Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE OF THE INVENTION
COOLANT CIRCULATING APPARATUS, AND COOLING APPARATUS
INCLUDING THE SAME COOLANT CIRCULATING APPARATUS FOR
ELECTRIC AND/OR ELECTRONIC DEVICE WHICH GENERATES HEAT
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a coolant
circulating apparatus, and a cooling apparatus
including the same coolant circulating apparatus for an
electric and/or electronic device which generates heat.
As an electric and/or electronic device which
generates heat, a transmitter for broadcasting has been
well known. The broadcasting transmitter uses, for
example, a number of power amplifiers as its heat
generating elements. The broadcasting transmitter
cannot display its original performance unless heat
generated by the heat generating elements is removed.
A conventional cooling apparatus for the
broadcasting transmitter includes: a cooling plate
which is disposed adjacent to a heat generating element
and in which a coolant circulating passage having an
inlet and an outlet is provided; a radiator which is
disposed apart from the heat generating element and in
which a coolant circulating passage having an inlet and
an outlet is provided, the inlet being connected to the
outlet of the coolant circulating passage of the
cooling plate; and a coolant circulating apparatus
which is interposed between the cooling plate and the
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radiator and which supplies a heat-radiated coolant
from the outlet of the coolant circulating passage of
the radiator to the inlet of the coolant circulating
passage of the cooling plate and moves the coolant
passed through the coolant circulating passage of the
cooling plate toward the inlet of the coolant
circulating passage of the radiator.
In such a conventional cooling apparatus, the
heat-radiated coolant supplied from the coolant
circulating apparatus to the inlet of the coolant
circulating passage of the cooling plate absorbs heat
from the heat generating element adjacent to the
cooling plate while the coolant passes through the
coolant circulating passage of the cooling plate. The
heat-absorbing coolant moved from the outlet of the
coolant circulating passage of the cooling plate to the
inlet of the coolant circulating passage of the
radiator is radiated its heat while the heat-absorbing
coolant passes through the coolant circulating passage
of the radiator. After heat is radiated in the coolant
circulating passage of the radiator, the coolant is
supplied again to the coolant circulating apparatus
from the outlet of the coolant circulating passage of
the radiator as described previously.
The coolant circulating apparatus includes first
and second circulating pumps disposed in parallel to
each other. The first and second circulating pumps are
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used alternately at a predetermined interval in order
to prolong their durability. An inlet port of each of
the first and second circulating pumps is provided with
an on-off valve, and a discharge port of each of the
first and second circulating pumps is provided with a
check valve. Because the first and second circulating
pumps of the coolant circulating apparatus are heavy
and bulky, they are disposed at the bottommost section
of the broadcasting transmitter. Therefore, they are
disposed below the cooling plate disposed adjacent to a
number of power amplifiers as the heat generating
elements in the broadcasting transmitter.
Two branched coolant supply pipes extend from the
outlet sides of the check valves of the first and
second circulating pumps toward the inlet of the
coolant circulating passage of the cooling plate
disposed above, and the two branched coolant supply
pipes are integrated to a single integrated coolant
supply pipe. The extending end of the single
integrated coolant supply pipe is connected to the
inlet of the coolant circulating passage of the cooling
plate.
A coolant discharge pipe with an on-off valve is
branched downward from the proximal end of the single
integrated coolant supply pipe. By opening the on-off
valve of the coolant discharge pipe, the coolant can be
discharged from the coolant circulating passage of the
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ccoling plate through the integrated coolant supply
pipe. However, in this case, the coolant is left in
the two branched coolant supply pipes extending between
the proximal end of the integrated coolant supply pipe
and the outlet sides of the check valves of the first
and second circulating pumps. A work for removing the
coolant left in the two branched coolant supply pipes
from those two branched coolant supply pipes is
troublesome.
