Wireless electronic device with component cooling structures

• US 9,612,632 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2013
• Issued: 04/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Sinha, Vikas K., Satterfield, Phillip S., Diep, Vinh H., De Iuliis, Daniele
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomas, Eric
• Assistant Examiner(s): McFadden, Michael P
• Application Number:
  US13/874,260
• Publication Number:
  US 20140321046A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,435 Days
• Field of Search: 361727
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/16 Constructional details or arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/182 with special features, e.g. for use in industrial environments; grounding or shielding against radio frequency interference [RFI] or electromagnetical interference [EMI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/187 Mounting of fixed and removable disk drives
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/20 Cooling means
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 33/08 Insulation or absorption of undesired vibrations or sounds
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 33/124 of the single recording/reproducing device, e.g. disk drive, onto a chassis

Abstract

An electronic device may have a hard disk drive mounted diagonally within a housing. Electromagnetic interference shielding structures may enclose the hard disk drive. The shielding structures may include conductive elastomeric structures. A printed circuit board may be mounted diagonally in parallel with the hard disk drive. Connectors on the printed circuit board may be angled away from the printed circuit board at a non-zero angle and may be retained against the housing with a slide and lock connector retention member. An accelerometer may detect when the device is tipped over so that control circuitry may protect the hard disk drive. A fan may cause air to flow upwards on one side of the device and downwards on the other side of the device. The housing may rest on housing support structures with angled air vents and integral elastomeric feet.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a housing having at least two diagonally opposed vertically extending edges, wherein the housing comprises a box-shaped housing having an upper surface;

a storage device in the housing that extends diagonally across the housing between the two diagonally opposed vertically extending edges, wherein the storage device comprises a hard disk drive; and

antenna structures mounted under the upper surface above the hard disk drive.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising:

a power supply on one side of the storage device; and

heat sink structures on an opposing side of the storage device.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 further comprising a fan mounted adjacent to the power supply.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising a printed circuit board mounted parallel to the hard disk drive.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 4 further comprising heat sink structures coupled to the printed circuit board.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising:

wireless communications circuitry; and

a plurality of Ethernet connectors.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising:

an accelerometer; and

control circuitry that controls the hard disk drive based on data from the accelerometer.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising housing support structures that support the housing.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 8 wherein the housing support structures include air vents.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 9 wherein the housing support structures include a first shot of plastic and a second shot of plastic that is softer than the first shot of plastic.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 10 wherein the second shot of plastic comprises integral feet on which the electronic device is supported.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 9 wherein the housing extends along a vertical dimension and wherein the air vents form air passageways that are oriented at a non-zero angle with respect to the vertical dimension so that air flows through the air vents at a non-zero angle with respect to the vertical dimension.

24. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the box-shaped housing has a square footprint that has a larger vertical dimension than horizontal dimension.

25. The electronic device defined in claim 12 wherein the storage device has opposing first and second surfaces and the electronic device further comprises a fan that causes air to flow into the housing through a first set of the air vents and upwards along the first surface of the storage device, and wherein the fan further causes air to flow downwards along the second surface of the storage device and out of the housing through a second set of air vents.

28. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the housing has a square perimeter defined by first, second, third, and fourth sidewalls, wherein the first sidewall opposes the second sidewall, the third sidewall opposes the fourth sidewall, the first and fourth sidewalls meet to form a first one of the two diagonally opposed vertically extending edges, and the second and third sidewalls meet to form a second one of the two diagonally opposed vertically extending edges.

13. An electronic device, comprising:

a box-shaped housing having an upper surface;

a hard disk drive mounted in the housing;

an accelerometer in the housing that is configured to detect when the housing has been tipped over;

control circuitry that controls the hard disk drive based on information from the accelerometer detecting that the housing has been tipped over;

antenna structures mounted under the upper surface above the hard disk drive; and

wireless communications circuitry mounted in the housing.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 13 wherein the hard disk drive extends diagonally across the box-shaped housing between diagonally opposing vertically extending edges of the housing.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 14 further comprising a fan that draws air upwards in the housing on one side of the hard disk drive and that blows air downwards in the housing on the other side of the hard disk drive.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 15 further comprising a housing support structure, wherein the box-shaped housing rests on the housing support structure, wherein the housing support structure comprises air vents, and wherein the fan causes air to flow into the housing through a first set of the air vents and out of the housing through a second set of the air vents.

26. The electronic device defined in claim 13 wherein the box-shaped housing has a square footprint that has a larger vertical dimension than horizontal dimension.

27. The electronic device defined in claim 13 wherein the hard disk drive has first and second opposing sides, the electronic device further comprising:

a power supply mounted in the housing on the second side of the hard disk drive; and

a printed circuit and heat sink structures mounted on the first side of the hard disk drive.

17. An electronic device, comprising:

a housing, wherein the housing has an upper surface;

a housing support structure on which the housing rests, wherein the housing support structure includes air vents;

an electrical component that has opposing first and second sides and that is mounted in the housing;

antenna structures mounted under the upper surface above the electrical component; and

a fan that causes air from the air vents to flow vertically upwards in the housing on the first side of the electrical component and that causes air to flow vertically downwards in the housing on the second side of the electrical component and out of the housing through the air vents.

18. The electronic device defined in claim 17 wherein the electrical component comprises a hard disk drive.

19. The electronic device defined in claim 18 further comprising wireless communications circuitry.

20. The electronic device defined in claim 17 further comprising a power supply mounted in the housing on the second side of the electrical component.

21. The electronic device defined in claim 20 further comprising a printed circuit and heat sink structures mounted on the first side of the electronic component.

22. The electronic device defined in claim 17, wherein the housing comprises a box-shaped housing with a square footprint that has a larger vertical dimension than horizontal dimension.

23. The electronic device defined in claim 17 further comprising:

an accelerometer; and

control circuitry that controls the electrical component based on data from the accelerometer.

29. An electronic device, comprising:

a housing;

a housing support structure on which the housing rests, wherein the housing support structure includes air vents;

an electrical component that has opposing first and second sides and that is mounted in the housing; and

a fan that causes air from the air vents to flow vertically upwards in the housing on the first side of the electrical component and that causes air to flow vertically downwards in the housing on the second side of the electrical component and out of the housing through the air vents, wherein the housing has an upper housing wall opposite the housing support structure and the electrical component has an upper surface that extends between the opposing first and second sides, and wherein the fan causes air to flow horizontally in the housing between the upper surface of the electrical component and the upper housing wall.