Cooling device of rack type electronic apparatus

The present invention relates to a cooling device for cooling an electronic device such as a computer housed in a rack-type storage device.

In recent years, the performance of electronic components has increased and the density of electronic components relative to the control board has increased, and the amount of heat generated from the control board has increased dramatically. As the amount of information to be processed is increasing, a method of efficiently cooling in the vicinity of heat generating points, that is, cooling individual racks has been devised. (For example, Patent Document 1).

Hereinafter, a cooling device for a conventional rack-type electronic device will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 10, the conventional rack-type electronic device includes a cooling device including a circuit board group 102 constituting an electronic circuit, a heat pipe 103, a heat exchanger 104, and the like inside the housing 101. .. The circuit board group 102 is arranged in a rack type in an orderly manner in the housing 101. The heat pipe 103 is provided so as to sew a gap between the circuit board group 102. The heat exchanger 104 is provided on the upper part of the housing 101, and the heat pipe 103 is connected to the heat exchanger 104. An opening serving as a suction port 105 and an outlet 106 is provided in the upper part of the housing 101, and external air is passed by moving a blower 107 provided in the vicinity of the suction port 105. Then, the air sucked from the suction port 105 passes through the heat exchanger 104 and then is discharged from the air outlet 106.

The heat generated by the circuit board group 102 warms the surrounding air, and this high-temperature air exchanges heat with the refrigerant in the heat pipe 103 to be cooled. The heat-received refrigerant evaporates, rises in the heat pipe 103, and moves into the heat exchanger 104. In the heat exchanger 104, heat is exchanged with the cold outside air sucked by the blower 107 to become a liquid again, and the heat exchanger 104 descends in the heat pipe 103.

<p><patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-71299</text></patcit></p>

<p num="0007"> In such a conventional cooling device, since the heat pipe 103 is provided so as to sew between the circuit board group 102, it is necessary to design the entire cooling device including the housing 101 and the circuit board group 102. There is a problem that it is necessary to design the heat pipe 103 for each size and number of the circuit board group 102.</p><p num="0008"> In the cooling device shown in FIG. 10, since the heat pipe 103 constitutes one cooling cycle for the entire cooling device, it is difficult to cope with the difference in the amount of heat generated for each circuit.</p><p num="0009"> The present invention solves such a problem, and provides a cooling device capable of designing an electronic device and a cooling device separately and appropriately cooling according to the amount of heat generated by each circuit. I am aiming.</p>

<p num="0010"> And, in order to achieve this object, the present invention In a cooling device that cools a rack-type electronic device having a plurality of electronic circuit boards in a housing. An opening is provided to allow ventilation, a condenser and a blower are provided inside, and a box-shaped condenser portion provided on the top surface of the housing and an evaporator inside are provided on the back side of the housing. The condenser and the evaporator are connected by a liquid pipe and a steam pipe, and the heat generated from the electronic device vaporizes and cools the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator. The condenser is a cooling device provided with a refrigerating cycle in which the vaporized refrigerant inside is cooled by cold air sucked from the outside and liquefied while being discharged to the outside of the electronic device. In this way, the intended purpose is achieved.</p>

<p num="0011"> According to the present invention, in a cooling device for cooling a rack-type electronic device having a plurality of electronic circuit boards provided in a housing, an opening is provided so as to allow ventilation, and a condenser and a blower are provided inside the housing. A box-shaped condenser portion provided on the top surface and an evaporator portion having an evaporator inside and provided on the back side of the housing are provided, and the condenser and the evaporator are connected to a liquid tube and steam. Connected with a pipe, the heat generated from the electronic device vaporizes and cools the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator and discharges it to the outside of the electronic device, and in the condenser, the vaporized refrigerant inside is discharged to the outside. Provided is a cooling device capable of individually treating the heat generated from the electronic device regardless of the arrangement of the electronic device 3 inside by providing the refrigerating cycle of cooling with the cold air sucked from the water and liquefying the liquid. be able to.</p>

