WO2012132781A1

WO2012132781A1 - Drive device and drive system

Info

Publication number: WO2012132781A1
Application number: PCT/JP2012/055637
Authority: WO
Inventors: 寛映國延; 勝弘宮崎
Original assignee: 日本電気株式会社; 日本電気通信システム株式会社
Priority date: 2011-03-30
Filing date: 2012-03-06
Publication date: 2012-10-04
Also published as: JP2012212729A

Abstract

Provided are a drive device and drive system which make it possible to conserve space. The drive device is provided with: a plurality of drive units; a power source unit for supplying power which allows the plurality of drive units to start up; and a start-up control unit which is positioned between the power source unit and at least one drive unit from among the plurality of drive units, comprises a power storage unit that can store a predetermined amount of power from the power source unit, and supplies power to a corresponding drive unit after the power has been stored in the power storage unit.

Description

Drive device and drive system

The present invention relates to a drive device and a drive system provided with an activation control unit.

In various apparatuses such as a server computer, since each component inside the apparatus generates heat during operation, an apparatus for radiating heat is necessary. In recent years, with the increase in functionality and miniaturization of various devices, the degree of integration of components inside the device has increased, and thus there has been a problem of reduced heat dissipation efficiency. For example, in a server computer or the like, the heat generation density is increased due to the increase in the degree of component integration. For this reason, it is necessary to provide a plurality of fans as a driving device, and to control and drive each of the plurality of fans to perform heat dissipation to avoid damage to components. Further, when a plurality of fans are provided as described above, the plurality of fans must be installed inside a server computer having a high degree of component integration, and it is necessary to reduce the size of the entire unit including the fans. .

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for reducing the size while controlling a plurality of fans. Specifically, in Patent Document 1, the startup control of a plurality of fans in the refrigerator is performed, the simultaneous startup of the plurality of fans is avoided, the simultaneous supply of the startup current from the power supply unit to the plurality of fans is avoided, A technique for reducing the maximum allowable current of the power supply unit to reduce the size of the power supply unit and concomitant with this is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-78055

However, in the startup control of the plurality of fans, simultaneous startup is avoided using a microcomputer. For this reason, the circuit scale of this microcomputer has increased, and further miniaturization has been difficult.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a drive device and a drive system that can be reduced in size.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means.
That is, the drive device according to the present invention includes a plurality of drive units, a power supply unit that supplies power for starting the plurality of drive units, and at least one drive unit of the plurality of drive units and the power supply unit. At least one activation control unit that has a power storage unit disposed between and capable of storing a predetermined amount of power from the power supply unit, and that supplies power to the corresponding drive unit after power storage to the power storage unit is completed With.

The drive system according to the present invention includes a plurality of the drive devices, and an output control unit that performs control so that power is sequentially supplied from the power supply unit included in each of the drive devices to the drive unit.

The drive device and drive system of the present invention uses a simple method that uses only the power storage action in the power storage unit, delays startup of the corresponding drive unit, and reduces the supply power caused by simultaneous startup of a plurality of drive units. Avoid growth. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the power supply unit and the startup control unit, and to save space.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the fan drive device which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the starting control part in the fan drive device which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the time change of the electric current supplied from each in the case of starting simultaneously the 1st fan and 2nd fan which concern on 1st embodiment of this invention, and when starting sequentially with a fixed time difference. is there. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the fan drive system which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the output control part which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the starting control part at the time of using a coil instead of a resistor. It is a perspective view of the transmission apparatus which concerns on 3rd embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First embodiment]
First, the fan drive device 1 which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. The fan driving device 1 is installed inside a server computer or the like, and cools a component that has generated heat to prevent the component from being damaged.
As shown in FIG. 1, the fan driving device 1 includes two driving units, that is, a first fan 2 and a second fan 3 that generate cooling air, and a power source unit 4 that supplies electric power for starting them. An activation control unit 5 is provided between the second fan 3 and the power supply unit 4 and controls power supplied from the power supply unit 4 to the second fan 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the activation control unit 5 includes a power storage unit 6 that stores power supplied from the power supply unit 4, and power supplied to the second fan 3 provided between the power storage unit 6 and the second fan 3. And a transistor 9 as a switch permitting supply. The power storage unit 6 includes a capacitor 7 that can store a predetermined amount of electric power, and a resistor 8 that is provided together with the capacitor 7 and determines a storage speed of the capacitor 7.