The present invention has been derived from the
above-described circumstances, and an object of the
present invention is to provide a coolant circulating
apparatus which is configured to remove a coolant
surely and easily from coolant supply pipes extending
from outlet sides of check valves of plural circulating
pumps to a coolant circulating passage of a cooler like
a cooling plate, and to provide a cooling apparatus
including such a coolant circulating apparatus as
described above for an electric and/or electronic
device which generate heat.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to an aspect of the present invention
there is provided a coolant circulating apparatus
comprising:
circulating pumps which are disposed in parallel to
each other, and each of which has an inlet port and a
discharge port and discharges coolant flowing into the
inlet port from the discharge port;
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a coolant selectively introducing unit which is
connected to the inlet ports of the circulating pumps
and which selectively introduces the coolant into the
inlet ports of the circulating pumps;
check valves which are connected to the discharge
ports of the circulating pumps;
branched coolant supply pipes each of which extends
in one of a horizontal direction or a downward direction
from each of the check valves and which have extending
ends at which the branched coolant supply pipes are
integrated with each other;
an integrated coolant supply pipe which extends
upward from the integrated extending ends of the
branched coolant supply pipes; and
a coolant discharge pipe with an on-off valve,
which extends downwardly from the integrated extending
ends of the branched coolant supply pipes, the coolant
discharge pipe being configured to discharge coolant
from the coolant circulating apparatus.
According to another aspect of the present
invention there is provided a cooling apparatus for an
electric and/or electronic device having a heat
generating element, comprising:
a cooler which is disposed adjacent to the heat
generating element and in which a coolant circulating
passage having an inlet and an outlet is provided;
a radiator which is disposed apart from the heat
generating element and in which a coolant circulating
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passage having an inlet and an outlet is provided, the
inlet being connected to the outlet of the coolant
circulating passage of the cooler; and
a coolant circulating apparatus which is interposed
between the cooler and the radiator and which supplies a
heat-radiated coolant from the outlet of the coolant
circulating passage of the radiator to the inlet of the
coolant circulating passage of the cooler and moves the
coolant passed through the coolant circulating passage
of the cooler toward the inlet of the coolant
circulating passage of the radiator,
wherein the coolant circulating apparatus
comprises:
circulating pumps which are disposed in
parallel to each other, and each of which has an
inlet port and a discharge port and discharges
coolant flowing into the inlet port from the
discharge port;
a coolant selectively introducing unit which
is connected to the inlet ports of the circulating
pumps and which selectively introduces the coolant
into the inlet ports of the circulating pumps;
check valves which are connected to the
discharge ports of the circulating pumps;
branched coolant supply pipes each of which
extends in one of a horizontal direction or a
downward direction from each of the check valves
and which have extending ends at which the branched
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coolant supply pipes are integrated with each
other;
an integrated coolant supply pipe which
extends upward from the integrated extending ends
of the branched coolant supply pipes; and
a coolant discharge pipe with an on-off valve,
which extends downwardly from the integrated
extending ends of the branched coolant supply
pipes, the coolant discharge pipe being configured
to discharge coolant from the coolant circulating
apparatus.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
The single figure is a view showing schematically
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a structure of a cooling apparatus, including a coolant
circulating apparatus according to an embodiment of the
present invention, for a broadcasting transmitter which
is a kind of an electric and/or electronic device which
generates a heat.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A cooling apparatus 10 according to an embodiment
of the present invention is used to cool heat
generating elements of an electric and/or electronic
device, such as a transmitter for broadcasting 12 which
uses a plurality of power amplifiers as the heat
generating elements.
The cooling apparatus 10 includes: a cooler 14
which is disposed adjacent to the power amplifiers of
the broadcasting transmitter 12 and in which a coolant
circulating passage 14c having an inlet 14a and an
outlet 14b is provided; and a radiator 16 which is
disposed apart from the heat generating elements and in
which a coolant circulating passage 16c having an inlet
16a and an outlet 16b is provided, the inlet 16a being
connected to the outlet 14b of the coolant circulating
passage 14c of the cooler 14.
