US20010043463A1

US20010043463A1 - Structure of tower-type personal computer

Info

Publication number: US20010043463A1
Application number: US09/281,827
Authority: US
Inventors: Hyun Ho Lee
Original assignee: LG Electronics Inc
Current assignee: LG Electronics Inc
Priority date: 1998-04-10
Filing date: 1999-04-05
Publication date: 2001-11-22
Anticipated expiration: 2019-04-05
Also published as: US6396684B2; KR19990079908A; KR100360446B1

Abstract

A structure of a tower-type personal computer which minimizes its main body in size, improves an aesthetic property, and efficiently performs a heat cooling process, includes: a frame having its rear portion provided with a rear panel having connectors for connection with peripheral devices, its front lower portion provided with a device drive module installing space so that a disk and the like are inserted thereinto, its front upper portion formed in a round shape curved toward a rear direction, and its one side formed for computer components to be installed; a front panel provided at the front portion of the frame, having its lower portion formed for device drive modules to be installed, and having its upper portion formed in a round shape curved toward a rear direction identically to the upper portion of the frame; a bottom panel forming a bottom portion of the frame; a cover forming an outline by covering the frame; device drive modules installed at the lower portion of the front panel in the frame; a mother board installed at one side portion of the frame; a central processing unit installed at the upper portion of the mother board; a power supply installed at the rear panel on an identical horizontal line to the central processing unit; and option cards installed at the lower portion of the mother board.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a tower-type personal computer, and in particular to a structure of a tower-type personal computer which minimizes its main body in size, improves an aesthetic property, and increases reliability of products by efficiently performing a cooling process on a heat generated from its main body.

2. Description of the Background Art

FIG. 1 is a structure view illustrating an inside structure of a general tower-type personal computer. As shown therein, the general tower-type personal computer that consists of a hexahedron, includes: a

frame

20 having its rear portion provided with a rear panel 10 having a plurality of connectors (not shown) for connection with peripheral devices, and having its one side formed for components to be installed; a front panel 30 installed at a front portion of the frame 20 so that disc and the like are inserted thereinto; a bottom panel 40 forming a bottom portion of the frame 20; and a cover 50 covering the frame 20 and forming an outline.

On the other hand, a system for driving the computer is provided in the

frame

20. At the upper portion of the front panel 30 are installed device driver modules 60, such as an FDD module 61, an HDD module 62 and a CD-ROM module 63. At the lower portion thereof are provided a power switch, a reset switch and an indicator. A mother board 64 where various interface circuit boards are installed is provided at one side portion of the frame 20 for sharing a signal cable and a power wire.

Further, a central processing unit (CPU) 65 controlling an operation of the system is provided at an upper portion of the mother board 64. A plurality of option cards 66 improving system performance are positioned at a lower portion of the mother board 64. A power supply 67 supplying a power to the system is provided at an upper portion of the rear panel 10.

Here, a

fan

67 a is installed at the power supply 67 toward a hole 10 a of the rear panel 10, thereby externally discharging a heat generated from the power supply 67. A fan 65 a is also provided at the CPU 65, and thus serves to cool a heat generated therefrom.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are side views respectively illustrating installing positions of components in accordance with the conventional technique.

Referring to FIG. 2, a module installing space (A) is provided at a front upper portion in the

frame

20 for installing the device drive module 60, such as the FDD module 61, the HDD module 62 and the CD-ROM module 63. A spare space (B) is provided at a lower portion thereof for obtaining an installing space for other components.

In addition, a space for installing the

power supply

67 and the CPU 65 is provided at an upper portion in the frame 20, and a space for installing the plurality of option cards 66 is provided at a lower portion thereof.

As a modified embodiment of the constitution in FIG. 2, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the positions of the module installing space (A) and the spare space (B) are exchangeable. Accordingly, the positions of the space for installing the

power supply

67 and the CPU 65 and the space for installing the option cards 66 are exchanged.

