Patent Publication Number: US-2012039035-A1

Title: Server system and heat dissipation device thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to heat dissipation, and more particularly to a server system and heat dissipation device used by the server system. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Typically, a server system has multiple standard servers stacked in a standard server cabinet. The server cabinet generally includes a top wall, an opposite bottom wall, and a left sidewall, a right sidewall, a front sidewall and a rear sidewall interconnected between the top and bottom walls. The servers are fixed between the left and right sidewalls. Each of the servers includes at least a power supply device, a motherboard, a hard disk drive, and an optical disk drive. Considerable heat is generated during operation of the servers. 
     Generally, a plurality of cooling fans are mounted on the rear sidewall of the server cabinet for evacuating the generated heat. During operation, the cooling fans draw cooling air from a front side of the server cabinet into the server cabinet via through holes defined in the front sidewall. The cooling air flows through the servers along a longitudinal axis of the server cabinet to exchange heat with the servers. Finally, the heated air is exhausted out of the server cabinet via through holes defined in the rear sidewall. However, intake at the front sidewall and exhaust at the rear sidewall, particularly the heated air exhausted at the rear sidewall, may adversely affect the environment around the server cabinet. 
     What is needed, therefore, is a server system having a heat dissipation device which can overcome the limitations described. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric, assembled view of a server system in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the server system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of a heat dissipation device of the server system shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a server system  10  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment is shown. The server system  10  includes a server cabinet  12 , a plurality of server units  14  accommodated in the server cabinet  12 , and a plurality of heat dissipation devices  16  for cooling the server units  14 . Each server unit  14  includes a plurality of servers  140  stacked together, and has one corresponding heat dissipation device  16  mounted thereon for evacuating heat therefrom. In this embodiment, for simplicity, only one server unit  14  including only three servers  140  is shown. Accordingly, only one corresponding heat dissipation device  16  is shown. 
     The server cabinet  12  includes a rack  120 , a front door  122 , and a rear plate  124 . The front door  122  and the rear plate  124  are pivotally attached to front and rear sides of the rack  120 , respectively, and can be opened or closed relative to the rack  120  as needed. 
     The rack  120  includes a rectangular top wall  121 , a bottom wall  123  parallel to and spaced from the top wall  121 , a left sidewall  126  interconnected between left sides of the top and bottom walls  121 ,  123 , and a right sidewall  125  interconnected between right sides of the top and bottom walls  121 ,  123 . The bottom wall  123  defines an opening  127  at a central portion thereof through which cables or other leads can pass to be in electrical connection with the servers  140 , exterior power sources (not shown), or other devices. The top wall  121  defines a plurality of ventilating holes  128  therethrough for communicating an interior of the server cabinet  12  with an exterior of the server cabinet  12 . 
     In this embodiment, a supporting frame  129  is formed in the rack  120  of the server cabinet  12  to divide the interior of the server cabinet  12  into two portions; that is, an upper portion over the supporting frame  129 , and a lower portion under the supporting frame  129 . The supporting frame  129  defines an aperture (not labeled) therein, allowing the upper portion and the lower portion to communicate with each other. Each portion of the interior of the server cabinet  12  receives one server unit  14  and the corresponding heat dissipation device  16  therein. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the rack  120  can have a plurality of supporting frames  129  mounted thereon to divide the interior of the server cabinet  12  into at least three portions to receive more server units  14  therein, according to a height of the rack  120 . 
     In this embodiment, the servers  140  of the server unit  14  are stacked in a horizontal direction along a transverse axis of the rack  120 . Each of the server cabinets  12  has a standard rectangular outline. Two flanges  146  respectively extend from front and rear sides of each server  140  to abut a neighboring server  140 . The flanges  146  at a front side of the server unit  14  cooperatively form a continuous wall to prevent air from escaping out of the server unit  14  through the front side thereof. The flanges  146  at a rear side of the server unit  14  cooperatively form a continuous wall to prevent air from escaping out of the server unit  14  through the rear side thereof. 
     Referring also to  FIG. 3 , the heat dissipation device  16  is mounted on the server unit  14 , and includes a fan module  160  and a dissipating module  162  on the fan module  160 . 
     The fan module  160  includes a rectangular-shaped frame  161 , and a plurality of impellers  163  received in the frame  161 . In this embodiment, the impellers  163  are configured for drawing air from the servers  140  to the dissipating module  162 . A plurality of temperature sensors  165  is respectively connected to circuits of the impellers  163  to control rotation of the impellers  163 . Two flanges  169  respectively extend up from front and rear sides of the frame  161 , for connecting the fan module  160  to the rack  120 . 
     The dissipating module  162  is arranged on the fan module  160 , and located between the flanges  169  of the fan module  160 . In this embodiment, the dissipating module  162  is a metal heat sink, and includes a plurality of elongated fins  166  and a transverse end beam  164  interconnecting the fins  166 . The fins  166  are parallel to and spaced from each other. Each of the fins  166  extends parallel to a longitudinal axis of the dissipating module  162 . An elongated channel  168  is defined between each two neighboring fins  166  through which airflow of the fan module  160  passes. 
     During typical operation of the server system  10 , the servers  140  generate a large amount of heat. The impellers  163  of the fan module  160  rotate to draw cooling air out of the server cabinet  12  into the server cabinet  12  through the opening  127  of the bottom wall  123 . The cooling air flows through the servers  140  along an upward axis to exchange heat with the servers  140 . The heated air is then drawn through the fan module  160  to the channels  168  by the impeller  163 , thereby transferring some of the heat to the fins  166 . Finally the fins  166  dissipate the heat to the exterior of the server cabinet  12  through the ventilating holes  128  of the top wall  121 . Therefore the heat generated by the servers  140  can be evacuated by the heat dissipation device  16 , and accordingly the servers  140  maintain a low working temperature. In addition, since the airflow follows an upward path in the server cabinet  12 , the environment around a lateral periphery of the server cabinet  12  is essentially or largely unaffected. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of certain embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.