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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016100506-A1
Application number	US-201414509009-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 7, 2014
Priority date	Oct 7, 2014
Publication date	Apr 7, 2016
Grant date	—

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, 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 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 rack and the electronic components inserted into the rack chassis from (ii) a hot aisle located towards a rear of the rack.

2 . The baffle of claim 1 , wherein:
the baffle is attached to a rear section of a rack chassis, wherein the flanges of the AFD section folds inward towards the electronic components to create a funnel for receiving a flow of exhaust air from the rack chassis, wherein the flanges of the AFD section can be adhered to a rear section of an interior of the chassis.

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

4 . The baffle of claim 1 , wherein the baffle is constructed from a light-weight material.

5 . The baffle of claim 1 , wherein the baffle is constructed from corrugated cardboard, and the AFD apertures are cutout sections placed at vertical locations along the baffle at which the hot air exhaust from functioning electronic components can be directed away from the interior section of the IT rack holding the electronic components.

6 . The baffle of claim 4 , wherein:
a front section of the rack extending towards to an interior facing side of the baffle represents the cold aisle and a back 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 cold aisle section of the IT rack.

7 . 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 heat dissipating electronic components.

8 . The IT rack of claim 8 , 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 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) 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.

10 . The IT rack of claim 9 , wherein the at least one baffle is attached to a 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 the cold aisle, wherein the flanges of the AFD section can be adhered to a rear section of an interior of the chassis.

11 . The IT rack of claim 9 , wherein the electronic components constitute an information handling system.

12 . The IT rack of claim 9 , wherein the at least one baffle is constructed from a light-weight material.

13 . 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.

14 . The IT rack of claim 9 , wherein the at least one baffle is constructed from corrugated cardboard and the AFD apertures are cutout sections placed at vertical locations along the baffle at which the hot air exhaust from functioning electronic components can be directed away from the IT gear holding section of the IT rack.

15 . The IT rack of claim 14 , wherein:
the IT gear holding section of the rack adjacent to an interior facing side of the at least one baffle represents the cold aisle and a back section of the IT rack on an opposite side of the at least one baffle represents the hot aisle, and the at least one baffle prevents hot air that is directed through the AFD apertures from re-circulating into the cold aisle section of the IT rack.

16 . The IT rack of claim 7 , wherein: the exterior casing is an IT rack with one or more IT gear chasses; and the at least one baffle is attached to a rear section of the rack to separate air flow around the IT gear from air flow at the rear of the rack.

17 . The IT rack of claim 16 , wherein the IT rack comprises:
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 an interior 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 volumetric 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 IT gear 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 mini rack modules and which provides vertical rigidity to the rack assembly; at least one banding component that extends horizontally around the perimeter of the stacked arrangement of mini rack modules to fixably hold each of the corner components in place and provide lateral support for the rack structure; 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; and wherein the at least one baffle provides structural rigidity to the rear of the MELS IT rack.

18 . In a rack-based information handling system, a method comprising:
attaching at least one air flow management ducting component to a rear of an IT rack assembly to provide hot aisle and cold aisle separation, wherein the at least one air flow management ducting components includes at least one baffle, each baffle having a plurality of air flow directing (AFD) sections that have flanges which direct exhaust air flow from heat dissipating IT gear located within the volumetric vertical space of the modular IT rack assembly.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
attaching the baffle to a rear section of the chassis of the IT rack system, where the AFD sections fold inward to be adhered to the rear section and to operate as funnels directing the air flow from the interior of the rack out to a back of the rack and preventing re-circulatio

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Bailey Edmond I
• Embleton Steven
• Salas Rene J

Classifications

• H05K7/20736

  within cabinets for removing heat from server blades · CPC title

• H05K7/20727 Primary

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

• H05K7/20145

  Means for directing air flow, e.g. ducts, deflectors, plenum or guides · CPC title