<figref num="1">Schematic diagram of a data center containing rack-type electronic devices</figref><figref num="2">Schematic cross-sectional view of the cooling device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.</figref><figref num="3">Perspective view of the door open state</figref><figref num="4">Piping connection diagram of the evaporator inside the door</figref><figref num="5">Schematic perspective view of the same door as a Kannon door type</figref><figref num="6">Schematic perspective view with the same door as a flap type</figref><figref num="7">Layout of the control box</figref><figref num="8">Layout of the control box</figref><figref num="9">Layout of the control box</figref><figref num="10">Explanatory drawing of conventional heating element storage box cooling device</figref>

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a data center 1 in which a plurality of rack-type electronic devices (hereinafter referred to as rack-type electronic devices 2) are housed. A plurality of rack-type electronic devices 2 are installed in the data center 1. The rack-type electronic device 2 has a housing having openings on the front side and the back side, and a plurality of electronic devices 3 in a rack shape are provided inside the housing with an operation panel and a display unit facing the front side. Has been done. Wiring and power supply lines for connecting the electronic devices 3 to each other or to an external device are provided on the back side. Not all electronic devices are equipped with an operation panel or a display unit. A plurality of rack-type electronic devices 2 are installed in the data center 1, and are generally called a computer room, a server room, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cooling device 4 according to the present embodiment includes an evaporator unit 5 provided so as to cover the back surface side of the rack-type electronic device 2 and a condenser provided on the upper surface of the rack-type electronic device 2. It is composed of a part 6. A plurality of flat plate-shaped evaporators 5a are attached to the evaporator unit 5, and a plurality of flat plate-shaped condensers 6a and an outside air blower 19 are built in the condenser unit 6. Further, both the condenser section 6 and the evaporator section 5 have openings so that air can pass through the inside in the front-rear direction. That is, the condenser unit 6 is provided with an outside air suction port 7 and an outside air outlet 8, and the evaporator unit 5 is provided with an exhaust suction port 9 and an exhaust air outlet 10. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the evaporator unit 5 is attached to the back surface of the housing of the rack-type electronic device 2 so as to be openable and closable in a door shape.

On the other hand, the rack-type electronic device 2 has openings on the front surface and the back surface through which air passes, as described above. The opening on the front side is the air intake 11, and the opening on the back side is the air discharge port 12. These openings (air intake 11, air discharge port 12) may be openings through which air substantially passes, and the air intake 11 can take a form such as punching, a grid shape, or a net shape. Is. In FIG. 3, the opening (air discharge port 12) on the back side is substantially the entire back surface as one opening when the door-shaped evaporator portion 5 is opened. Inside the housing, a plurality of electronic devices 3 are arranged in parallel with the ceiling surface (or floor surface). The electronic devices 3 may be arranged parallel to the side surfaces. Then, when cooling the inside of the rack-type electronic device 2, air is sucked from the air intake 11, and when passing through the electronic devices 3 arranged parallel to the ceiling surface (or side surface), the heat generated from the electronic device 3 is generated. After depriving the air, it is discharged from the air discharge port 12.

Next, the evaporator unit 5 will be described.

The evaporator portion 5 is provided with a plate-shaped evaporator 5a parallel to the panel portion in a frame composed of a surrounding frame and a grid-like panel portion so that air can pass from the front side to the back side. It is composed of a door portion 13 and a frame portion 14 that pivotally supports the door portion 13. Similar to the air intake 11 of the rack-type electronic device 2, the panel portion may be punched or mesh-like as long as it is configured to allow air to pass through. The evaporator 5a is arranged in the entire evaporator section 5 so that the air that has passed through the housing of the rack-type electronic device 2 is cooled. In the present embodiment, four evaporators 5a are arranged one above the other.

