Patent Application
20060093476
Electronic components may generate heat in order to dissipate received power. The heat may damage or otherwise impair the functionality of such components. Various cooling systems have been employed to cool power-dissipating components, which may include processors, chipsets, voltage regulator components, and other components. Some cooling systems utilize a fan to evacuate heated air from a chassis including the power-dissipating components. Other cooling systems generate airflow using a fan and direct the airflow toward the power-dissipating components to provide cooling thereof
System 1 includes housing 10 and hub 20. A plurality of stator vanes 30 are coupled to housing 10 and hub 20. According to some embodiments, each of stator vanes 30 is an airfoil comprising a leading edge, a trailing edge, a first end and a second end. The first end of each airfoil is fixedly coupled to hub 20 and the second end is fixedly coupled to housing 10.
Housing 10, hub 20 and vanes 30 may be composed of any materials suitable for their intended use, including but not limited to plastics, resins, polymers, and metals. Physical dimensions of housing 10, hub 20 and vanes 30 may also vary according to intended uses and/or specifications with which system 1 is intended to comply. Housing 10, hub 20 and vanes 30 comprise a single integral unit according to some embodiments. Such a unit may be manufactured using injection molding techniques.
Fan 40 is coupled to hub 20 according to some embodiments. Motor 60 may be disposed within fan 40 and supported by hub 20 as shown. Motor 60 rotates blades 50 of fan 40 to deliver air to the leading edges of vanes 30. As shown in
Vanes 30 receive the accelerated air. According to some embodiments, vanes 30 increase the static pressure of the air from P1 to P2 for a given axial velocity from leading edges of vanes 30 to trailing edges of vanes 30. The air exiting the trailing edges of vanes 30 is depicted in
For a particular fan speed, the flow and/or pressure of air 80 may be greater than would be provided by fan 40 in the absence of vanes 30.
The leading edges of vanes 30 receive the accelerated air from fan 40. In some embodiments, the leading edge of at least one of vanes 30 defines a first curve and the trailing edge of the blade defines a second curve. Examples of the first curve and the second curve are circumscribed by dotted line 31 of
As mentioned above, vanes 30 may comprise airfoils according to some embodiments. If the accelerated air from fan 40 encounters the leading edge of a vane 30 at an appropriate angle of attack, the airfoil shape may produce lift that assists in converting at least some of the tangential velocity of the received air to pressure. In some embodiments, the blades comply with National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Four-Digit Series airfoil geometries 93xx, 94xx, 83xx, or 84xx. Examples of such geometries include airfoil geometries 9304, 9404, 8304, or 8404. According to these embodiments, the vanes are defined by a maximum camber of 8% or more of a length of the vanes.
The accelerated air then encounters vane 30, also shown in cross-section. Air 80 exiting from a trailing edge of vane 30 exhibits an increase in static pressure from P1 to P2, while the axial velocity component Vaxial1 remains substantially equal to axial component Vaxial0. However, magnitudes of both tangential velocity component Vtangential1 and radial component Vradial0 are less than respective components Vtangential0 and Vradial0 of the air received by the leading edge of vane 30.
The angle at which the accelerated air impinges on the leading edges of vanes 30 may decrease with distance from hub 20. One or more of vanes 30 may therefore be “twisted” such that this “vane angle” varies with radius. When such a twist is employed, the first end of one of the one or more vanes 30 is not coplanar with the second end of the one or more vanes 30. The vane angle is measured by connecting a line between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the blade (known as the chord), where that line then intersects with a horizontal plane when the hub 15 is disposed horizontally.
The vane angle may increase as a function of radius. In some embodiments, the vane angle of at least one of vanes 30 is 55 degrees at hub 20 and 75 degrees at housing 10. Some embodiments may provide a vane angle of at least one of vanes 30 that is 43 degrees at hub 20 and 73 degrees at housing 10.
According to some embodiments, the number of blades 50 is N and the number of vanes 30 is not an integer multiple of N. Such an arrangement may provide increased acoustic interference and thereby reduce the operational noise of system 1 in comparison to other arrangements. In a particular example, the number of vanes is equal to N+1. Some embodiments may also reduce acoustic noise in comparison to other arrangements by allowing a slower rotational speed of fan 40 for a given amount of airflow.
Electronic component 300 may comprise any heat-dissipating component, including but not limited to an integrated circuit (e.g., microprocessor, chipset), and a power switching element. Heat sink 310 may comprise any material (e.g. copper, aluminum) and may comprise any currently- or hereafter-known cooling device. As illustrated, heat sink 310 includes thermally-conductive fins 315 to dissipate heat from electronic component 300 into the ambient air.
The above-described increased in the axial velocity component of air 80 with respect to its tangential velocity component may reduce turning losses at the edge of fins 315 as compared to other systems. More efficient cooling of component 300 may result. In addition, for a given speed of fan 40, a static pressure of air exiting module 200 may be greater than previously available.
System 400 includes module 200, chassis 410, and motherboard 420. Chassis 410 is shown transparent to allow viewing of the components of system 400. Module 200 of
Various components may be mounted to motherboard 420, including memory controller hub 430, I/O controller hub 440, add-in cards 450, 452 and 454, memory cards 460, and I/O interfaces 470. Also included in system 400 are removable media drive 480, hard disk drive 490 and power supply 500. Any other system components and configurations may be used in conjunction with some embodiments.
Air 80 from thermal module may be used to cool one or more of the components of system 400. In some examples, air 80 may flow over heat-dissipating components mounted on a face of graphics add-in card 450, over hubs 430 and 440, and may exit through a rear panel of chassis 410 (not shown). The increased axial flow with respect to tangential flow of air 80 from system 1 may reduce losses caused by heat sink 310, thereby making more air pressure available to cool the other components. If additional air pressure is not needed, system 1 may be operated at a lower fan speed and acoustic level so as to deliver a same amount of airflow as a conventional system operating at a higher fan speed and acoustic level.
The several embodiments described herein are solely for the purpose of illustration. Embodiments may include any currently or hereafter-known versions of the elements described herein. Therefore, persons in the art will recognize from this description that other embodiments may be practiced with various modifications and alterations.
