The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 03, 1998
Filed:
Nov. 19, 1996
Alphonse Schwabl, St-Luc, CA;
CAE Electronics Ltd., Montreal, CA;
Abstract
A temperature protection device and method for an air-cooled housing containing electronic equipment is disclosed. A fan forces air to circulate through the housing with air being expelled from the housing at a normal operating temperature inside the housing and with air at an ambient temperature being drawn into the housing. A temperature sensitive element such as a temperature sensitive switch is mounted to the housing such that it is maintained cooler than the operating temperature in the housing as a result of air being drawn into the housing and such that it is exposed to the operating temperature only upon failure of the air circulation. The temperature sensitive element or switch generates an interrupt signal when it senses a response temperature which is near the operating temperature in the housing. In the case of a temperature sensitive switch, power to the electronic equipment may be shut down by the switch. In one embodiment, the temperature sensitive element is mounted to a plate fitting in a personal computer expansion port slot, and at least one phase of the AC power is fed through a power connector on the device including a switch before being connected into the computer's AC power input connector.