KR101561915B1 - Terminal and method for prventing the block of vent hole thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a terminal and its method for preventing clogging of an inlet, and a terminal related to the present invention measures at least one variable information among variables such as CPU temperature, load, rotation speed of a cooling fan, A warning signal is output when the comparison result indicates that the current aperture ratio is smaller than the reference aperture ratio, and a notification signal indicating that the current aperture ratio is equal to or greater than the reference aperture ratio is calculated by comparing the current aperture ratio of the intake port by using the measured variable information, .

Terminal, computer, inlet

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a terminal and a method for preventing clogging thereof,

The present invention relates to a terminal for preventing clogging of a suction port of a terminal due to dust and a method for preventing clogging of the suction port.

A terminal such as a personal computer, a notebook computer, a mobile phone, or the like can be configured to perform various functions. Examples of such various functions include a data and voice communication function, a function of photographing a video or a moving image through a camera, a voice storage function, a music file playback function through a speaker system, and an image or video display function. Some terminals include additional functions to execute games, and some other terminals are also implemented as multimedia devices. Moreover, recent terminals can receive a broadcast or multicast signal to view a video or television program.

In general, a terminal can be divided into a mobile terminal and a stationary terminal depending on whether the terminal can be moved or not. The terminal can be divided into a handheld terminal (or a portable terminal) And can be divided into a vehicle mount terminal.

Efforts are continuing to support and enhance the functions of terminals. The foregoing efforts include not only changes and improvements in structural components that form the terminal, but also improvements in software or hardware.

In general, components such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, a network card, and the like, which constitute a terminal, generate heat during operation, thereby raising the system temperature, thereby causing system damage or performance degradation. In order to prevent the system temperature from rising, the heat generated by using a cooling fan is discharged through the suction port, and the external cold air is sucked through the suction port to cool the respective components. In order to prevent suction of dust, an inlet such as a mesh is installed. However, as the use time passes, dust adheres to the block, thereby deteriorating the heat dissipation performance of the cooling fan.

The present invention provides a terminal for predicting a degree of clogging of a terminal inlet using a temperature sensor, and a method for preventing clogging of the inlet.

In order to accomplish the above object, there is provided a method for preventing clogging of a suction port of a terminal, comprising the steps of: measuring variable information at a preset time; calculating a current aperture ratio of the inlet using the measured variable information; Comparing the calculated current aperture ratio with a reference aperture ratio; and outputting a warning signal if the current aperture ratio is smaller than the reference aperture ratio.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a terminal comprising: a sensing unit for measuring at least one variable information; and a control unit for calculating a current aperture ratio of the intake port using the variable information measured by the sensing unit and, if the calculated current aperture ratio is smaller than the reference aperture ratio And outputting a warning signal.

The terminal according to at least one embodiment of the present invention configured as described above can check the degree of clogging of the suction port of the terminal due to dust, thereby reducing the risk of clogging the suction port due to dust by informing the user. In other words, the present invention informs the user of the aperture ratio of the terminal inlet so that the user can cope (e.g., clean the inlet) according to the inlet opening ratio.

In addition, the present invention can minimize the size of the filter hole and the addition of a filter to minimize the amount of dust entering the terminal.

In addition, the present invention can prevent system damage and performance degradation by outputting a warning message when the suction port is clogged due to user mistake when installing or using the terminal.

Hereinafter, a process in which a terminal related to the present invention outputs a notification signal according to an aperture ratio of an air hole will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Generally, the system temperature is determined by the CPU (Central Processing Unit) temperature, the revolutions per minute (RPM) of the cooling fan, the cubic feet per minute (CFM) hole size, inlet opening ratio, CPU load, and the like.

Here, if the remaining variables except the aperture ratio are constant, the aperture ratio can be calculated only by measuring the CPU temperature. Cooling fan rotation speed, cooling fan performance, inlet size, etc. can be determined by the spec when producing the product. The CPU load may be limited to the CPU load of the idle state of the operating system or the initial booting time.

1 is a block diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The terminal 100 related to the present invention includes a communication unit 110, an input unit 120, a sensing unit 130, an output unit 140, a memory 150, an interface unit 160, a power supply unit 170, 180), and the like.

The communication unit 110 allows wired or wireless communication with an external terminal (or system). The communication unit 110 includes a broadcast receiving module for receiving a broadcast signal, a mobile communication module for performing mobile communication, a wired / wireless Internet module for enabling Internet access, a short-range communication module for performing short- And a location information module for receiving location information through communication with the terminal.

The input unit 120 generates commands and data for controlling the operation of the terminal 100 according to a user's operation. The input unit 120 may be a keyboard, a mouse, a keypad, a microphone, a tablet, a camara, a webcam, a touchpad, a jog stick, a jog stick, and the like. When the touch pad has a mutual layer structure with a display unit 141 described later, it may be referred to as a touch screen.

