Method and apparatus for maintaining a cooling air path

Abstract

A method of maintaining a cooling air path in an embedded computer chassis having a front side and a rear side includes providing a computing module portion and a fan module portion disposed adjacent to the computing module portion to accept a plurality of fan modules for drawing cooling air though the computing module portion. Cooling air is drawn into the front side of the embedded computer chassis through an air plenum disposed adjacent to the computing module portion, where the cooling air passes through the computing module portion, and where the cooling air is exhausted from the fan module portion through a rear side of the embedded computer chassis, thereby defining the cooling air path. An opening force is applied to a fan module portion cover to place the fan module portion cover in an open position, where the fan module portion cover is rotatable to the open position away and down from the fan module portion, where while in the open position the cooling air path is substantially interrupted. Upon release of the opening force, an elastic means automatically rotates the fan module portion cover to a closed position up and towards the fan module portion, thereby maintaining the cooling air path.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.