# US 12,193,193 B2 · Liquid pumping units, and related systems and methods > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,193,193 B2 - Document ID: US12193193B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/867,457 - Filed: 2022-07-18 - Published: 2022-11-03 - Granted: 2025-01-07 - Earliest claimed: 2020-05-11 - Assignees: CoolIT Systems, Inc. - Applicants: CoolIT Systems, Inc. - Inventors: Sebastian Varela Benitez; Dennis Trieu; Brydon Gierl; Seyed Kamaleddin Mostafavi Yazdi; Cameron Turner - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12193193B2 ## CPC - H05K 7/20781: {within cabinets for removing heat from server blades} - F04B 19/00: Machines or pumps having pertinent characteristics not provided for in, or of interest apart from, groups F04B1/00 - F04B17/00 - F04D 29/026: {especially adapted for liquid pumps} - G06F 1/183: Internal mounting support structures, e.g. for supporting printed circuit boards - G06F 1/20: Cooling means - G06F 1/206: {comprising thermal management} - H05K 7/20272: {Accessories for moving fluid, for expanding fluid, for connecting fluid conduits, for distributing fluid, for removing gas or for preventing leakage, e.g. pumps, tanks or manifolds} - H05K 7/20772: {within server blades for removing heat from heat source} - F04B 53/22: Arrangements for enabling ready assembly or disassembly - F04D 29/605: {specially adapted for liquid pumps} - G06F 2200/201: Cooling arrangements using cooling fluid - H05K: PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS - F04B: POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS (machines for liquids, or pumps, of rotary-piston or oscillating-piston type F04C; non-positive-displacement pumps F04D; pumping of fluid by direct contact of another fluid or by using inertia of fluid to be pumped F04F) - F04D: NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS (engine fuel-injection pumps F02M; ion pumps H01J41/12; electrodynamic pumps H02K44/02) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A pump tray has a liquid pump with an inlet and outlet. A blindly matable liquid coupler fluidicly couples with the pump inlet and a blindly matable liquid coupler fluidicly couples with the pump outlet. A chassis of the pump tray has an alignment member configured to removably engage with another device and to restrict, to a limited number of degrees-of-freedom, movement of the chassis relative to the other device (e.g., a liquid pumping unit). The blindly matable liquid couplers are so physically coupled with the chassis as to inhibit movement of them relative to the chassis. A liquid pumping unit also has a chassis defining a bay configured to receive a pump tray, a liquid inlet coupler and a liquid outlet coupler, and a reservoir fluidicly coupled with the liquid inlet coupler. A blindly-matable liquid coupler fluidicly couples with the reservoir outlet and a blindly-matable liquid coupler fluidicly couples with the liquid outlet coupler. An alignment member is configured to removably engage with the pump tray and to restrict, to a limited number of degrees-of-freedom, movement of the pump tray relative to the chassis of the liquid pumping unit. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A hot-swappable pump tray for a coolant distribution unit, the hot-swappable pump tray comprising: a chassis configured to slidably engage with a coolant distribution unit; a pump having an inlet and an outlet, the pump being mountably affixed with the chassis; a first blindly matable liquid coupler fluidically coupled with the pump inlet and mountably affixed with the chassis as to inhibit movement of the first blindly matable liquid coupler relative to the chassis; a second blindly matable liquid coupler fluidically coupled with the pump outlet and mountably affixed with the chassis as to inhibit movement of the second blindly matable liquid coupler relative to the chassis; and a fastener configured to maintain alignment of the hot-swappable pump tray relative to, and to urge the hot-swappable pump tray into engagement with, the coolant distribution unit when the fastener is urged in a first direction, urging the first blindly matable liquid coupler to mate blindly with a corresponding coupler of the coolant distribution unit and urging the second blindly matable liquid coupler to mate blindly with another corresponding coupler of the coolant distribution unit. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The hot-swappable pump tray according to claim 1, wherein the fastener is further configured to release the hot-swappable pump tray from engagement with the coolant distribution unit when the fastener is withdrawn in a second direction opposite the first direction, urging the first blindly matable liquid coupler to decouple from the corresponding coupler of the coolant distribution unit and urging the second blindly matable liquid coupler to decouple from the other corresponding coupler of the coolant distribution unit. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The hot-swappable pump tray according to claim 1, wherein the fastener comprises: an insertion lever configured to engage a complementary feature defined by the coolant distribution unit; a handle lever defining a user graspable portion; and a fulcrum positioned between the insertion lever and the handle lever, wherein a force applied to the handle lever in the first direction causes the insertion lever to urge against the complementary feature in an opposite direction, thereby applying an additive force to the fulcrum in the first direction. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The hot-swappable pump tray according to claim 3, wherein the insertion lever is shorter than the handle lever. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The hot-swappable pump tray according to claim 4, wherein the handle lever is further configured to latch in a closed position and maintain engagement of the hot-swappable pump tray with the coolant distribution unit. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The hot-swappable pump tray according to claim 1, further comprising an electrical connector configured to matingly engage with a complementary electrical connector of the coolant distribution unit when the hot-swappable pump tray is engaged with the coolant distribution unit. ### Claim 7 A coolant distribution unit, comprising: a chassis defining a bay configured to slidably receive a hot-swappable pump tray along an insertion axis, the chassis defining a recessed region configured to receive a corresponding portion of a fastener associated with the hot-swappable pump tray to maintain alignment of the hot-swappable pump tray along the insertion axis; an inlet to receive coolant from a cooling loop and an outlet to return coolant to the cooling loop; a first blindly-matable liquid coupler fluidically coupled with the inlet, the first blindly-matable liquid coupler being so configured relative to the bay as to be matable with a first complementary liquid coupler of the hot-swappable pump tray, thereby to fluidically couple the inlet with the a first complementary liquid coupler, when the hot-swappable pump tray urges along the insertion axis in a first direction; a second blindly-matable liquid coupler fluidically coupled with the outlet, the second blindly-matable liquid coupler being so configured relative to the bay as to be matable with a second complementary liquid coupler of the hot-swappable pump tray, thereby to fluidically couple the outlet with the a second complementary liquid coupler, when the hot-swappable pump tray urges along the insertion axis in the first direction. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The coolant distribution unit according to claim 7, wherein the bay is a first bay and the hot-swappable pump tray is a first hot-swappable pump tray, wherein the chassis further defines a second bay configured to slidably receive a second hot-swappable pump tray. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The coolant distribution unit according to claim 8, wherein the first blindly matable liquid coupler and the second blindly matable liquid coupler are associated with the first bay, wherein the chassis further defines a second bay, the coolant distribution unit further comprising: a first blindly-matable liquid coupler associated with the second bay and fluidically coupled with the inlet, such that the first blindly-matable liquid coupler associated with the second bay is configured to fluidically couple the inlet with an inlet to a hot-swappable pump tray inserted into the second bay; and a second blindly-matable liquid coupler associated with the second bay and fluidically coupled with the outlet, such that the second blindly-matable liquid coupler associated with the second bay is configured to fluidically couple the outlet with an outlet from a hot-swappable pump tray inserted into the second bay. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The coolant distribution unit according to claim 8, further comprising two interchangeable, hot-swappable pump trays, wherein the first bay receives one of the hot-swappable pump trays and the second bay receives the other one of the hot-swappable pump trays. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The coolant distribution unit according to claim 10, wherein the coolant distribution unit is configured to operate when one or the other of the two hot-swappable pump trays is removed from its respective bay. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The coolant distribution unit according to claim 10, further comprising one or more sensors configured to monitor operation of either or both of the hot-swappable pump trays. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The coolant distribution unit according to claim 10, further comprising control logic configured to control operation of either or both of the hot-swappable pump trays. ### Claim 14 (depends on 7) The coolant distribution unit according to claim 7, wherein the chassis is configured to removably retain a hot-swappable pump tray in a stationary position when the hot-swappable pump tray is inserted into the bay defined by the chassis. ### Claim 15 (depends on 7) The coolant distribution unit according claim 7, wherein the cooling loop is a secondary cooling loop, the coolant distribution unit further comprising a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger configured to facilitate heat transfer between a coolant circulating through the secondary cooling loop and another coolant circulating through a primary cooling loop. ### Claim 16 (depends on 7) The coolant distribution unit according to claim 7, further comprising a reservoir configured to receive coolant from the inlet and to supply coolant to the first blindly matable liquid coupler, thereby coupling the inlet with the first blindly matable liquid coupler. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The coolant distribution unit according to claim 16, wherein the bay is a first bay and the hot-swappable pump tray is a first hot-swappable pump tray, wherein the chassis further defines a second bay configured to slidably receive a second hot-swappable pump tray, wherein the reservoir is further configured to supply coolant to the second hot-swappable pump tray, thereby coupling the inlet with the second hot-swappable pump tray. ### Claim 18 (depends on 7) The coolant distribution unit according to claim 7, further comprising a reservoir configured to supply coolant to the outlet and to receive coolant from the second blindly matable liquid coupler, thereby coupling the outlet with the second blindly matable liquid coupler. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The coolant distribution unit according to claim 18, wherein the bay is a first bay and the hot-swappable pump tray is a first hot-swappable pump tray, wherein the chassis further defines a second bay configured to slidably receive a second hot-swappable pump tray, wherein the reservoir is further configured to receive coolant from the second hot-swappable pump tray, thereby coupling the outlet with the second hot-swappable pump tray.