Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING COMPUTER COMPONENTS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to a new and improved method and
apparatus for mounting computer components. It more particularty relates to
such a
method and apparatus for rack mounting computer components in a compact
configuration.
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Related Art
There have been a variety of different types and kinds of methods and systems
for mounting computer components. For example, reference may be made to the
following United States patents:
PATENT NO. INVENTOR ISSUE DATE
4,258,967 Boudreau 03-31-1081
4,879,634 Storrow et al. 11-07-1989
4,977,532 Borkowicz et al. 12-11-1990
5,010,444 Storrow et at. 04-23-1991
5,216,579 Basara et al. 06-01-1993
5,460,441 Hastings et at. 10-24-1995
5,571,256 Good et al. 11-05-1996
5,684,671 Hobbs et al. 11-04-1997
5,877,938 Hobbs et al. 03-02-1999
5,896,273 Varghese et at. 04-30-1999
6,025,989 Ayd et al. 02-15-2000
6,058,025 Ecker et al. 05-02-2000
6,075,698 Hogan et at. 06-13-2000
6,220,456 131 Jensen et al. 04-24-2001
6,305,556 B1 Mayer 10-23-2001
6,315,249 131 Jensen et al. 11-13-2001
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PATENT NO. INVENTOR ISSUE DATE
6,325,636 B1 Hipp et at. 12-04-2001
Re. 35,915 Hastings et at. 10-06-1998
Des. 407,358 Belanger et al. 03-30-1999
As a result of having available a large number of different types and kinds of
mounting techniques, a standard has been adopted for mounting computer
components in racks according to a certain modular configuration. In this
regard,
computer components such as computer processor units, and the like, are
mounted
one above the other in a column in standard size rack configurations. The
standard is
referred to as the EIA-310-D Standard, as clarified by the Server Rack
Specification
(SSI).
The housing for each computer device must have a certain height dimensions
according to the Standard. The height dimension must be a multiple of a
standard unit
"U". Thus, there can be computer components which are 1 "U" (standard unit)
high or
multiples thereof. Thus, there can also be standard rack mountable computer
components which are I U, 2 U, 3 U, 4 U and so on.
Thus, according to the conventional currently-used standard, racks are
provided
for storage of computer components in tightly spaced, densely packed
horizontal
dispositions, and each computer component mounted in the rack is suitably
dimensioned in multiples of standard unit U. The racks are movably mounted on
casters or the like so that they can be readily positioned in, for example, a
computer
room having a tightly controlled air conditioning system to ensure proper
cooling of the
computer equipment.
It is highly desirable to configure the computer components in the rack in a
compact and highly dense manner for some applications. Thus, it has been
important
for many applications to position in the computer room or other assigned space
as
many computer components as possible.
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In order to compactly mount the computer components on the rack in a high
density manner, they are closely positioned one above the other in a column.
The
data and power cables are positioned in a back plane area or space within the
rack.
For cooling purposes, various techniques are employed. For example,
individual fans have been mounted within the housing of each computer
component.
The interiors of the housing have been exhausted to a fan exhaust plenum
chamber
often times constructed within the rack at one side thereof.
Such conventional rack mounted systems have several drawbacks. The
individual fans mounted in each component are expensive, and time-consuming to
replace in case of malfunctions. Also, the back plane space and fan exhaust
plenum
chamber are wasted space in that they occupy spaces which could otherwise be
filled
with computer components.
Additionally, in order to assemble the rack mounted system for installation at
the
site, each component must be installed in place within the rack, and then the
cabling
for each unit is routed within the rack at its back plane space. Such an
operation is
time consuming, and therefore expensive since highly trained personnel are
required
to do such an installation. Furthermore, once installed, in order to replace a
malfunctioning computer component, the entire system, or at least a
substantial portion
thereof, must be shut down so that the malfunctioning unit can be
disassembled, and a
replacement unit installed and reconnected electrically. This, too, is time
consuming
and expensive.
In conventional rack mounted computer components, since the cabling for the
computer components are often times mounted at the back portion of the rack,
the
principal circuit boards such as mother boards are mounted at the rear portion
of the
computer component housing for ease of attachment to the cabling at the rear
of the
rack. Such a configuration of the circuit boards within the computer component
housing is less than desirable for some applications. For example, a user may
wish to
connect test components such as a keyboard and monitor to a given one of the
rack
mounted computer components. It is difficult to accomplish ordinarily because
the
access to the mother board is disposed at the rear of the housing. In this
regard,
access to a given computer component must be made at the rear of the rack
where a
large number of cables are present and thus block access to the computer
module.
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Additionally, by mounting the mother board at the rear of the component
housing, it is
frequently difficult and expensive to mount fans and baffles to direct air
entering the
front of the housing and being exhausted from the rear thereof.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved computer
component construction which is relatively easy for the user to access
individual
components and which is relatively efficient and effective to ventilate for
cooling
purposes.
