The present invention relates to computer systems; more particularly, the present invention relates to thermal management on computer system motherboards.
A computer system motherboard is a physical arrangement in a computer that contains a computer system's basic circuitry and components. On the typical motherboard, the circuitry is imprinted or affixed to the surface of a firm planar surface and usually manufactured in a single step.
Computer system motherboards are typically manufactured with a microprocessor, memory, basic input/output system (BIOS) and interconnecting circuitry. In addition, computer system motherboards often include at least one Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) connector that include a PCI expansion card in order to increase the capacity of the computer system. A computer enclosure PCI panel is formed with an opening for the insertion and withdrawal of the PCI cards.
As computer systems including plug in PCI cards increase in power and performance, and while package size decreases, the need to dissipate excess heat generated by the PCI cards becomes both more essential. Thus, the problem of effective temperature control has become a major industry concern. In addition, as PCI cards become more powerful, the mass of the cards increases. As the mass increases, it becomes more difficult to hold a particular PCI card in its connector on the motherboard.
Therefore, a mechanism to hold PCI connectors, and a thermal management mechanism for PCI connectors on a motherboard is desired.
According to one embodiment, a circuit board is disclosed. The circuit board includes one or more connectors to support printed circuit boards (PCBs), a shroud to enclose the connectors in order to separate the associated PCBs from other components on the circuit board, and a cooling fan mounted on the shroud. In a further embodiment, the shroud guides air generated by the cooling fan to control thermal energy generated by the PCBs.
In yet a further embodiment, a card retaining assembly is mounted on the shroud. The card retaining assembly includes a housing having one or more cavities mounted on the shroud, one or more holders that are inserted into the one or more cavities in order to support the PCBs, and one or more caps mounted on the holders that prevent the holders from being withdrawn from the housing.
The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of various embodiments of the invention. The drawings, however, should not be taken to limit the invention to the specific embodiments, but are for explanation and understanding only.
A housing with Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) connectors is described. In the following description, numerous details are set forth. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the present invention.
Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
In an embodiment, the computer system 100 includes a Sun Microsystems computer utilizing a SPARC microprocessor available from several vendors (including Sun Microsystems of Palo Alto, Calif.). Those with ordinary skill in the art understand, however, that any type of computer system may be utilized to embody the present invention, including those made by Hewlett Packard of Palo Alto, Calif., and IBM-compatible personal computers utilizing Intel microprocessor, which are available from several vendors (including IBM of Armonk, N.Y.).
Also, instead of a single processor, two or more processors (whether on a single chip or on separate chips) can be utilized to provide speedup in operations. It is further envisioned that the processor 102 may be a complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, a very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, a processor implementing a combination of instruction sets, and the like.
The network interface 118 provides communication capability with other computer systems on a same local network, on a different network connected via modems and the like to the present network, or to other computers across the Internet. In various embodiments, the network interface 118 can be implemented utilizing technologies including, but not limited to, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, wide-area network (WAN), leased line (such as T1, T3, optical carrier 3 (OC3), and the like), analog modem, digital subscriber line (DSL and its varieties such as high bit-rate DSL (HDSL), integrated services digital network DSL (IDSL), and the like), cellular, time division multiplexing (TDM), universal serial bus (USB and its varieties such as USB II), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), satellite, cable modem, and/or FireWire.
Moreover, the computer system 100 may utilize operating systems such as Solaris, Windows (and its varieties such as CE, NT, 2000, XP, ME, and the like), HP-UX, IBM-AIX, PALM, UNIX, Berkeley software distribution (BSD) UNIX, Linux, Apple UNIX (AUX), Macintosh operating system (Mac OS) (including Mac OS X), and the like. Also, it is envisioned that in certain embodiments, the computer system 100 is a general purpose computer capable of running any number of applications such as those available from companies including Oracle, Siebel, Unisys, Microsoft, and the like.
The PCI bus facilitates an interconnection between central processor 102 and devices on the PCI cards. As shown in
Shroud 5 is mounted on motherboard 1. According to one embodiment, shroud 5 is an enclosure that separates the PCI cards from other components on motherboard 1 in order to control thermal energy. In a further embodiment, shroud 5 includes vent openings that enable airflow from cooling fan 9. Thus, shroud 5 operates as an airflow guide that directs air directly to PCI cards 2 and 3. Housing 6 is a component of the PCI card retaining assembly that includes one or more card holders 7, and associated caps 8.
In one embodiment, shroud 5 includes card guides 16. Guides 16 support and guide PCI cards into connectors 10 during the insertion of the PCI cards. The card retaining assembly 7 and 8 within holder 6 assist in the guiding of PCI cards into connectors 10. Shroud 5 includes fasteners 13 that couples shroud 5 to housing 6 via fasteners 14 on housing 6.
Referring back to
Cap 8 may be snapped on to a holder 7 using a snap 31. Meanwhile, holder 7 includes gaps 32 within clamp 36 to accommodate snap 31. According to one embodiment, the snap 31/gap 32 assembly at the top of a holder 7 prevents holder 7 from backing out from housing 6. In addition, cap 8 includes a pull tab 35 that facilitates the removal of holder 7 from housing 6.
Referring back to
Referring back to
The shroud described above enables the management of thermal energy generated by PCI cards. In addition, the shroud provides for easy insertion of PCI cards by implementing card guides. The card retaining assembly provides a mechanism to insert and remove PCI cards without the use of tools, while having the ability to adjust to the height and length of all sizes of PCI cards.
Whereas many alterations and modifications of the present invention will no doubt become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art after having read the foregoing description, it is to be understood that any particular embodiment shown and described by way of illustration is in no way intended to be considered limiting. Therefore, references to details of various embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claims which in themselves recite only those features regarded as the invention.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5734551 | Hileman et al. | Mar 1998 | A |
5822193 | Summers et al. | Oct 1998 | A |
6297957 | Johnson et al. | Oct 2001 | B1 |
20030021088 | Jensen et al. | Jan 2003 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20040062013 A1 | Apr 2004 | US |