In this embodiment, the cooler 14 has a known
structure which is called as a cooling panel.
In this embodiment, the radiator 16 has a known
structure in which a plurality of heat radiating fins
are provided along the coolant circulating passage 16c
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and wind caused by a fan is blown against the plurality
of heat radiating fins so that heat is radiated from a
coolant flowing through the coolant circulating passage
16.
The cooling apparatus 10 further includes a
coolant circulating apparatus 18 which is interposed
between the cooler 14 and the heat radiator 16. The
coolant circulating apparatus 18 is supplied with the
heat-radiated coolant from the outlet 16b of the
coolant circulating passage 16c of the radiator 16, and
feeds the heat-radiated coolant to the inlet 14a of the
coolant circulating passage 14c of the cooler 14 so
that the heat-radiated coolant is passed through the
coolant circulating passage 14c of the cooler 14 and
then is directed to the inlet 16a of the coolant
circulating passage 16c of the radiator 16.
The coolant circulating apparatus 18 includes: a
plurality of circulating pumps 22a, 22b each of which
has an inlet port 20a and a discharge port 20b, which
are disposed in parallel to each other, and which
discharge the coolant flowing into the respective inlet
ports 20a from the respective discharge ports 20b; a
coolant selectively introducing unit 24 which is
connected to the inlet ports 20a of the plural
circulating pumps 22a, 22b, which is supplied with the
heat-radiated coolant from the outlet 16b of the
coolant circulating passage 16c of the radiator 16, and
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which selectively introduces the heat-radiated coolant
into the inlet ports 20a of the plural circulating
pumps 22a, 22b; and a plurality of check valves 26
which are connected to the discharge ports 20b of the
plural circulating pumps 22a, 22b.
Since the plural circulating pumps 22a, 22b of the
coolant circulating apparatus 18 are heavy and bulky,
the plural circulating pumps 22a, 22b are disposed at
the lowest part of the broadcasting transmitter 12.
Thus, the plural circulating pumps 22a, 22b are
disposed below the cooler 14 disposed adjacent to the
plural power amplifiers serving as the heat generating
elements in the broadcasting transmitter 12.
In this embodiment, the coolant is water or water
mixed with anti-freeze liquid.
The coolant circulating apparatus 18 further
includes: a plurality of branched coolant supply pipes
28 which extend from the check valves 26 horizontally
or downwardly and which have extending ends 28a
integrated with each other; an integrated coolant
supply pipe 30 which extends upward from the integrated
extending ends 28a of the branched coolant supply pipes
28 and which supplies the heat-radiated coolant to the
inlet 14a of the coolant passage 14c of the cooler 14;
and a coolant discharge pipe 32 which extends
horizontally or downwardly from the integrated
extending ends 28a of the plural branched coolant
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supply pipes 28 and which is provided with an on-off
valve 32a.
In this embodiment, the coolant selectively
introducing unit 24 includes a plurality of on-off
valves 24a connected to the inlet ports 20a of the
plural circulating pumps 22a, 22b.
The coolant circulating apparatus 18 of this
embodiment further includes a coolant reservoir 34
between the outlet 16b of the coolant circulating
passage 16c of the heat radiator 16 and the coolant
selectively introducing unit 24 of the coolant
circulating apparatus 18. The coolant reservoir 34
temporarily reserves the heat-radiated coolant from the
outlet 16b of the coolant circulating passage 16c of
the radiator 16.
Further in this embodiment, a known dust remover
36 for removing dust mixed in the coolant is interposed
between the coolant selectively introducing unit 24 and
the inlet port 20a of each of the plural circulating
pumps 22a, 22b, and a flow control valve 38 is
interposed between the discharge port 20b of each of
the plural circulating pumps 22a, 22b and the check
valve 26 corresponding thereto.
