The present disclosure relates generally to uninterruptible power supplies, and more particularly to uninterruptible power supplies configured with bypass switches.
Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) are used to provide constant and stable power to electrical devices and are particularly used in computer server and networking systems. A UPS that is installed in a computer server and networking racks is preferably used in conjunction with a maintenance bypass switch, also referred to as a maintenance bypass cabinet (MBC), that serves to bypass the UPS during UPS-related maintenance while still maintaining utility power to the UPS-associated devices (e.g., servers). Typical MBC designs are discrete and optional add-on units that ship separately from the UPS and require additional rack space. Further, placement of the MBC within the rack may not interfere with adequate ventilation of the UPS to prevent the UPS from overheating.
Accordingly, it may be advantageous for a UPS and/or MBS design to remedy the shortcomings of the conventional approaches identified above.
Accordingly, the present disclosure is directed to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) couplable to a load and configured to power the load and configured to switch input electrical power between a main power supply and a backup power supply. The present disclosure is also directed to a maintenance bypass cabinet (MBC) couplable to the UPS and configured to switch electrical power between the UPS and a load. The UPS permits power to the load to remain uninterrupted if the main power supply fails. The MBC permits power to the load to remain uninterrupted if the UPS fails or is removed. The MBC may include a cantilevered housing having an end that is mechanically and electrically couplable to an interface surface of the UPS and within the same U space as the UPS. The cantilevered housing of the MPC further includes a cantilever portion that creates open space between a bypass connection panel attached to the cantilever housing and the interface surface of the UPS. The open space increases the ability of air vents along the interface surface of the UPS to circulate air. The interface surface of the UPS may also be configured in a non-flat arrangement, having a recessed and a non-recessed surface that increases the volume of the open space. The interface surface of the UPS may also include two or more air vents that are aligned at different planes.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not necessarily restrictive of the present disclosure. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate subject matter of the disclosure. Together, the descriptions and the drawings serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
The numerous advantages of the disclosure may be better understood by those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying figures.
Before explaining one or more embodiments of the disclosure in detail, it is to be understood that the embodiments are not limited in their application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components or steps or methodologies set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. In the following detailed description of embodiments, numerous specific details may be set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the instant disclosure that the embodiments disclosed herein may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known features may not be described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the instant disclosure.
As used herein a letter following a reference numeral is intended to reference an embodiment of the feature or element that may be similar, but not necessarily identical, to a previously described element or feature bearing the same reference numeral (e.g., 1, 1a, 1b). Such shorthand notations are used for purposes of convenience only and should not be construed to limit the disclosure in any way unless expressly stated to the contrary.
Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (or present).
In addition, use of “a” or “an” may be employed to describe elements and components of embodiments disclosed herein. This is done merely for convenience and “a” and “an” are intended to include “one” or “at least one,” and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.
Finally, as used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “embodiments” means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment disclosed herein. The appearances of the phrase “in embodiments” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, and embodiments may include one or more of the features expressly described or inherently present herein, or any combination or sub-combination of two or more such features, along with any other features which may not necessarily be expressly described or inherently present in the instant disclosure.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The MBC 204 may include internal circuitry 336 connecting the various electrical components as well as a switch 340 that determines the routing of electricity through the MBC 204. For example, when the UPS 102 is operable, the switch 340 may be switched to a configuration so that electric current flows from the main power supply 104 through the UPS (via a loop 344) and back through to the load 112. In another example, if the UPS is removed, the switch 340 may be switched to a configuration so that electric current flows from the main power supply 104 directly to the load 112, bypassing the loop 344. The switch 340 may be configured as a manual switch, automated switch, or a hybrid manual/automated switch. For example, the switch 340 may include a physical switch component actuated by a user, which then activates an automated switch component that performs the switch change at an appropriate time (e.g., to minimize phase disruptions, or to time the switch event at a zero-crossing). The internal circuitry 336 may contain any number of electronic components (e.g., resistors, capacitors) and electronic devices (e.g., controllers, processors, memory) as required to perform the functions of the MBC 204.
The MBC 204 may include a cantilevered housing 348 that may impose one or more open spaces 350 between the MBC 204 and the UPS 102. The cantilevered housing 348 may create the one or more open spaces 350 with a dimension (i.e., a length or depth) selected to position a portion of the cantilever housing 348 away from the UPS 102 in order to provide a gap between the UPS 102 and the MBC 204 such that a sufficient thermal exhaust may be provided from the UPS 102 in order to prevent overheating of the UPS 102. It is contemplated that the height of the MBC 204 should be the same or less than the height of the UPS 102, and within the same U space as the UPS 102. It is further contemplated that the depth of open space 350 should be minimized so that the unit can be installed in standard IT racks with depths in the range of 900-1200 mm while providing enough open space 350 to allow adequate airflow out of the UPS to keep it from overheating. It is contemplated that the width of the MBC may also impact the requirements of the open space, as a shorter width of the MBC may allow more airflow from the front of the UPS 102 to the back of the UPS 102 and subsequently out of the rack. In one example, the open space 350 may provide sufficient thermal exhaust out of the UPS and may be at least two centimeters between the UPS 102 and the MBC 204. In another example, the open space 350 may provide sufficient thermal exhaust out of the UPS and may be at least three centimeters between the UPS 102 and the MBC 204. In yet another further example, the open space 350 may provide sufficient thermal exhaust out of the UPS and may be three to eleven centimeters between the UPS 102 and the MBC 204.
