Digital Equipment Corporation

Douglas A Bailey

Richard E Olson

William L Schmidt

Stephen E Lindquist

Barry R Arsenault

Peter M Martino

An apparatus is disclosed for fluid dynamically augmenting a heat sink to displace a boundary layer in the cooling fluid adjacent to the surfaces of the heat sink cooling fins. Ribs with a thickness slightly less than the thickness of the boundary layer cause secondary flow in the cooling fluid downstream from the rib in the form of vortices which displace hotter slower moving fluid by drawing in cooler fluid farther from the surface of the fins. The ribs are constructed on the surface of the cooling fins in an inverted V-shaped configuration. The angle of the ribs in the inverted V-shaped configuration is optimized to intersect the entire flow of the fluid through the heat sink forming a means for efficient dissipating heat from the heat sink over its entire surface area.

Apparatus for an air impingement heat sink using secondary flow

A liquid spill containment system inserted into an open airflow structure such that minimum interference with existing airflow occurs while simultaneously directing liquid spill particles into spill containers. A deflector is located below an upper partition portion of the open airflow structure. Spill containers are positioned below the deflector. The deflector and containers are located with respect to each other such that liquid particles coming through the open airflow structure are directed by the deflector into a container while, simultaneously, airflow entering the open air structure is exited unimpeded.

Method and apparatus for liquid spill containment

A cooling device that achieves longitudinal vortex formation, thereby reducing downstream wake, without significantly increased pressure. The device also conducts heat from the electronic component to be cooled, and includes at least one heat-conductive plate having a plurality of evenly distributed pairs of vanes that depend from the edge of the plate and flare in alternating, transverse directions. A post depends from the bottom-most plate (if the device contains more than one) and mounts directly to the component to be cooled.

Cooling device that creates longitudinal vortices

A cooling system for cooling electronic components mounted in a cabinet of a computer includes an air circulation device mounted in the cabinet. The air circulation device draws cool, outside air through an air inlet in the cabinet and circulates the cool air over the electronic components. After passing over the electronic components, the air is drawn into an inlet of the fan and exhausted into a diffuser. The diffuser interconnects an outlet in the fan to an air outlet in the cabinet. The diffuser is of increasing cross sectional area and converts dynamic pressure of the air leaving the fan to static pressure. A plurality of air direction vanes are mounted in the air outlet in the cabinet which impart a velocity vector to the hot exhausting air in a direction away from the air inlet in the cabinet.

Cooling system for computers

The present invention is directed to a structure for positioning electronic modules of an electronic system therein, and particularly to a rack often called a card cage in which circuit boards are disposed. The rack embodying the invention incorporates a frame having four sides and a back plate. Two of the opposite sides are grilles. The frame is adapted for supporting printed circuit boards perpendicular to the grill. Thus, a fluid cooling medium, such as air, can enter the rack through one of the grilles, flow along and between the circuit boards and exit through the other grilles. The resistance to the flow of such air for cooling by the grilles is significantly greater than the boards disposed therein. Thus, the grilles permit a uniform coolant flow for each of the circuit boards in the rack. The rack has a lever assembly which remotely actuates connectors positioned in the rack to contact the circuit boards positioned therein. The lever assembly is further provided with a spring member which serves as a force-limiting device such that excessive force is not applied to the boards and to the connectors when the boards are inserted into the rack. The rack also has guiding members for guiding warped circuit boards into position within the rack.

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Concord, MA, United States of America

Douglas A Bailey