In conventional rack mounted computer components, the circuits within the
component housing are cooled by providing intake fans to draw air into the
housing
through the front portion thereof. There are also exhaust fans typically
mounted on the
side of the housing to exhaust the heated air from within the computer
component
housing. For cooling purposes, heat sinks are mounted on circuit components
such as
microprocessor chips to help dissipate heat build-up therein. The moving air
then
transfers the heat from the heat sink and is exhausted outside of the
component
housing.
Since the air enters the front of the housing and exits the interior thereof
at a
side of the housing, the path of travel of the air is irregular, and thus the
placement of
the heat sink in the air flow path can be difficult. In this regard, it may be
required to
employ baffles or the like to direct the air flow through the spaced-apart
fins on the
heat sink.
In order to help cool the electronic circuits within the computer component
housing, intake and exhaust fans are employed. In this regard, typically there
may be
a plurality of intake fans located at the front of the component housing, and
another set
of fans for exhausting the air located typically at one side of the housing.
Should one
or more of the fans malfunction, the computer component must be taken out of
service
to either replace the entire computer component or replace or repair the
malfunctioning
fan or fans. Such a delay in the functioning of the system is highly
undesirable for
many applications.
Therefore, it is highly desirable to compactly mount in a highly dense
configuration computer components in a rack mounted system. However, due to
the
cabling requirements for such a large number of computer components mounted in
a
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single rack, it is difficult to install the components within the rack due to
the cabeling
requirements and still have a very densely packed configuration.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a pictorial view of a rack-mounted system showing the front, left
side and top
thereof, which is construted in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
Fig. 2 is a front elevational vieew of the rack-mounted system of Fig.1;
Fig. 3 is a left side elevational view of the rack-mounted system Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view of the rack-mounted system of Fig. 1;
Fig. 5 is a right side elevational view of the rack-mounted system of Fig. 1;
Fig. 6 is a pictorial view of the rack-mounted system of Fig. 1, showing the
rear, right
side and top thereof;
Fig. 7 is a pictorial view of the housing of the rack-mounted system of Fig. 1
without
various components being mounted for illustration purposes;
Fig. 8 is a pictorial view of the housing of Fig. 7 illustrating the process
of installation of
fan/LAN trays;
Fig. 9 is an enlarged scale pictorial view of one embodiment of a fab/LAN tray
for the
rack-mounted system of Fig. 1;
Fig. 9A is an enlarged scale pictorial view of another embodiment of a fan/LAN
tray for
the rack-mounted system of Fig. 1 (FIG. 9A appears on the drawing sheet just
after the
drawing sheet containing Fig. 32);
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Fig. 9B is an enlarged scale fragmentary pictorial view of the tray of Fig.
9A, illustrating
some of the fans being removed (Fig. 9B appears on the drawing sheet just
after the
drawing sheet containing Fig. 32);
Fig. 10 is a pictorial view of the housing of Fig. 7 with the fan/LAN trays
installed;
Fig. 11 is a pictorial view of the housing of Fig. 7 illustrating the process
of installation
of blades.
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Fig. 12 is a fragmentary, enlarged scale front elevational view of the rack-
mounted
system of Fig. 1 illustrating the relative positioning of the fan/LAN trays
and the blades;
Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic, right-side elevational view of the rack-mounted
system of
Fig. 1 illustrating the configuration of the right-side cabling;
Fig. 14 is a bottom fragmentary pictorial view of the rack-mounted system of
Fig. 1
illustrating the cabling in the front and right portion of the control bay;
Fig. 15 is a diagrammatic, left-side elevational view of the rack-mounted
system of Fig.
1 illustrating the configuration of the left-side cabling;
Fig. 16 is a bottom fragmentary pictorial view of the rack-mounted system of
Fig. 1
illustrating the cabling in the rear and left portion of the control bay;
Fig. 17 is an enlarged scale, fragmentary pictorial view of one embodiment of
a power
distribution unit (PDU) for the rack-mounted system of Fig. 1;
Fig. 18 is a front elevational view of the PDU shown in Fig. 17;
Fig. 19 is a fragmentary top view of the PDU shown in Fig. 17;
Fig. 20 is a rear elevational view of the PDU shown in Fig. 17;
Fig. 21 is a diagrammatic view of the rack-mounted system of Fig. 1
illustrating the flow
of air therethrough;
Fig. 22 is a diagrammatic view of another embodiment of a rack-mounted system
according to the present invention and illustrating the flow of air
therethrough;
Fig. 23 is a diagrammatic view of yet another embodiment of a rack-mounted
system
according to the present invention and illustrating the flow of air
therethrough;
Fig. 24 is a diagrammatic view of still another embodiment of a rack-mounted
system
according to the present invention and illustrating the flow of air
therethrough;
Fig. 25 is an enlarged scale top view of one embodiment of a blade of the rack-
mounted system of Fig. 1;
Fig. 26 is a left side elevational view of the blade of Fig. 1;
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Fig. 27 is an enlarged scale top view of a heat sink of the blade of Fig. 25,
illustrating it
rotated through 900;
Fig. 28 is a side elevational view of the heat sink of Fig. 27;
Fig. 29 is a bottom view of the heat sink of Fig. 27;
Fig. 30 is a top view of another heat sink which may also be used with the
computer
blade of Fig.'25 in accordance with another embodiment of the present
invention;
Fig. 31 is a side elevational view of the heat sink of Fig. 30; and
Fig. 32 is a side elevational view of the heat sink of Fig. 30.
DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
According to at least one of the disclosed embodiments of the present
invention,
there is provided a rack mounted system employing vertically mounted computer
components in the form of blades for supporting operative components such as
circuit
devices. The blades are mounted in a series of vertically spaced apart bays.
In each
bay, the vertically mounted blades are interconnected to a power distribution
unit strip
to cause the blades to be mounted compactly. Thus, a pair of sets of
vertically
mounted blades are attached to opposite sides of the power distribution unit
within the
same bay. Cooling fan units are positioned between each vertically spaced
apart bays
to provide vertical air flow through the system.
According to at least one of the disclosed embodiments of the present
invention,
there is disclosed a rack mountable computer component which is in the form of
an
open computer component or blade construction which is adapted to be mounted
in a
generally upright or vertical disposition within a rack. The operative
components such
as mother boards are mounted at the front of the component or blade to permit
access
by the user thereto. The operative components are cooled by vertical air flow
relative
to the mounted blade to facilitate cooling thereof.
According to disclosed embodiments of the invention, the component
construction includes a support having the active components mounted on at
least one
side thereof and being adapted to be supported in a generally upright
configuration. A
front panel extends transversely to a front edge portion of the support and an
outlet
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disposed thereat is connected to at least one of the operative components. An
electrical power inlet is mounted at a rear edge portion of the support to
receive
electrical power for the operative components.
As disclosed herein, the support includes a cut-out portion, and the power
inlet
is disposed near the cut-out portion. The segment is generally rectangular in
shape
and is substantially rigid. Also, as disclosed herein, at least one of the
operative
components such as a mother board is disposed near the front edge portion of
the
support and is connected electrically to the outlet. As further disclosed
herein, a cable
is connected electrically to the outlet on the front panel to convey
electrical information
from the operative components.
In accordance with the disclosed embodiments of the invention, one edge of the
front panel is disposed at an edge of the support to form an L-shaped
configuration.
Thus, the transverse front panel and the supports are so constructed and
arranged
that the resulting component construction can be arranged in a generally
upright side-
by-side configuration with like units in a close abutting relationship.
Therefore, the
front panels of the like components provide a substantially continuous upright
wall, and
yet the operative components are mounted on the upright support in an open
configuration. In this manner, the component constructions can be disposed in
a
vertical flow path for air moving past the active components mounted on this
upright
support.
According to at least one of the disclosed embodiments of the present
invention,
there is provided a method and apparatus for mounting heat sinks for a rack
mounted
computer component. The heat sink is adapted to be mounted on a vertically
mounted
computer component blade where the heat sink is disposed such that vertical
air flow
provides sufficient contact with the heat sink fins for efficient and rapid
cooling
purposes.
According to the disclosed embodiments of the present invention, a heat sink
is
employed for an active component such as a microprocessor forming a part of a
computer motherboard mounted on an upright support. The heat sink includes a
base
portion having a series of spaced apart fins extending therefrom to provide a
relatively
large surface area to dissipate heat therefrom as substantially vertically
flowing cooling
air passes between the fins. The base portion is mounted in a generally
upright
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position with its fins extending in a generally upright position as well.
According to at
least one of the embodiments of the present invention, the ratio of the height
of the fins
to the height of the base portion is greater than seven.
According to other disclosed embodiments of the invention, the ratio of the
height of the fins to the height of the base portion of the heat sink is
between about 7.5
and about 10.45. Additionally, as disclosed herein, a heat conducting slug
plate
overlies the base portion, and is interposed between the base portion and the
active
component to be cooled.
According to the disclosed embodiments of the invention, there is disclosed a
method of utilizing a heat sink to help cool an active component. The method
includes
the mounting of a support in a generally upright manner, and mounting the
active
component on one side of the support. The heat sink is mounted on the active
component in a generally upright manner with the heat sink having spaced-apart
fins
extending from a base portion in a generally upright manner. A slug plate is
interposed
between the base portion and the active component to be cooled.
According to certain embodiments of the invention, there is provided an
arrangement for cooling a series of closely spaced upright computer components
mounted to a support, the arrangement including a tray having a plurality of
air moving
devices such as fans. Members are used for helping mount removably the tray to
the
support in a generally horizontal disposition, and the air moving devices move
air in a
generally upright path to travel to help cool the upright computer components.
The
tray also has a series of connector ports for connecting electrically to
outputs from
individual ones of the computer components.