In the fan drive device 1 as described above, power is directly supplied from the power supply unit 4 to the first fan 2, and the first fan 2 is first activated.
At the same time as the power supply to the first fan 2, the power supply to the activation control unit 5 is performed, and the capacitor 7 in the power storage unit 6 starts storing the supplied power. At this time, since the voltage applied to the transistor 9 is less than a predetermined value for a predetermined time until the predetermined amount of power is stored in the capacitor 7, the power supply from the power supply unit 4 to the second fan 3 is cut off. Then, when the storage of the capacitor 7 is completed and the voltage applied to the transistor 9 reaches a predetermined value after the lapse of the predetermined time, the transistor 9 permits energization from the power supply unit 4 to the second fan 3, Power supply to the two fans 3 is started. That is, if power is supplied to the second fan 3 via the activation control unit 5, the second fan 3 can be activated after a certain period of time after the first fan 2 is activated.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the starting current α for starting the first fan 2 and the second fan 3 requires a larger current than the steady current β required for steady driving.
That is, if the first fan 2 and the second fan 3 have the same specifications, the total supply current required to start the first fan 2 and the second fan 3 simultaneously is α × 2. On the other hand, when the second fan 3 is activated during steady driving of the first fan 2 after a certain time has elapsed since the activation of the first fan 2, the total supply current required is α + β. Therefore, the relationship of α × 2> α + β is established for all the supply currents from the power supply unit 4 to be supplied to the first fan 2 and the second fan 3 at the same time. When the two fans 3 are started, the required total supply current, that is, the total supply power can be reduced.

Here, in the case where the second fan 3 is started after a lapse of a certain time from the start of the first fan 2, the current supplied to the capacitor 7 together with the start current of the first fan 2 when starting the first fan 2. Since γ is required, the total supply current from the power supply unit 4 is α + γ. However, since the relationship of α × 2> α + γ is established, it is possible to suppress the total supply current required as compared with the case where the first fan 2 and the second fan 3 are simultaneously started.

As a result, the maximum allowable current of the power supply unit 4 that supplies power can be suppressed, and the power supply unit 4 can be reduced in size.
Further, along with the downsizing of the power supply unit 4, the start control unit 5 employs a simple structure in which the start-up of the second fan 3 is delayed using the storage effect of the capacitor 7. For this reason, the startup control unit 5 can be downsized, and the fan drive device 1 as a whole can be downsized.

In the present embodiment, the fan driving device 1 includes the first fan 2 and the second fan 3, and the second fan 3 is activated with delay, and the first fan 2 and the second fan 3 are sequentially started. An example of starting is shown. However, for example, at least three fans may be provided. In this case, if a plurality of power storage units 6 having different storage times are provided between the power supply unit 4 and each of the plurality of fans, each of the plurality of fans can be started sequentially. Therefore, even in a situation where more fans are required, simultaneous startup of the fans can be avoided, the power supply unit 4 can be reduced in size, and space saving and cost reduction can be achieved. In addition, as a means for making the power storage time different for each power storage unit 6, the power storage capacity may be different for each power storage unit 6, or the power storage speed may be different for each power storage unit 6.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, the fan drive system 11 according to the second embodiment will be described. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the component similar to 1st embodiment, and detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the fan drive system 11 includes a plurality of

fan drive devices

1A and 1B and an output control unit 15 that issues a power output command to the power supply units of the

fan drive devices

1A and 1B. Prepare. In the present embodiment, the fan drive system 11 includes two

fan drive devices

1A and 1B. Each

fan drive device

1A, 1B includes a first fan 2, a second fan 3, and an activation control unit 5 in the same manner as the fan drive device 1 of the first embodiment. On the other hand, each of the

fan drive devices

1A and 1B differs from the fan drive device 1 of the first embodiment in that the first power supply unit 13 and the second power supply unit 14 that are the respective power supply units include the enable signal control unit 12. ing. And the output control part 15 transmits the enable signal W with respect to the 1st power supply part 13 and the 2nd power supply part 14, and has performed the output command of electric power with respect to the 1st power supply part 13 and the 2nd power supply part 14. .

That is, the output control unit 15 includes a first enable signal generation unit 16 and a second enable signal generation unit 19. The first enable signal generation unit 16 includes a first capacitor 17 that stores electricity from an external power source (not shown), and a first resistor 18 that is provided together with the first capacitor 17 and determines the storage speed of the first capacitor 17.

The second enable signal generator 19 has substantially the same configuration as the first enable signal generator 16 and includes a second capacitor 20 and a second resistor 21.
Here, the first capacitor 17 and the second capacitor 20 have different storage capacities, and the first resistor 18 and the second resistor 21 have different resistance values.

In the fan drive system 11 as described above, the output control unit 15 receives ON / OFF switching in a ground switch unit (not shown), and the first capacitor 17 in the first enable signal generation unit 16 repeatedly enables power storage and discharge. A signal W is generated. Thereafter, the enable signal W is transmitted to the enable signal control unit 12, where the enable signal control unit 12 determines whether the enable signal W is active or inactive, and the first power supply unit 13 is allowed to output power, or It is forbidden.