As described above, in the general tower-type personal computer, a great deal of heat is generated from the

CPU

65 and power supply 67 in operation, and as a result a temperature inside the system is increased. Accordingly, the personal computer must have a structure for minimizing an influence from the heat, when installing each component. Spaces must be efficiently utilized when arranging the components.

However, in the conventional personal computer shape and system installing structure, only the heat generated from the power supply can be externally discharged. Accordingly, the heat generated from the CPU and components are transmitted to the module installing space, thus influencing on the device drive modules. As a result, a mis-operation of the system takes place, and a lifespan thereof is decreased.

In addition, when the power supply is positioned at the lower portion of the personal computer, a heat generated from the power supply rises by a convection process. Accordingly, the components of the personal computer, such as the CPU are heated, and thus lifespan thereof is decreased.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages, an special cooling fan is further provided at the CPU. However, it incurs more expenses and causes much noise.

In addition, it is difficult to minimize the computer in size and to improve an aesthetic property due to the spare space for installing other components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a structure of a tower-type personal computer which minimizes the computer in size and improves an aesthetic property by forming a front upper portion of a computer main body in a round shape with a plurality of vent holes, and which increases cooling efficiency of a system.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object of the present invention, there is provided a structure of a tower-type personal computer including: a frame having its rear portion provided with a rear panel having a plurality of connectors for connection with peripheral devices, its front lower portion provided with a device drive module installing space so that a disk and the like are inserted thereinto, its front upper portion formed in a round shape curved toward a rear direction, and its one side formed in order for computer components to be installed; a front panel provided at the front portion of the frame, having its lower portion formed for device drive modules to be installed, and having its upper portion formed in a round shape curved toward a rear direction identically to the upper portion of the frame, a plurality of vent holes being formed at the round-shaped portion; a bottom panel forming a bottom portion of the frame; a cover forming an outline by covering the frame; device drive modules installed at the lower portion of the front panel in the frame; a mother board installed at one side portion of the frame; a central processing unit installed at the upper portion of the mother board; a power supply installed at the rear panel on an identical horizontal line to the central processing unit; and a plurality of option cards installed at the lower portion of the mother board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given only by way of illustration and thus are not limitative of the present invention, wherein: [0019]
FIG. 1 is a structure view illustrating an inside structure of a conventional tower-type personal computer; [0020]
FIG. 2 is a side-sectional view illustrating a structure of the conventional tower-type personal computer; [0021]
FIG. 3 is a side-sectional view illustrating a modified structure of the conventional tower-type personal computer; [0022]
FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a tower-type personal computer according to the present invention; and [0023]
FIG. 5 is a side-sectional view illustrating a structure of the tower-type personal computer according to the present invention.[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A structure of a tower-type personal computer in accordance with the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. [0025]
FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the tower-type personal computer according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a side-sectional view illustrating the structure of the tower-type personal computer according to the present invention. [0026]
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the structure of the tower-type personal computer includes: a [0027] frame 100 having its rear portion provided with a rear panel 110, its front lower portion provided with a device drive module installing space (C) so that a disk and the like are inserted thereinto, its front upper portion formed in a round shape curved toward a rear direction, and its one side formed in order for computer components to be installed; a front panel 200 provided at the front portion of the frame 100, having its lower portion formed for device drive modules to be installed, and having its upper portion formed in a round shape curved toward a rear direction identically to the upper portion of the frame 100, a plurality of vent holes 210 being formed at the round-shaped portion; a bottom panel 120 forming a bottom portion of the frame 100; and a cover 300 forming an outline by covering the frame 100.
A system driving the computer described above is provided in the computer. [0028] Device modules 500 such as an FDD module 510, an HDD module 520 and a CD-ROM module 530 are installed at the installing space (C) of the front lower portion of the frame 100. A mother board 540 is provided at one side portion of the frame 100. Various interface circuit boards are arranged on the mother board in order to share a signal cable or a power wire.
Further, a [0029] power supply 550 supplying a power to the system is provided at the rear upper portion of the frame 100. A central processing unit 560 is installed adjacent to the power supply 550 on the mother board. That is, in profile, the CPU 560 is partly overlapped with the power supply 550. It is also possible to position the CPU 560 at the lower portion of the power supply 550. A plurality of option cards 570 providing additional functions to the system are installed at the lower portion of the mother board.
Here, the plurality of [0030] option cards 570 are alternately positioned with the device drive modules 500 so that the option cards 570 may utilize a region of the module installing space (C) according to length thereof.
In addition, a [0031] cooling fan 550 a affixed to the power supply 550 is positioned toward the central processing unit 560. A plurality of holes 110 a are formed at the rear panel 110 which is adjacent to the power supply 550, and thus an air can be easily passed.
According to the present invention, the module installing space (C) for installing the device drive modules is provided at the front lower portion in the [0032] frame 100. A space for installing the power supply 550 and the central processing unit 560 is provided at the rear upper portion of the frame 100. Also, a space for installing the plurality of option cards 570 is provided at the lower portion thereof.
Here, the installing position of the [0033] power supply 550 and the central processing unit 560 can be exchanged with the installing position of the option cards 570. That is, the power supply 550 and the CPU 560 may be positioned at the lower portion of the frame 110, and the option card 570 may be positioned at the upper portion of the frame 110. Also in this case, the cooling fan 550 a of the power supply 550 is positioned toward the central processing unit 560.
In accordance with the structure of the tower-type personal computer of the present invention, a heat generated from the [0034] central processing unit 560 in operation is cooled by the cooling fan 550 a of the power supply 550 that is positioned toward the central processing unit 560. The power supply 550 and CPU 560 generating a lot of heat are arranged at the upper portion of the frame 100, and an air heated by the heat rises. Thereafter, the heat is not transmitted to the module installing space (C), but externally discharged through the vent holes 210 formed at the round-shaped portion of the front panel 200.
As discussed earlier, the structure of the tower-type personal computer in accordance with the present invention is provided with the round-shaped front panel, thereby reducing an unnecessary space, minimizing the product in size, and improving an aesthetic sense of the outline design. [0035]
In addition, in accordance with the present invention, the heat generated from the system is externally discharged through the vent holes by the cooling fan, and thus cooling is rapidly carried out. As a result, a mis-operation of the system is prevented, a lifespan of the product is increased, and a competitive power in cost is improved due to reduction in production cost by decreasing additional components for cooling. [0036]
As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiment is not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the meets and bounds of the claims, or equivalences of such meets and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims. [0037]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A structure of the tower-type personal computer comprises:

