arranged in parallel in multistage in a casing 1. A central channel 10 for combining cooling air flows is provided between upper and lower stages of the boards. A discharge channel 11 communicated with the central channel 10 is provided on the side face of the casing 1. A cooling fan 14 for feeding the cooling air 5 from the central channel 10 to a discharge channel 12 is fixed to the end part of the central channel 10 connected with the discharge channel 11. When the cooling fan 14 installed in the fan chassis 15 is rotary driven, the cooling air 5 is introduced into the casing 1 individually from above and below the casing 1, flows along a plurality of boards 2 at each stage to be eventually combined at the central channel 10, thence discharged through the discharge channel 11 and a discharge port 12 to the outside of the casing 1.

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 an electronic device in which a plurality of substrates arranged in parallel are accommodated in a plurality of stages, and an electronic device for cooling a heat generating component while passing a cooling gas along the substrates The present invention relates to a device cooling device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, electronic devices generate heat as they operate. For example, in a semiconductor tester that tests whether or not a semiconductor device operates normally, a large amount of heat generated from electronic components such as ICs mounted on a large number of substrates is discharged to the outside and cooled to cool it. Requires equipment. This cooling device is required to efficiently dissipate heat to the outside of the device in order to guarantee the reliability of electronic devices.

A conventional example of such a cooling device will be described with reference to FIG. 2. Reference numeral 1 denotes a casing for housing a printed circuit board 2, in which a large number of printed circuit boards 2 are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction. ing. These printed circuit boards 2
Are divided into upper and lower stages, and a fan chassis 3 is provided at the bottom of each stage. Each fan chassis 3 is provided with a fan 4, and by rotating these fans 4, the cooling air 5 penetrates through the casing 1 from the bottom to the top. A large number of devices (not shown) such as transistors and ICs are mounted on each printed circuit board 2 that comes into contact with the cooling air 5.

In such a structure, when each device is energized, a large amount of heat is generated from them, and each fan 4 is rotated in order to discharge the heat to the outside of the apparatus to cool the device. As a result, the cooling air 5 flowing from the lower direction to the upper direction first comes into contact with the printed circuit board group located at the lowermost stage to cool the devices mounted thereon, and the warmed cooling air then moves to the printed circuit board located at the middle stage. It contacts the substrate group and cools them.

[0005]

However, in the conventional apparatus as described above, since the cooling air from the bottom is made to pass through the printed circuit board groups of all the stages in series, the cooling air is not generated. There is a drawback that the temperature of the cooling air rises every time when passing through one stage, and the printed circuit board group located in the upper stage cannot be cooled sufficiently. For example, in the case of a large capacity such that the heat generation amount of the entire electronic device reaches 10 kW, depending on the number of mounted devices, the temperature of the cooling air is reduced by about 10 degrees each time it passes through one printed circuit board group. Cause the device to malfunction or be destroyed.

[0006] In particular, recently, as the functions, speeds and capacities of the equipment have been advanced, the number of heat-generating components that can be mounted on one printed circuit board is further increased, and the total heat generation amount is also increased. Therefore, the cooling of heat-generating components has become a major issue in order to guarantee the reliability of the equipment.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and to prevent the cooling air flowing into each stage from flowing into the substrate of another stage, thereby improving the cooling efficiency. It is to provide a cooling device for equipment.

[0008]

In a cooling device for electronic equipment of the present invention, a plurality of substrates arranged in parallel are housed in a plurality of stages in series, and a cooling gas is caused to flow along the plurality of substrates in each stage on the substrates. In a cooling device for electronic equipment that cools the heat-generating components of
A ventilation passage is provided between the stages, through which cooling gas flowing along multiple substrates in each stage is individually introduced into each stage, and the cooling gas is merged in the passage between the stages and discharged to the outside of the equipment. Means are provided. Generally, a cooling fan or a blower connected to a central passage is preferable as the blowing means.

[0009]

When the blowing means is driven, the cooling gas introduced into each stage is individually introduced, and the heat-generating components on the substrate are cooled while flowing along the plurality of substrates in each stage, and the cooled cooling gas after cooling is provided. Are merged in the passage between the stages and are discharged to the outside as they are. Therefore, the cooling air that has warmed up through each stage is
Since it is discharged to the outside without flowing into the other stages, the heat-generating components mounted on the substrates of each stage are sufficiently cooled.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a cooling device of a semiconductor testing device.
This cooling device has a casing 1 whose upper and lower sides are freely ventilated.
The cooling air 5 is introduced from below and above the casing 1. Inside the casing 1, rectangular board mounting portions 8 and 9 each having a length approximately equal to the width of the casing are provided in two upper and lower stages, and a heat-generating component (not shown) such as an IC is mounted thereon. Substrates 2, 2, ...
Are mounted in parallel.