The sensing unit 130 may include a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of a central processing unit (CPU), a load measuring unit for measuring a CPU load, a fan rotation speed measuring unit for measuring a rotation speed of a cooling fan, . In addition, it is responsible for a sensing function related to whether power is supplied to the power supply unit 170, whether the interface unit 160 is connected to an external device, and the like.

The output unit 140 is for outputting an audio signal, a video signal, an alarm signal, a warning sound, a sound effect, etc. The display unit 141 and the sound output unit 142 may be included in the output unit 140.

The display unit 141 displays a status and a result (processing information) according to the operation of the terminal 100. In addition, when the display unit 141 and the touch pad have a mutual layer structure to constitute a touch screen, the display unit 141 may be used as an input device in addition to the output device. The display unit 141 may be a liquid crystal display, a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, a flexible display, a three-dimensional display 3D display). Some of these displays can be configured to be transparent so that they can be viewed from outside. This may be referred to as a transparent display. A typical example of the transparent display is a transparent organic light emitting diode (TOLED) or the like. Also, there may be two or more display units 141 according to the embodiment of the terminal 100. The touch screen may be configured to detect the touch input position and area as well as the touch input pressure and / or proximity.

The audio output unit 142 outputs audio data received from the communication unit 110 or stored in the memory 150. [ The sound output unit 142 outputs sound signals related to functions (e.g., a mail reception tone, a warning sound, a sound effect, etc.) performed in the terminal 100. [ The sound output unit 142 may include a speaker, a buzzer, and the like.

The memory 150 may perform a function for temporary storage of input / output data (e.g., mail, memo, still image, moving picture, document, etc.). In addition, the memory 150 may store various programs for controlling the terminal, and may store data on vibration and sound of various patterns output when the touch screen is touched.

The memory 150 stores a reference value for determining whether or not the intake port is blocked and current variable information (value) such as CPU temperature, cooling fan rotation speed, CPU load, etc. measured by the sensing unit 130. In the memory 150, the inlet opening ratio information may be stored in the form of a look-up table with respect to at least one of the variables. For example, the memory 150 stores the inlet opening ratio information relative to the CPU temperature.

The memory 150 may store an application program for controlling the CPU load and / or the cooling fan rotation speed. Therefore, it is possible to maintain the remaining variables (e.g., the CPU load and / or the cooling fan rotation speed) constantly before the CPU temperature measurement using the application program in order to predict a reliable inlet opening ratio according to the CPU temperature change.

The memory 150 may be a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, a card type memory (e.g., SD or XD memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory) SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read- And an optical disc. In addition, the terminal 100 may operate a web storage for storing the memory 150 on the Internet.

The interface unit 160 serves as an interface with all external devices connected to the terminal 100. For example, a wired / wireless headset port, an external charger port, a wired / wireless data port, a memory card port, an audio I / O port, a video I / O port, An earphone port, and the like.

When the terminal 100 is connected to an external cradle, the interface unit 160 may be a path through which power from the cradle is supplied to the terminal 100, or various commands A signal may be transmitted to the terminal 100. Various command signals input from the cradle or the power source may be operated as a signal for recognizing that the terminal 100 is correctly mounted on the cradle.

The power supply unit 170 receives external and / or internal power and supplies power necessary for operation of each component.

The control unit 180 generally controls the components to control the overall operation of the terminal 100, and refers to a central processing unit (CPU) of the computer system. In addition, the controller 180 controls the sensing unit 130 to measure variable information such as CPU temperature, CPU load, and fan rotation speed at a preset time. Here, the predetermined time is a time for measuring variable information, and is a value set to enable measurement of variable information in the same situation. For example, the measurement time may be set as initial booting or operating system idle state.

The controller 180 calculates the aperture ratio of the current intake port using the measured variable information, and compares the calculated current aperture ratio with the reference aperture ratio. As a result of the comparison, if the aperture ratio of the current intake port is smaller than the reference aperture ratio, a warning signal is output to the display unit 141. On the contrary, if the current aperture ratio is equal to or greater than the reference aperture ratio, the display unit 141 outputs a notification signal indicating that the aperture ratio is normal. At this time, the controller 180 outputs a warning signal or a notification card in the form of at least one of a message, a warning sound, and an effect sound to allow the user to recognize whether the suction port is clogged through visual and / or auditory hearing.

The various embodiments described herein may be embodied in a recording medium readable by a computer or similar device using, for example, software, hardware, or a combination thereof.

According to a hardware implementation, the embodiments described herein may be implemented as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays Microprocessors, microprocessors, and electrical units for performing functions, as will be described in more detail below.