As shown in FIG. 4, the pipe 14 (liquid pipe 15a, steam pipe 15b) connecting the evaporator 5a and the condenser 6a is vertically arranged along the inner wall surface of the frame portion 14. The liquid pipe 15a is provided with an end portion near the lower side of the evaporator 5a. Then, the liquid pipe connection port 16 provided on the lower side of the evaporator 5a and the end of the liquid pipe 15a are connected by a bendable rubber hose 17a. On the other hand, the steam pipe 15b is provided with an end portion above the upper side of the evaporator 5a, and the end portion of the steam pipe 15b and the steam pipe connection port 18 provided on the upper side of the evaporator 5a are connected by a rubber hose 17b. ..

As the rubber hose 17a and the rubber hose 17b, for example, a hose having an inner surface made of IIR rubber or a hose having an inner surface coated with a nylon resin, for example, may be used. The rubber hose 17a and the rubber hose 17b are arranged so as to be in a substantially horizontal direction (a direction substantially orthogonal to the rotation axis) in the vicinity of the rotation axis of the door portion 13. Further, at the connection portions at both ends of the rubber hose 17a and the rubber hose 17b (the liquid pipe 15a, the connection portion between the evaporator 5a and the rubber hose 17a and the steam pipe 15b, and the connection portion between the evaporator 5a and the rubber hose 17b), the elbow is used. Alternatively, the rubber hose 17a and the rubber hose 17b may be bent. In this embodiment, the rubber hose 17a and the rubber hose 17b are used, but if it can be bent, a tube made of a material other than rubber can be used. For example, flexible piping such as a metal flexible hose can be applied.

Next, the condenser unit 6 will be described.

The condenser unit 6 houses the condenser 6a and the outside air blower 19 in a box-shaped housing having openings (outside air suction port 7 and outside air outlet 8) so that air can pass through the facing surfaces. Like the other vents, the outside air suction port 7 and the outside air outlet 8 can take various forms such as a lattice shape, a punching shape, or a net shape as long as the structure allows air to pass through. The condenser 6a is arranged so that the air sent out by the outside air blower 19 is applied and passed through. In FIG. 2, they are arranged at an angle with respect to the ventilation direction. Further, the condenser 6a is provided with the same number as the number of evaporators 5a, and one evaporator 5a and one condenser 6a are connected by a liquid pipe 15a and a steam pipe 15b to form one thermosiphon type refrigerant cycle. Consists of.

As described above, a plurality of rack-type electronic devices 2 are provided in the data center 1. The cooling device 4 is attached so as to hang down on the rack-type electronic device 2. That is, the condenser unit 6 is placed on the top surface of the rack-type electronic device 2, and the evaporator unit 5 is attached to the back surface of the rack-type electronic device 2. The data center 1 is divided into a main body space 51 at the bottom and an outside air ventilation space 52 at the top with the top surface of the rack-type electronic device 2 as a boundary. The main body space 51 is provided with an air conditioner 53 that controls the temperature inside the main body space 51.

In the above configuration, a method for treating heat generated from the rack-type electronic device 2 will be described.

First, in the outside air ventilation space 52, the condenser unit 6 cools and condenses the refrigerant in the condenser 6a by the passing outside air. The liquefied refrigerant descends to the evaporator 5a. On the other hand, the heat generated in the rack-type electronic device 2 is discharged into the main body space 51 by an exhaust blower (not shown) provided in the rack-type electronic device 2. At that time, since the high-temperature exhaust air passes through the evaporator section 5, the refrigerant in the evaporator 5a is vaporized to exchange heat and be cooled. Further, the temperature of the entire main body space 51 is controlled by the air conditioner 53.

Therefore, since the amount of heat discharged from the rack-type electronic device 2 is reduced by the cooling device 4, the load on the air conditioner 53 is reduced, and the temperature control of the data center 1 as a whole with less energy consumption becomes possible. Further, since the cooling device 4 is provided for each rack-type electronic device 2, the amount of heat generated by the rack-type electronic device 2 can be appropriately controlled by controlling the amount of air blown by the outside air blower 19 for each cooling device 4. Cooling can be performed.