The open space 350 increases air circulation between the MBC 204 and the UPS 102, preventing the UPS 102 from overheating. The cantilevered housing 348 includes a cantilever portion 352 which is mechanically coupled to a bypass connection panel 356. The cantilever portion 352 includes an end 360 that may be in proximity to the UPS, and may be couplable (e.g., fixable) to the UPS 102. The first electrical connector 304 of the first connector pair 306 and/or the first electrical connector 328 of the fourth connector pair 330 may be disposed on the end 360. In this manner, when the cantilever portion 352 is physically coupled to the UPS 102, the MBC 204 may also be electrically coupled to the UPS 102. Upon the coupling of the cantilever portion 352 to the UPS 102, the open spaces 350 are realized. The coupling between the cantilever portion 352 and the UPS 102 may be performed via any type of coupling technology including but not limited to nut-and-bolt connectors, interference fit connectors, internally threaded rod couplings, and snap-fit connectors.
The MBC 204 may include a cantilevered housing which may be configured as having a “T” shape, as demonstrated in
Referring to
The interface surface 368 may configured as a non-flat surface, and may be contoured in a manner to increase the surface area for implementing one or more air vents 376a-d and or creating open spaces 350 when coupled to the MBC 204. Air flow is increased via an internal fan 380. The interface surface 368 may be configured with any type of non-flat topography including but not limited to a staggered-plane topography having a non-recessed surface 384 and a recessed surface 386 approximately parallel with the non-recessed surface 384, and a transverse surface 388 connecting the non-recessed surface and the recessed surface. One or more, or all, surfaces of the UPS 102 may be configured with one or more air vents 376a. For example, and as shown in
Referring to
Referring to
The arrangement of the interface surface 368 of the UPS 102 with the cantilever portion 352 of the MBC 204 to remove hot air away from the UPS 102 allows for the design of more compact UPS systems 116 (handling more electrical power per unit volume). Specifically, the arrangement allows for UPS designs with a connected MBC that is within the same U space as the UPS, presenting a thinner design, having a decreased height. For example, a UPS 102 and MBC 204 that was originally designed with a 6-unit (e.g., “U”) height may now be designed with a height of 3 U. One “U” corresponds to a server unit height of 1.75 inches. In another example, a UPS 102 and MBC 204 originally designed with a 10 U height may now be designed as a 4 U height. This may represent a two to three times decrease in height requirements which may save 2 U to 6 U rack space per rack, increasing the space available for other equipment to be stationed on a rack, such as one or more computer servers.
Electronic devices often have strict design requirements that require internal fans 380 to be placed immediately adjacent to an air vent 376. This placement of the internal fan 380 often prevents or limits the design of internal componentry. However, the arrangement of the interface surface 368 with the cantilever portion 352 to remove hot air away from the UPS 102 reduces the burden on the internal fan 380 to cool the UPS 102, permitting placement of the internal air fan 380 away from the air vents 376a-e, and loosening design restrictions.
The UPS 102 included within the UPS system 116 may be configured with any size of power requirements. For example, the UPS 102 may be configured to operate between 5-10 kilovolt amperes (KVA). In another example, the UPS 102 may be configured to operate between 0.5-3 (KVA). In another example, the UPS 102 may be configured to operate between 3-20 (KVA). In another example, the UPS 102 may be configured to operate between 5-10 (KVA). In another example, the UPS 102 may be configured to operate between 0.75 to 5 (KVA). In another example, the UPS 102 may be configured to operate between 1.5-10 (KVA).
As described above, the electrical couplings or connectors of the UPS 102 and the MBC 204 may be of any type or form. For example, the first electric connector 312 of the second connector pair 314, and the first electric connector 320 of the third connector pair 322 may be configured as wire connections that are hard-wired to the complementary second electric connectors 316, 324. By hard wiring the electrical connections between the MBC 204 and the main power supply 104 and/or load 112, space is saved on the bypass connection panel 356. The saved space may allow the addition of multiple first electric connectors 320 to load 112 to be placed on the bypass connection panel 356. The saved space may also allow the bypass connection panel 356 to be reduced in size, which may further increase the size of the open spaces 350a, b, further increasing the cooling ability/efficiency of the internal fan 380. In some embodiments, the MBC 204 may be configured with power receptacles/outlets (e.g., L5-15R or L5-30R).
The UPS 102 may include any type of battery backup system or battery backup technology. For example, the UPS 102 may include wet acid battery technology. For instance, the UPS 102 may include valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) battery technology. In another example, the UPS 102 may include dry battery technology. For instance, the UPS 102 may include lithium battery technology. In another instance, the UPS 102 may include lithium battery technology and be configured to operate between 5-10 KVA. The UPS system 116 may also include an external battery cabinet configured to store the batteries 108.
The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable” to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.
While particular aspects of the present subject matter described herein have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from the subject matter described herein and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is defined by the appended claims.
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/323,627 filed Mar. 25, 2022. The U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/323,627 filed Mar. 25, 2022 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2023/016423 | 3/27/2023 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
63323627 | Mar 2022 | US |