According to other embodiments of the invention, the tray includes a front
panel
having the connector ports arranged in a row thereon. As disclosed herein, the
front
panel can be opened to permit access to the air moving devices or removing
them for
repair or replacement. The air moving devices can be removed from the support
unit.
Also, as disclosed herein, according to other embodiments of the invention,
the air
moving devices are arranged in separate sub groups and selected ones of the
sub
groups of air moving devices can be removed from the tray as a unit when the
front
panel is opened.
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According to the disclosed embodiments of the invention, electrical cables
connect the connector ports for conveying signals therefrom, and the cables
have a
sufficient slack portion to permit the front panel to be removed to an open
position
while maintaining the electrical connection to the connector ports. Thus, the
air moving
devices are "hot swappable" while the computer components remain in operation
According to at least one of the disclosed embodiments of the present
invention,
there is provided a fan tray or unit which is adapted to be mounted
horizontally within a
rack to facilitate the movements of air vertically through computer components
vertically mounted within the rack. In one example of the invention, a series
of the fan
trays are adapted to be disposed in a vertically-spaced apart manner within
the rack.
Each one is adapted to be removed and replaced, while permitting the computer
components to continue to function normally.
According to the disclosed embodiments of the invention, there is provided a
method of supplying electrical power to a series of upright computer blades
mounted
side-by-side in a closely spaced configuration, including extending an
elongated power
distribution unit transversely to the upright blades, and electrically
interconnecting the
upright blades with a series of electrical connectors arranged side-by-side on
one side
of the distribution unit. In one embodiment of the invention, a second series
of
electrical connectors are arranged side-by-side on the opposite side of the
body of the
power distribution unit.
According to other embodiments of the invention, each one of the
computer component blades has a similar cut out portion, and the body of the
power
distribution unit has a complementary cross sectional shape received by the
cut-away
portions of the blades to provide a compact mounting arrangement.
According to at least one of the disclosed embodiments of the present
invention,
there is provided a power distribution unit which enables a pair of vertically
mounted
computer components to be mounted vertically in close proximity to one another
in a
back-to-back configuration. Furthermore, the power distribution unit enables
the
vertical components to be conveniently slipped into a rack and engage
electrically the
power distribution unit.
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General System Description
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 through 21 and
29 and 30, there is illustrated one embodiment of a rack mounted system 10
according
to the disclosed embodiments of the present invention. The rack mounted system
10
includes a rack housing 12 configured generally as a rectangular box having a
plurality
of vertical bays 14. The embodiment illustrated in the drawings includes three
vertically spaced-apart bays 14.
Each bay 14 is divided into a front bay portion 16 and a rear bay portion 18
by
an intermediate transversely-extending horizontal divider 19. The intermediate
divider
19 is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 7. The bays 14 are formed in the rack
housing 12
in a vertical manner one above the other. In a bottom portion of the rack
housing 12, a
control bay 21 is provided to house various controlled components, as
hereinafter
described in greater detail.
The rack housing 12 further includes a fan/LAN tray slot 23 above each bay 14.
Each fan/LAN tray slot is configured to accommodate a fan/LAN tray such as
tray 27.
The embodiment illustrated in the drawings provides a control bay 21 (Fig. 7)
having a bottom opening 25 (Fig. 7) for facilitating air flow to receive
vertically moving
air flow from a vent opening 26 in a floor 28 and vertically through the
system 10 as
assisted by the fan/LAN trays. At the top of the rack housing 12, an apertured
top
panel 26 (Fig. 1) is provided to permit venting of the vertically moving air
flow from the
system 10.
At the top portion of each bay 14, in the intermediate region between the
front
bay portion 16 and the rear bay portion 18, as best seen in Figs. 1, 5, 6 and
8, a power
distribution unit (PDU) 29 is provided to supply electricity to various
components
mounted in the rack mounted system. Each bay is adapted to accommodate a
plurality
of computer components in the form of open structure computer components or
blades, such as blade 32 (Fig. 1), in each of the front bay portions 16 and
the rear bay
portions 18. In the embodiment illustrated in the figures, eleven blades may
be
accommodated in each of the front bay and rear bay portions in a generally
upright
disposition. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, the system 10 accommodates
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computer components in a densely compact, closely spaced configuration.
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The bottom control bay 21 is adapted to accommodate various control
components.
These control components may include a circuit breaker junction box 34, as
most
clearly illustrated in Fig. 6. The circuit breaker junction box 34 is
electrically connected
to each PDU. As shown in Fig. 4, a swich module 36 is also provided in the
control bay
21. The switch module 36 is adapted to control communication between the
various
blades, such as blade 32, and a network, such as a local area network, wide
area
network, or a public network, such as the internet. Further, the control bay
21
accomodates an air intake fan module 38 (Figs. 1 and 5) for facilitating
intake of air
through the bottom opening 25 and facilitating vertical air flow through the
blades and
the bays 14 and out the apertured top panel 26.
