JPH0946077A - Air-cooling equipment in cabinet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide air-cooling equipment in a cabinet which can effectively reduce noise while restraining the dimensional increase of the cabinet. SOLUTION: A cabinet 1 is divided into a first heat source chamber 2, an air chamber 3, and a second heat source chamber 4. A suction fan 5 is installed between the first heat source chamber 2 and the air chamber 3. An exhaust fan 6 is installed between the air chamber 3 and the second heat source chamber 4. When an air flow is generated by operating the suction fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6, the air is introduced into the first heat source chamber 2 from a first vent hole 1a, passes the peripheral parts of circuit boards 7, and inhaled into the air chamber 3 through the suction fan 5. The air then is introduced into the second heat source chamber 4 from the air chamber 3 through the exhaust fan 6, passes the peripheral part of a power supply 9, and discharged from a second vent hole 1b. Thereby the respective circuit boards 7 and the power supply 9 are cooled.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air cooling device in a housing for air cooling a plurality of heat sources contained in the housing, such as various circuit boards and power supplies.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An air-cooling device of this type is attached to, for example, a housing containing an electronic device to cool various circuit boards, power supplies and the like. 4 (a) and 4 (b) schematically show one example thereof as seen from the side and the upper side. Here, a plurality of circuit boards 101, a connector board 102 connecting these circuit boards 101 to each other, and a power source 103 are built in a housing 104, and an intake fan 105 and an exhaust fan 106 are attached to the wall of the housing 104. ing. In the housing 104, a flow of air is generated from the intake fan 105 to the exhaust fan 106, and the circuit board 101, the power supply 103, and the like are cooled by the flow of air.

As described above, the intake fan and the exhaust fan are often attached to the wall of the housing, and these fans generate a flow of air to cool each heat source in the housing.

However, when the fan is attached to the wall of the housing, the noise generated from the fan is loud and annoying.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, the intake fan 111 and the exhaust fan 112 are moved to the inside of the casing 113, and a plurality of circuit boards 114 and connector boards 115 are provided between the intake fan 111 and the exhaust fan 112. , And a power supply 116 and the like. In this case, the intake fan 11
The noise of the exhaust fan 1 and the exhaust fan 112 does not directly resonate with the wall of the housing, so that the noise can be reduced.

However, the intake fan 111 and the housing 1
If there are no components between the intake ports 113a of the fan 13 and between the exhaust fan 112 and the exhaust port 113b of the housing 113, the noises of these fans 111 and 112 will not be heard.
It was easy to leak to the outside and no great effect was obtained. In addition, a space is wasted between the fans 111 and 112 and the intake port 113a and the exhaust port 113b, so that the housing 113
However, there is a drawback that it leads to an increase in size.

In order to eliminate such drawbacks, an arrangement configuration inside the casing 121 as shown in FIG. 6 has been proposed. In this case 121, the fan 122 is connected to each circuit board 12
3 and the power source 124, the fan 122 sucks air through the periphery of each circuit board 123 and discharges the air through the periphery of the power source 124.
In this case, the noise of the fan 122 is blocked to some extent by the circuit boards 123 and the power source 124 arranged on the intake / exhaust side of the fan 122, and this noise is less likely to leak to the outside. Also, because it doesn't waste space,
It is not necessary to increase the size of the housing 121.

Further, here, each circuit board 123 is arranged on the intake side of the fan 122, and the power source 124 is arranged on the exhaust side of the fan 122, thereby performing effective cooling. That is, elements such as integrated circuits and resistors serving as heat sources are scattered on each circuit board 123, and the heat of these elements is widely dispersed. In order to cool this wide range, it is preferable to utilize the dispersed air flow by the intake air of the fan 122. Further, in the power supply 124, components that easily generate heat, such as a power transistor and a transformer, are arranged intensively, and the heat of these components is concentrated in a part. To cool this part, it is preferable to blow air on the exhaust side of the fan 122.

However, in the arrangement shown in FIG.
Each circuit board 123 is provided on the intake side and the exhaust side of the fan 122.
Since the power supply 124 is provided, the air resistance is large on both the intake and exhaust sides, and the air does not flow quickly. In order to deal with this, the fan 122 must be increased in size to increase the air volume, and as a result, it has become difficult to achieve noise reduction.

