TW202200422A - In-vehicle computer, heat dissipating system thereof, and vehicle with the in-vehicle computer - Google Patents

Abstract

An in-vehicle computer includes a computer casing, an electronic component, a fan, and an air duct. The electronic component and the fan are disposed inside the computer casing. An air inlet of the air duct is located outside the computer casing, and an air outlet thereof is toward or connected to the fan. The fan can generate an airflow for dissipating heat from the electronic component. Therein, the computer casing, the fan, and the air duct therefore form a heat dissipating system. A vehicle includes a vehicle cage and the in-vehicle computer. The in-vehicle computer is disposed inside the vehicle cage. The air inlet of the air duct communicates with the interior space of the vehicle cage, so that when the air conditioner of the vehicle is turned on, the fan can draw the cold air from the cockpit space for enhancing the heat dissipation efficiency.

Description

On-board computers, cooling systems for on-board computers, and vehicles with on-board computers

The present invention relates to an in-vehicle computer, especially an in-vehicle computer with a cooling system, and a vehicle with the in-vehicle computer.

With the increase of the breadth and depth of vehicle control, the electronic control system of a vehicle also increases in its system complexity and device volume, and at the same time, the demand for the stability of the system operation also increases. At present, the on-board computer is usually simply fixed on the vehicle body, such as the trunk or other compartments. However, the space in the rear trunk is relatively airtight and poorly ventilated, which is not conducive to the heat dissipation of the on-board computer. When the vehicle is parked outdoors and exposed to the scorching sun, the temperature inside the vehicle rises sharply. After the vehicle is started, even if the air conditioner is turned on, the temperature in the rear trunk cannot be lowered, and it is not conducive to the heat dissipation of the on-board computer. Moreover, the temperature at this time may seriously affect the operation of the on-board computer, and even affect the driving safety. Therefore, there is a real need to provide an effective heat dissipation mechanism for more and more complex in-vehicle computers.

In view of the problems in the prior art, one object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle computer with a heat dissipation system capable of drawing air from the cabin space to improve heat dissipation efficiency.

The in-vehicle computer according to the present invention includes a computer casing, an electronic component, a fan and an air duct. The computer casing has an accommodating space and an opening communicated with the accommodating space. The electronic component is arranged in the computer casing. The fan is arranged in the accommodating space and has an air inlet and an air outlet, and the fan generates an air flow to dissipate heat from the electronic components. The air duct is exposed from the computer casing and passes through or is connected to the opening. The air duct has an air inlet and an air outlet, the air inlet is located outside the computer casing, and the air outlet faces or is connected to the air inlet. In this way, the on-board computer can absorb air from other places (such as cold air in the cabin space) without being limited by the installation position of the on-board computer through the outwardly extending air duct, so as to improve the heat dissipation efficiency.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle including the aforementioned on-board computer. The cooling system of this car computer can draw air from the cabin space to improve the cooling efficiency.

The vehicle according to the present invention includes a body and an on-board computer. The body has a cabin space. The on-board computer is arranged in the vehicle body and includes a computer casing, an electronic component, a fan and an air duct. The computer casing has an accommodating space and an opening communicated with the accommodating space. The electronic component is arranged in the computer casing. The fan is arranged in the accommodating space and has an air inlet and an air outlet, and the fan generates an air flow to dissipate heat from the electronic components. The air duct is exposed from the computer casing and passes through or is connected to the opening. The air duct has an air inlet and an air outlet, the air inlet is located outside the computer casing, and the air outlet faces or is connected to the air inlet. The air duct communicates with the cabin space through the air inlet. Thereby, the on-board computer can absorb the cold air in the cabin space (for example, when the air-conditioning of the vehicle is turned on) without being limited by the installation position of the on-board computer in the vehicle body through the outwardly extending air duct, to improve heat dissipation efficiency.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a heat dissipation system for an in-vehicle computer. The cooling system can draw air from the cabin space to improve the cooling efficiency of the on-board computer.

