Patent ID: 8085540

Claim:
A tandem fan system, comprising: a first fan assembly and a second fan assembly, wherein each fan assembly has an inlet face and an outlet face and at least one fan coupled between the inlet face and the outlet face, wherein the at least one fan is configured to propel a flow of air from the inlet face to the outlet face; and a heat exchanger coupled between the first fan assembly and the second fan assembly, comprising: a first face coupled to the outlet face of the first fan assembly and a second face coupled to the inlet face of the second fan assembly; at least one fin array coupled between the first face and the second face, wherein the fin array is configured to straighten a flow of air that flows through the heat exchanger from the outlet face of the first fan assembly to the inlet face of the second fan assembly so that the flow is oriented in a predetermined direction with respect to the inlet face of the second fan assembly; and one or more heat pipes coupled to the at least one fin array between the first face and the second face, wherein the one or more heat pipes are configured to draw heat from the flow of air that flows through the heat exchanger.