U.S. patent application number 11/241910 was filed with the patent office on 2007-04-05 for computer system airflow-guiding device.
This patent application is currently assigned to Focxonn Technology Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Chun-Chi Chen, Hsieh-Kun Lee, Chi Liang, Shi-Wen Zhou.
Application Number | 20070077880 11/241910 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37902515 |
Filed Date | 2007-04-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070077880 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lee; Hsieh-Kun ; et
al. |
April 5, 2007 |
Computer system airflow-guiding device
Abstract
An airflow-guiding device for being mounted into a computer
system to periodically change airflow passing therethrough,
comprises a motor, a gearing driven by the motor and a plurality of
airflow-guiding plates pivoted to a frame and linked to the gearing
and driven thereby to turn back and forth periodically. The gearing
comprises a cam driven by the motor and a sliding board slideably
mounted on a supporting member. The sliding board has a lateral
side always in contact with the cam so that when the cam rotates,
the sliding plate slides on the supporting member. The
airflow-guiding plates each have a linking rod linked to the
sliding board. The airflow-guiding plates periodically turn within
a given angle following the rotation of the cam so as to change
direction of airflow passing through the airflow-guiding
plates.
Inventors: |
Lee; Hsieh-Kun; (Tu-Cheng,
TW) ; Chen; Chun-Chi; (Tu-Cheng, TW) ; Zhou;
Shi-Wen; (Shenzhen, CN) ; Liang; Chi;
(Shenzhen, CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MORRIS MANNING MARTIN LLP
3343 PEACHTREE ROAD, NE
1600 ATLANTA FINANCIAL CENTER
ATLANTA
GA
30326
US
|
Assignee: |
Focxonn Technology Co.,
Ltd.
Tu-Cheng City
TW
|
Family ID: |
37902515 |
Appl. No.: |
11/241910 |
Filed: |
October 3, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
454/285 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 1/20 20130101; H05K
7/20172 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
454/285 |
International
Class: |
F24F 13/06 20060101
F24F013/06 |
Claims
1. An air flow guiding device for a computer system comprising: a
motor; a gearing comprising a plate cam driven by the motor; a
soleplate oriented perpendicularly to the airflow-guiding plates; a
sliding board parallelly mounted on a top surface of the soleplate
and constantly contacting with an outer profile of the cam, wherein
the sliding board is driven by the cam to slide on the top surface
of the soleplate; and a plurality of airflow-guiding plates linked
to and driven by the gearing sliding board to turn back and forth
periodically.
2. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 1, wherein the
airflow-guiding plates are spaced and parallel to each other.
3. (canceled)
4. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 1, wherein the
sliding board is pushed to contact with the cam by a spring.
5. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 4, wherein an
extension rod extends from the sliding board and is pushed by the
spring.
6. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 1, wherein the
soleplate comprises two ribs for supporting the sliding board to
slide thereon.
7. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 6, wherein the
sliding board is provided with a plurality of roller at opposite
sides thereof, and the rollers are supported on the ribs of the
soleplate and adopted to slide relative to the soleplate along the
ribs.
8. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 7, wherein the
gearing further comprises a cover board on the soleplate, and the
cam and the sliding plate are accommodated between the cover board
and the soleplate.
9. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 1, further
comprising a frame mounted to the gearing, each of the
airflow-guiding plates forms a pair of studs pivoted to the
frame.
10. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 9, wherein the
sliding plate defines a plurality of elongated slots having a
number corresponding to a number of the airflow-guiding plates,
each air guiding plate forms a linking rod which is received in a
corresponding slot and sliding therein when the each
airflow-guiding plate rotates,
11. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 3, wherein the
cam rotates around a same axis as the motor.
12. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 10, wherein
the cover board defines an opening for the linking rods to extend
therethrough into the slots of the sliding board.
13. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 7, wherein the
rollers each form an enlarged head at an outer end thereof, the
enlarged heads of the rollers engaging with opposite sides of the
soleplate to prevent the sliding board from disengagement with the
soleplate.
14. A ventilating device for a computer system comprising: a motor;
a gearing comprising a cam driven by the motor to rotate around an
axis, a sliding board engaged with the cam and sliding to and fro;
a plurality of airflow-guiding plates pivoted to a frame, each
airflow-guiding plate having a portion extending into the sliding
board; and a fan positioned adjacent to the airflow-guiding plates
for providing a forced airflow passing through the airflow-guiding
plates; wherein a rotation of the cam by the driving of the motor
causes the sliding board to slide to and fro and the
airflow-guiding plates to rotate so as to change direction of the
airflow after passing the airflow-guiding plates; wherein a linking
rod is formed from each of the airflow-guiding plates and extends
into the sliding board, and wherein when the sliding board slides
between a first position where the sliding board is close to the
axis of the cam and a second position where the sliding board is
distant from the axis, the linking rod moves relative to the
sliding plate in the sliding 1late along a direction which is
perpendicular to the sliding direction of the sliding plate.
