JPH07175530A - Cooling fan device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a cooling fan for electronic equipment, etc., efficient in cooling effect and low in noise. CONSTITUTION:This device consists of a temperature sensor 1, a temperature comparison reference 2 where the lowest operation temperature of the cooling fan is set, a comparator 3 which compares the temperatures of the both, a switch 4, and the cooling fan 5; and the switch 4 is turned OFF in a temperature range where cooling is unnecessary to stop the cooling fan 5 and turned ON in a temperature range wherein cooling is necessary to control the revolving speed of the cooling fan 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to control of a cooling fan device such as an electric device such as a television receiver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, cooling fan devices have been used in devices such as computers and television receivers for the purpose of radiating heat inside the devices. In these devices, the temperature inside the devices tends to rise more and more due to downsizing of the devices and higher density of internal circuits. The cooling fan device releases the heat inside the device by rotating the blades or introduces air from the outside of the device to easily and reliably lower the temperature inside the device. For this reason, it has become the mainstream of equipment heat dissipation measures. Further, when the cooling fan device is driven and controlled, the rotation speed of the cooling fan is changed substantially linearly in accordance with the internal temperature of the device to enhance the cooling effect. That is, as shown in the characteristic diagram of FIG. 3, the rotation speed of the cooling fan is increased in the high temperature range, and the rotation speed of the cooling fan is decreased in the low temperature range. Also, the fan is always rotated at the same time when the power switch of the device is turned on.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional cooling fan drive control, noise due to the rotation sound of the cooling fan or wind noise becomes a problem. Particularly in general consumer equipment such as a television receiver, noise generated by the cooling fan becomes a problem as the cooling fan becomes smaller.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling fan device capable of achieving a low noise and an efficient cooling effect in driving control of a cooling fan for lowering the temperature inside a device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature, a temperature comparison reference for setting a minimum operating temperature of a cooling fan, and a temperature sensed by the temperature sensor. A comparator for comparing the minimum operating temperature of the temperature comparison reference, a switch for controlling ON / OFF of the cooling fan, and a cooling fan are provided. The fan is stopped, and the rotation speed of the cooling fan is controlled when the temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature.

[0006]

With the above-described structure, the present invention stops the rotation of the cooling fan when the temperature is lower than the set temperature, and realizes low noise and efficient cooling effect.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
Will be described with reference to. In FIG. 1, 1 is a temperature sensor that senses the temperature, 2 is a temperature comparison reference that sets (defines) the temperature at which the cooling fan starts rotating, that is, the minimum operating temperature, and 3 is a temperature comparison with the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 1. A comparator for comparing with the set temperature of the reference 2 is a switch for controlling the cooling fan, and 5 is a cooling fan. Less than,
The operation of the above component device will be described.

The temperature sensor 1 senses the temperature of a specific point inside or inside the device. When the comparator 3 determines that the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 1 is lower than the set temperature of the temperature comparison reference 2, the switch 4 for controlling the cooling fan 5 is turned off and the cooling fan 5 is stopped. Conversely, the temperature sensor
When it is determined that the sensed temperature of 1 is higher than the setting of the temperature comparison reference 2, the switch 4 is turned on to rotate the cooling fan 5. In this case, the rotation speed is controlled according to the temperature inside the device. FIG. 2 shows a relationship characteristic diagram between the temperature inside the device and the rotation speed of the cooling fan in the cooling fan control device of the present invention. In a temperature range that does not require cooling of the inside of the device by the cooling fan, for example, 40 ° C. or less, the cooling fan is stopped and no noise is generated. There is also no power consumption. FIG. 3 shows a relationship characteristic diagram between the temperature inside the device and the rotation speed of the cooling fan in the conventional technique. In the conventional case, the temperature inside the equipment is below a predetermined temperature, for example, 20 ° C, which is considerably lower than 40 ° C.
Although the number of rotations of the cooling fan is reduced even if it reaches a certain level, it does not stop and continues to generate rotation noise and wind noise.

[0009]

As is apparent from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, the cooling fan can be stopped to prevent noise and power consumption can be reduced in a temperature range where cooling of the equipment is unnecessary.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a cooling fan control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the temperature inside the device and the rotation speed of the cooling fan in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram of a relationship between a temperature inside a device and a rotation speed of a cooling fan in a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Temperature sensor 2 Temperature comparison reference 3 Comparator 4 Switch 5 Cooling fan

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A temperature sensor for sensing a temperature, a temperature comparison reference source for setting a rotation start temperature of a cooling fan, and a comparator for comparing a sensed temperature of the temperature sensor with a set temperature of the temperature comparison reference source. A switch for controlling on / off of the cooling fan, and a cooling fan. When the temperature of the cooling fan is lower than a predetermined temperature by the signal of the comparator, the cooling fan is stopped. A cooling fan device characterized by controlling the rotation of a fan.