The embodiment of the rack system 10 illustrated in the figures includes four
casters 41 for rollably supporting the system on the floor 26 (Fig. 5) for
easy portability
of the rack system 10. Other embodiments of the rack system according to the
present
invention may be floor mounted, thereby including legs or skids in place of
the casters
for direct mounting to the floor.
Fan/LAN Tray
Referring now to Figs. 8 and 9, the fan/LAN tray 27 and its installation into
the rack
housing 12 will be described in further detail. Fig. 9 illustrates one
embodiment of a
fan/LAN tray 27 for mounting to a suitable support such as the rack system 10
illustrated in the drawings. The fan/LAN tray 27 includes eight suitable air
moving
devices such as fans for facilitating vertical air flow. Although the
embodiment
illustrated in the drawings includes eight fans such as fan 43 (Fig. 9) per
tray, any
suitable number of fans may be used.
In the front portion of the fan/LAN tray 27, a series of LAN connector ports
45 (Figs.
I and 9) is provided. In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 9, each fan/LAN
tray 27
includes 12 LAN connector ports 45, the end one of which may be used for test
purposes. While 12 LAN connectors are shown in the disclosed embodiment, it
should
be understood that any number of such connectors may be employed for a given
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application. Internal wiring leads (not shown) from each LAN connector port 45
extend
to one of two signal connectors 47 (Fig. 9) in the back portion of the fan/LAN
tray 27.
In one embodiment, each signal connector 47 is a 50 pin signal connector, and
is
connected electrically to the switch module 36 (shown in Fig. 5). Further,
each fan/LAN
tray includes a
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AC power inlet 49 in the back portion for providing power to the fans. When
installed,
power may be supplied to the fans such as a fan 43 through the AC power inlet
49
from the PDU 29, as hereinafter described in greater detail.
For facilitating installation of the fan/LAN tray 27 into the fan/LAN tray
slot 23 of
the rack housing 12, as shown in Fig. 9, guides 52 may be provided on the
sides of
each fan/LAN tray 27. During the installation process, the guides, preferably
nylon
guides, may engage corresponding member on the sides of the fan/LAN tray slots
23
to help support the fan/LAN tray. Further, a locking mechanism may be provided
in
conjunction with the guides 52 for securing the fan/LAN tray 27 into the
fan/LAN tray
slot 23. Once installed, each fan/LAN tray 27 occupies an area directly above
either
the front bay portion 16 or the rear bay portion 18. Accordingly, a fan/LAN
tray in the
front and a fan/LAN tray in the rear may completely cover each bay 14 level.
Thus, as
illustrated most clearly in Fig. 10, a total of 6 fan/LAN trays 27, in
addition to the air
intake fan module 38 may be provided in a three bay level rack mounted system
10
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Referring now to Figs. 9A and 9B, in accordance with another one of the
disclosed embodiments of the present invention, a fan/LAN tray 42 which is
similar to
the fan/LAN tray 27, may be divided into a plurality of separate trays or tray
portions
such as a tray portion 44, each of which can be removed independently so that
the
remaining tray portion or portions can continue to function. In this regard,
it is
contemplated that the LAN connections are separate from the fan tray or tray
portions
so that the tray portions may be removed independently of the LAN component.
The fan tray 42 includes a generally rectangular flat hollow frame 46 having a
series of guides such as guide 68 for helping to mount the fan tray 42 to a
suitable
support (not shown), which may be similar to the rack housing 12 of Fig. 1.
The frame
46 includes a front opening 48 (Fig. 9B) for receiving the individual tray
portions such
as the tray portion 44. A removable front panel 51 fits over the opening 48
and is
secured in place by any suitable technique such as by using fastening devices
(not
shown). A series of connector ports such as a connector port 53 are mounted on
the
front panel 51 and are electrically connected to signal connectors (not shown)
which
may be similar to the signal connectors 47 of Fig. 9. In this regard, cables
such as a
cable 55 are connected individually to the connector ports such as the
connector port
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53. In order to permit the removal of the front panel 51, the cables such as
the cable
55 include cable slack portions such as a cable slack portion 57 to enable the
front
panel 51 to be removed from the frame 46, while permitting the electrical
connections
to the computer components to remain intact for normal operation of the
system. In
this regard, individual ones of the fan tray portions can be removed for
repair or
replacement, and the remaining fan tray portions can function independently to
facilitate cooling, while the computer components remain in normal operation.
Considering now the tray portion 44 in greater detail, it should be understood
that all of the tray portions may be similar to one another. The tray portion
44 includes
a front flange 59 to facilitate grasping by a user to pull it outwardly from
the interior of
the frame 46 as indicated in Fig. 9B. The fan tray portion includes a pair of
air moving
devices such as a fan 70, and a power inlet (not shown) similar to the power
inlet 49 of
Fig. 9 to engage a power outlet 60 on a power distribution unit 62 for
energizing the
fans. In this manner, the tray portion 44 can be pulled out of the frame 46 by
merely
disengaging it from the power outlet 60. Another like fan tray portion can
then be
inserted in its place and connected to the power outlet 60 and then the front
panel 51
can then be replaced over the opening 48.
