Patent Application
20110047909
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-198545, filed on Aug. 28, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The embodiment discussed herein is related to a method of forming a floor structure and an underfloor space and, more particularly, to a technique of partitioning the underfloor space.
There is known a free access floor (also referred to as “raised floor” or “free access”) formed by laying floor panels (free access panels) in a bridged manner over supporting legs regularly arranged in a raised manner on a base floor face. Further, there is known a floor structure in which the underfloor space of the free access floor is partitioned by arranging a partition plate between two supporting legs (refer to, e.g., the following Patent Document 1). In the floor structure of Patent Document 1, the upper section of the partition plate is fixed onto a pedestal for placing a panel in a support leg, and the lower section of the partition plate is fastened onto an L-shaped angle material fixed and mounted onto a base floor face or the base plate of the support leg. Then, a plate supporter is set up to the L-shaped angle material in a height adjustable manner and the lower section of the partition plate is fixed onto the plate supporter.
Although the above mentioned prior art allows the underfloor space of the free access floor to be partitioned by the partitioning plate, the structure for fixing the partitioning plate is complicated. For example, in a data center, there may be a case where the number of racks accommodating IT devices is frequently increased/decreased or the layout of the racks is frequently changed. In such a case, the complicated structure in the above mentioned prior art makes it difficult to change the direction of the flow of air such as cooling air flowing in the underfloor space. Therefore, a heat problem casing a system to be unstable, such as heat accumulation (hot spot generated in an area, such as air intake faces of the IT devices, where the temperature should be kept low), easily occurs. Further, there may be a case where cold air is diffused in the underfloor area at which no rack is installed (cooling is unnecessary) in the initial phase of the system operation in the data center, resulting in the use of extra air-conditioning power. Such power consumption is considered to be a serious problem at the present circumstances where the scale of the data center is increased with progress of IT and it is necessary to reduce a power consumption so as to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the large-scale data center.
According to an aspect of the invention, a free access floor formed by free access panels arranged above a base floor is provided. The free access floor includes a specific panel that is one of the free access panels and has a slit, and a partitioning plate inserted into the slit, so as to hang down from a surface of the specific panel and orient airflow in a space between the base floor and the free access panels.
The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. A free access floor according to the embodiment can be applied to a floor of a data center where the number or layout of racks accommodating servers and the like is frequently changed.
In the present example, the free access panels 1a each have a rectangular shape, and the pillars 3 each support the area where the vertexes of the four free access panels 1a contact each other. Thus, the pillars 3 each support the vertexes of the free access panels 1a at substantially the center of its support surface.
Some free access panels (specific panels) among the plurality of free access panels 1a have a slit 5. The slit 5 is formed in any one or plurality of free access panels (specific panels) 1a among the plurality of free access panels 1a.
In the configuration described above, the slit 5 is, in the free access panel 1a in which the slit 5 is formed, formed to extend between the pillars 3 that support the free access panels 1a on the base floor 2. Insertion of the partitioning plate 6 into the slit 5 allows the space in one direction of the free access panel 1a to be partitioned by the pillars 3 and the partitioning plate 6.
The partitioning plate 6 illustrated in
In the example of
Another configuration of the partitioning plate will be described. Although the partitioning plate 6 is formed of a plate member in the example of
The use of such a flexible partitioning plate 16 allows the hanging amount (length of the partitioning portion 16 in the height direction) of the partitioning plate 16 to be adjusted so as to, e.g., prevent the upper end portion (support portion 16a) of the partitioning plate 16 from protruding from the free access floor 1 even when an obstacle 9 exists on the base floor 2, thereby easily partitioning the underfloor space. Further, even when the level of the base floor 2 is raised as illustrated in
In the case where the flexible partitioning plate is used, the partitioning plate may be fixed to the support portion as follows. That is, the upper edge 16d of the flexible member 16b constituting the partitioning portion 16b is adhered to the support portion by adhesives as illustrated in
Thus, according to the embodiment, the cooling air toward an area where cooling is unnecessary can easily be blocked during, e.g., the initial phase of the system operation in a data center, enabling a reduction of power cost of an air conditioner. Further, the free access floor 1 can easily be partitioned in accordance with an analysis area that is cut out from the free access floor 1 for modeling of air-condition simulation, increasing accuracy of analysis made by the air-condition simulation. Further, it is possible to easily partition the underfloor space from above the free access floor 1 in a state where racks or air conditioners are set in the free access floor 1 and to easily change the direction of the flow of wind in the underfloor space.
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a depicting of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. Although the embodiment(s) of the present inventions have been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-198545 | Aug 2009 | JP | national |