According to a software implementation, embodiments such as procedures or functions may be implemented with separate software modules that perform at least one function or operation. The software code may be implemented by a software application written in a suitable programming language. Also, the software codes may be stored in the memory 150 and executed by the control unit 180. [

Hereinafter, a method for preventing the clogging of the inlet port because the terminal related to the embodiment of the present invention confirms the clogging degree of the inlet port will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of setting a reference value for determining a degree of clogging of a suction port of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the inlet aperture ratio of the terminal 100 is set to a predetermined state (S101). For example, the inlet aperture ratio of the terminal 100 is set to the 100% state.

When the inlet opening ratio is set, power is supplied to the terminal 100 (S102). That is, when the user inputs a power button, the control unit 180 of the terminal 100 controls the power supply unit 170 to supply power to the respective components.

Thereafter, the control unit 180 measures variable information such as the CPU temperature, the load, and the rotation speed of the cooling fan through the sensing unit 130 and stores them in the memory 150 (S103, S104). The controller 180 stores the measured variable information in the memory 150 together with the set aperture ratio information.

It is possible to store the measured variable information with respect to each opening ratio in the form of a lookup table by repeating the above process while changing the aperture ratio (e.g., 50%, 30%, 0%) of the inlet port. That is, the look-up table is used as reference information for determining the degree of clogging of the intake port.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for preventing clogging of a suction port of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, when a power ON command is input from the input unit 120, the controller 180 supplies power to the terminal 100 (S201). That is, when a power button is input by the user, the controller 180 controls the power supply unit 170 to supply power to the components constituting the terminal 100. [

When power is supplied to the terminal 100, the controller 180 determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed (S202). The predetermined time includes an idle time of an operating system, a boot time, a predetermined time (after one hour of use) of the terminal, and the like.

At the predetermined time, the controller 180 drives the sensing unit 130 to measure the variable information (S203). For example, the sensing unit 130 measures the CPU temperature through the temperature sensor under the control of the controller 180, and measures the CPU load and the cooling fan rotation speed through the load measuring unit and the fan rotation speed measuring unit.

When the variable information measurement is completed, the controller 180 stores the measured current variable information in the memory 150 (S204). For example, the control unit 180 stores the CPU temperature, the load, and the cooling fan rotation speed measured through the sensing unit 130 in the memory 150.

Next, the controller 180 calculates the current aperture ratio of the intake port using the measured current variable information (S205). That is, the controller 180 calculates the current aperture ratio using the determined inlet size and fan performance, the measured CPU load and temperature, and the fan rotation speed. In the present embodiment, when the current variable information measurement is completed, the current opening ratio of the inlet is calculated by using the measured current variable information. However, when the CPU load and the cooling fan rotational speed are calculated as the reference CPU load and the reference cooling fan rotational speed And the current aperture ratio may be calculated using the measured variable information if the measured aperture ratio is equal to or greater than a predetermined approximate value. This is a method for securing the reliability according to the change of the CPU load and the ambient temperature. Here, the approximate value may vary depending on the degree of reliability required.

If the current aperture ratio of the intake port is calculated, the controller 180 compares the calculated aperture ratio with the reference aperture ratio previously stored in the memory 150 (S206).

As a result of the comparison, if the current aperture ratio is less than the reference aperture ratio, the controller 180 'closes the inlet. Quot; clean " (S207).

If it is determined in step S206 that the current aperture ratio is equal to or greater than the reference aperture ratio, the controller 180 outputs a notification message indicating that the aperture ratio of the inlet aperture is not blocked (S208).

In the above embodiment, the current aperture ratio is compared with the reference aperture ratio, and a warning signal is output when the current aperture ratio is less than the reference aperture ratio. However, the calculated aperture ratio may be notified to the user. For example, when the current aperture ratio calculated using the measured variable information is 30%, the controller 180 of the terminal 100 displays a message "70% of the intake port is clogged" to the display unit 141 Display.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of setting a reference value for determining a degree of clogging of a suction port of a terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

First, the inlet aperture ratio of the terminal 100 is set by the user (S301). When the setting of the inlet opening ratio is completed, the controller 180 supplies power to the terminal 100 (S302). That is, the controller 180 controls the power supply unit 170 to supply the power required for the operation of the terminal 100.

When power is supplied to the terminal 100, the controller 180 maintains the CPU load at a predetermined level (S303). That is, the control unit 180 controls the CPU 150 to load a certain amount of load using an application program stored in the memory 150.

The controller 180 fixes the rotational speed of the cooling fan to a predetermined value (S304). For example, the controller 180 adjusts the cooling fan such that the rotation speed of the cooling fan is maintained at 4000 RPM. Here, since the CPU load and the fan rotation speed, which affect the CPU temperature, are fixed to arbitrary values, the reliability with respect to the CPU temperature change can be enhanced.