Thus, it will become apparent to those skilled in the art that the group of
air
moving devices can be arranged in subgroups of tray portions so that some but
not all
of the air moving devices can be removed without interfering with the
operation of the
remaining devices. It should be noted that the subgroups can be any number of
one or
more of the air moving devices. Also, it should be noted that the individual
tray
portions such as the tray portion 44 can be positioned behind the front panel
51, and a
similar set of tray portions (not shown) can be installed to the rear portion
of the frame
46 and interconnect with the power distribution unit 62. A rear panel (not
shown) is
removable and is similar to the front panel 51 and serves the same purpose as
the
front.
Computer Component Construction
Referring now to Figs. 11, 25 and 26, the computer components or blades 32
and their installation into the rack housing 12 will now be described in
greater detail.
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Each blade is provided with a pair of handles 54 projecting from the front
face of a front
panel. The front panel extends transversely to a rigid upright support or
plate and is
connected to the front edge of the support in an L-shaped configuration. The
handles
allow a user to easily manipulate the blade 32 to be grasped by the user to
slide the
blade into or-out of its bay.
Each blade 32 may include one or more mother boards 56. In the embodiment
illustrated in Figs. 25 and 26, each blade 32 includes two mother boards 56a,
56b.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the number of mother boards
included in
each blade 32 may be varied according to design. The mother board may include
heat
sinks such as heat sinks 58 and 59 for facilitating the cooling of the mother
boards.
Further, each mother board is provided with random access memory (RAM) 61. The
amount of RAM 61 provided for each mother board may be varied as needed. A
pair of
power supply 63a, 63b may be provided on the blade 32 for supplying power to
their
corresponding mother boards 56a, 56b. Similarly, a pair of hard disks 64a, 64b
may
also be provided on the blade 32.
All of the components are mounted on one side of the rigid plate or support
64,
which is adapted to be supported vertically within its bay. Each blade 32
includes a
cut-out corner portion or section 65 in its upper back portion. The cut-out
portion 65 is
sized to receive and accommodate the PDU 29 there between such that two
opposing
blades 32 and 32a (as shown in Fig. 26) accommodate the PDU 29 almost
completely.
Thus, a substantially zero footprint is achieved for the PDU 29. Each blade 32
is
provided with an AC power inlet such as an inlet 67 at or near the cut-out
portion 65.
Thus, when the blade 32 is installed into the rack housing 12, the AC power
inlet 67
engages electrically a corresponding AC connector such as a connector 76 (Fig.
17) of
the PDU 29.
As most clearly illustrated in Fig. 11, the installation of the blade 32 may
be
achieved in a fast and efficient manner. The blade 32 is simply slid into
either the front
bay portion 16 or the rear bay portion 18 of a bay 14 of the rack housing 12.
Each
blade 32 is slid back until its AC power inlet 67 engages a corresponding AC
connector
76 on the PDU 29. The intermediate dividers 19 serve as a back stop for the
blades
32. Each blade 32 is secured in its slot by four blade screws 69, which attach
the
blade 32 to the rack housing 12.
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Once the blade 32 has been mounted onto the rack housing 12, a short
blade/LAN connector cable such as a cable 45 (Fig. 12) or a cable 71 (Fig. 1)
provides
electrical networking connection between the blade 32 and a network such as a
local
area network, wide area network or a public network such as the internet. In
this
regard, the mother boards are each mounted at the front of each blade, and
thus
access thereto is readily available at front outlets such as at outlet 73
(Fig. 12). Thus,
a data connection can be made from the outlet 73, through a short cable 45, an
inlet
77 of a PDU 29, which is coupled to the switch module 36.
Power Distribution Unit
Referring now to Figs. 17 through 20, the power distribution unit 29 will now
be
described in greater detail. Power distribution unit 29 supplies electrical
power to the
series of upright computer components or blades rack mounted side-by-side in a
closely spaced configuration. As best seen in Fig. 26, each one of the blades
such as
the blades 32 and 32a have the cut out portion or section 65 in its upper back
portion
for receiving the PDU 29. In this regard, the cut out portions 75 are
complementary
shaped relative to the cross sectional shape of the PDU 29. The PDU 29 is
generally
rectangular and cross sectioned, and the cut out corner portions 65 are
generally L-
shaped to compactly receive the opposite sides of the PDU 29. Thus, the blades
such
as the blades 32 and 32a can be plugged into the PDU 29 in a very compact
manner
without the necessity of having a back plane for receiving individual cables.
The PDU 29 supplies power from an external power source, through the circuit
breaker junction box 34, to the various blades 32 and the fan/LAN trays 27.