The heat dissipation system according to the present invention is used in an in-vehicle computer and includes a computer casing, a fan and an air duct. The computer casing has an accommodating space and an opening communicated with the accommodating space. The fan has an air inlet and an air outlet. The air duct is exposed from the computer casing and passes through or is connected to the opening. The air duct has an air inlet and an air outlet, the air inlet is located outside the computer casing, and the air outlet faces or is connected to the air inlet. Thereby, the heat dissipation system can absorb air from other places (such as cold air in the cabin space) without being limited by the installation position of the on-board computer through the outwardly extending air duct, so as to improve the heat dissipation efficiency.

Compared with the prior art, the in-vehicle computer, its cooling system, and the vehicle with the in-vehicle computer according to the present invention can pass through the air duct extending outward without being limited by the installation position of the in-vehicle computer in the vehicle body. The cold air in the cockpit space can be absorbed, so that the on-board computer can effectively dissipate heat and operate stably, and solve the problem that the on-board computer is not easy to dissipate heat due to the limitation of the installation position in the prior art.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention can be further understood from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

See Figures 1 through 4. A vehicle 1 according to an embodiment includes a body 12 and an onboard computer 14 (the outline of which is depicted in dashed lines in FIG. 1 ) disposed in the body 12 . The in-vehicle computer 14 includes a computer casing 142 , an electronic component 144 , a fan 146 and an air duct 148 . The computer casing 142 includes a base 1422 and an upper cover 1424. The base 1422 and the upper cover 1424 are connected to form an accommodating space 142a. Electronic component 144 (represented by a solid block for simplicity of drawing; in practice, it may be, for example, but not limited to, a system motherboard, a memory module, a hard disk, a power module, an expansion card, or other The heat-generating electronic components) are disposed in the accommodating space 142a of the computer casing 142 . The fan 146 (such as, but not limited to, an axial fan or a centrifugal fan or a blower) has an intake port 1462 and an exhaust port 1464 . The fan 146 can generate an airflow F (represented by the hollow arrow in FIG. 4 ) for dissipating heat to the electronic components 144 . The air duct 148 is exposed from the computer casing 142 and has an air inlet 148 a and an air outlet 148 b . In this way, the fan 146 can inhale the air away from the computer casing 142 through the air duct 148 , so as to improve the intake air temperature and enhance the heat dissipation effect on the electronic components 144 .

In this embodiment, the fan 146 is disposed in the accommodating space 142 a of the computer casing 142 . The upper cover 1424 has an opening 1424a communicating with the accommodating space 142a. The air duct 148 passes through the opening 1424a and is connected to the air inlet 1462 of the fan 146 through the air outlet 148b; wherein, the air duct 148 can also be fixed to the opening 1424a (for example, by means of structural locking or gluing), and can be further sealed The gap between the air duct 148 and the opening 1424a can improve the dustproof degree of the computer casing 142 . The exhaust port 1464 of the fan 146 faces the electronic assembly 144 . Therefore, in principle, the fan 146 only inhales the air introduced through the air duct 148 to form an air flow F with a lower temperature, which directly dissipates heat to the electronic components 144 . But in practice it is not limited to this. For example, although the air duct 148 passes through the opening 1424a and enters the accommodating space 142a, it is not directly connected to the air inlet 1462 of the fan 146, and the air outlet 148b (the opening direction) still faces the air inlet 1462 of the fan 146; this The structural configuration still allows the fan 146 to efficiently draw in the air introduced through the duct 148 .

For another example, as shown in FIG. 5 , the air outlet 148 b of the air duct 148 is connected to the outside of the opening 1424 a (in practice, it can also be connected to the inside of the opening 1424 a ), so that the entire air duct 148 is substantially located outside the computer casing 142 . The air inlet 1462 of the fan 146 is still aligned with the opening 1424a, so the fan 146 can still effectively inhale the air introduced into the computer casing 142 (in the accommodating space 142a) through the air duct 148. In this example, a guiding structure can also be provided in the accommodating space 142a, between the opening 1424a and the air inlet 1462 of the fan 146, so as to enhance the effect of the fan 146 sucking in the air introduced through the air duct 148. Alternatively, the air inlet 1462 of the fan 146 is structurally extended upward to form a guide structure 148c (eg, a tubular structure, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 5 ), so as to be close to or contact and connect with the opening 1424a, so that the fan 146 can effectively inhale Air introduced via duct 148 . Alternatively, the guide structure directly passes through the opening 1424a and is connected to the air outlet 148b of the air duct 148 (eg, the air outlet 148b is sleeved on the guide structure).

