Exhaust air ducting system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9913410-B2
Application number	US-201715456342-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 10, 2017
Priority date	Mar 14, 2014
Publication date	Mar 6, 2018
Grant date	Mar 6, 2018

Abstract

A system of thermally managing network equipment including a rack housing a network equipment element, an intake coupling including one or more vanes and an exhaust port, a duct, and a rack coupling mechanism configured to adjustably position the intake coupling relative to the rack. The intake coupling is configured to: receive an airflow from the hot air exhaust vent at a first direction; deflect the airflow in a second direction via the one or more vanes; and exhaust the airflow through an opening in the exhaust port.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for thermally managing network equipment, the apparatus comprising:
an intake coupling comprising one or more vanes and an exhaust port, the intake coupling configured to be positioned adjacent a hot air exhaust vent of a network equipment element and configured to: receive an airflow from the hot air exhaust vent at a first direction; deflect the airflow in a second direction via the one or more vanes; and exhaust the airflow through an opening in the exhaust port;
a duct comprising a first end, a second end, and an airflow passage extending between the first end and the second end, the first end coupled to the exhaust port of the intake coupling and the second end configured to be positioned above the network equipment element, the airflow passage configured to direct the airflow from the first end to the second end; and
a rack coupling mechanism operably couplable to a rack and configured to adjustably position the intake coupling relative to the rack, the rack coupling mechanism comprises a plurality of elongated bolts that supports the intake coupling in a position relative to the hot air exhaust vent of the network equipment element using a pair of flanges each configured to couple on opposing sides of the intake coupling.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein adjustment of the plurality of elongated bolts changes the position by increasing or decreasing a lateral distance between the intake coupling and the hot air exhaust vent.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the pair of flanges comprises a plurality of holes into which one of the plurality of elongated bolts is configured to be inserted according to a desired height of the intake coupling relative to a height of the hot air exhaust vent.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising the rack housing the network equipment element, and wherein the rack comprises a pair of opposing vertically oriented U-shaped rails configured with multiple holes, the network equipment element positioned between the rails and the multiple holes of the rails being spaced relative to a height of the network equipment element, a first bolt of the plurality of elongated bolts secured in one of the multiple holes of a first rail of the pair of rails and a second bolt of the plurality of elongated bolts secured in one of the multiple holes of a second rail of the pair of rails, each of the first bolt and the second bolt secured in one of a plurality of spaced apart holes in a respective one of a pair of flanges configured on opposing sides of the intake coupling such that the intake coupling is adjustably positioned at a height sufficient to cover the hot air exhaust vent.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the intake coupling is formed from a first planar sheet of metal that, when bent to its final shape, forms at least one vane of the one or more vanes.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the one or more vanes comprises a second vane formed from a second planar sheet of metal.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first direction is a horizontal direction and the second direction is upward of the horizontal direction.

Assignees

• Level 3 Communications Llc

Inventors

• Ambriz Robert

Classifications

• H05K7/20145

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

• H05K7/20736

  within cabinets for removing heat from server blades · CPC title

• H05K7/20745 Primary

  within rooms for removing heat from cabinets, e.g. by air conditioning device · CPC title

• H05K7/20836 Primary

  Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control · CPC title

• H05K7/20181

  Filters; Louvers · CPC title