Abstract:
The present invention discloses a hot pluggable fan system and connection apparatus. The system includes at least one fan assembly, and a hot pluggable fan connection apparatus. The hot pluggable fan connection apparatus includes a bottom plate; a crossbar existed on the bottom plate, for dividing the bottom plate into a forepart and a rear part; two side panels located on both sides of the bottom plate and vertical to the crossbar; a beam connected to the two side panels and above the crossbar; and one or more fan baffles combined with the side panels for forming at least one slot for accommodating the fan assembly, the baffles located at the forepart of the bottom plate and parallel to the side panels.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 200810025843.1, filed Jan. 16, 2008, entitled “Hot Pluggable Fan System and Connection Apparatus,” the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to fans and connection apparatus thereof, and more particularly, to a hot pluggable fan system and a connection apparatus. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    With the progress of technologies, electronic products are more and more efficient. However, electronic products produce heat during operation, and increase the ambient temperature of the whole system. If no proper heat dissipation mechanism is applied, the system will deteriorate in stability and efficiency and even fail. Generally, heat dissipation apparatuses such as fans, are applied to keep the electronic products working in a certain temperature. 
         [0004]    Nowadays, in a computer system, especially in server or storage fields, a system always runs 24 hours a day without interruption. Therefore, the hot plug technology is applied widely in the server and storage fields. The hot plug technology means the system keeps running normally without interruption while a system component is plugged or unplugged directly. The technology overcomes the trouble of powering off the system and interrupting the service to maintain the system. Fans are mechanical units with the highest failure rate in a computer system. It is necessary to develop a hot pluggable fan system to improve the system maintainability. 
         [0005]    Chinese patent numbered 02205245.3 discloses an installation apparatus for a hot pluggable fan of a unit server.  FIGS. 1-2  show how the hot pluggable installation apparatus is installed on a unit server frame. As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , a flip-up cover  9  is set on an upper cover  10  of the unit server frame, which is according to the location of the fan assembly in the unit server frame. The fan assembly is fixed on the bottom plate of the unit server frame through a fixing apparatus, namely, a positioning rod  3  and a positioning hole  11 , and is electrically connected to a control mainboard  7  through sockets  5  and  6 . A fan assembly includes a heat-dissipating fan  1 , a fan bracket  2 , and a circuit board  4 . The heat-dissipating fan  1  is fixed in the fan bracket  2 . The circuit board  4  is fixed on the fan bracket  2 . To assemble or disassemble the fan assembly and the unit server frame, the user can open the flip-up cover  9  to pull out the fan assembly upward or insert the fan assembly downward. After the fan assembly is installed, the flip-up cover  9  can be closed and the fan assembly is replaced. 
         [0006]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the fan assembly of the foregoing structure is fixed on the bottom plate of the frame through the upper cover of the frame, and the unit server frame is divided into a forepart and a rear part. If the unit server frame uses a backplane to connect the forepart and the rear part and single boards are respectively inserted from the forepart and the rear part of the frame into a slot on the backplane and traverses the unit server frame, the fan assembly of the foregoing structure is not installable. Therefore, the foregoing installation solution is not applicable to the structure in which the backplane connects the forepart and the rear part. Moreover, if a number of unit server frames are overlaid on a rack, the flip-up cover  9  will be obstructed. The unit server frames need to be moved down before a fan is replaced, which makes the maintenance inconvenient. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    According to embodiments of the present invention, a hot pluggable fan system and a connection apparatus are provided. 
         [0008]    A hot pluggable fan connection apparatus includes: a bottom plate; a crossbar existed on the bottom plate, for dividing the bottom plate into a forepart and a rear part; two side panels located on both sides of the bottom plate and vertical to the crossbar; a beam connected to the two side panels and above the crossbar; and one or more fan baffles combined with the side panels for forming at least one fan slot, the baffles located at the forepart of the bottom plate and parallel to the side panels. 