[0010]

As described above, in each of the conventional air-cooling devices described above, the noise is large, or even if the noise is reduced, the noise cannot be effectively reduced, Led to an increase in size.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an air-cooling device in a housing which can effectively reduce noise while suppressing an increase in the size of the housing.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the air-cooling device in the housing of the present invention, the housing is
A plurality of heat source chambers containing the respective heat sources separately, at least one air chamber interposed between these heat source chambers, and an intake fan arranged between the air chambers and each heat source chamber adjacent to the air chambers. And an exhaust fan, and sucks air into the housing by an intake fan and an exhaust fan for the air chamber, passes the air alternately through the heat source chambers and the air chamber, and discharges the air from the housing. To do.

That is, the air is drawn into the air chamber by the intake fan through one heat source chamber. And
The air in the air chamber is discharged to the outside through the other heat source chamber by the exhaust fan.

Since the intake fan draws in air through one heat source chamber, a load based on the air resistance of the heat source chamber is applied to this intake fan. Further, since the exhaust fan discharges air through the other heat source chamber,
A load based on the air resistance of the other heat source chamber is applied to the exhaust fan. Therefore, the intake fan and the exhaust fan share respective loads based on the air resistance of the heat source chambers. In addition, the air chamber interposed between the heat source chambers serves as a buffer for the flow of air to reduce air resistance. Therefore, small fans can be applied as these fans, and the noise generated from these fans can be suppressed to a low level.

Further, noises of the intake fan and the exhaust fan leak to the outside through the respective heat source chambers, but are reduced when passing through these heat source chambers.

As described above, small intake fans and exhaust fans are applied, and the noise generated from these fans is reduced by each heat source chamber, so that the noise leaking to the outside of the housing can be suppressed sufficiently low.

Further, minute vent holes communicating with the outside may be formed in the air chamber. This minute air vent hardly leaks the noise of the intake fan and the exhaust fan to the outside,
Makes intake and exhaust of air by the intake and exhaust fans quick.

Further, the intake fan and the exhaust fan may be integrated, and the intake fan and the exhaust fan may be detachably attached. In this case, maintenance and inspection of the intake fan and the exhaust fan becomes easy.

For example, when the electronic device is built in the housing,
Each heat source is a circuit board and a power supply, and these circuit boards and power supplies are built in each heat source chamber.

Further, an air chamber is provided along one wall of the housing, and the first and second heat source chambers are arranged side by side and adjacent to the air chamber,
An intake fan is provided between the air chamber and the first heat source chamber, an exhaust fan is provided between the air chamber and the second heat source chamber, and the intake fan and the exhaust fan draw air into the housing, This air is circulated in the order of the first heat source chamber, the air chamber, and the second heat source chamber, and this air is discharged from the housing.

In such a configuration, the first and second
Since the heat source chambers are arranged side by side and these heat source chambers are superposed on the air chamber, the housing can be easily assembled, and the installation space of this housing can be reduced.

For example, if a circuit board is built in the first heat source chamber and a power source is built in the second heat source chamber, the dispersed heat of the circuit board is cooled by the dispersed air flow on the intake fan side to concentrate the power source. The heat can be cooled by blowing air from the exhaust fan, and effective cooling can be performed.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a first embodiment in which the air-cooling device in the housing of the present invention is implemented. The figure (a) is
The figure is viewed from the side, and the figure (b) is viewed from above.

The air-cooling device is for cooling the electronic device built in the housing 1. The housing 1 is divided into a first heat source chamber 2, an air chamber 3, and a second heat source chamber 4, and an intake fan 5 is provided between the first heat source chamber 2 and the air chamber 3 to separate the air chamber 3 from the air chamber 3. An exhaust fan 6 is provided between the second heat source chambers 4.

A plurality of circuit boards 7 and a connector board 8 are built in the first heat source chamber 2. Each circuit board 7 is detachably attached to the connector board 8, and these circuit boards 7 are attached to the connector board 8. Are connected to each other via. Further, the second heat source chamber 4 has a built-in power source 9 for supplying electric power to each circuit board 7.

It is preferable that the intake fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6 are integrated with the air chamber 3 and the air chamber 3 is detachably attached to the housing 1. This allows maintenance of the intake fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6. It will be easier.

Now, when the intake fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6 are operated to generate a flow of air, the air flows into the housing 1.
Is introduced into the first heat source chamber 2 through the first ventilation port 1a, passes around each circuit board 7, and is sucked into the air chamber 3 through the intake fan 5. Then, this air is introduced into the second heat source chamber 4 from the air chamber 3 through the exhaust fan 6, passes around the power source 9, and is discharged from the second ventilation port 1b. As a result, each circuit board 7 and the power supply 9 are cooled.