Each PDU
29 includes an elongated PDU body 74, which preferably is formed of a two
piece, 18
gauge steel chassis. Each of two sides of the PDU body 74 includes a series of
female AC electrical connectors 76. In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 17
through
20, each side is provided with 12 female AC connectors 76. The twelve
connectors 76
correspond to eleven blades mounted in the front bay portion 16 and the rear
bay
portion 18 of each bay 14 and a fan/LAN tray 27. The twelfth connector is for
an AC
power outlet on the front of the fan tray.
Thus, 12 female AC connectors 76 are provided on each of a front side and a
rear side of the PDU body 74. Each set of twelve female AC connectors 76
receives
17
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power through a pair of power cables 72. In one embodiment, the power cable 72
is a
15 amp power cable with strained relief near its junstion with the PDU body
74. As
described below, the power cables 72 are routed to the circuit breaker
junction box 34
in the control bay 21. The PDU body 74 may also include a series of mounting
studs
78 for installation on the PDU body 74 to the rack housing 12.
Referring now Figs. 13 through 16, the routing of the various power and LAN
cables
will now be described in detail. As illustrated most clearly in Fig. 13, the
power cables
72 from the PDU's 29 at each bay level are directed along the right side of
the rack
housing 12 toward the front portion of the rack housing 12 and to the bottom,
where
they are connected electrically to the circuit breaker junction box 34. Thus,
in the
embodiment illustrated in the drawings, six power cables 72 are connected to
the
circuit breaker junction box 34, since there are two from each one of the
three PDUs. A
set of three cables generally indicated at 80 are each adapted to be coupled
to a
suitable source of AC power to supply power to the system 10.
As also illustrated in Fig. 13, a set of six LAN cables 81 from the fan/LAN
trays and
PDUs are routed along the rear right side of the rack housing 12 to the switch
module
36. In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, two LAN cables 81 extend
from each
PDU which, in turn, are connected electrically to a pair of fifty pin signal
connectors 47.
Thus, six such cables 81 are directed along the right side of the rack housing
12.
Similary, as most clearly shown in Fig. 15, six LAN cables 81 extend from the
fan/LAN
trays 27 and PDUs along the left front side of the rack housing 12. These six
cables 81
are also connected at their lower ends to the switch module 36 (shown in Fig.
5).
Once the rack system 10 is fully assembled with all the fan/LAN trays 27, PDUs
29
and the blades 32 in place, a fully assembled and efficient rack mounted
system is
provided. In such a system, networking of the various components provided on
the
blades 32 is also performed efficiently. In the embodiment illustrated in the
drawings,
eleven blades are accommodated at each of the front bay portion 16 and the
rear bay
portion 18 at each bay 14. Thus, in the embodiment illustrated, 66 such blades
32 may
be accommodated. However, some of the slots may be occupied by master computer
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components or blades such as the master blades indicated at 32a in Figs. 4 and
6. In
the illustrated embodiment, two master blades 32a are provided in the bottom
of the
three blade bays directly above the switch module 36 (shown in Fig. 5). The
master
18a
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blades 32a are connected electrically directly to the switch module 36 via
high speed
connections (not shown) such as fiber optic connections. The master blades
control
the switch module 36 to switch communication between the various slave blades
32
and the master blades. Accordingly, 64 slave blades may be accommodated by the
illustrated embodiment of the system. Each of the 64 slave blades may be hot
swappable, for example, allowing replacement of the blades 32 without causing
the
shutting down of the system 10.
Each fan/LAN tray 27 is provided with twelve LAN connector ports such as the
port 45 (Fig. 1). Eleven of the 12 LAN connector ports 45 are adapted to
permit
communication between the various slave blades 32 and the switch module 36.
The
twelfth LAN connector port 45 allows an external user to connect an external
device
such as a laptop computer to the network. Further, each fan/LAN tray 27 is
provided
with a centrally disposed AC power outlet for connecting such an external
device.
According to the disclosed embodiments of the present invention, and as
indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 21, the system 10 illustrated in the
figures provides
efficient air flow to maintain a cool operating temperature for the various
components
mounted on the blades 32. Air flow is directed from the bottom opening 25 by
the air
intake fan module 38 located in the control bay 21. The air intake fan module
38
directs the air flow vertically through the various open structure blades 32
at each bay
level 14. The air flow is further facilitated by the fans 43 in each fan/LAN
tray 27 to
move the air, in its upwardly directed path of travel. The air flow is
directed out of the
rack housing 12 through the apertured top panel 26.
Figs. 21 through 24 illustrate further embodiments of the present invention.
As
illustrated in Figs. 21 through 24, the intake and exhaust of the air flow may
be varied
to accommodate various configurations as to the availability of air supply in
the
immediate environment. For example, in Fig. 22, an air intake fan module 38a
draws
air from a bottom opening 25a, similar to that illustrated in the embodiment
shown in
Figs. 1 through 21. Air flow is directed vertically with the aid of fans 43a
mounted on
fan/LAN trays. However, unlike the previously described embodiment, in the
embodiment illustrated in Fig. 22, the air flow is re-directed from a vertical
path of travel
at right angles to a horizontal path of travel out of the rack system 10a
towards the rear
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of the rack housing. An air flow hood 85a facilitates the rearward re-
direction of the air
flow.