         [0009]    A hot pluggable fan system includes: at least one fan assembly, and a hot pluggable fan connection apparatus, which includes: a bottom plate; a crossbar existed on the bottom plate, for dividing the bottom plate into a forepart and a rear part; two side panels located on both sides of the bottom plate and vertical to the crossbar; a beam connected to the two side panels and above the crossbar; and one or more fan baffles combined with the side panels for forming at least one slot for accommodating the fan assembly, the baffles located at the forepart of the bottom plate and parallel to the side panels. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    Embodiments of the present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus are not limitative to the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a hot pluggable fan, according to the related art; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  illustrates the assemblage of the hot pluggable fan shown in  FIG. 1  and a unit server frame; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a hot pluggable fan connection apparatus, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  illustrates the layout before a hot pluggable fan system with the connection apparatus shown in  FIG. 3  is assembled with a single board; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a fan, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram of a power transfer board in the hot pluggable fan system shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram of a fan box in the hot pluggable fan system shown in  FIG. 4 ; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  illustrates the layout after the hot pluggable fan system shown in  FIG. 4  is assembled with a single board. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]    The present invention is illustrated in detail below by reference to embodiments and the accompanying drawings. 
         [0020]      FIG. 3  illustrates the structure of a hot pluggable fan connection apparatus  20  in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the hot pluggable fan connection apparatus  20  includes a bottom plate  21 , side panels  22 , a beam  23 , and fan baffles  24 . A crossbar  25  exists on the bottom plate  21  and is parallel to one side of the bottom plate  21 , and divides the bottom plate  21  into a forepart  21   a  and a rear part  21   b.  The side panels  22  are located on both sides of the bottom plate  21 , and vertical to the crossbar  25 . The beam  23  is connected to the two side panels  22 , and is above the crossbar  25 . The fan baffles  24  are located at the forepart  21   a  of the bottom plate  21 , parallel to the side panels  22 , and combine with the side panels  22  to form at least one fan slot  26 . The rear part  21   b  of the bottom plate is adapted to connect to a single board. 
         [0021]    In this embodiment, there are three fan baffles  24 , which combine with the side panels  22  to form four fan slots  26 . According to each fan slot  26 , a power socket  28  is set on the crossbar  25  for the purpose of supplying power to the fan. According to the crossbar  25  and the beam  23 , a number of fixed screw holes  27  are set for fixing the fan. 
         [0022]    Accordingly, the number of the fan slots  26  is not limit to four. It can be adjusted by changing the locations of the fan baffles  24  according to the system requirements. The power socket  28  may be an external power socket rather than being on the crossbar  25 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  illustrates a hot pluggable fan system with the fan connection apparatus shown in  FIG. 3 . The hot pluggable fan system includes the fan connection apparatus  20  and a fan assembly  30 . 
         [0024]    As shown in  FIGS. 5-7 , the fan assembly  30  includes a fan  31 , a power transfer board  32  and a fan box  33 . The fan  31  has installation holes  311 , which correspond to the fixed screw holes  27  on the crossbar  25  and the beam  23 . The power transfer board  32  has installation holes  322 . The fan box  33  has an air vent  331 , a transfer board bracket  332 , and several installation holes  333 . The installation holes  333  of the fan box  33  correspond to the installation holes  311  of the fan  31  and the installation holes  322  of the power transfer board  32 . The power transfer board  32  is fixed on the transfer board bracket  332 , and the fan  31  is fixed on the fan box  33 . When the fan  31  runs, the air vent  331  expels the airflow generated by the fan  31  to dissipate heat. The power transfer board  32  has two electrically connected sockets  34 . In this embodiment, the two sockets  34  are located on both sides of the power transfer board  32 . One socket  34  is connected to the power and control terminal (flexible wire) attached to the fan  31 , namely, electrically connected to the fan. The other socket  34  corresponds to the power socket  28  on the fan connection apparatus  20 . In this way, the power and control terminal of the fan  31  is fixed onto the fan  31  through the power transfer board  32  for ease of hot plugging. 