The controller 180 measures the CPU temperature through the sensing unit 130 while the CPU load and the fan rotation speed are fixed (S305). The controller 180 measures the CPU temperature through a temperature sensor.

When the CPU temperature is measured, the controller 180 stores the measured CPU temperature in the memory 150 (S306). Herein, the controller 180 may store the inlet opening ratio with respect to the CPU temperature in the form of a table.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of preventing clogging of a suction port of a terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

First, the terminal 100 supplies power to each component constituting the terminal 100 (S401). When the user inputs a power button, the controller 180 recognizes the input as a power-on command and operates the power supply unit 170 to operate the terminal 100. [

When the power is supplied, the controller 180 fixes the CPU load and the fan rotation speed (S402 and S403). For example, the control unit 180 fixes the CPU load and the fan rotation speed at 60% and 3500 RPM, respectively.

In a state where the CPU load and the fan rotation speed are maintained at a certain level, the controller 180 measures the CPU temperature through the temperature sensor (S404). That is, the controller 180 may control the sensing unit 130 to measure the CPU temperature.

When the CPU temperature is measured, the controller 180 calculates the current aperture ratio of the inlet using the measured CPU temperature (S405).

If the current aperture ratio is calculated, the controller 180 compares the calculated current aperture ratio with the reference aperture ratio (S406).

If the current aperture ratio is smaller than the reference aperture ratio, the controller 180 outputs a warning signal (S407). For example, the control unit 180 outputs a warning message such as " Air intake required. &Quot; At this time, the control unit 180 may output a sound effect or a warning sound together, or may output only a warning sound.

If the current aperture ratio is equal to or greater than the reference aperture ratio in step S406, the controller 180 outputs a notification signal indicating that the terminal 100 is in a normal state (S408). Here, the notification signal may include a message and / or an effect sound.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the above-described method can be implemented as computer-readable code on a medium on which a program is recorded. The computer readable medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer-readable medium include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage, and the like, and also implemented in the form of a carrier wave (for example, transmission over the Internet) . In addition, the computer may include a control unit 180 of the terminal 100.

The above-described terminal may be configured such that the configuration and method of the embodiments described above are not limitedly applied, but the embodiments may be configured such that all or some of the embodiments are selectively combined so that various modifications can be made. have.

1 is a block diagram of a terminal related to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flow chart illustrating a method for setting a reference value for determining a degree of clogging of a suction port of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flow chart illustrating a method for preventing clogging of a suction port of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of setting a reference value for determining a degree of clogging of a suction port of a terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for preventing clogging of a suction port of a terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

100: terminal 110:

120: user input unit 130: sensing unit

140: output unit 150: memory

160: interface unit 170: power supply unit

180:

Claims (5)

Rotating the fan to adjust heat generated by the load of the CPU; Fixing the load of the CPU to a predetermined load value and fixing the rotational speed of the fan to a predetermined rotational speed value regardless of the temperature of the CPU when the predetermined condition is satisfied; Measuring the temperature of the CPU while the load of the CPU and the rotational speed of the fan are fixed to the load value and the rotational speed value; Calculating an aperture ratio of the intake port based on the temperature of the CPU, the load value of the CPU, and the rotational speed value of the fan; And And outputting a warning signal when the calculated aperture ratio is smaller than a predetermined reference aperture ratio. The method according to claim 1, When a preset time has elapsed from when power is supplied to the terminal, the load of the CPU is fixed to a predetermined load value, and the rotation speed of the fan is fixed to a predetermined rotation speed value regardless of the temperature of the CPU Wherein the suction port of the terminal is provided with a suction port. The method according to claim 1, When the terminal is idle. Wherein the load of the CPU is fixed to a predetermined load value and the rotational speed of the fan is fixed to a predetermined rotational speed value regardless of the temperature of the CPU. The method according to claim 1, And outputting the calculated aperture ratio value in a visual or audible manner so as to guide the aperture ratio to a user when the calculated aperture ratio is smaller than a predetermined reference aperture ratio. A temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the CPU; An output section; A fan for regulating heat generated by the CPU; And And a controller for controlling the fan to adjust heat generated by the load of the CPU, Wherein, The load of the CPU is fixed to a predetermined load value, the rotation speed of the fan is fixed to a predetermined rotation speed value regardless of the temperature of the CPU, Controls the temperature sensor to measure the temperature of the CPU while the load of the CPU and the rotational speed of the fan are fixed to the load value and the rotational speed value, Calculating an opening ratio of the intake port based on the temperature of the CPU, the load value of the CPU, and the rotation speed value of the fan, And controls the output unit to output a warning signal when the calculated aperture ratio is smaller than a predetermined reference aperture ratio.

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