A casing 1 located between two upper and lower substrates
A central passage 10 that joins the cooling air flowing between the substrates is provided in the central portion of the inside. The central passage 10 has a flat box-shaped duct having substantially the same area as a rectangular substrate mounting portion 8 or 9 having a width approximately equal to the lateral width of the casing 1 and a cross-sectional area required for flowing a merged cooling gas. I am in a shape. Further, an exhaust passage 11 communicating with the central passage 10 is provided at a side surface portion inside the casing 1 located on one side of the plurality of substrates 2 arranged in parallel. In the illustrated example, the exhaust passage 11 has a box-like duct shape in which the entire side surface of the casing 1 is hollow. Then, only the upper surface thereof is opened to form the exhaust port 12, from which the cooling air 5 flowing into the exhaust passage 11 is formed.
Can be discharged upward. In addition, when the exhaust port 12 is provided in the upper portion as in the illustrated example, the exhaust passage 1
The lower part of the exhaust passage 11 may be omitted because it is not necessary, but if the exhaust port 12 is provided in the lower part, the upper part of the exhaust passage 11 may be omitted.

The central passage 1 connected to the exhaust passage 11
A cooling fan 14 for sending the cooling air flowing into the central passage 10 to the exhaust passage 11 is attached to the end portion of 0. In the illustrated example, the left and right two cooling fans 14, 14
It is shown with the attached. These cooling fans 14, 14 are provided in the fan chassis 15, and by rotating these cooling fans 14,
Cooling air is introduced into the casing 1 from above and below the casing 1, and flows so as to face each other along the plurality of substrates 2 in each stage, and is merged in the central passage 10, and the casing is exhausted from the exhaust port 12 via the exhaust passage 11. 1 is discharged to the outside.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment constructed as described above will be described. Each fan 14 is rotationally driven so as to discharge the device heat generated at the same time as the operation of the semiconductor test apparatus. Then, the air intake 1 at the top of the casing 1
6, and the cooling air 5 is taken into the casing 1 from the lower air intake 17, and descends or rises toward the central passage 10.

The cooling air from the upper intake port 16 descends between the substrates 2 and 2 mounted on the upper substrate mounting portion 8 and is taken away by heat from the device mounted thereon to cool it.
The cooling air whose temperature has risen slightly due to this heat exchange flows into the central passage 10. On the other hand, the cooling air taken in from the lower air intake 17 rises between the boards 2 and 2 mounted on the board mounting portion 9 in the lower stage, and removes heat from the device mounted on this board to cool it. The cooling air whose temperature has risen due to this heat exchange also flows into the central passage 10.

The cooling air of each stage that has flowed into the central passage 10 merges here, flows through the cooling fans 14, 14 to the exhaust passage 11, rises, and is discharged from the exhaust port 12 to the outside of the casing 1. To be done. Therefore, the cooling air flowing along the upper substrate 2 and the cooling air flowing along the lower substrate 2 merge at the time of discharging the substrate, but they are individually introduced at the time of introducing the substrate, so The heated and discharged cooling air is used for the substrates 2 and 2 of the other stage.
It never flows in between. As a result, the cooling air introduced into the casing 1 directly flows into the upper substrate 2 and the lower substrate 2 without being warmed, and the device attached thereto can be reliably cooled. Therefore, the amount of heat generated by the entire electronic device reaches 10 kW, and when one printed circuit board group is passed,
Even if the temperature of the cooling air increases by about 10 degrees, sufficient cooling can be ensured.

In the above embodiment, the cooling fan 14 is
Although it is attached to the end portion of the central passage 10, the present invention is not limited to this.
It may be provided at one exhaust port 12. In addition, although the substrate 2 is arranged so as to be vertically arranged in the casing,
For example, the number of stages may be three, four, or more.
In this case, when the number of even stages is two adjacent stages as one set, the above embodiment is applied, and when the number of odd stages is two adjacent stages as one set, the remaining one stage is independent. Will be applied.

In the above embodiment, the case where the cooling fan is used as the blowing means has been described, but a blower may be used instead of the cooling fan. In this case, the blower can be directly attached to the exhaust port of the exhaust passage provided on the side surface of the casing or indirectly via the duct hose. It is also possible to exhaust the exhaust passage itself and attach it to the end of the central passage in the same manner.

Further, in the electronic apparatus in which the whole casing of the above-mentioned embodiment is turned over so that the board is placed horizontally, cooling air may be flowed laterally through the electronic apparatus.
The orientation of the substrate does not matter. In addition, the present invention can be widely applied not only to the semiconductor test apparatus but also to a wide range of electronic devices.

[0019]

According to the present invention, since the cooling air is individually introduced into each of the groups provided in a plurality of stages, the cooling air warmed through the substrate of one stage flows into the other stage. It is possible to reliably cool the heat-generating components mounted on each stage of the board. Therefore, the reliability of the device can be significantly improved without causing cooling failure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a cooling device of the present invention,
A side view and a front view.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view and a front view showing a configuration example of a conventional cooling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Casing 2 Board 5 Cooling Air 8 Board Mounting Part 9 Board Mounting Part 10 Central Passage 11 Exhaust Passage 12 Exhaust Port 14 Cooling Fan

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cooling device for an electronic device, wherein a plurality of substrates arranged in parallel are accommodated in a plurality of stages in series, and a cooling gas is caused to flow along the plurality of substrates in each stage to cool heat-generating components on the substrates. A ventilation means is provided between which cooling gas flowing along a plurality of substrates in each stage is individually introduced into the passage, and the cooling gas is merged in the passage between the stages and discharged to the outside of the device. A cooling device for electronic equipment, characterized by being provided with. 2. The cooling device for electronic equipment according to claim 1, wherein the blower means is a fan or a blower connected to a central passage.