JP2006065425A - Small-sized computer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small-sized computer whose space is efficiently used and whose housing is excellent in radiation of heat and which has an excellent hard disk-mounting capability and excellent extendability. <P>SOLUTION: The small-sized computer is provided with a rectangular parallelepiped-like housing 10 and a mother board 40 mounted on one a top plate of the housing 10. An air-intake 11 and an air-exhaust 12 are formed on the two side faces 10a and 10b of the housing 10, respectively, and a power source board 50 is mounted on the other top plate. When a riser card 60 is connected to the mother board 40 in the vertical direction and a hard disk 70 is inserted into the housing 10 from another side face 10d in the direction parallel to the mother board 40, the hard disk 70 is directly mounted on the riser card 60 without cable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a computer used as a server or the like, and more particularly to a small computer that is excellent in space efficiency, has high heat dissipation efficiency in a computer case, and has excellent hard disk mounting and expandability in the case. It is.

  In recent years, for example, in a computer such as a server, there has been a significant demand for downsizing as well as higher performance. In other words, the downsizing of computers contributes to space saving when a plurality of computers are arranged side by side, and has the advantage of increasing the degree of freedom of installation, and is an important factor in model selection. .

  On the other hand, when the computer is downsized, it is important to take measures against heat radiation in the computer casing. In other words, downsizing increases the obstacles to the air flow in the computer casing, so it is not possible to reduce the size of the server with a structure that cannot guarantee heat dissipation in the casing, especially in a server whose operation reliability is the first. .

  In addition, for computers, peripheral device mounting and expandability are also important factors in model selection. In particular, expansion and replacement of hard disks are frequently performed by users of computers, and if the computer is downsized, the ease of such expansion and replacement is required.

  In other words, in the case of various optical apparatus devices that read data recorded on a CD-ROM or the like, it may be externally connected as necessary through various interfaces provided in the computer, but a hard disk essential for the operation of the computer. Are often installed in the housing in advance. Therefore, mountability and expandability are important for expansion and replacement of hard disks.

As a small computer in consideration of such mountability and expandability, a technology is known that includes a fixing mechanism that enables the expansion unit to be fixed simply by inserting the expansion unit such as a hard disk into the riser card ( For example, see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-340643

  According to the technique described in Patent Document 1, the small computer is provided with a fixing mechanism between the expansion unit and the riser card so that the hook portion fits into the concave portion. And by this fixing mechanism, if an expansion unit is inserted in a riser card, both will be fixed, and the screwing operation | work at the time of adding or exchanging an expansion unit is unnecessary. Therefore, the small computer described in Patent Document 1 has excellent mountability of the extension unit.

  However, the mountability and expandability in the technique of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 are only uniform, and do not take into account the frequency of expansion or replacement. In other words, once fixed, the power supply and the motherboard that only some parts such as memory are subject to expansion and replacement constitute an expansion unit, and each is fixed to the riser card. It has become so.

  Therefore, in the technology of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, a power supply unit that is not necessary to be an expansion unit in the first place, and once a memory is added, a motherboard that has little possibility of being removed is fixed to the riser card. When the frequency of expansion or replacement is taken into consideration, it does not match the actual situation.

  Moreover, in the technique of said patent document 1, only the mounting | wearing property and expandability which made the riser card | curd skeleton are only considered. That is, a circuit that realizes a predetermined function is mounted on a board, and the board is housed in a housing to form an expansion unit. And this expansion unit is inserted into the riser card from one direction and fixed. Therefore, no consideration is given to the space efficiency of the entire small computer and the heat dissipation efficiency in the housing of the expansion unit.

  More specifically, in this case, when the volume of the casing of the computer or the expansion unit is large, natural heat dissipation is sufficiently performed, so no special heat dissipation measures are required. However, if space efficiency is pursued and computers and expansion units are downsized, air will stagnate in the casing, and heat dissipation measures in the casing will become important.

  In this case, as a heat dissipation measure, it may be possible to secure the air flow in the casing by increasing the vent holes (intake and exhaust ports) provided in the casing. However, if the vent is simply enlarged, there is a concern that foreign matter may enter the inside of the housing from the vent, so the size of the vent cannot be increased more than necessary.

  Further, as miniaturization progresses, restrictions on the installation location of computers and the like are reduced, and accordingly, for example, a plurality of computers can be installed side by side in a rack. However, in such a case, depending on the position of the vent, the vent is blocked, and there is a problem that the heat radiation efficiency is further reduced. For this reason, in a small computer, it is important to take appropriate heat dissipation measures in the housing of the computer, in addition to the mountability and expandability of a hard disk or the like.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to pursue space efficiency in a computer suitably used as a server and the like, and to have high heat dissipation efficiency in the computer casing, and in particular, frequent expansion and replacement. The object is to provide a small computer having excellent hard disk mounting and expandability.

The present invention solves the above-described problems by the following means.
The invention of claim 1 is a small computer including a rectangular parallelepiped housing having four side surfaces and two top surfaces, and a mother board mounted on one of the top surfaces. In the two side surfaces, an air inlet and an air outlet are formed, respectively, and on the other side of the top surface, a power supply board is mounted. The motherboard has a riser card in a direction perpendicular to the motherboard. When a hard disk is inserted into the casing in a direction parallel to the motherboard from the other one side surface that is connected and does not have the intake port or the exhaust port, the hard disk is connected to the riser card and cableless. It is characterized by being mounted directly on.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the small computer according to the first aspect, a plurality of the hard disks can be attached to the riser card.

  The invention of claim 3 is the small computer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the housing is provided with an insertion guide for inserting the hard disk.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the small computer according to any one of the first to third aspects, the mother board and the riser card are detachable.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the small computer according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the other side surface opposite to the one side surface into which the hard disk is inserted into the housing. Is provided with a connector terminal of the interface.