15. (canceled)
16. The ventilating device as described in claim 14, wherein a
plurality of slots is defined in the sliding board in which the
linking rods slide.
17. The ventilating device as described in claim 14, wherein the
airflow-guiding plates are parallel to each other during the
sliding of the sliding board.
18. The ventilating device as described in claim 14, wherein the
airflow is guided to a first direction while the sliding board
reaches the first position and the airflow is guided to a second
direction different from the first direction while the sliding
board reaches the second position.
19. (canceled)
20. An air flow guiding device for changing flow direction of an
airflow in a computer, said airflow being generated by a fan of the
computer, the air flow guiding device comprising: a soleplate; a
sliding plate mounted on the soleplate and being slideable relative
to the soleplate between first and second positions; a cover board
mounted on the soleplate above the sliding board; a frame having a
plurality of airflow-guiding plates pivotably mounted thereon, each
of the guiding plates having a linking rod extending through the
cover board and in the sliding plate; wherein when the sliding
plate slides to the first position, the airflow-guiding plates are
oriented to a first direction and when the sliding plates slides to
the second position, the airflow-guiding plates are oriented to a
second direction different from the first direction so that the
airflow can change direction when the airflow flows through the
airflow-guiding plates.
21. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 1, wherein the
sliding board moves relative to the soleplate along a line parallel
to the top surface of the soleplate.
22. The airflow-guiding device as described in claim 1, wherein
each of the airflow-guiding plates has a sharpened front edge from
a top to a bottom side of the each of the airflow-guiding
plates.
23. The air flow guiding device as described in claim 20, further
comprising a motor mounted on the cover board, the motor enabling
the sliding board to slide relative to the soleplate between the
first position and the second position.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to an airflow-guiding device,
and more particularly to a computer system airflow-guiding
device.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Rapid development of computer technology has rendered the
problem of heat generation more serious. Central processing unit
(CPU), as the core of a computer, is generating more and more heat,
and, accordingly, the heat sink for dissipating the heat from the
CPU is larger and larger. Besides CPU, other electronic devices in
the computer, such as south-bridge chipset, north-bridge chipset,
VGA card chipset and so on, are also generating more and more heat
during their operation, which also needs to be cooled. On the other
hand, minimization is a trend of computer innovation. An inner
space of a computer system is getting smaller and smaller. The heat
sink mounted on the CPU has occupied a sizeable space. Mounting of
heat sinks to the other heat generating electronic devices is
difficult and not preferred, since these heat sinks hinder a smooth
flow of a system airflow through the computer system. The major
heat-generating electronic components, except for the CPU in the
computer system, are entirely cooled by the system airflow provided
by a system fan which is generally mounted to the backside of the
computer. It is desired that the system airflow can flow through
every heat-generating electronic components in the computer system,
including the CPU.
[0005] Referring to FIG. 8, an airflow path in a computer 200 is
illustrated schematically. Limited to the immobile location of
outlet of a system fan 100, a system airflow generated by the
system fan 100 can only move within a narrow region in line with
the fan 100 to directly cooling electronic devices within the
region. Other electronic devices out of the region can merely be
cooled by the system airflow rebounding from a wall of the computer
200 toward an outlet 201 of the computer 200. A satisfactory heat
dissipation effect cannot be obtained by the conventional design.
Especially, a region in a corner of the computer, for example,
region D, which is far away from said narrow region, is a dead
region to the system airflow. Electronic elements in this region D
cannot be cooled timely and effectively by the system airflow,
whereby this region D usually can only be designed to accommodate
electronic element without heat generation, which enormously
affects design flexibility of electronic components in the computer
200.
[0006] Therefore, it is desired to develop an airflow-guiding
device to overcome above-mentioned problems.
SUMMARY
[0007] Accordingly, what is needed is an airflow-guiding device
used in a computer system for changing direction of system airflow
automatically and periodically so as to increase covered regions of
the system airflow in the computer system.
