Adaptive cooling assembly

• US 10,356,957 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2014
• Issued: 07/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Franz, John P, Cader, Tahir
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoffberg, Robert J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gafur, Razmeen
• Application Number:
  US15/523,674
• Publication Number:
  US 20170359923A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,719 Days
• Field of Search: 361676-678, 36167946-67954, 361688-723, 165 801- 805, 16510433, 165185, 174 151- 153, 174 161- 163, 174547, 174548, 257712-722, 257E23088, 24453, 24458-459, 454184, 312236
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/04 on conductive chassis
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1457 Power distribution arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1488 Cabinets therefor, e.g. chassis or racks or mechanical interfaces between blades and support structures
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20009 using a gaseous coolant in electronic enclosures in cabinets of standardized dimensions H05K7/20536; in server cabinets H05K7/20709; in vehicle electronic casings H05K7/20845; in power control electronics H05K7/2089; in displays H05K7/20954
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20254 Cold plates transferring heat from heat source to coolant
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20509 Multiple-component heat spreaders; Multi-component heat-conducting support plates; Multi-component non-closed heat-conducting structures
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20736 within cabinets for removing heat from server blades
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20781 within cabinets for removing heat from server blades

Abstract

Example implementations relate to an adaptive cooling assembly. For example, an adaptive cooling assembly includes a removable shelf installed in the adaptive cooling assembly, an adaptive cooling bay located in a slot formed by the removable shelf, and a removable thermal bus bar installed in the adaptive cooling bay and connected to a pair of connectors. The adaptive cooling bay includes the pair of connectors and the removable thermal bus bar provides liquid cooling to an electronic device.

Claims

1. An adaptive cooling assembly, comprising:

a pair of removable shelves installed in the adaptive cooling assembly and defining an adaptive cooling bay including a pair of liquid cooling connectors; and

a removable thermal bus bar (TBB) including a plurality of fluid channels that allow a cooling fluid to be pumped therethrough installed in the adaptive cooling bay, connected to the pair of liquid cooling connectors, and configured to provide liquid cooling to an electronic device in thermal contact therewith.

2. The adaptive cooling assembly of claim 1, wherein the pair of liquid cooling connectors comprises a pair of blind mate connectors located at a back of the adaptive cooling assembly or a front of the adaptive cooling assembly.

3. The adaptive cooling assembly of claim 1, wherein the pair of liquid cooling connectors comprises a pair of manual quick connectors.

4. The adaptive cooling assembly of claim 1, wherein:

the pair of removable shelves define a second adaptive cooling bay including a second pair of liquid cooling connectors; and

a second electronic device disposed within the second adaptive cooling bay, the second electronic device including integrated liquid cooling and connected to the second pair of liquid cooling connectors.

5. The adaptive cooling assembly of claim 4, wherein the integrated liquid cooling includes a liquid-cooled cold plate.

6. The adaptive cooling assembly of claim 4, wherein the second electronic device is a system on chip device or a three-dimensional integrated package.

7. A system comprising:

an adaptive cooling assembly including;

a wall structure;

a plurality of removable shelves installed on the wall structure forming a plurality of slots; and

a plurality of liquid cooling connectors in at least one of the slots; and

a removable thermal bus bar (TBB) including a plurality of fluid channels that allow a liquid to be pumped therethrough installed in the at least one slot and connecting to the liquid cooling connectors to provide liquid cooling to an electronic device in thermal contact therewith.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein at least one of the plurality of slots is larger than at least one of the other slots by omission of a removable shelf to support a different electronic device of a greater height than the electronic device.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of slots further includes a second slot that does not include a second removable TBB, wherein the second slot supports a different electronic device of a greater width than the electronic device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the second slot includes a pair of liquid cooling connectors that the different electronic device is connected to such that the different electronic device is cooled using the liquid received from the liquid cooling connectors.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of liquid cooling connectors comprises a pair of blind mate connectors at a back or a front of the wall structure and the pair of blind mate connectors support both the removable TBB and an integrated cooling electronic device.

12. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

a second one of the slots including a pair of the liquid cooling connectors; and

a second electronic device disposed within the second slot, the second electronic device including integrated liquid cooling and connected to the second pair of liquid cooling connectors.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the integrated liquid cooling includes a liquid-cooled cold plate.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the second electronic device is a system on chip device or a three-dimensional integrated package.

15. A system comprising:

a rack including a plurality of slots to support a plurality of electronic devices;

an adaptive cooling assembly within the rack, the adaptive cooling assembly including;

a wall structure; and

a plurality of removable shelves forming a plurality of adaptive cooling bays, wherein

each of the plurality of adaptive cooling bays includes a pair of blind mate connectors;

the plurality of electronic devices, each installed in one of the plurality of adaptive cooling bays and supported by at least one of the plurality of removable shelves; and

a plurality of removable thermal bus bars (TBB), each TBB including a plurality of fluid channels that allow a cooling fluid to be pumped therethrough, installed in at least a subset of the plurality of adaptive cooling bays, each TBB in thermal contact with at least one of the electronic devices to provide liquid cooling to at least a subset of the plurality of electronic devices, wherein each of the plurality of removable TBBs are connected to one of the pairs of blind mate connectors.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein:

at least one of the plurality of adaptive cooling bays does not include at least one of the removable TBBs installed therein, and

one of the electronic devices installed in one of the plurality of slots associated with the one adaptive cooling bay is cooled using air cooling.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the rack includes a height of 10 rack units and each of the plurality of slots include a height of 1 rack unit, wherein one of the plurality of removable shelves is removed to support a different electronic device of a greater height than 1 rack unit.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the electronic devices comprise a liquid-cooled electronic device including integrated liquid cooling, disposed within a respective one of the adaptive cooling bays, and connected to the pair of the blind mate connectors in the respective one of the adaptive cooling bays.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the integrated liquid cooling includes a liquid-cooled cold plate.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the second electronic device is a system on chip device or a three-dimensional integrated package.