Rack level air flow baffle providing hot aisle separation from rack-inserted it components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10555440-B2
Application number	US-201414509009-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 7, 2014
Priority date	Oct 7, 2014
Publication date	Feb 4, 2020
Grant date	Feb 4, 2020

Abstract

An apparatus, an information handling system (IHS) and a method for supporting air flow management in a rack includes attaching a baffle made of a non-porous material with vertically-spaced apertures or air flow directing (AFD) sections with flanges that direct cooling air flow from heat dissipating electronic components of the rack towards a rear of the rack. The baffle is attached to a rear section of a chassis of the IHS. The baffle provides physical separation of (i) a cold aisle located towards a front section of the rack and the electronic components inserted into the rack chassis from (ii) a hot aisle located towards a rear of the rack. The flanges of the AFD section folds inward towards the electronic components to create a funnel for receiving a flow of cooling air from the hot aisle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A baffle for supporting air flow management in an information handling system (IHS) having an information technology (IT) rack, the baffle comprising:
a panel made of a non-porous material having at least one aperture that operates as an air flow directing (AFD) section with inward-facing flanges to direct cooling air flow from heat dissipating electronic components of the IHS, the panel providing a separation of (i) a cold aisle located towards a front section of the IT rack and the electronic components inserted into a chassis of the IT rack (rack chassis) from (ii) a hot aisle located towards a rear of the IT rack;
wherein the baffle is attached to a rear section of the rack chassis, wherein the inward-facing flanges of the AFD section folds inward towards the electronic components to create a funnel for receiving and directing a flow of exhaust air from the rack chassis, wherein the flanges of the AFD section can be adhered to the rear section of an interior of the rack chassis;
wherein the AFD section comprises apertures that are cutout sections having the inward-facing flanges folded inwards and extending from the panel towards the electronic components and located at vertical locations along the baffle at which hot air exhaust from functioning electronic components can be directed away from an interior section of the IT rack holding the electronic components; and
wherein the baffle is constructed from a lightweight, but rigid material and provides both air flow support and structural rigidity to the rear of the IT rack.

2. The baffle of claim 1 , wherein:
the baffle is implemented as a back panel for the IT rack which houses the IHS.

3. The baffle of claim 1 , wherein the baffle is constructed from corrugated cardboard.

4. The baffle of claim 1 , wherein:
the front section of the IT rack extending towards an interior facing side of the baffle represents the cold aisle and the rear section of the IT rack on an opposite side of the baffle represents the hot aisle, and the baffle prevents hot air that is directed through the AFD apertures from re-circulating into the front section of the IT rack.

5. An information technology (IT) rack comprising:
a chassis having an IT gear holding section and a rear section, the IT gear holding section configured to hold at least one heat dissipating electronic component; and
at least one baffle for supporting air flow management and having at least one air flow directing (AFD) section that has inward-facing flanges to direct exhaust air flow from the at least one heat dissipating electronic component;
wherein the at least one baffle is attached to the rear section of the chassis of the IT rack, wherein the inward-facing flanges of the AFD section folds inward towards the electronic components to create a funnel for receiving and directing a flow of cooling air originating from a cold aisle, wherein the flanges of the AFD section can be adhered to the rear section of an interior of the chassis;
wherein the AFD section comprises apertures that are cutout sections having the inward-facing flanges folded inwards and extending from the panel towards the electronic components and placed at vertical locations along the baffle at which hot air exhaust from functioning electronic components can be directed away from the IT gear holding section of the IT rack holding the electronic components; and
wherein the baffle is constructed from a lightweight, but rigid material and provides both air flow support and structural rigidity to a rear of the IT rack.

6. The IT rack of claim 5 , wherein: the chassis of the IT rack has one or more IT gear chasses; and the at least one baffle is attached to the rear section of the IT rack to separate air flow around the electronic components from air flow at the rear section of the IT rack.

7. The IT rack of claim 5 , further comprising:
a stacked arrangement of modular tray grouping and enclosure (MTGE) blocks, each MTGE block having:
an exterior perimeter casing providing a volumetric, vertical space with lateral sides defining the vertical space extending between a front opening and a rear opening of the casing, the casing created with defined foldable corners/edges that enable the casing to be flat packed for shipping and then reconfigured via the lateral sides to a vertical orientation that provides the vertical space; and
a plurality of trays comprised of a lightweight material constructed with a contiguous surface material having foldable corners/edges that enable the tray to be (i) flat packed and (ii) extendable into a rectangular shaped volume within which an electronic component can be inserted, wherein the plurality of trays are stacked vertically within the volumetric, vertical space of the exterior perimeter casing;

a plurality of corner components positioned vertically at each of four corners of the stacked arrangement of MGTE blocks and which provides vertical rigidity to the rack assembly; and
at least one banding component that extends horizontally around the perimeter of the stacked arrangement of MGTE blocks to fixably hold each of the corner components in place and provide lateral support for the exterior perimeter casing;
wherein the at least one banding component and the plurality of corner components are positioned to respectively provide structural stability in a horizontal plane and vertical rigidity in a vertical plane.

8. An information technology (IT) rack comprising:
a chassis having an IT gear holding section and a rear section, the IT gear holding section configured to hold at least one heat dissipating electronic component; and
at least one baffle for supporting air flow management and having at least one air flow directing (AFD) section that has flanges to direct exhaust air flow from the at least one heat dissipating electronic component;
wherein the at least one baffle is attached to the rear section of the chassis of the IT rack, wherein the flanges of the AFD section folds inward towards the electronic components to create a funnel for receiving a flow of cooling air originating from a cold aisle, wherein the flanges of the AFD section can be adhered to the rear section of an interior of the chassis;
wherein the baffle is constructed from a lightweight, but rigid material and provides both air flow support and structural rigidity to a rear of the IT rack; and
wherein the at least one baffle comprises two baffles affixed to upper and lower areas of the rear section of the IT rack, respectively, each extending vertically to cover corresponding parts of the rear section of the IT rack.

9. The IT rack of claim 8 , wherein the at least one baffle provides a separation of (i) the cold aisle located towards a front section of the rack and the electronic components inserted into the IT gear holding section from (ii) a hot aisle located towards the rear of the IT rack.

10. The IT rack of claim 9 , wherein the IT rack is one of a plurality of IT racks which are stacked horizontally to provide a row of racks, each rack having baffles attached to the rear sections of the respective chasses, wherein each of the racks is individually positioned to abut an adjacent IT rack to remove air gaps between any of the adjacent IT racks, wherein the horizontally stacked row allows air flow in a first direction from the cold aisle towards the hot aisle and prevents and/or minimizes re-circulation of hot air from the hot aisle back towards the cold aisle.

11. The IT rack of claim 9 , wherein:
the IT gear holding section of the IT rack adjacent to an interior facing side of the at least one baffle represents the cold aisle and the rear section of the IT rack on an opposite side of the

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Bailey Edmond I
• Embleton Steven
• Salas Rene J

Classifications

• H05K7/20727 Primary

  within server blades for removing heat from heat source · CPC title

• H05K7/20736

  within cabinets for removing heat from server blades · CPC title