RACK POWER DISTRIBUTION UNIT WITH DETACHABLE CABLES

• US 20150084419A1
• Filed: 12/01/2014
• Published: 03/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: ROSS, PETER GEORGE, WATSON, CHRISTOPHER NATHAN, WISHMAN, MAX J., FRINK, DARIN LEE, CHEN, CHAO
• Granted Patent: US 9,209,622 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 307/23
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/007 Arrangements for selectively connecting the load or loads to one or several among a plurality of power lines or power sources for providing uninterruptable power supply H02J9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/04 for connecting networks of the same frequency but supplied from different sources

Abstract

A system includes a rack, computing devices coupled to the rack, a rack PDU, and one or more input power cables. The rack PDU includes an enclosure, two or more power input receptacles on the enclosure, and two or more power output receptacles on the enclosure. The output power receptacles supply power to the computing devices. The input power cables are coupled in one or more of the power input receptacles. The input power cables supply electrical power from an electrical power system to the rack PDU.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a rack;

one or more computing devices coupled to the rack;

one or more rack PDUs, wherein at least one of the rack PDUs comprises;

an enclosure;

two or more power input receptacles mounted on the enclosure; and

two or more power output receptacles on the enclosure, wherein the two or more output receptacles are configured to supply power to at least one of the computing devices; and

one or more power cables coupled in at least one of the power input receptacles on the enclosure, wherein at least one of the power cables is configured to supply electrical power from an electrical power system to the at least one rack PDU.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least two of the two or more power input receptacles are wired in parallel with one another.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the power input receptacles is a top input receptacle and at least one of the power input receptacles is a bottom power input receptacle.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the power input receptacles is nearer the top than the bottom of the PDU, or nearer the bottom than the top of the rack PDU, and wherein the at least one power cable feeds into the rack by way of a panel of the rack that is nearest to the PDU power input receptacle.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one rack PDU comprises a phase match detection device, wherein the phase match detection device is configured to determine whether the phase of the power fed to at least two of the power input receptacles matches within acceptable limits.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more cables comprise at least one power cable configured to supply a secondary feed through one of the power input receptacles of the rack PDU while a primary feed is supplied through another one of the power input receptacles of the rack PDU.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more rack PDUs comprise two or more rack PDUs, wherein each of at least two of the rack PDUs comprises a top power input receptacle and a bottom power input receptacle.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more rack PDUs comprise two or more rack PDUs, wherein the one or more power cables comprise two or more power cables, wherein one of the two or more power cables is coupled in each of the top input receptacles or in each of the two bottom power input receptacles.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more rack PDUs comprise two or more rack PDUs, wherein the one or more power cables comprise two or more power cables, wherein at least one of the power cables is coupled in one of a top input receptacle of one of the rack PDUs, and wherein another one of the power cables is coupled in the bottom input receptacle of another one of the rack PDUs.

10. A rack power distribution unit (PDU), comprising:

an enclosure;

two or more power input receptacles mounted on the enclosure, wherein at least two of the two or more power input receptacles are wired in parallel with one another; and

two or more power output receptacles on the enclosure, wherein the power output receptacles are configured to supply power to one or more electrical systems.

11. The rack PDU of claim 10, wherein at least one of the power input receptacles is a top power input receptacle and one other of the power input receptacles is a bottom power input receptacle.

12. The rack PDU of claim 11, wherein the bottom power input receptacle is located below the two or more power output receptacles and the top power input receptacle is located above the two or more power output receptacles.

13. The rack PDU of claim 10, further comprising circuit protection device coupled to each of the power input receptacles, wherein each of the circuit protection devices are configured protect electrical systems that receive electrical power through power input receptacle.

14. The rack PDU of claim 10, wherein the rack PDU comprises a phase match detection device coupled to at least two of the power input receptacles, wherein the phase match detection device is configured to determine whether the phase of the power fed to at least two of the power input receptacles matches within acceptable limits.

15. The rack PDU of claim 14, wherein the phase match detection device comprises one or more voltage comparators configured to compare voltages between lines coupled to at least two different power input receptacles.

16. The rack PDU of claim 14, wherein the phase match detection device is configured to provide a visual indication to a user of whether the phase of the power fed to at least two of the power input receptacles matches within acceptable limits.

17. The rack PDU of claim 14, wherein the phase match detection device is configured to inhibit an electrical connection between at least two of the power input receptacles if the phase between power to the at least two power input receptacles does not match within acceptable limits.

18. The rack PDU of claim 14, further comprising one or more switching devices configured to open and close a connection between at least two of the power input receptacles.

19. The rack PDU of claim 18, wherein at least one of the switching devices is configured to close in response to verification of a phase match between at least two of the power input receptacles.

20. The rack PDU of claim 10, further comprising a set of two or more power cables, wherein each of the cables comprises:

a first end of the power cable configured to couple in one of the power input receptacles; and

a second end,

wherein the second end of each of at least two of the power cables is configured to couple with a different upstream power distribution system.

21-30. -30. (canceled)