Here, the dispersed heat of each circuit board 7 is cooled by the dispersed air flow on the intake side of the intake fan 5, and the concentrated heat of the power source 9 is cooled by the air blow of the exhaust fan 6, To effectively cool down.

In such a structure, if the capacity of the air chamber 3 is sufficiently large, the air chamber 3 serves as a buffer,
The air resistance is reduced, and the load on the intake fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6 is lightened. Alternatively, the air chamber 3
Even if the capacity is small, if the minute vent holes are formed in the air chamber 3, the load on the intake fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6 can be lightened. In addition, the intake fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6 can also share the role of flowing air from the first ventilation port 1a to the air chamber 3 and the function of flowing air from the air chamber 3 to the second ventilation port 1b. Also, the load on the exhaust fan 6 is reduced. Therefore, small-sized intake fans 5 and exhaust fans 6 can be applied, and noise of these fans 5, 6 can be suppressed.

Further, although the noise of the intake fan 5 leaks to the outside through the first heat source chamber 2, the noise of the intake fan 5 is caused by each circuit board 7 and the connector substrate 8 in the first heat source chamber 2. To some extent blocked. Similarly, the second heat source chamber 3
The internal power source 9 shuts off the noise of the exhaust fan 6 to some extent.

In this way, the intake fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6
As such, a small one is applied to suppress these noises, and these noises are cut off to some extent by the circuit board 7, the connector board 8 and the power supply 9, so that the noise leaking from the housing 1 can be suppressed to an extremely low level. it can.

2 (a) and 2 (b) schematically show a second embodiment in which the air-cooling device in the housing of the present invention is implemented.
Note that, in the figure, the same reference numerals are given to the portions that perform the same operations as those of the device in FIG.

In the air cooling device of this embodiment, the air chamber 11
Is provided along the bottom of the housing 12, and the first heat source chamber 13 and the second heat source chamber 13 are provided.
The heat source chambers 14 are arranged side by side and superposed on the air chamber 11,
The intake fan 5 is arranged between the first heat source chamber 13 and the first heat source chamber 13, and the exhaust fan 6 is arranged between the air chamber 11 and the second heat source chamber 14.

In the first heat source chamber 13, a plurality of circuit boards 7,
Also, the connector board 8 is built in. Each circuit board 7
Are connected to the connector board 8 in a vertically standing state. The connector board 8 includes the first and second heat source chambers 1.
It also serves as a partition wall between 3 and 14. The power source 9 is arranged in the second heat source chamber 14 in a posture different from that in FIG. 1.

A minute vent hole 11a is formed in the wall of the air chamber 11. The ventilation hole 11a sucks or discharges air into the air chamber 11 while hardly leaking noise of the intake fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6 to the outside. As a result, the difference in the amount of air blown between the intake fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6 is compensated for, and quick intake and exhaust by these fans 5 and 6 are possible. A thin slit may be formed in the wall of the air chamber 11 instead of the ventilation hole 11a.

In such a structure, when the intake fan 5 and the exhaust fan 6 are operated, the air flows from the first ventilation port 12a of the housing 12 to the first heat source chamber 13 to the intake fan 5 to the air chamber 11 to the exhaust fan. 6 → Second heat source chamber 14 → Passes through the path of the second ventilation port 12b of the housing 12, and cools each circuit board 7 and the power supply 9 in the middle thereof.

In the case where the air chamber 11 is provided at the bottom of the casing 12 and the first heat source chamber 13 and the second heat source chamber 14 are arranged side by side and superposed on the air chamber 11 as described above, the installation space of the casing 12 is small. It can be small.

Here, the dimensions of the housing 1 of FIG. 1 and the dimensions of the housing 12 of FIG. 2 are compared. For this comparison, the dimensions (length × width × height) of each circuit board 7 are A × B × C, the width of the air chamber 3 (and the air chamber 11) is D, and the dimensions of the power supply 9 (length × length). The width × height) is defined as E × F × G. However, in general, each circuit board 7 is larger than the power source 9, and A> E,
B> F and C> G.

