Universal fan cage for hot-pluggable fans
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsKelly K. Smith, Karl J. Dobler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides a system to mount a group of fans on the system board of a computer server. The mounting system allows for the fans to be installed or removed as a group or as individual components without the use of tools. The fans are preferably hot-pluggable, or capable of being installed or removed without having to turn off the server. Therefore, an entire group of fans can be removed from a server without using any tools or having to power down the system. The fans can also be removed and installed as individual units, without effecting the other fans in the group.
Claims10
A computer, comprising:
- a chassis;
- a system board attached to said chassis and having a plurality of electrical sockets;
- a cage having a plurality of receptacles and a first attachment mechanism for releasably attaching said cage to said chassis, wherein said first attachment mechanism can be engaged and disengaged from said chassis without tools;
- and
- a plurality of fans adapted to fit within the receptacles and each fan having a plug to attach to one of said sockets and a second attachment mechanism to releasably attaching the fan to said cage.
A fan cage holding a plurality of fans, comprising:
- a first and second side panel having openings allowing the free flow of air through the plurality of fans;
- a first and second end panel, each end panel having a latch mechanism attached thereto;
- and
- a base panel attached to said side and end panels forming the bottom of a rectangular, open-top enclosure, wherein said base panel has means through which there is electrical communication between a socket on a system board and a plug on one of the plurality of fans and said latch mechanisms maintain the relative position between the fan cage and the system board.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.