a frame having its front lower portion provided with a device drive module installing space so that media such as a disk are inserted thereinto, its front upper portion formed in a round shape curved toward a rear direction, and its one side formed in order for computer components to be installed;

a front panel provided at the front portion of the frame, having its lower portion formed for device drive modules to be installed, and having its upper portion formed in a round shape curved toward a rear direction identically to the upper portion of the frame;

a bottom panel forming a bottom portion of the frame; and

a cover forming an outline by covering the frame.

2. The structure according to

claim 1

, wherein the round-shaped portion of the front panel is provided with a plurality of vent holes.

3. A structure of the tower-type personal computer comprises:

a frame having its lower portion provided with a device drive module installing space so that a storage media is inserted thereinto;

a front panel provided at the front portion of the frame, having its lower portion formed for the device drive module to be inserted;

a bottom panel forming a bottom portion of the frame;

a cover forming an outline by covering the frame;

a power supply installed at an upper portion of the frame;

a mother board installed at one side portion of the frame; and

a central processing unit installed at the upper portion of the mother board and adjacently positioned to the power supply.

4. The structure according to

claim 3

, further comprising at least one option card installed at the lower portion of the mother board.

5. The structure according to

claim 4

, wherein the at least one option card and the device modules are alternately positioned in order not to be connected with each other.

6. The structure according to

claim 3

, wherein a plurality of vent holes are formed at a front upper portion of the front panel.

7. The structure according to

claim 3

, wherein a fan affixed to the power supply is positioned toward the central processing unit.

8. The structure according to

claim 3

, wherein an installing position of the plurality of option cards is exchanged with an installing position of the central processing unit and the power supply in the frame.