Device heater module

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12066845-B2
Application number	US-202117483225-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 23, 2021
Priority date	Sep 23, 2021
Publication date	Aug 20, 2024
Grant date	Aug 20, 2024

Abstract

A device heater module can be installed within a device such as a server, and can prevent the device from powering on while the temperature of the device is being restored to an operating temperature. The device heater module can prevent the device from powering on by operating a switch to disconnect the device from an external power supply. The device heater module can thereafter actively or passively modify the temperature of the device. After the temperature of the device is restored to within the operating temperature, the device heater module can operate the switch to reconnect the device to the external power supply, thereby allowing the device to initiate a boot process.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device heater module, comprising:
a memory; and
a controller coupled to the memory, a temperature sensor adapted to detect a temperature at a device, a heater adapted to heat the device, and a switch that selectively disconnects and reconnects a power source and the device, wherein the controller is adapted to perform operations, comprising:
in response to detecting, via the temperature sensor, that the temperature is below a threshold low temperature, activating the heater and operating the switch to disconnect the power source and the device, wherein the power source is an external power supply during normal operations and a battery during a power failure scenario;
subsequent to activating the heater, operating the switch to reconnect the external power supply and the device upon completion of a heating cycle;
subsequent to completion of the heating cycle, allowing the device to complete a boot process; and
accessing heater activation instructions from the device, upon completion of the boot process, to operate the heater in a continuous mode at different power values to maintain the temperature at the device within an operating temperature range of the device.

2. The device heater module of claim 1 , wherein the controller is adapted to activate the heater and operate the switch to disconnect the power source and the device in response to detecting that the temperature is below the threshold low temperature and detecting that the device is off.

3. The device heater module of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise activating a fan during the activating of the heater, and wherein the activating of the heater and the fan is according to a first stored device heating profile accessible to the controller.

4. The device heater module of claim 3 , wherein the operations further comprise selecting the first stored device heating profile accessible to the controller or a second stored device heating profile accessible to the controller based on the temperature, resulting in a selected stored device heating profile, and wherein the activating of the heater and the fan is according to the selected stored device heating profile.

5. The device heater module of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving control instructions from the device via a digital interface.

6. The device heater module of claim 1 , wherein a part of the device heater module is slidably engageable with a housing cavity of the device.

7. The device heater module of claim 6 , wherein:
the device heater module comprises a proximal end and a distal end;
a fan is positioned at the proximal end;
the heater is positioned adjacent the fan to allow air flow through the device heater module; and
an air baffle is positioned at the distal end to direct the air flow within a housing of the device.

8. The device heater module of claim 1 , wherein, subsequent to activating the heater and in response to detecting that the temperature is above the threshold low temperature, the controller operates the switch to reconnect the power source and the device.

9. A method, comprising:
detecting, by a system comprising a processor, a state of a device;
detecting, by the system, a temperature at the device;
in response to the state of the device being off and the temperature being not greater than a threshold low temperature, activating, by the system, a heater and operating a switch to disconnect a power source and the device, wherein the power source is an external power supply during normal operations and a battery during a period of temporary disconnection from external power;
subsequent to activating the heater, operating, by the system, the switch to reconnect the battery and the device upon completion of a heating cycle;
subsequent to completion of the heating cycle, allowing the device to complete a boot process; and
accessing heater activation instructions from the device, upon completion of the boot process, to operate the heater in a binary mode at different frequencies and time durations to maintain the temperature at the device within an operating temperature range of the device.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising activating, by the system, a fan during activation of the heater, and wherein activating the heater and the fan comprises activating the heater and the fan for a duration according to a stored device heating profile.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising selecting, by the system, the stored device heating profile from a group of stored device heating profiles.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising reactivating and deactivating, by the system, the heater according to the heater activation instructions from the device.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising slidably engaging a portion of the system with a housing cavity of the device.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising, subsequent to activating the heater and in response to detecting that the temperature is above the threshold low temperature, operating, by the system, the switch to reconnect the power source and the device.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
initiating a boot process to boot a computing device;
during the boot process, transmitting control instructions to a computing device heater module, the control instructions comprising a temperature request to access temperature information that indicates a temperature at the computing device;
in response to the temperature being no more than a threshold low temperature, detecting via a physical device interface that the computing device heater module is present at the computing device;
in response to the computing device heater module being detected to be present at the computing device, reading heater activation information that indicates whether the computing device heater module was activated to heat the computing device, wherein the computing device checks for a signal indicative of the heater activation information stored by the computing device heater module after heating the computing device;
in response to the heater activation information indicating that the computing device heater module was activated to heat the computing device, continuing the boot process in a low temperature mode; and
in response to the signal being absent, terminating the boot process, wherein absence of the signal is indicative of the computing device heater module having malfunctioned.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein, in response to the temperature being above the threshold low temperature, the boot process is continued in a normal mode.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein, in response to the computing device heater module not being present at the computing device, the boot process is terminated.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein, in response to the heater activation information indicating that the computing device heater module was not activated, a heater error condition is logged.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the continuing of the boot process in the low temperature mode comprises operating a fan at a reduced speed that is reduced relative to a fan speed used during the boot process in a normal mode.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15 ,

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Utz James
• Taus Jeffrey R
• Cravens Zachary A

Classifications

• G06F1/181

  Enclosures (for portable computers G06F1/1613) · CPC title

• G06F1/187

  Mounting of fixed or removable disk drives · CPC title

• G06F1/263

  Arrangements for using multiple switchable power supplies, e.g. battery and AC (G06F1/30 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F1/20

  Cooling means · CPC title

• G06F1/206

  comprising thermal management · CPC title