Partitioned cooling for electronic devices and systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016165751-A1
Application number	US-201414905275-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 22, 2014
Priority date	Sep 26, 2013
Publication date	Jun 9, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Partitioned cooling for electronic devices and systems. An embodiment of an apparatus includes a casing; one or more components, including one or more components that include an active thermal element; a partition to separate area within the casing into a first cooling zone and a second cooling zone, wherein the first cooling zone provides cooling for the one or more components that include an active thermal element; and a first fan located in the first cooling zone, the first fan to produce airflow for cooling in the first cooling zone and a second fan located in the second cooling zone to produce airflow for the cooling in the second cooling zone.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus comprising:
a casing; one or more components, including one or more components that include an active thermal element; a partition to separate an area within the casing into a first cooling zone and a second cooling zone, wherein the first cooling zone provides cooling for the one or more components that include an active thermal element; and a first fan located in the first cooling zone, the first fan to produce airflow for cooling in the first cooling zone and a second fan located in the second cooling zone to produce airflow for the cooling in the second cooling zone.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein there is no airflow between the first cooling zone and the second cooling zone.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more components that include an active thermal element are located outside of the first cooling zone.

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the one or more components further include one or more components that do not include an active thermal element, wherein the one or more components that include an active thermal element and the one or more components that do not include an active thermal element are located in the second cooling zone.

5 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the first cooling zone includes a first set of vents including at least one outlet vent and at least one inlet vent and the second cooling zone includes a second set of vents including at least one outlet vent and at least one inlet vent.

6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising a heat exchanger for cooling the one or more components with an active thermal element, the heat exchanger being located in the first cooling zone, wherein the heat exchanger is located between the first fan and one or more outlet vents of the first set of vents.

7 . The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising a heat pipe, the heat pipe running between the first cooling zone and the second cooling zone, the heat pipe transferring heat from the one or more components that include an active thermal element.

8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more components that include an active thermal element include at least one component located in the first cooling zone and at least one component located in the second cooling zone, the first cooling zone providing cooling for the components that include an active thermal element in both the first cooling zone and the second cooling zone.

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first cooling zone borders at least two sides of the casing, the first fan being located in an interior portion of the first cooling zone.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first fan and the second fan are independently controllable.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the casing is a thin system with a first dimension that is significantly smaller than a second dimension or a third dimension of the casing.

12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the casing includes a top skin and a bottom skin, the first fan receiving cooling from either or both of the top skin and the bottom skin.

13 . A method comprising:
operating an electronic apparatus, the apparatus including a partition between a first cooling zone and a second cooling zone, the apparatus further including a first fan located in the first cooling zone and a second fan located in the second cooling zone; upon determining that a temperature in the first cooling zone is above an upper threshold or below a lower threshold for the first cooling zone, increasing or decreasing airflow generated by the first fan; and upon determining that a temperature in the second cooling zone is above an upper threshold or below a lower threshold for the second cooling zone, increasing or decreasing airflow generated by the second fan; wherein the apparatus includes a plurality of components, the plurality of components including one or more components with active thermal elements, the first cooling zone providing cooling for the one or more components with active thermal elements.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the airflow generated by the first fan does not flow through the second cooling zone and wherein the airflow generated by the second fan does not flow through the first cooling zone.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the first cooling zone includes a first set of vents including at least one outlet vent and the second cooling zone includes a second set of vents including at least one outlet vent; and
wherein increasing or decreasing the air flow generated by the first fan operates to respectively increase or decrease air flow out of the at least one outlet vent of the first set of vents, and increasing or decreasing the air flow generated by the second fan operates to respectively increase or decrease air flow out of the at least one outlet vent of the second set of vents.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the apparatus includes a heat exchanger for the one or more components with an active thermal element, the heat exchanger being located in the first cooling zone, wherein increasing or decreasing the airflow generated by the first fan operates to respectively increase or decrease airflow impacting the heat exchanger.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the apparatus includes a heat pipe, the heat pipe running between the first cooling zone and the second cooling zone, the heat pipe providing for transfer of heat from the second cooling zone to the first cooling zone.

18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein control of a level of airflow of the first fan is independent of control of a level of airflow of the second fan.

19 . A cooling system for an electronic apparatus comprising:
a first fan located in a first cooling zone of the apparatus, the first fan to produce airflow for cooling in the first cooling zone, the first cooling zone to provide cooling for one or more components with active cooling elements located outside of the first cooling zone, a heat pipe transferring heat from the components to the first cooling zone; a second fan located in a second cooling zone to produce airflow for the cooling in the second cooling zone, wherein the first cooling zone and the second cooling zone are separated by a partition; and a controller to independently control airflow generated by the first fan and airflow generated by the second fan.

20 . The cooling system of claim 19 , further comprising a heat exchanger coupled with the heat pipe to provide cooling of the one or more components with an active thermal element, the heat exchanger being located in the first cooling zone and being impacted by airflow generated by the first fan.

21 . The cooling system of claim 20 , wherein the heat exchanger is located between the first fan and at least one outlet.

22 . The cooling system of claim 20 , wherein the heat exchanger is not impacted by airflow generated by the second fan.

23 . The cooling system of claim 19 , wherein the controller is one of a separate cooling controller or a processor.

24 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
operating an electronic apparatus, the apparatus including a partition between a first cooling zone and a second cooling zone; and controlling cooling for first cooling zo

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Varadarajan Krishnakumar
• Reddy Anand V

Classifications

• G06F1/20 Primary

  Cooling means · CPC title

• G06F1/206

  comprising thermal management · CPC title

• H05K7/20336

  Heat pipes, e.g. wicks or capillary pumps · CPC title

• H05K7/20136 Primary

  Forced ventilation, e.g. by fans (H05K7/202 takes precedence) · CPC title