Also, in the second enable signal generation unit 19, the enable signal W is generated similarly to the first enable signal generation unit 16. However, since a difference is provided in the storage capacity between the first capacitor 17 and the second capacitor 20, or a difference is provided in the storage speed, a difference occurs in the time until the enable signal W becomes active. As a result, the enable signal control unit 12 can set a time difference in the power output from the first power supply unit 13 and the second power supply unit 14. The

fan driving devices

1A and 1B can be activated independently.

Here, when power is supplied from the first power supply unit 13 in the fan drive device 1A, the first fan 2 in the fan drive device 1A is first started as described in the first embodiment, and then a time difference is provided. The second fan 3 in the fan driving device 1A is activated. Thereafter, electric power is supplied to the fan drive device 1B, the first fan 2 in the fan drive device 1B is first activated, and then the second fan 3 in the fan drive device 1B is activated with a time difference. That is, as a whole fan driving system 11, all of the two first fans 2 and the two second fans 3 can be started with a time difference.

As a result, each of the two first fans 2 and the two second fans 3 included in the

fan drive systems

1A and 1B can be sequentially activated. Therefore, the first power supply unit 13 and the second power supply unit 14 that suppress the maximum allowable current can be adopted, and the fan drive system 11 as a whole can be downsized as the first power supply unit 13 and the second power supply unit 14 are downsized. Can be planned.

Moreover, since the output control unit 15 is provided, the two

fan driving devices

1A and 1B can be provided in parallel. Therefore, for example, when one of the

fan drive devices

1A, 1B fails, only the one failed fan drive device 1 can be easily replaced while the fan drive system 11 is in operation. That is, the fan drive system 11 has a hot swap function, and redundancy of the fan drive system 11 is achieved. Therefore, easy maintenance and improved reliability can be achieved.

In the present embodiment, the example in which the fan driving system 11 includes the two

fan driving devices

1A and 1B is shown. However, for example, the fan driving system 11 may include at least three fan driving devices 1A (or 1B). In this case, a plurality of first enable signal generation units 16 (or second enable signal generation units 19) having different storage capacities and storage speeds are provided in the output control unit 15 for the plurality of fan drive devices 1A (or 1B). The plurality of fan drive devices 1A (or 1B) are sequentially supplied with power, and the plurality of first fan 2 and second fan 3 in each of the plurality of fan drive devices 1A (or 1B) are sequentially activated. can do. Therefore, for example, when the fan drive system 11 is installed in a server computer, a higher heat dissipation effect can be obtained while saving space. In addition, redundancy of the fan drive system 11 can be achieved, leading to improved reliability.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, some design changes can be made without departing from the technical idea of the present invention.
For example, the power storage unit 6 of the start control unit 5 employs an RC circuit that determines the power storage speed of the capacitor 7 using the resistor 8, and the start timing of the first fan 2 and the second fan 3 is determined. ing. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the start timing may be set by employing an LC circuit using a coil 50 instead of the resistor.

In the embodiment, the example of the fan driving device 1 that drives the fan as the driving unit has been described as the driving device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to, for example, an illumination device that drives an illumination light source as a drive unit.

[Third embodiment]
Subsequently, a transmission device 31 will be described as an example of a device in which the fan driving device 1 of the first embodiment is mounted as a third embodiment. This transmission device is used, for example, when wireless base stations communicate with each other.
As shown in FIG. 7, the transmission device 31 includes a rectangular parallelepiped housing 32, two fan driving devices 1 mounted on the housing 32, two power supply units 4 included therein, and a plurality of communication units. 36, two control boards 33, an external device connection board 34, and a filter 35. The fan driving device 1, the communication unit 36, the control board 33, and the external device connection board 34 are connected via a mother board (not shown).

The two fan drive devices 1 are configured to discharge the air inside the housing 32. In the normal state, the four first fans 2 and the two second fans 3 in the two fan driving devices 1 are set to operate. Furthermore, when one fan drive device 1 breaks down, it sets so that the wind force of the other one fan drive device 1 may be increased.

Further, the two power supply units 4 are configured to supply power to the control board 33 and the external device connection board 34 via the motherboard together with power supply to the fan driving device 1. The power required by the transmission device 31 can be supplied from one power supply unit 4, but in normal times, the two power supply units 4 operate in parallel so that the required power is shared and supplied. Is set to Furthermore, when one of the power supply units 4 fails, the non-failed power supply unit 4 is set to supply all the power. That is, the transmission device 31 is configured to be operable even when one of the two power supply units 4 is stopped (failed). Therefore, the failed power supply unit 4 can be replaced without stopping the operation of the transmission apparatus 31.

