Protection apparatus and methods

• US 7,399,719 B2
• Filed: 02/24/2005
• Issued: 07/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Vaultstor Corporation
• Original Assignee: Vaultstor Corporation
• Inventors: Hanan, Thomas Dixon, MacNeil, Kathleen Elizabeth, Hanan, David Lee, Goodfellow, Anthony E. B.
• Primary Examiner(s): STARKS, WILBERT L
• Application Number:
  US11/065,100
• Publication Number:
  US 20050185366A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,237 Days
• Field of Search: 706/1, 521/123, 442/136, 252/62
• US Class Current: 442/136
• CPC Class Codes: E05G 1/024 Wall or panel structure
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 5/0209 Thermal insulation, e.g. for fire protection or for fire containment or for high temperature environments
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 5/0213 Venting apertures; Constructional details thereof
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/13 Hollow or container type article [e.g., tube, vase, etc.]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 442/2631 Coating or impregnation provides heat or fire protection

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for providing environmental protection to electronic systems, particularly data storage systems, in order to permit such systems to survive severe envionmental changes such as those that occur during a fire.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a very low-k shell having an interior cavity and an exterior surface;

wherein the shell comprises an alumina-silica ceramic fiber based material loaded with a second material comprising at least 0.1 percent by weight of carbon, and is also loaded with at least five percent by weight of the second material, further comprising Mg(OH)2 and/or Ca(OH)2 which endothermically decomposes above a pre-determined temperature T degrees Celsius where T is greater than 150 and less than 500;

an electronic device enclosed within the interior cavity of the shell; and

a first energy conduit extending between the interior cavity and the exterior surface, the energy conduit comprising a segment within a wall of the shell;

wherein

the segment of the first energy conduit within a wall of the shell changes at or after a time when a threshold temperature is met or exceeded in a manner that causes the thermal conductivity of the segment to decrease.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

the first energy conduit is a tube filled with a working fluid flowing into or out of the shell; and

the segment of the tube within a wall of the shell changes by burning, melting, or evaporating.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

the first energy conduit is a metallic electrical conductor; and

the segment of the conductor within a wall of the shell changes by burning, melting, or evaporating.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein

the first energy conduit is an optical waveguide;

and

the segment of the waveguide within a wall of the shell changes by burning, melting, or evaporating.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the segment passes through a cavity in the wall wherein the cavity has a volume substantially greater than the portion of the segment passing through the cavity.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the cavity has a volume at least twice the volume of the portion of the segment passing through the cavity.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising:

a second energy conduit having a segment within a wall of the shell where the segment changes at or after a time when a threshold temperature is met or exceeded in a manner that causes the thermal conductivity of the segment of the second energy conduit to decrease; and

at least a portion of the segment of the second energy conduit passes through the cavity in the wall of the shell.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the shell is formed from a first material, and the cavity is at least partially lined with a second material that differs from the first material.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the second material is paper.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the second material is a tube or sphere.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising a flex circuit, the flex circuit including a plurality of electrical conductors where one of the plurality of electrical conductors is the first energy conduit.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein each electrical conductor of the flex circuit comprises a first elongated segment, a second elongated segment, and a first connecting segment electrically connecting the first elongated segment to the second elongated segment, and the first connecting segment has a melting point below that of the first and second elongated segments.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein each electrical conductor comprises at least three elongated segments, a first connecting segment electrically connecting a first elongated segment and a second elongated segment, and a second connecting segment electrically connecting the second elongated segment and a third elongated segment, and the first and second connecting segments each have a melting point substantially below that of the first, second, and third elongated segments.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein at least a portion of the first connecting segment of each of the plurality of electrical conductors is positioned within a first paper tube, and at least a portion of the second connecting segment of, each of the plurality of electrical conductors is positioned within a second paper tube.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

the electronic device is a disk drive;

T is greater than 200 and less than 400;

the first material

comprises an alumina-silica ceramic fiber based material,

is loaded with at least 0.1 percent by weight of carbon,

is also loaded with at least five percent by weight of the second material, and the second material, consisting essentially of Mg(OH)2 and/or Ca(OH)2,

is bio-soluble,

is vacuum formable;

the second material has an enthalpy of decomposition between 250 Cal/g and 400 Cal/g;

the distance between a point on an exterior surface of the container and a point on a surface of the cavity that is nearest to the point on the exterior surface is less than W inches for any point on at least thirty percent of the exterior surface, where W is between 1.5 and 3;

the shell comprises at least two pieces compressed against each other within a second container; and

the apparatus further comprises

a thermal mass within the cavity including a plate that is part of a enclosure within the cavity, the plate having a plurality of flow paths within it, with the thermal mass within the cavity being in fluid connection with an actively cooled thermal mass outside of the shell, with the thermal mass outside the shell being actively cooled by at least one Peltier cooler sandwiched between a heat-sink and the thermal mass outside the container, where the Peltier device maintains the thermal mass outside the container at a temperature below the ambient temperature;

a working fluid flowing between the thermal mass within the cavity and the thermal mass outside of the container with at least two flow paths passing through the container, the at least two flow paths providing a route for the working fluid to flow into the cavity, and providing a route for the working fluid to flow out of the cavity, and the working fluid flows into, through, and back out of the plurality of plate flow paths.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the electronic device transmits and/or receives data and/or power signals through the shell using an optical wave guide and/or a time varying electromagnetic field.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising:

an optical fiber following an arduous path through a wall of the shell;

wherein

electronic device transmits and/or receives data through the optical fiber;

the electronic device communicates and/or receives power through a wall of the shell using a first inductor on one side of the wall and a second inductor on an opposite side of the wall;

the electronic device is part of a system that includes one or more of the following to communicate with a system that is not within the shell;

a data modem, an optical modem, and a RF modem; and

heat is transferred out of the shell using electromagnetic energy transferred through the shell.