More further in this embodiment, a coolant
temperature adjusting unit 40 is interposed between the
outlet 16b of the coolant circulating passage 16c of
the heat radiator 16 and the coolant selectively
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introducing unit 24 of the coolant circulating
apparatus 18. The coolant temperature adjusting unit
40 mixes the heat-radiated coolant from the outlet 16b
of the coolant circulating passage 16c of the radiator
16 with the heat-absorbed coolant from the outlet 14b
of the coolant circulating passage 14c of the cooler 14
at a desired ratio, and supplies the mixture of the
heat-radiated coolant and the heat-absorbed coolant at
the desired ratio to the coolant selectively
introducing unit 24 of the coolant circulating
apparatus 18.
Particularly, the coolant temperature adjusting
unit 40 is interposed between the outlet 16b of the
coolant circulating passage 16c of the radiator 16 and
the coolant reservoir 34. A pipe 42 extending from the
outlet 16b of the coolant circulating passage 16c of
the radiator 16 toward the coolant reservoir 34 is
branched to two ways before it reaches the coolant
reservoir 34, and reaches the coolant reservoir 34
through thermostat valves 44 connected to the two
branched ends of the pipe 42.
A two-way branched pipe 50 with an on-off valve 48
is branched from a pipe 46 extending from the outlet
14b of the coolant circulating passage 14c of the
cooler 14 toward the inlet 16a of the coolant
circulating passage 16c of the radiator 16, and two
extending ends of the two-way branched pipe 50 are
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connected to the thermostat valves 44.
Drive sources (which are usually electric motors
and do not shown in the attached figure) for the plural
circulating pumps 22a, 22b are connected to a control
unit 52 for controlling these operations. The control
unit 52 monitors the temperature and pressure of the
coolant flown in the cooling apparatus including those
of the coolant flown out from the discharge ports 20b
of the plural circulating pumps 22a, 22b, and further
monitors the temperature of the heat generating element
of the electric and/or electronic device to be cooled
by the cooler 14, that is for example the temperature
of the electric power amplifier as the heat generating
element in the broadcasting transmitter 12 in this
embodiment. And, the control unit 52 controls the
operations of the drive sources (which are usually
electric motors and do not shown in the attached
figure) for the plural circulating pumps 22a, 22b so
that the temperature of the heat generating element
stays below a predetermined value.
The on-off valve 48 of the coolant temperature
adjusting unit 40, the on-off valves 24a of the coolant
selectively introducing unit 24, and the flow control
valves 38 of the discharge ports 20b of the plural
circulating pumps 22a, 22b may be opened or closed
suitably on a basis of the monitoring result of the
control unit 52.
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Next, an operation of the cooling apparatus 10
according to this embodiment and structured as
described above will be described.
When the broadcasting transmitter 12 using the
plurality of power amplifiers as the heat generating
elements starts its operation while one of the plural
on-off valves 24a of the coolant selectively
introducing unit 24 is opened and the other is closed,
the control unit 52 of the cooling apparatus 10 makes
one driving source (not shown) of the plural
circulating pumps 22a, 22b corresponding to the opened
on-off valve 24a operates and makes the remaining
driving source (not shown) of the plural circulating
pumps 22a, 22b corresponding to the remaining closed
on-off valve 24a being inoperative.
As a result, the heat-radiated coolant supplied
from the outlet 16b of the coolant circulating passage
16c of the radiator 16 to the coolant reservoir 34
through the coolant temperature adjusting unit 40 and
reserved in the coolant reservoir 34, is discharged
from the coolant reservoir 34 into the one of the
plural circulating pumps 22a, 22b (for example, the
circulating pump 22a in this embodiment) corresponding
to the opened on-off valve 24a. The one plural
circulating pump 22a or 22b discharges the heat-
radiated coolant from its discharge port 20b into the
branched coolant supply pipe 28 corresponding to the
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one circulating pump 22a or 22b through the flow
control valve 38 and check valve 26 corresponding
thereto.
