US20070172352A1

US20070172352A1 - Heat dissipation fan

Info

Publication number: US20070172352A1
Application number: US11/635,653
Authority: US
Inventors: Chin-Chun Chiang
Original assignee: Asustek Computer Inc
Current assignee: Asustek Computer Inc
Priority date: 2006-01-24
Filing date: 2006-12-08
Publication date: 2007-07-26
Also published as: TWI275343B; TW200730078A

Abstract

A heat dissipation fan used in a frame server, includes a rotation axis and a plurality of fan blades. The rotation axis is composed of a main portion and an extension portion, and the diameter of the main portion is greater than that of the extension portion. The fan blades extend outward from the rotation axis, and are utilized to drive the wind from one side of the rotation axis to the other side of the rotation axis in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis. As such, greatly increase the air cutting area of the fan blades. In this manner, in the server frame studded with electronic devices and having very limited heat dissipation space, the heat dissipation efficiency of the server can be raised significantly, so that the electronic devices may function normally and efficiently.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates a heat dissipation fan used for a server, and in particular to a heat dissipation fan used for raising the heat dissipation efficiency of a server.
2. Related Art
Nowadays, due to the progress and development of science and technology, the prices of the various computer related equipment have been reduced significantly, and among them, the price of server is particularly so. As such, computer has become a daily necessity of most of the people.
Usually, a server is composed of a main frame, which is provided with a plurality of server frames, and that are retractably disposed in the main frame. Thus, in the server frame a plurality of electronic devices are provided for use, such as the hard disk. In general, a server frame is of a specific height, thus the spacing between the electronic devices is rather limited. Due to the fact that heat is generated in the operation of the electronic device, thus, the utilization of heat dissipation technology to dissipate the heat generated during the operation of the various electronic devices from the server having low profile and limited spacings between/among the electronic devices to achieve the heat dissipation efficiency is an important task in this field.
In this respect, refer to FIG. 1 for a cross-section view of a sever frame having the electronic devices disposed therein according to prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, a server frame 10 is provided with a plurality of hot-pluggable hard disk 20 and a turbo fan 30 used for heat dissipation, thus the heat generated during the operation of the hard disk 20 can be carried out of the server through the operation of the turbo fan 30. As shown in FIG. 1, the turbo fan 30 is provided with an outer shell 31, a rotation axis 32, and a plurality of fan blades 33. The rotation axis 32 is disposed in the outer shell 31, and the fan blades 33 are extended outward from the rotation axis 32. However, since the length of the rotation axis 32 is rather short, thus the area of the air cut through by the fan blade 33 used to carry out the heat through its rotation is rather limited. As such, the heat dissipation efficiency of the turbo fan 30 is not sufficient to meet the design requirements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the problems and shortcomings of the prior art, the objective of the invention is to provide a heat dissipation fan used in a framed server, thus raising the heat dissipation efficiency of the server significantly.
Therefore, to overcome and improve the above-mentioned problems, the invention provides a heat dissipation fan for a server frame, which can be utilized to dissipate the heat generated by the electronic devices in a server. The heat dissipation fan includes a rotation axis and a plurality of fan blades. The rotation axis has an interconnected main portion and an extension portion. The main portion includes a rotation device, and the heat dissipation direction of the heat source is perpendicular to the rotation axis, the length of the main portion is equivalent to that of the extension portion. Namely, the total length of the rotation axis is twice that of the main portion.
The fan blades are connected to the main portion and the extension portion. Wherein, the wind blowing direction of the heat dissipation fan is along the axial direction of the rotation axis, so that wind is generated from one side of the rotation axis to the other side of the rotation axis by the fan blades in a direction perpendicular to that of the rotation axis.
Thus, the objective of the invention is achieved through the specially designed rotation axis having extension portion of smaller diameter, so as to raise the air-cutting area of the fan blade significantly. Thus, the area of the air cut by the fan blades extend outward from the main portion and extension portion is much larger than the area cut only by the fan blades extending outward from the main portion. As such, the increase of the air-cutting area of the fan blade can be realized by increasing the length of the extension portion of the heat dissipation fan, so as to raise the heat dissipation efficiency of the server studded with various electronic devices and having limited heat dissipation space, so that the various electronic devices in the server may function normally.
Further scope of applicability of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section view of a sever frame having the electronic devices disposed therein according to prior art;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of a sever frame having the electronic devices disposed therein according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a heat dissipation fan according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a cross section view of a main portion of a heat dissipation fan according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The purpose, construction, features, and functions of the invention can be appreciated and understood more thoroughly through the following detailed description with reference to the attached drawings.
In general, the server frame is designed to have a specific size, thus, usually, the space reserved for the electronic devices disposed therein is rather limited to increase the space utilization rate of a server. As such, the heat generated during the operation of the electronic devices is carried away by the heat dissipation device disposed in the server, so that the electronic devices may function normally and efficiently.