Fig. 23 illustrates yet another embodiment of the rack system according to the
present invention. In this embodiment, an air intake fan module 38b draws air
horizontally inwardly through an opening such as defined by a perforated plate
87b in
the bottom front portion of the rack housing. The air flow is then re-directed
upwardly
with the aid of fans 43b mounted in fan/LAN trays. The air flow is directed
vertically out
of the top portion of rack system 10b.
In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 24, an air intake fan module 38c draws
air
horizontally through an opening such as defined by a perforated plate 87c in
the front
bottom portion of the rack housing. The air flow is re-directed vertically
through this
system with the aid of fans 43c. The air flow is re-directed at right angles
to a
horizontal path of travel out of the rack housing rearwardly at the top of the
rack
housing. The rearward redirection of the air flow is facilitated by an airflow
hood 85c. It
will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other variations on the
intake and
exhaust of the air flow are possible in accordance with other embodiments of
the
present invention.
Heat Sink Construction
Referring now to Figs. 27, 28 and 29, there is shown in greater detail the
heat sink 58, which is a passive heat sink and which is adapted to be attached
to a
circuit component such as a microprocessor (not shown) for the mother board
56a
(FIG. 26) to dissipate unwanted heat therefrom. The preferred orientation of
the heat
sink 58, when mounted on its mother board, is seen in FIG. 26. The heat sink
58 is
generally composed of an aluminum alloy (6063-T5) or other suitable metallic
material
and includes a series of fins such as fin 101 extending from a base portion
102, to
provide for a relatively large surface area to dissipate heat therefrom as the
substantially vertical air flow passes therebetween. The heat sink 58 may be
extruded.
The heat sink 58 includes a base or slug plate 103, which is composed of
suitable
metallic material such as copper and which overlies the base portion 102 and
is
adapted to be attached to the component to be protected by any suitable
technique
such as by soldering. The metallic slug plate 103 conducts the heat away from
the
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component to be protected and allows the heat to be dissipated through the
rectilinear
fins as the vertical air flow passes therebetween.
The fins such as the fin 101 extend vertically when the heat sink 58 is
mounted to its operative component as shown in FIG. 26. The fins are generally
equally spaced apart.
For a preferred operation, the heat sink 58 has certain critical dimensions
for a preferred embodiment of the invention. In this regard, the heat sink 58
is
generally in the shape of a block, which is generally rectangular in cross-
section. For
one preferred application, the overall dimensions of the heat sink include a
width of
between about 64.237 mm and about 68.580 mm, a length of between about 81.331
mm and about 95.606 mm, and a height of between about 24.765 mm and about
32.258 mm. The overall height dimension includes the height of the slug plate
103.
The slug plate height is about 3.175 mm for a preferred application. The
height of the
fin is preferably between about 19.050 mm and about 26.543 mm, and the spacing
between fins is preferably between about 2.311 mm and about 2.362 mm. The base
102 has a preferred thickness of about 2.540 mm.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is
important to have long fins as compared to the overall height of the heat
sink. This
provides for sufficient cooling air flow. Thus, there is no need for fans
located at or
near the heat sink. The air blowing through the blade passes vertically
upwardly
through the heat sink 58 and between the fins such as the fin 101 with little
obstruction
to the air flow.
In accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it
has been found that the preferred ratio of the height of the fins such as the
fin 101 to
the height of the base portion such as the base portion 102 is greater than 7
and more
preferably is between about 7.5 and about 10.45. These preferred ratios have
proven
to achieve the desired cooling effect when the heat sink is mounted with the
fins
extending vertically as indicated in FIG. 26.
The heat sink 58 is disposed vertically and is fastened in place by a
series of fastening devices such as the fastening device 105 in the form of a
bolt or
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screw. In this manner, the fins such as the fin 101 extends in a generally
vertical
disposition to interact with the vertical air flow.
Referring now to Figs. 30, 31 and 32, there is shown another heat sink
107, which is generally similar to the heat sink 58, except for its means of
attachment.
The heat sink 107 includes a series of spaced-apart fins such as a fin 109 for
facilitating the dissipation of heat. The heat sink 107 includes a base or
slug 112
which is generally similar to the slug 101 and is preferably composed of a
metallic
material such as copper.
The heat sink 107 is adapted to be attached to an operative component
110 such as a microprocessor to be protected by a suitable attachment device
such as
a clip 113 or other attachment devices which engage a space 114 centrally
disposed
between groups of the fins.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, it
is
to be understood that various different modifications and combinations are
possible
and are contemplated within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.
There
is no intention, therefore, of limitations to the exact abstract and
disclosure herein
presented.
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