In addition, the air duct 148 can be implemented by a hard pipe or a flexible pipe, such as but not limited to a metal or plastic pipe, and the flexibility of the flexible pipe can be achieved through the material itself or the structure (eg, the pipe body is formed with folds). Flexible air duct 148 facilitates installation.

In this embodiment, the in-vehicle computer 1 may further include a filter 150 (shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2 ), which is disposed at the air inlet 148 a of the air duct 148 to prevent the filter 150 from entering the computer case 142 through the air duct 148 . The particulate (eg dust) content of a gas. In practice, the filter 150 may be a commonly used filter (eg, but not limited to, including one or more filter meshes or cloths made of fibers or porous materials, etc.), which will not be described in detail. In addition, in this embodiment, the filter 150 is assembled to the air inlet 148a as a separate part, but in practice the filter 150 must also be integrated with the structure of the air duct 148 at the air inlet 148a (for example, a Or a plurality of filters or cloths made of fibers or porous materials, etc., are sealed in the air inlet 148a), which will not be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1 , in this embodiment, the vehicle body 12 has a cabin space 12a (including a space for the driver and passengers to sit and move), and a rear seat 122 is disposed in the cabin space 12a. The in-vehicle computer 14 is disposed in the rear luggage compartment 12b close to the rear seat 122 (or considered to be disposed between the rear luggage compartment and the rear seat 122 ), for example, it is fixed to the vehicle body 12 through the fixing members 142 b on both sides of the computer case 142 on the structural frame. By appropriately setting the air duct 148, the air duct 148 can communicate with the cabin space 12a through its air inlet 148a; thereby, the on-board computer 14 can inhale the lower temperature in the cabin space 12a through the air duct 148 (through the fan 146). (relative to the temperature of the location where the computer casing 142 is located), so as to obtain a better heat dissipation effect.

Please also refer to FIGS. 1-3 and 6 . The vehicle body 12 includes a speaker 124 (in FIG. 6 , the outline of which is covered by the speaker grill 126 is shown in phantom) and a speaker grill 126 covering the speaker 124, which is located in the rear seat 122 (the headrest of the) At the rear, it is typically secured to a structural panel or trim 128 . The speaker grill 126 is exposed in the cabin space 12a (which can also be fixed on the trim panel 128 ) and simultaneously covers the speaker 124 and the air inlet 148a (of the air duct 148 ) (in FIG. 6 , the outline covered by the speaker grill 126 is Drawn with dotted lines), it can take into account the appearance. In practice, the air inlet 148a and the filter 150 can also be structurally integrated with the speaker grille 126 , for example, fibers or porous materials with filtering function are disposed inside the speaker grille 126 , and the air inlet 148a is connected to the speaker grille 126 . , so that the aforementioned fiber or porous material is located at the air inlet 148a.

In addition, generally speaking, the speaker grill 126 is located in a prominent place in the cabin space 12a (for example, behind the headrest of the rear seat 122 in this embodiment), and the air is circulated, so when the cooling air of the vehicle 1 is turned on, the fan 146 can Cool air is effectively sucked through the air inlet 148a to improve heat dissipation efficiency. In addition, in some vehicle models, an air outlet 132 (represented by a dotted square in FIG. 1 ) is provided above the middle of the cabin space 12a (approximately between the front seat 130 and the rear seat 122 ), and the cooling air flows through it. (The path of which is indicated by a plurality of arrows in FIG. 1 ) can also be effectively blown toward the speaker grill 126 , which is beneficial for the fan 146 to effectively draw cool air through the air inlet 148a.

