Patent ID: 7286348

Claim:
A housing assembly in which items of computer hardware can be mounted to facilitate their operation, the housing assembly comprising: a) a plurality of side wall panels that define an outer casing. the plurality of panels forming a plurality of air vents that define an air inlet and an air outlet; b) a fan and electric motor for driving the fan, wherein the fan is connected to the outer casing such that operation of the fan causes; i) a stream of air to enter the outer casing through the air inlet, ii) the stream of air to be conveyed within the outer casing, and iii) the stream of air to be discharged from the air outlet, thereby allowing heat generated by the computer hardware inside the outer casing to be transferred to the air conveyed within the outer casing; and c) a baffle interposed between the fan and a first vent of the plurality of air vents such that the stream of air forms a tortuous passageway extending between the fist vent and the fan along a nonlinear path around an edge of the baffle, wherein the vent is in a first panel of the plurality of side wall panels, and wherein the baffle extends from a second panel of the plurality of side wall panels, second panel being connected to the first panel.