Patent ID: 8767400
Filing Date: 2014-07-01
Classification: F04D,H05K

Abstract:
1. A cooling fan array for motivating cooling fluid through an interior chamber of an electronics chassis generally along a flow direction, said array comprising: a frame having a cooling fluid entrance and a cooling fluid exit in fluid communication with the interior chamber, with at least one of said frame entrance and exit directing the cooling fluid flow along a direction parallel with said flow direction, and a plurality of modules individually removable from and replaceable in said frame without operational interruption to others of said modules, each of said modules comprising a centrifugal blower with an impeller driven by a motor and defining an axis of rotation, said blower having an inlet arranged to intake the cooling fluid along a respective intake direction transverse to said flow direction, wherein said blowers are arranged in said frame in one or more sets, with each set including at least two blowers oriented with respective inlets in facing relationship with one another and with respective axes of rotation being axially aligned with one another, said facing inlets being axially spaced apart by a spacing dimension that is less than 75% of a diameter dimension of said impeller within said set, such that said blowers operate in parallel to motivate the cooling fluid through said cooling fluid entrance.