Usually, in a server, the heat dissipation fan is utilized as the heat dissipation device, thus the size of its heat dissipation efficiency depends on the air cutting area of the fan blade of the heat dissipation fan. So, presently, the heat dissipation in a server is realized through a turbo fan 30 in consideration of the limited space available. However, according to the design of the turbo fan 30, the direction of the wind is parallel to the axial direction of the rotation axis 32. Therefore, the air cutting area of the fan blades 33 of the turbo fan 30 may only cover the space outside the rotation axis 32. As such, the heat dissipation efficiency of the turbo fan 30 is not quite satisfactory. In this respect, refer to the cross section view of a server frame having electronic devices disposed therein according to the prior art as shown in FIG. 1.
Thus, according to the above description it is evident that, the air cutting area of the fan blades must be increased to raise the heat dissipation efficiency of the heat dissipation fan in a server. Thus, the heat dissipation fan must be redesigned to increase the air cutting area of the fan blades.
Refer to FIG. 2 for a cross-section view of a server frame having the electronic devices disposed therein according to an embodiment of the invention. Also, refer to FIG. 3 for a perspective view of a heat dissipation fan according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the inside of server frame 10 is provided with a plurality of hot-pluggable hard disks 20, and a heat dissipation fan 40, so that the heat generated during the operation of the hard disk 20 can be carried out of the server in conjunction with the rotation of the heat dissipation fan 40. As shown in the drawing, the heat dissipation fan 40 is composed of a shell 41, a rotation axis 42, and a plurality of fan blades 43.
The rotation axis 42 is disposed inside the shell 41, the heat generated during the operation of the electronic devices is dissipated in the heat dissipation direction 21 perpendicular to the rotation axis 32, and the rotation axis 42 is integrally formed by a main portion 421 and an extension portion 422. The diameter of the main portion 421 is greater than that of the extension portion 422, and the length of the main portion 421 is equal to the length of the extension portion 422 at most. Wherein, the main portion includes a transmission device, such as a fan motor. In this respect, refer to FIG. 4 for a cross-section view of a main portion 421. As shown in FIG. 4, the fan motor 50 is mounted on the main portion 421, and when in operation, it can drive the rotation axis 32 to rotate.
The fan blade 43 may be connected to both the main portion 421 and the extension portion 422, the wind blowing direction of the heat dissipation fan is along the axial direction of the rotation axis, so that the wind may be carried from one side of the rotation axis 42 to the other side of the rotation axis 42.
Through the special design of the smaller diameter extension portion 422 of the rotation axis of the rotation axis 32, the air cutting area of the fan blades 43 is increased significantly. Since the air cutting area of the fan blade 43 for the main portion 421 and extension portion 422 combined is larger than that for the fan blades 43 of the main portion 421 alone. In this manner, the air cutting area of the fan blades 43 may be raised by increasing the length of the extension portion 422 in the heat dissipation fan 40.
In comparing the heat dissipation fan 40 of FIG. 2 with the turbo fan 30 of FIG. 1, it is evident that, the size of main portion 421 of the heat dissipation fan 40 is equivalent to that of the rotation axis 32 of the turbo fan 30, so that the space outside the main portion 421 of the heat dissipation fan 40 may be used to accommodate the extension portion 422, hereby raising the air cutting area of the fan blades 43. This is quite different from that of the turbo fan 30 in the prior art, wherein, the rotation axis 32 occupies too much space in the turbo fan 30. In addition, usually, the number of turbo fans 30 used in the respective server frame 20 is quite enormous, thus in the prior art, the rotation axis 32 occupies too much space in the server frame 20. In contrast, in the invention, the main portion 421 of the respective heat dissipation fan 40 is required to occupy only a small portion of the space in the heat dissipation fan, and the number of the heat dissipation fans 40 disposed in the server frame 10 is quite few, so that in the invention, the main portion 421 occupies only relatively small portion of space in server frame 10. The space thus saved can be used to accommodate fan blades 43, hereby raising the heat dissipation efficiency significantly. In this manner, in the server frame 10 studded with hard disk 20 and having very limited heat dissipation space, the heat dissipation efficiency of the server can be raised enormously, so that the hard disk 20 may function normally and efficiently.
Moreover, in the afore-mentioned structure, the number of heat dissipation fans 40 utilized in the server can be significantly reduced, thus the cost spent on checking and maintaining the respective heat dissipation fans may also be reduced.
Summing up the above, in comparison, the space occupied by the heat dissipation fan 40 of the invention is three and a half times that of the turbo fan 30 of the prior art as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively. However, it is evident that the air cutting area of the fan blade 43 of the invention is increased significantly.
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A heat dissipation fan utilized in a server frame for accommodating electronic devices, which generate heat while in operation, comprising:

a rotating shaft, containing a main portion and an extension portion, said main portion includes a rotation device, and heat generated from electronic devices is dissipated in the direction perpendicular to said rotation axis; and

a plurality of fan blades, connected to said main portion and said extension portion;

wherein the flow direction of said heat dissipation fan is in the axial direction of said rotation axis.

2. The heat dissipation fan of claim 1, wherein said rotation axis is integrally formed.

3. The heat dissipation fan of claim 1, wherein the length of said extension portion is at least equivalent to that of said main portion.

4. The heat dissipation fan of claim 1, wherein the diameter of said main portion is larger than the diameter of said extension portion.

5. The heat dissipation fan of claim 1, wherein said rotation device includes a fan motor.