The communication unit 36 includes, for example, a low-speed communication unit suitable for low-speed communication with a communication speed of about 1 Gbps such as wireless communication and STM (Synchronous / Transport / Module), and high-speed communication suitable for high-speed optical communication of 10 Gbps or higher. It consists of a communication unit. The transmission apparatus 31 of this embodiment can connect 10 low-speed communication units and 4 high-speed communication units.
The control board 33 can perform signal control of these wireless communication and optical communication. Further, the control board 33 can exchange signals between wireless communication and optical communication. Therefore, a signal received using optical communication can be transmitted by wireless communication, and a signal received using wireless communication can be transmitted by optical communication.

The low-speed communication unit includes a pair of modems that communicate with an outdoor device, an STM-1 interface that supports STM-1, and a GbE interface that supports the GbE (Gigabit Ethernet (registered trademark)) standard. The low-speed communication unit is provided with a connector capable of communicating at least an electrical signal.
The high-speed communication unit has a 10 GbE interface that supports the 10 GbE standard. The high-speed communication unit is provided with a connector capable of communicating at least an optical signal.

The external device connection board 34 is a board for connecting an external device such as a personal computer and the control board 33. Although not shown, the front panel of the external device connection board 34 allows communication. The connector is provided. The external device connection board 34 is configured to be connectable to either of the two control boards 33.

The filter 35 is configured to block dust, dust, and the like contained in the air flowing into the housing 32 when air is discharged using the fan drive system 11.

Since the transmission apparatus 31 as described above has a function capable of performing optical communication as well as wireless communication, the component density inside the housing 32 is high. Therefore, if the fan drive device 1 is provided inside the housing 32 as described above, as described in the first embodiment, it is possible to suppress the starting power at the time of fan startup, and to reduce the size of the power supply unit 4 and the startup control unit 5. Is possible.
As a result, the fan drive device 1 as a whole can be reduced in size and can be easily installed inside the casing 32 having a high component density.

In addition, in such a transmission device 31, the fan drive system 11 of the second embodiment may be mounted. In this case, a large number of first fans 2 and second fans 3 can be installed even inside the casing 32 having a high component density. Moreover, the air inside the housing | casing 32 can be discharged | emitted efficiently outside, and it leads to the reliability improvement of the transmission apparatus 31. FIG.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in embodiment mentioned above. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-076586 filed on March 30, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein.

The present invention is applicable to a system having a plurality of driving units such as a fan and an illumination light source. In the present invention, the power supply unit and the activation control unit for controlling the power supplied from the power supply unit to the drive unit can be reduced in size, and space can be saved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Fan drive device, 2 ... 1st fan, 3 ... 2nd fan, 4 ... Power supply part, 5 ... Start-up control part, 6 ... Power storage part, 7 ... Capacitor, 8 ... Resistor, 9 ... Transistor, 11 ... Fan Drive system, 1A ... fan drive device, 1B ... fan drive device, 12 ... enable signal control unit, 13 ... first power supply unit, 14 ... second power supply unit, 15 ... output control unit, 16 ... first enable signal generation unit , 17 ... 1st capacitor, 18 ... 1st resistor, 19 ... 2nd enable signal production | generation part, 20 ... 2nd capacitor, 21 ... 2nd resistor, 31 ... Transmission apparatus, 32 ... Housing | casing, 33 ... Control board 34 ... External device connection board, 35 ... Filter, 36 ... Communication unit, 50 ... Coil, W ... Enable signal

Claims

A plurality of drive units;
A power supply for supplying power to activate the plurality of drive units;
The power storage unit is disposed between at least one of the plurality of drive units and the power supply unit, and can store a predetermined amount of power from the power supply unit, and the power storage to the power storage unit is completed. A drive apparatus comprising: at least one activation control unit that supplies power to the drive unit corresponding later.
The driving device according to claim 1, wherein the power storage unit includes a capacitor.
The power storage unit further includes a resistor or a coil that determines a power storage speed in the capacitor,
The drive device according to claim 2, wherein the activation control unit further includes a transistor as a switch that controls power supply from the power storage unit to a corresponding drive unit.
A plurality of activation control units as the at least one activation control unit;
The drive device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein power storage times of the plurality of power storage units provided in the plurality of activation control units are different from each other.
A plurality of driving devices according to any one of claims 1 to 4;
A drive system comprising: an output control unit that performs control so as to sequentially supply power from the power supply unit to each of the drive units included in each of the drive devices.
Each of the plurality of power supply units included in the plurality of driving devices is configured to be able to supply required power,
The plurality of power supply units normally operate in parallel to share and supply the required power, and when any power supply unit fails, a non-failed power supply unit is required. The driving system according to claim 5, wherein the electric power is supplied.