Patent ID: 7660109

Claim:
An apparatus for facilitating cooling of an air-cooled electronics system, the air-cooled electronics system comprising a system housing containing at least one electronics subsystem to be air-cooled, the apparatus comprising: a vapor-compression heat exchange system comprising an evaporator housing and an evaporator disposed therein, the evaporator housing being configured to couple to a first side of the system housing to extend at least partially between an air inlet side and an air outlet side of the system housing, the evaporator housing comprising an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening, wherein the vapor-compression heat exchange system further comprises a vapor-compression unit in fluid communication with the evaporator for exhausting heat from refrigerant circulating therethrough; a front cover and a back cover, the front cover being configured to mount to at least one of the system housing or the evaporator housing adjacent to the air inlet side of the system housing or the air outlet opening of the evaporator housing, and the back cover being configured to mount to at least one of the system housing or the evaporator housing adjacent to the air outlet side of the system housing or the air inlet opening of the evaporator housing, wherein the system housing, back cover, evaporator housing and front cover together facilitate establishing a closed loop airflow path passing through the air inlet and air outlet sides of the system housing and through the air inlet and air outlet openings of the evaporator housing, and wherein when operational, the vapor-compression heat exchange system at least partially cools air circulating through the closed loop airflow path, thereby facilitating cooling of the at least one electronics subsystem of the electronics system; and a condenser housing enclosing the vapor-compression unit, the condenser housing being configured to mount to a top side of the system housing, and wherein the vapor-compression unit comprises an air-to-liquid condenser heat exchanger and an air-moving device for establishing ambient airflow across the air-to-liquid condenser heat exchanger, wherein ambient airflow across the air-to-liquid condenser heat exchanger is outside the closed loop airflow path facilitated by the back cover, evaportor housing, front cover and system housing, and is from an air inlet side to an air outlet side of the condenser housing, and wherein the air inlet side of the condenser housing is in a plane parallel to the air inlet side of the system housing, and the air outlet side of the condenser housing is in a plane parallel to the air outlet side of the system housing.