In this case, the minimum size of the housing 1 (length x width x
The height is (A + D + E) × B × C. On the other hand, the minimum size (length x width x height) of the housing 12 is (B +
G) × C × (A + D). Therefore, the housing 12
Is high, but it is easy to shorten its vertical width. Therefore, the housing 12 is easier to save the installation space.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications can be made. For example,
It is possible to circulate air by providing three or more heat source chambers adjacent to one air chamber and providing three or more fans between the air chambers and each heat source chamber. Alternatively, a plurality of air chambers are interposed between three or more heat source chambers, fans are arranged between the air chambers and the heat source chambers, and air is alternately passed through the air chambers and the heat source chambers. I don't mind. Further, a plurality of intake fans or a plurality of exhaust fans may be installed in parallel between the air chamber and the heat source chamber. Further, the components may be appropriately arranged in the space of the air chamber. Further, the heat source is not limited to the circuit board and the power source, but may be another type.

[0042]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the air cooling device in the housing of the present invention. An air chamber 32 is provided at the bottom of the casing 31 shown in FIG.
The second heat source chambers 33 and 34 are arranged side by side. Air chamber 32
A slit group 32a is formed on the wall of the. A plurality of circuit boards 35 are vertically set and inserted into the first heat source chamber 33, and the circuit boards 35 are connected to the connector board 36. Further, in the second heat source chamber 34, a pair of power sources 37, 38
Built-in. Three intake fans 39 are arranged between the air chamber 32 and the first heat source chamber 33, and two exhaust fans 40 are arranged between the air chamber 32 and the second heat source chamber 34.

Air is the first slit group 31a of the housing 31.
Is introduced into the first heat source chamber 33, passes around each circuit board 35, and is sucked into the air chamber 32 through each intake fan 39. Then, this air is introduced into the second heat source chamber 34 from the air chamber 32 through each exhaust fan 40, passes around the power sources 37 and 38, and is discharged from the second slit group 31b of the housing 31.

[0044]

As described above, the air cooling device of the present invention is
Small-sized intake and exhaust fans can be applied, and the noise generated by these fans is blocked to some extent by each heat source chamber, so that the noise leaking to the outside of the housing can be suppressed sufficiently low. In addition, there is little wasted space, and by disposing the air chamber at the bottom of the housing, the installation space of the housing does not increase.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is a side view schematically showing a first embodiment in which an air cooling device in a housing of the present invention is implemented, FIG. 1 (b).
Is a plan view schematically showing the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 (a) is a side view schematically showing a second embodiment in which the air-cooling device in the housing of the present invention is implemented, FIG. 2 (b).
Is a plan view schematically showing the second mode.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an air cooling device in the housing of the present invention.

FIG. 4 (a) is a side view schematically showing an example of a conventional air cooling device, and FIG. 4 (b) is a plan view schematically showing this conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing another example of a conventional air cooling device.

FIG. 6 is a side view schematically showing another example of the conventional air cooling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 12 Housing 2, 13 First heat source chamber 3, 11 Air chamber 4, 14 Second heat source chamber 5 Intake fan 6 Exhaust fan 7 Circuit board 8 Connector board 9 Power supply

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. In an air-cooling device in a housing for air-cooling a plurality of heat sources contained in the housing, the housing is provided between a plurality of heat source chambers in which each heat source is separately housed and between these heat source chambers. At least one air chamber,
The air chamber is provided with an intake fan and an exhaust fan arranged between the heat source chambers adjacent to the air chamber, and the air is sucked into the housing by the intake fan and the exhaust fan of the air chamber. The air-cooling device in the housing for alternately passing the heat source chamber and the air chamber and discharging the air from the housing. 2. The air-cooling device in the housing according to claim 1, wherein the air chamber is formed with minute air vents communicating with the outside. 3. The air cooling device in the housing according to claim 1, wherein the intake fan and the exhaust fan of the air chamber are integrated, and the intake fan and the exhaust fan are detachably attached. 4. The air cooling device in the housing according to claim 1, wherein the housing contains an electronic device, and each heat source is a circuit board and a power supply. 5. An air chamber is provided along one wall of the housing,
The first and second heat source chambers are arranged side by side adjacent to the air chamber, an intake fan is disposed between the air chamber and the first heat source chamber, and an exhaust fan is disposed between the air chamber and the second heat source chamber. A fan and an exhaust fan draw in air into the housing, circulate the air in the order of the first heat source chamber, the air chamber, and the second heat source chamber, and discharge the air from the housing. 4. The air cooling device in the housing according to any one of 3 to 3. 6. The air-cooling device in the housing according to claim 5, wherein the first heat source chamber has a built-in circuit board, and the second heat source chamber has a built-in power source.