US 10,257,957 B2Granted

Cooling system for electronic devices employing adjacent fan cages with interflow passages

AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation

InventorsDavid Paul Barron, Howard Victor Mahaney, Jr., Phillip V. Mann, Matthew Tant Richardson

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Abstract

Cooling systems employing adjacent fan cages having cage walls with interflow passages are disclosed. A cooling system includes cooling fans disposed in adjacent fan cages. Cage walls of the fan cages direct flows from the fans to the outlet ports of the fan cages which are in fluid communication with electrical components within an electronics-containing enclosure. By forming an interflow passage between the adjacent fan cages, upon occurrence of an inoperable fan, a portion of the flow from an adjacent operable fan can pass to the outlet port of the fan cage of the inoperable fan via the passage and provide better cooling of the components impacted by the inoperable fan. In this manner, thermal damage is avoided while minimizing fan noise associated with higher fan speeds.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A method for cooling at least one electrical component disposed within an electronics-containing enclosure, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of cooling flows with a plurality of adjacent cooling fans contained within respective adjacent fan cages;
directing the plurality of cooling flows from the plurality of cooling fans to outlet ports of the respective adjacent fan cages, wherein each of the outlet ports of the respective adjacent fan cages are in fluid communication with at least one of the electrical components contained within the electronics-containing enclosure;
and
upon an occurrence of an inoperable cooling fan, diverting a portion of a cooling flow from an operable cooling fan of the plurality of cooling fans to inside the fan cage containing the inoperable cooling fan via at least one interflow passage, wherein, while the inoperable cooling fan remains inside the fan cage, the diverted portion is prevented from entering the inoperable cooling fan.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/833,332Filed 24 Aug 2015 · continuation
Priority: 12 Jun 2015
Published: US 2016/0366784 A115 Dec 2016
Granted: 9 Apr 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

H05K 7/20145
Forced ventilation, e.g. by fans: means for directing air flow, e.g. ducts, deflectors, plenum or guides
H05K 7/20181
Forced ventilation, e.g. by fans: filters; Louvers
H05K 7/20136
Using a gaseous coolant in electronic enclosures: forced ventilation, e.g. by fans
H05K 7/20736
Forced ventilation of a gaseous coolant: within cabinets for removing heat from server blades

Family

Application14/738,491Parent of this continuation · filed 12 Jun 2015
US 2016/0366785 A1Pre-grant publication · published 15 Dec 2016
US 9,681,579 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2016/0366784 A1Published application
US 10,257,957 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.