[0008] An airflow-guiding device for being mounted into a computer
system to periodically change direction of airflow passing
therethrough, comprises a motor, a gearing driven by the motor and
a plurality of airflow-guiding plates linked to the gearing and
driven thereby to turn back and forth periodically. The gearing
comprises a cam driven by the motor and a sliding board always
contacting with the cam and sliding to and fro in a line with the
rotation of the cam. The airflow-guiding plates are pivotally
connected to a frame and each have a portion linked to the sliding
board. The airflow-guiding plates periodically turn within a given
angle following the continuous rotation of the cam so as to change
direction of airflow passing through the airflow-guiding
plates.
[0009] Other advantages and novel features of the present invention
will become more apparent from the following detailed description
when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in
which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an airflow-guiding device in
accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the airflow-guiding device of
FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of an airflow-guiding plate
of the airflow-guiding device of FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a top view of the airflow-guiding device in
accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention,
with a frame being moved away, showing paths of airflow passing
through the airflow-guiding device;
[0014] FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4, showing paths of airflow
passing through the airflow-guiding device when the airflow-guiding
plates turn to a first ultimate position;
[0015] FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 4, showing paths of airflow
passing through the airflow-guiding device when the airflow-guiding
plates turn to a second ultimate position;
[0016] FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing airflow paths in a
computer system in which the airflow-guiding device of the present
invention is mounted; and
[0017] FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing airflow paths in a
conventional computer system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0018] Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to
describe a computer system airflow-guiding device 1 (FIG. 1) in
accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
[0019] Referring to FIG. 7, the computer system airflow-guiding
device 1 is for being mounted to an outlet of a system fan 100 of a
computer system 300, such as personal computer, server, network
station, to periodically change direction of a forced system
airflow provided by the fan 100 into the computer system 300. The
airflow is guided to periodically change its route and flows toward
different directions so as to cover different regions of the
computer system 300, thereby effectively cooling electronic devices
at different places of the computer system 300.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the computer system
airflow-guiding device 1 comprises a motor 10, a gearing 20 driven
by the motor 10, and a plurality of airflow-guiding plates 90
linked to the gearing 20 and driven thereby to periodically turn
back and forth within a given angle.
[0021] The motor 10 is generally a low-speeded mini-type motor
having a long life-span and low noise.
[0022] The gearing 20 comprises an elongate rectangle soleplate 30
provided with two parallel ribs 31 extending along front and rear
sides thereof. A cover board 40 having the substantially same
dimension as the soleplate 30 is located on the soleplate 30. The
cover board 40 and the soleplate 30 are fixedly connected to each
other by pins (not labeled) formed on the cover board 40 fitted
into holes (not labeled) defined in the soleplate 30. A rectangle
opening 41 is defined in the cover plate 40. The motor 10 is
mounted onto a lateral side of the cover board 40 and adjacent to
an end of the opening 41. A cam 50 is pivotally disposed between
the soleplate 30 and the cover board 40, and driven by the motor 10
to rotate on a plane parallel to the soleplate 30 and the cover
board 40 and around a same axis with the motor 10. The cam 50 has
such a contour that a distance from the contour to the axis is
continuously varied. A sliding board 60 is slideably mounted
between the cover board 40 and the soleplate 30, and has one
lateral end in constant contact with the cam 50. An extension rod
62 extends from another lateral end of the siding board 60. The
extension rod 62 forms a step (not labeled) pushed by a spring 70
toward the cam 50 and a slender portion (not labeled) extending
from the step into the spring 70. The spring 70 pushes the sliding
board 60 toward the cam 50 and makes them always contact with each
other. Thus, continuous rotation of the cam 50 causes the sliding
board 60 to reciprocate on the soleplate 30.
[0023] To minimize resistance of movement of the sliding board 60
on the soleplate 30, three pairs of rollers 64 are formed on front
and rear sides of the sliding board 60. The rollers 64 are
supported by the ribs 31 of the soleplate 30 so as to make the
sliding board 60 move smoothly relative to the soleplate 30. On the
other hand, each of the rollers 64 is provided with an enlarged
head 641 engaging with an outer edge of a corresponding rib 31 to
prevent the sliding board 60 from disengagement with the soleplate
30 and the cam 50, and from deviating from a predetermined sliding
track. The sliding board 60 defines a plurality of elongate slots
66 arrayed along an extension direction of the sliding board 60
with each slot 66 extending perpendicularly to the extension and
sliding direction of the sliding board 60. In other words, each
slot 66 extends along a direction from front to rear sides of the
sliding board 60.
