Smart fan modules and system

• US 6,791,836 B2
• Filed: 05/14/2003
• Issued: 09/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Cipolla, Thomas M., Kaufman, Richard I., Mok, Lawrence S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Duong, Hung Van
• Application Number:
  US10/437,766
• Publication Number:
  US 20030198018A1
• Time in Patent Office: 489 Days
• Field of Search: 361/685, 361/687, 361/688-690, 415/213, 454/184, 236/49.1, 312/236, 165/80.3, 165/122
• US Class Current: 361/679.48
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 25/166 using fans
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 27/004 by varying driving speed
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/77 by controlling the speed of ventilators
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/17381 Two dimensional, e.g. mesh, torus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/142 Fast Fourier transforms, e.g. using a Cooley-Tukey type algorithm
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/526 Mutual exclusion algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/008 Clock recovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/0338 the correction of the phase error being performed by a feed forward loop
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20581 Cabinets including a drawer for fans
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20836 Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 30/70 Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating

Abstract

A fan module including: two or more individual fans, each fan having an air movement means and a motor engaged with the air movement means for accelerating air entering each of the two or more individual fans; a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature associated with the two or more fans and for outputting a first signal corresponding to the temperature; rotational speed sensor for outputting a second signal corresponding to a rotational speed of each of the two or more fans; and a processor for receiving the first and second signals and controlling the two or more individual fans based on the first and second signals.

Claims

1. A computer comprising:

heat generating elements; and

an array of cooling fans for cooling at least one of the heat generating elements, each cooling fan having an air movement means and a motor engaged with the air movement means for accelerating air entering each cooling fan, the array of cooling fans comprising, two or more fan modules, each fan module having two or more individual cooling fans, a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature associated with the cooling fans and for outputting a first signal corresponding to the temperature, rotational speed means for outputting a second signal corresponding to a rotational speed of each of the cooling fans, a processor for receiving the first and second signals and controlling the individual cooling fans based on the first and second signals, and a fan frame for housing the at least two or more fan modules.

2. The computer of claim 1, further comprising a bracket corresponding to each of the two or more fan modules, each bracket housing the two or more cooling fans therein and further having a means for securing to the frame.

3. The computer of claim 1, further comprising a host controller for interacting with each of the processors of each of the two or more modules.

4. The computer of claim 3, further comprising an electrical connector on each bracket and a mating electrical connector on the frame for electrically connecting each of the processors to the host controller.

5. The computer of claim 3, further comprising a data link operatively connected to the host controller for communicating with a remote location.

6. The computer of claim 4, where each electrical connector has location identification pins hard wired therein for determining the physical location of the fan module in the frame.

7. The computer of claim 6, further comprising at least one indicator operatively connected to the host controller and disposed on a side of the bracket for displaying the status of the fan module.

8. The computer of claim 7, wherein the at least one indicator comprises two LED indicators, one of which is a first color and the second of which is a second color different from the first color.