In addition, in this embodiment, although the in-vehicle computer 14 is not directly disposed in the cabin space 12a, the cool air in the cabin space 12a can be sucked through the air duct 148. In practice, the on-board computer 14 must also be installed in the cockpit space 12a, and its installation position may be poorly ventilated (for example, under the seat, as shown by the dotted line below the rear seat 122 in FIG. 1 ), but it still needs to be properly configured The air duct 148 enables the fan 146 to smoothly absorb the cool air in the cabin space 12a. For example, in some vehicle models, the air outlet 133 is provided at the inner bottom plate of the cabin space 12a, and the air inlet 148a of the air duct 148 can be disposed toward or adjacent to the air outlet 133, so that the fan 146 can suck the cool air . In addition, in actual operation, if the weather is hot outside the vehicle 1, even if the vehicle 1 is not turned on the air conditioner, the air temperature in the cabin space 12a is in principle lower than other parts of the vehicle body 12 (for example, the rear trunk 12b), so the fan 146 The air with a lower temperature is still drawn through the air duct 148 to form an air flow with a lower temperature.

As described above, the computer case 142 , the fan 146 and the air duct 148 of the on-board computer 14 installed in the vehicle 1 form a heat dissipation system, and the air with a lower temperature is sucked through the air duct 148 to form a lower temperature airflow. The electronic components 144 provide better heat dissipation.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the technology of the present invention can be applied to in-vehicle devices, such as self-driving cars, electric cars, or semi-self-driving cars. The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

1: Vehicle 12: Body 12a: Cockpit space 12b: Rear trunk 122: rear seat 124: Speaker 126: Speaker grille 128: Trim 130: Front seat 132,133: Air outlet 14: On-board computer 142: Computer case 142a: accommodating space 142b: Fasteners 1422: Base 1424: upper cover 1424a: Opening 144: Electronic Components 146: Fan 1462: Intake port 1462a: Guiding Structures 1464: exhaust port 148: Duct 148a: Air intake 148b: air outlet 150: Filter F: Airflow

1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle having an onboard computer, according to one embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the on-board computer in FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is a partial exploded view of the on-board computer in FIG. 2 . FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the on-board computer along the line X-X in FIG. 2 . FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the structural arrangement of the fan and the air duct in FIG. 4 according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a rear seat in the vehicle of FIG. 1 .

14: On-board computer

142: Computer case

142b: Fasteners

1422: Base

1424: upper cover

1424a: Opening

148: Duct

148a: Air intake

150: Filter

Claims (10)

An in-vehicle computer comprising: a computer casing, having an accommodating space and an opening communicating with the accommodating space; an electronic component disposed in the computer casing; a fan, disposed in the accommodating space and having an air inlet and an air outlet, the fan generates an air flow to dissipate heat from the electronic component; and an air duct exposed on the computer casing and passing through or connected to the opening, the air duct has an air inlet and an air outlet, the air inlet is located outside the computer casing, and the air outlet faces or is connected to the Inhalation port. The in-vehicle computer as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a filter disposed at the air inlet. The in-vehicle computer of claim 1, wherein the fan is an axial fan, a centrifugal fan, or a blower, and the exhaust port faces the electronic component. A vehicle comprising: a hull with a cabin space; and An in-vehicle computer is installed in the vehicle body, and the in-vehicle computer includes: a computer casing, having an accommodating space and an opening communicating with the accommodating space; an electronic component disposed in the computer casing; a fan, which is disposed in the accommodating space and has an air inlet and an air outlet, and the fan generates an air flow to dissipate heat from the electronic component; and an air duct exposed on the computer casing and passing through or connected to the opening, the air duct has an air inlet and an air outlet, the air inlet is located outside the computer casing, and the air outlet faces or is connected to the an air inlet, the air duct communicates with the cabin space via the air inlet. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the on-board computer further comprises a filter disposed at the air intake. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the fan is an axial fan or a centrifugal fan or a blower, and the exhaust port faces the electronic component. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the vehicle body includes a speaker grill disposed behind a rear seat in the vehicle body and exposed in the cabin space, wherein the speaker grill covers the air intake. A cooling system for an on-board computer, the cooling system comprising: a computer casing, having an accommodating space and an opening communicating with the accommodating space; a fan, disposed in the accommodating space and having an air inlet and an air outlet; and an air duct exposed on the computer casing and passing through or connected to the opening, the air duct has an air inlet and an air outlet, the air inlet is located outside the computer casing, and the air outlet faces or is connected to the Inhalation port. The cooling system according to claim 8, further comprising a filter disposed at the air inlet. The cooling system of claim 8, wherein the fan is an axial fan, a centrifugal fan, or a blower, and the exhaust port faces the electronic component.

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