As described above, on the back side of the rack-type electronic device 2, wirings and power supply lines for connecting the internal electronic devices 3 to each other or to an external device are provided. Since the rubber hose 17a and the rubber hose 17b are used for the piping between the evaporator 5a and the condenser 6a, the evaporator portion 5 can be opened like a door. Therefore, wiring work at the time of installation or maintenance after installation can be easily performed. Since the rubber hose 17a and the rubber hose 17b are provided so as to be orthogonal to the rotation axis of the evaporator portion 5, the rubber hose 17a and the rubber hose 17b are not twisted, and the evaporator portion 5 opens and closes with a small force. It can be performed.

Further, in the rack type electronic device 2, electronic devices 3 having different calorific values are housed. Therefore, since a plurality of refrigerant cycles are arranged in the cooling device 4, the system configuration is such that cooling is possible even if the amount of heat generated is different.

The door-shaped evaporator portion 5 may be a double door type as shown in FIG. 5 as well as a single door type as shown in FIG. In this case, the space required on the back side of the rack-type electronic device 2 can be reduced.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the evaporator unit 5 may be of a flap type opening / closing type. In this case, since the rotation shaft is in the horizontal direction, the rubber hose 17a to which the evaporator 5a is connected and the vicinity of the rotation shaft of the rubber hose 17b are provided so as to be substantially in the vertical direction. Further, in this case, the space required on the back side can be reduced by allowing each evaporator 5a to be opened and closed.

The cooling device 4 requires a control box 20 provided with an electronic circuit that controls the operation of the outside air blower 19. As for the arrangement, as shown in FIG. 7, a control box 20a is provided at the lower part of the door portion 13. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8, the control box 20b may be provided on the inner wall surface of the frame portion 14. Further, a control box 20c may be provided between the condenser unit 6 and the evaporator unit 5. Since each installation position is a dead space for the cooling device 4 or the rack-type electronic device 2, the space can be effectively used. Further, since each of them is provided on the cooling device 4 side, the cooling device 4 can be retrofitted without affecting the form of the rack-type electronic device 2.

Further, by detecting the temperature on the outlet side of the evaporator 5a and controlling the amount of air blown by the outside air blower 19 by the control device in the control box 20, appropriate temperature control becomes possible.

The present invention relates to a cooling device for cooling a rack-type electronic device having a plurality of electronic devices 3 in a housing. A box-shaped condenser part that has an opening to allow ventilation, has a condenser and a blower inside, and is provided on the top surface of the housing. It has an evaporator inside, and is provided with an evaporator portion provided on the back side of the housing. The condenser and the evaporator are connected by a liquid pipe and a steam pipe. The heat generated from the electronic device is generated by vaporizing and cooling the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator and discharging it to the outside of the electronic device. The condenser is provided with a refrigeration cycle in which the vaporized refrigerant inside is cooled by cold air sucked from the outside and liquefied, so that heat generated from the electronic device is generated regardless of the arrangement of the electronic device 3 inside. Since it can be processed individually, it can be used for cooling an indoor heating element storage device equipped with an electronic device inside.

1 data center 2 Rack type electronic equipment 3 Electronic equipment 4 Cooling device 5 Evaporator 5a evaporator 6 Condenser section 6a condenser 7 Outside air suction port 8 Outside air outlet 9 Exhaust suction port 10 Exhaust outlet 11 Air intake 12 Air outlet 13 Door 14 Frame 15a liquid tube 15b steam pipe 16 Liquid pipe connection port 17a rubber hose 17b rubber hose 18 Steam pipe connection port 19 Outside air blower 20 Control box 20a control box 20b control box 20c control box 51 Body space 52 Outside air ventilation space 53 Air conditioner 101 housing 102 Circuit board group 103 heat pipe 104 heat exchanger 105 suction port 106 outlet 107 blower