[0024] An erect rectangle frame 80 is located above and fixed to
the cover board 40. The frame 80 comprises a bottom wall 82 fixed
to the cover board 40, a top wall 81 opposite to and parallel to
the bottom wall 82, and a pair of parallel sidewalls 83, 84 located
between and perpendicular to the top and bottom walls 81, 82. The
four walls 81, 82, 83, 84 connect each other to form the frame 80
and define a ventilating opening (not labeled) between the four
walls 81, 82, 83, 84.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 3, the airflow-guiding plate 90 has an
erect rectangle configuration, and a number of the airflow-guiding
plate 90 equals to that of the elongate slots 66 in the sliding
board 60. In this embodiment, there are five airflow-guiding plates
90 and five slots 66. A pair of studs 91, 92 extend from a middle
of top and bottom sides of the airflow-guiding plate 90,
respectively, and are in alignment with each other. Each
airflow-guiding plate 90 further forms a linking rod 93 extending
downwardly from a rear of the bottom side of the airflow-guiding
plate 90, parallel to the bottom stud 92. The airflow-guiding
plates 90 are arranged in the opening of the frame 80. The top stud
91 extends into a hole (not labeled) defined in the top wall 81 and
the bottom stud 92 extends into a hole (not labeled) defined in the
bottom wall 82 so that the airflow-guiding plate 90 can rotate in
the frame 80 around an axis defined by the studs 91, 92. The
linking rods 93 extend downwardly from a rear side of the bottom
wall 82 beyond the bottom wall 82, through the opening 41 of the
cover board 40, and into the elongate slots 66 in the sliding board
60, respectively. Under this arrangement, when the sliding board 60
slides to a given position, the airflow-guiding plates 90 are
positioned at a corresponding orientation. To minimize resistance
of airflow through the airflow-guiding plates 90, each
airflow-guiding plate 90 has a sharpened front edge from the top to
the bottom sides of the airflow-guiding plate 90. The sharpened
front edge is located far away from the linking rod 93.
[0026] The computer system airflow-guiding device 1 operates as
follows:
[0027] Referring to FIGS. 4-7, the airflow-guiding device 1 is
mounted to the outlet of the system fan 100 in the computer system
300. In this embodiment, the fan 100 is mounted to a rear sidewall
of the computer system 300 and the airflow-guiding device 1 is
mounted in front of the fan 100. When the motor 10 operates, the
cam 50 is driven to continuously rotate, which consequently renders
the sliding board 60 to slide back and forth on the soleplate 30,
meanwhile, the rollers 64 rotate on the ribs 31 of the soleplate
30. The linking rods 93 of the airflow-guiding plates 90 move in
the slots 66 of the sliding board 60 while the studs 91, 92 of the
airflow-guiding plates 90 pivot respective to the frame 80. As a
result, the airflow-guiding plates 90 turn back and fro with a
predetermined angle. When the airflow provided by the fan 100
passes through the airflow-guiding plates 90, it is periodically
guided to flow toward different directions. As shown in FIG. 5,
when the sliding board 60 is driven by the cam 50 and the spring 70
to a right side of the soleplate 30, the airflow-guiding plates 90
rotate to an orientation that the airflow generated by the fan 100
is guided to flow forwardly leftwards. As shown in FIG. 6, when the
sliding board 60 is driven to a left side of the soleplate 30, the
airflow generated by the fan 100 is guided by the airflow-guiding
plates 90 to flow forwardly rightwards.
[0028] Particularly referring to FIGS. 4 and 7, the airflow
directly reaches a region marked "A" to effectively cooling the
electronic devices (not shown) within the region "A" when the
air-flow guiding plates 90 are oriented to be aligned with the
inflow direction of the system airflow generated by the fan 100.
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 7, the airflow-guiding plates 90 are
turned to be oriented forwardly leftwards (first ultimate
position); accordingly, the airflow passing through the
airflow-guiding plates 90 is deflected to blow toward a different
direction, and reaches a region "B" marked in FIG. 7. Referring to
FIGS. 6 and 7, the airflow guiding plates 90 are turned to be
oriented forwardly rightwards (second ultimate position);
accordingly, the airflow passing through the airflow-guiding plates
90 is deflected toward another different direction, and reaches a
region "C" marked in FIG. 7.
[0029] The continuous rotation of the cam 50 driven by the motor 10
renders the airflow-guiding plates 90 to turn to and fro within a
given angle determined by the first ultimate position and the
second ultimate position; the airflow passing through the
airflow-guiding device 1 is deflected to periodically change its
direction and reach different regions. As a result, more electronic
devices in the computer system 300 can be directly and effectively
cooled by the fan 100.
[0030] It is believed that the present invention and its advantages
will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be
apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of
its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely
being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention.
* * * * *