Usually, the on-off valve 32a of the coolant
discharge pipe extending horizontally or downwardly
from the integrated extending ends 28a of the branched
coolant supply pipes 28 extending from the discharge
ports 20b of the plural circulating pumps 22a, 22b is
closed. Therefore, the heat-radiated coolant in the
branched coolant supply pipe 28 flows into the
integrated coolant supply pipe 30 extending upward from
the integrated extending ends 28a of the branched
coolant supply pipes 28 to the inlet 14a of the coolant
circulating passage 14c of the cooler 14 located above
the plural circulating pumps 22a, 22b, and then flows
into the inlet 14a of the coolant circulating passage
14c of the cooler 14 to move in the coolant circulating
passage 14c.
The heat-radiated coolant moving in the coolant
circulating passage 14c from the inlet 14a to the
outlet 14b in the cooler 14 absorbs the heat generated
by the plural power amplifiers (not shown) as the heat
generating elements (not shown) located adjacent to the
cooler 14 in the broadcasting transmitter 12.
When the temperature of the air surrounding the
broadcasting transmitter 12 is over a predetermined
value, for example over a normal temperature, the
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on-off valve 48 of the coolant temperature adjusting
unit 40 is closed.
In this case, the coolant which absorbs heat in
the coolant circulating passage 14c of the cooler 14 is
sent from the outlet 14b of the coolant circulating
passage 14c of the cooler 14 into the inlet 16a of the
coolant circulating passage 16c of the radiator 16
without passing through the coolant temperature
adjusting unit 40. The heat absorbed in the coolant is
radiated by blowing air from the fan against the plural
heat radiating fins (not shown) of the heat radiator 16
while the heat-absorbed coolant passes through the
coolant circulating passage 16c of the heat radiator
16.
The coolant radiated heat in the coolant
circulating passage 16c of the radiator 16 is returned
to the coolant reservoir 34 through the thermostat
valves 44 of the coolant temperature adjusting unit 40.
When the temperature of the air surrounding the
broadcasting transmitter 12 is lower than the
predetermined value, for example lower than the normal
temperature, the on-off valve 48 of the coolant
temperature adjusting unit 40 is opened. As a result,
the heat-absorbed coolant supplied from the cooler 14
is mixed with the heat-radiated coolant supplied from
the heat radiator 16 at a desired ratio by the
thermostat valves 44 of the coolant temperature
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adjusting unit 40, and the mixture of the heat-absorbed
coolant supplied from the cooler 14 with the heat-
radiated coolant supplied from the heat radiator 16 at
the desired ratio is supplied to the coolant reservoir
34 of the coolant circulating apparatus 18 and then to
the coolant selectively introducing unit 24.
When the on-off valve 32a of the coolant discharge
pipe 32 extending horizontally or downwardly from the
proximal end of the integrated coolant supply pipe 30,
that is the integrated extending ends 28a of the
branched coolant supply pipes 28, is opened while the
operation of the broadcasting transmitter 12 is
stopped, that is while the operation of the cooling
apparatus 10 is stopped, the coolant can be discharged
from the coolant circulating passage 14c of the cooler
14 through the integrated coolant supply pipe 30 and
the coolant discharge pipe 32.
The plural branched coolant supply pipes 28
connected to the discharge ports 20b of the plural
circulating pumps 22a, 22b and having the extending
ends 28a integrated with each other at the proximal end
of the integrated coolant supply pipe 28a extends from
the flow out sides of the check valves 26 toward the
extending ends 28a horizontally or downwardly.
Therefore, the coolant in the part of the plural
branched coolant supply pipes 28 located between the
extending ends 28a at the proximal end of the
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integrated coolant supply pipe 30 and the flow out
sides of the check valves 28 of the plural circulating
pumps 22a, 22b can be discharged through the coolant
discharge pipe 32 surely and easily.