         [0025]    The fan  31  and the power transfer board  32  are fixed on the fan box  33  through installation holes  311 ,  322  and  333 , and form a fan assembly  30  after electrical connection. The fan assembly  30  is located in the fan slot  26  of the fan connection apparatus  20 . A number of screws (not illustrated herein) fix the fan assembly  30  onto the fan connection apparatus  20  through the screw holes  27  on the beam  23  and the crossbar  25 , and through the installation holes  333  of the fax box  33 . 
         [0026]    Accordingly, the fan  31  and the power transfer board  32  are fixed on the fan box  33  not necessarily through screws and screw holes, but possibly in any other proper way. 
         [0027]      FIG. 8  illustrates the layout after the hot pluggable fan system shown in  FIG. 4  is assembled with a single board  40 . As shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 8 , the single board  40  is located at the rear part  21   b  of the bottom plate  21  of the fan connection apparatus  20 , and is connected to the fan connection apparatus  20  fixedly through screws or fasteners (not illustrated herein). The single board  40  is electrically connected to the power socket  28  on the crossbar  25 . The power socket  28  is electrically connected to the power transfer board  32 , so that the board  40  can supply power to the fan  31 . After being connected to the single board  40 , the hot pluggable fan system is inserted into a unit server frame (not illustrated herein) through a slot or slide rails from the forepart or rear part of the unit server frame, so that the single board  40  located at the rear part  21   b  of the bottom plate  21  is inserted into the slot of the unit server frame. In this case, the fan assembly  30  located at the forepart  21   a  of the bottom plate  21  is outside the unit server frame, namely, forepart or rear part of the unit server frame. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the hot pluggable system further includes a front panel  29 . The front panel  29  is fixed onto the top of the forepart  21   a  of the bottom plate  21  of the fan connection apparatus  20 . The front panel  29  combines with structures of the unit server frame to form a shielding enclosure (not illustrated herein) to shield the external interference and facilitate unplugging of the hot pluggable fan system and the single board  40  from the unit server frame. 
         [0028]    The mode of fixing the single board  40  with the fan connection apparatus  20  and the mode of connecting the single board  40  to the equipment, such as the unit serve frame are well known to the technicians in this field. Because any proper connection mode is applicable, further description is not provided here. 
         [0029]    In the hot pluggable fan system provided in an embodiment of the present invention, the fan assembly  30  may be inserted into the unit serve frame with the fan connection apparatus  20 , and located outside the unit serve frame. If the board  40  on the fan connection apparatus  20  is damaged, it is only necessary to unplug the fan connection apparatus  20  to replace the single board  40 , without disassembling the fan  31 . If the fan  31  fails, it is only necessary to unplug the fan connection apparatus  20  from the forepart or rear part of the unit serve frame to replace the damaged fan  31 , without disassembling other components on the frame. Therefore, the maintenance is rather convenient, with little impact on the system. Moreover, the fan  31  is located at the forepart or rear part of the unit serve frame, thus providing perfect ventilation and achieving the best effect of heat dissipation. Furthermore, the fan assembly  30  is fixed through screw holes  27  onto the fan connection apparatus  20  by using screws (not illustrated herein), the vibration is minimized and the noise is low. 
         [0030]    In a hot pluggable fan system provided in another embodiment of the present invention, the fan  31  is fixed into the fan slot  26  directly through installation holes  311  and screw holes  27 , and is powered by an external power supply (not illustrated herein). 
         [0031]    The hot pluggable fan system provided in embodiments of the present invention is widely applicable to all kinds of equipment, storage devices and servers. 
         [0032]    The foregoing are only preferred embodiments of the invention and are not for use in limiting the protection scope thereof. Any modification, equivalent replacement and improvement within the spirit and principle of this invention shall be covered in the scope defined by the appended claims.