Bi-directional cooling arrangement for use with an electronic component enclosure

• US 5,940,266 A
• Filed: 10/14/1997
• Issued: 08/17/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mann, Christopher William, Hamilton, Roger Duane, Kang, Sukhvinder Singh
• Primary Examiner(s): Picard, Leo P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHERVINSKY, BORIS LEO
• Application Number:
  US08/949,452
• Time in Patent Office: 672 Days
• Field of Search: 361/690, 361/691, 361/692, 361/694, 361/695, 361/697, 361/702, 361/703, 361/704, 361/707, 361/715, 361/716, 361/717, 361/718, 361/720, 361/721, 257/706, 257/721, 257/722, 174/15.1, 174/16.1, 174/16.3, 165/80.2, 165/80.3, 165/104.33
• US Class Current: 361/695
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20572 within cabinets for removing heat from sub-racks, e.g. plenum

Abstract

A processor book includes a processor card having front and rear surfaces, and at least one high heat component attached to the front surface. Two separate flows of cooling gas are conveyed to the processor card from two separate directions. A cooling duct is provided adjacent to the front surface of the processor card, and conveys one of the flows of cooling gas. The cooling duct has an outlet in a region of the high heat component.

Claims

1. A cooling arrangement comprising:

an electronic component enclosure;

a circuit board disposed within said enclosure;

a cooling gas duct provided adjacent to a surface of the circuit board and being within said enclosure, and having a gas outlet in a region of at least one high heat component disposed at the surface of the circuit board, said cooling gas duct being separated from the surface of the circuit board by a space so as to allow a cooling gas to flow over the surface of the circuit card, and wherein said cooling gas duct provides a further flow of cooling gas directly to the high heat component, wherein said cooling gas duct comprises two parallel spaced-apart panels, and two sides, said sides and said panels being attached together to form a conduit for the further flow of cooling gas, with one of said two panels being separated from the surface of the circuit board by the space, with the cooling gas flowing over the surface of the circuit board additionally flowing between said one panel and the surface of the circuit board so as to cool the surface of the circuit board, whereby the further flow of cooling gas, and the cooling gas flowing between said one panel and the surface of said circuit board are physically separated from each other by only said one panel of said cooling gas duct.

2. A bi-directional cooling arrangement, comprising:

a circuit board having at least one high heat component disposed thereon;

means for conveying cooling gas to said circuit board from two separate directions, said means for conveying including a cooling gas duct that forms a conduit for a first flow of the cooling gas, the first flow of the cooling gas passing through said cooling gas duct in one of the two separate directions, and from an exit of said cooling gas duct directly to said high heat component to cool said high heat component, said cooling gas duct being separated from a surface of the circuit board by a space to allow a second flow of the cooling gas, for cooling the surface of the circuit board, to flow between said cooling gas duct and the surface of the circuit board in the other of the two separate directions; and

an electronic component enclosure, including

upper and lower opposing rails; and

front and rear covers connected to said upper and lower opposing rails, said front and rear covers and said upper and lower rails collectively forming a hollow parallelepiped with said cooling gas duct and said circuit board being disposed therein.

3. The cooling arrangement of claim 2, further comprising a perforated cover connected to and extending between said upper and lower rails, wherein said upper and lower rails having openings therein, the second flow of cooling gas passing through the openings in said upper rail, between said cooling gas duct and the surface of said circuit board, and through the openings in said lower rail, said cooling gas duct being fixed to said perforated cover in a region of an inlet opening of said cooling gas duct, the first flow of cooling gas passing through said perforated cover, through said cooling gas duct, and out through the openings in one of said upper and lower rails, whereby the first flow of the cooling gas, and the second flow of the cooling gas are physically separated from each other in a region of the cooling gas duct by only said cooling gas duct.

4. A cooling arrangement, comprising:

an enclosure having a plurality of sides interconnected together to define an interior space of said enclosure, with at least one of said sides having at least one opening therein;

a circuit board positioned in the interior space of said enclosure, and having at least one high heat component disposed thereon; and

a cooling gas duct disposed in the interior space of said enclosure and being positioned adjacent to a surface of the circuit board, said cooling gas duct being connected to said at least one side so that an inlet opening of said cooling gas duct is positioned in registration with, adjacent to and in communication with the opening in the side of said enclosure, said cooling gas duct having a gas outlet in a region of the at least one high heat component, said cooling gas duct providing a flow of cooling gas that directly enters the inlet opening through the opening in the side of said enclosure, and that exits the gas outlet to impinge upon the high heat component, said cooling gas duct further having;

a first side that extends from the inlet opening to the gas outlet, and that at least partially forms an outer periphery of the gas outlet; and

an extension attached to said first side of said cooling gas duct and that projects out over and beyond the gas outlet, and over the at least one high heat component, with the extension forming a barrier to prevent a further flow of cooling gas from reaching the high heat component so that the high heat component is primarily cooled using the flow of cooling gas provided by said cooling gas duct.

5. The cooling arrangement of claim 4, wherein said cooling gas duct comprises two spaced-apart panels, and

a second side spaced-apart from said first side, said sides and said panels being attached together to form a conduit having the gas inlet and the gas outlet at opposing ends thereof.

6. The cooling arrangement of claim 5, wherein said conduit is tapered from the gas inlet toward the gas outlet.

7. The cooling arrangement of claim 4, wherein said cooling gas duct has at least one baffle screen removably positioned in the gas outlet, and being sized smaller than a size of the gas outlet so as to only cover a portion of the gas outlet.

8. A bi-directional cooling arrangement, comprising:

an electronic component enclosure having a plurality of sides collectively defining an internal space within said enclosure, said plurality of sides including a first side and a second side opposing said first side, and a third side extending from said first side to said second side, each of said first side, said second side and said third side having an opening therein, the opening in the first side and the opening in the second side defining a first flow path for a cooling gas that passes through the opening in the first side, through the internal space in said enclosure, and out through the opening in the second side; and

a cooling gas duct provided within said enclosure, said cooling gas duct having a gas inlet positioned adjacent to said third side and being in communication with the opening therein, and having a gas outlet positioned in the internal space in said enclosure, said cooling gas duct defining a second flow path for the cooling gas that passes from outside of said enclosure via the opening in said third side, through said cooling gas duct, and out through the gas outlet.

9. The bi-directional cooling arrangement of claim 8, further comprising a circuit board positioned within said enclosure and adjacent to said cooling gas duct, said circuit board having at least one high heat component disposed thereon, the first flow path for a cooling gas additionally passing directly over the circuit board to cool the circuit board;

and the gas outlet of said cooling gas duct being disposed in a region of the at least one high heat component so that the second flow path for the cooling gas passes through the cooling gas duct and directly to the high heat component.

10. The bi-directional cooling arrangement of claim 8, wherein said plurality of sides further includes a fourth side, and a fifth side opposing said fourth side, both said fourth side and said fifth side being connected to said first side, said second side and said third side to form a hollow parallelepiped.

11. The bi-directional cooling arrangement of claim 10, wherein said first side and said second side are upper and lower opposing rails, and said fourth side and said fifth side are front and rear opposing covers.