1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer host heat-dissipation apparatus; in particular, to a control switching module for controlling the use of a fan module and lighting components of the heat-dissipation apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
For a computer system, especially a desktop computer, it is common to use a housing to encapsulate internal components of the entire system. However, while the housing serves the features of aesthetics, anti-dust, and protection, it is inevitable to encounter the problem of heat generated by components therein; thus, heat-dissipation off the housing has become one important consideration in terms of system stability. For current computer system requirements, there usually are various heat-dissipation fans stalled in the housing, including fans applied in/on the power supply, central processing unit, or display card, furthermore other types of heat-dissipation devices can be also employed, such as heat-dissipation fans, heat-dissipation fins, different types of coolers (e.g. thermal electric cooler), or cooling condensers.
Also, in general, upon booting a computer system, a user may, through the setting screen of the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), be aware of current system status, such as processor temperature, power supply temperature, and relevant fan rotation speed; or alternatively, it is also possible to acquire such related information by means of specific software after successfully loading the computer system.
The internal components of the computer system shown in
In prior art, to achieve the purpose of effective temperature reduction in the processor 203, installation of the processor fan 202 is required which allows a user to control operation conditions of the entire computer system via the monitoring by the Basic Input/Output System 205. It uses the temperature sensor 204 to sense the temperature in the processor 203 and feeds the measured temperature back to the Basic Input/Output System 205, causing the fan control circuit 201 of the Basic Input/Output System 205 to control the rotation speed of the processor fan 202, thus enabling temperature reduction in the processor 203. Through the interface provided by the computer system or other relevant software, the user can further appreciate the current operation status of the system via the Basic Input/Output System 205.
In view that a conventional computer system provides very simple indications of system operation status only through the housing panel, and a general user needs some software interface to know the internal operation conditions, thus the present invention provides a computer host heat-dissipation apparatus which uses a control device installed onto the computer housing panel to control each heat-dissipation module and light indicator directly through the control switches on the panel.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention discloses a heat-dissipation apparatus installed on the outside of the computer host housing, which includes a control switching module, a fan module, and lighting components. In particular the control switching module is installed to allow a user to control the fan module and the lighting components, wherein the fan module, not only has the rotation speed control feature provided by itself, but can further reflect the temperature condition through the lighting effects thereof.
In prior art, there are some light indicators installed on the computer housing panel, the light indicators mostly displaying certain basic status of the computer in a passive way. Regarding this issue, the present invention provides an improved apparatus allowing a user to control one or more heat-dissipations devices inside the computer housing through the control interface installed on the computer housing, in which such heat-dissipations devices are essentially classified into two types, one being independent modules from the computer system, such as independently operating heat-dissipation fans, having independent circuit without need to be connected to the computer system (but allowed to use the power supplied by the computer host), which can use a temperature sensor to measure the internal temperature inside the housing to show current status with independent light indicators, so as to control the independently operating heat-dissipation fan by means of independent control switches.
The other type is connected to the original computer host, which, other than the power acquired from the computer host power supply, is further jointed with the circuits in the computer to employ resources from the original computer system, such as determination of current operating temperature in the processor through the temperature sensor of the original processor, and controls the rotation speed of the heat-dissipation fan via the control circuit thereof (i.e. the fan control circuit); or alternatively, it reflects the temperature in such a processor by using the light indicators installed on the housing panel; additionally, the control range may be further extended to other heat-dissipation modules in the power supply, display card, and the housing itself.
Refer now to
Therein, in the basic composition of the panel system in the computer host heat-dissipation apparatus, the multiple signal lights 33 can, in addition to indication of operation conditions in power source, hard disc drive, or other peripheral devices, further show the temperature condition of each portion inside the computer system, while the control knobs 35 provide the interface for controlling rotation speed of each heat-dissipation fan. For example, the user can appreciate the temperature inside the computer housing by way of colors or other indications in the signal lights 33 and use the control knob 35 to increase or decrease the rotation speed of the heat-dissipation fan 38 in order to draw away the hot air inside the housing.
The embodiments of the above-mentioned control knob 35 can be the individual light control interface 351 and fan control interface 352 as shown in
Furthermore, the fan control interface 352, as shown in the embodiment of
Except the two knobs as shown in the Figure, it is also possible for the multi-functional light control interface 351 and fan control interface 352 to be integrated in a single knob, with another switch to select the control item, or otherwise implemented by using multiple control buttons; that is, it is by no means limited to the present embodiment depict in the Figure.
In the present example, the display and control panel 40 displays the temperature value measured by each internal temperature sensor through the display screen, or presents the temperature value by scales. In the present example, it is possible to connect to each temperature sensor on the motherboard circuit, such as the temperature sensor of the processor, via the BIOS in the original computer system, thereby acquiring the temperature in the processor. Besides, in addition to the temperature sensing mechanism provided by the original computer system, it is also possible to further add temperature sensors on other portions of the system, including display card, power supply, or the temperature sensor inside the housing. Such additional circuits can be electrically connected to the display and control panel 40, and the heat-dissipation module for each corresponding portion can be controlled through the display and control panel 40; that is, the user can operate through the control interface provided by the display and control panel 40, including adjusting displayed status, adjusting rotation speed in each fan, or even lighting effect of each lighting component 37.
The panel system of the computer host heat-dissipation apparatus according to the present invention provides the control and status display feature, essentially by using the devices on the housing panel to show the temperature control message of the computer system, thus allowing, except independently operating devices, to further connect to the computer system and apply the existing temperature control mechanism configured in the original computer system. Therein the embodiment of the computer host heat-dissipation apparatus may be referred to
Particularly, the above-mentioned plurality of lighting components 501 are evenly installed on the peripheral framework of the fan module 503, specifically forming a circular structure to emit light onto the fan blades of the fan module 503, thus in combination with rotating fan blades creating special light effects. Furthermore, one embodiment of such a computer host heat-dissipation apparatus 50 operates independently from the computer system, in which the computer system simply provides power thereto, and the control switching module 505 of the computer host heat-dissipation apparatus 50 includes one or more switches installed on the peripheral framework of the fan module 503.
In another embodiment, the computer host heat-dissipation apparatus 50 is electrically connected to the BIOS of the computer system in a similar way, allowing to change the lighting status thereof based on the result of temperature sensing from the BIOS, including color changing, blinking etc., while the fan module 503 modifies the rotation speed thereof in accordance with result of temperature sensing from the BIOS.
In summary, the present invention relates to a computer host heat-dissipation apparatus, installed onto the computer housing, thereby controlling the fan and lighting components on the computer housing to facilitate more efficient and real-time operations. However, the descriptions illustrated heretofore simply set forth preferred embodiments of the present invention, rather than limiting the scope of the present invention thereto; all effectively equivalent modifications, alternations, and changes made with reference to the disclosure of the present invention and appended drawings are reasonably deemed to be encompassed by the scope of the present invention as define by the following claims.