  In each of the above inventions, the motherboard is mounted on one of the top surfaces of the casing, and the power board is mounted on the other top surface of the casing. Therefore, compared with the case where the mother board and the power supply board are mounted on the same surface, the upper and lower two layers are arranged, which is superior in space efficiency.

  In addition, an intake port and an exhaust port are respectively formed on two opposing side surfaces of the housing. Therefore, the cooling air sucked from the intake port passes between the upper motherboard and the lower power board and is discharged from the exhaust port, and the heat generated in the motherboard and the power board is efficiently radiated. .

  In addition, a riser card is connected in a direction perpendicular to the motherboard, and the hard disk is directly attached to the riser card without a cable. Therefore, the hard disk is inserted in a direction parallel to the mother board, and not only high space efficiency is obtained, but also it can be mounted without a cable, so that it is excellent in hard disk mounting and expandability. It has become.

  According to the small computer of the present invention, the riser card is connected in a direction perpendicular to the mother board, and when a hard disk is inserted in a direction parallel to the mother board into the housing from the side surface where the air inlet or exhaust port is not formed, Since the hard disk is directly attached to the riser card without a cable, it is possible to obtain a small computer having excellent space efficiency and excellent hard disk mounting and expandability. Moreover, the heat | fever in a housing | casing can be thermally radiated efficiently by an inlet port and an exhaust port.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the following embodiments, as an embodiment of a small computer of the present invention, a server that requires a sufficient heat dissipation measure and emphasizes operational reliability will be described as an example.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing the server 1 of the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the server 1 has a double structure composed of a housing 10 and a cover 20 covering the housing 10, and a motherboard or the like is mounted inside the housing 10. It is. The upper cover 20A and the lower cover 20B constituting the cover 20 are formed with an air inlet 21A and an air outlet 22A for cooling the inside of the housing 10, respectively.

  The outer shape of the cover 20 is larger than the outer shape of the housing 10. Therefore, when the housing 10 is covered with the cover 20, openings are formed between the housing 20 and the four corners of the cover 20. And this opening part will also function as the inlet port 21B and the exhaust port 22B. Note that a dust-proof net is attached to the intake port 21B and the exhaust port 22B so that no foreign matter is mixed therein.

  Furthermore, U-shaped leg portions 30 are attached to the four portions of the cover 20, respectively. The four legs 30 fix the upper cover 20A and the lower cover 20B of the cover 20, but the four legs 30 no matter how the server 1 is installed, the inlet 21A and the exhaust The mouth 22A is not blocked. For this reason, the intake port 21B and the exhaust port 22B that are notched at an angle of 45 ° are always ensured sufficient air intake and exhaust properties regardless of the installation direction of the server 1, and as a result, The heat is efficiently dissipated.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the housing 10, the cover 20, and the leg 30 of the server 1 shown in FIG.
Here, the housing 10 is provided with a mother board, a hard disk, and the like mounted therein, and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape including four side surfaces and two top surfaces as shown in FIG.

  A substantially circular air inlet 11 for attaching a fan (not shown) for cooling the inside of the housing 10 is formed on one side surface 10 a of the housing 10. On the other hand, the opposite side surface 10b opposite to the side surface 10a is formed with an exhaust port 12 having a plurality of slit-like openings arranged side by side so that heat inside the housing 10 can be released to the outside. It has become.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 2, the exhaust port 12 on the housing 10 side and the exhaust port 22 </ b> A on the cover 20 side are different in the longitudinal direction of the slit-shaped opening. That is, the longitudinal direction of the slit-like opening of the exhaust port 12 on the housing 10 side is lateral, whereas the longitudinal direction of the slit-like opening of the exhaust port 22A on the cover 20 side is It is up and down. As a result, the entry of foreign matter or the like into the housing 10 is effectively prevented.

  Further, the other side surface 10c of the housing 10 is a connection terminal surface on which connector terminals (not shown) of interfaces such as RS232C, USB, LAN, and IEEE1394 are provided. On the other hand, the side surface 10d facing the side surface 10c is an insertion surface for a hard disk (not shown) and a surface for forming an AC power supply port (not shown).

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the inside of the housing 10 of the server 1 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a mother board 40 is mounted on one top surface of the housing 10 as indicated by a downward arrow. That is, the four protrusions 16 provided on the housing 10 serve as mounting guides for the mother board 40, and the protrusions 16 and the grooves 41 are fitted to each other so that the mother board 40 is mounted. The motherboard 40 is provided with a CPU 42, a memory 43, and a daughter board 44 that is a hardware RAID controller.

  A power board 50 is mounted on the other top surface (bottom surface) of the housing 10. Therefore, when the mother board 40 is mounted, the mother board 40 and the power supply board 50 are arranged in two upper and lower layers, so that the space efficiency is very excellent.

  A fan (not shown) for cooling the inside of the housing 10 is attached to the air inlet 11 formed on the side surface 10a of the housing 10, and the cooling air sucked into the housing 10 by this fan. Passes between the mother board 40 mounted on one top surface and the power supply board 50 mounted on the other top surface (bottom surface), and is discharged from the exhaust port 12 on the opposite side surface 10b. Therefore, the heat generated in the mother board 40 and the power supply board 50 is efficiently radiated out of the housing 10.

  Further, a riser card 60 that can directly mount the hard disk 70 without a cable is installed inside the housing 10. The riser card 60 is detachable from the mother board 40, and is installed in a direction perpendicular to the mother board 40 to be mounted on the top surface. Therefore, the hard disk 70 can be easily mounted simply by inserting the hard disk 70 in the direction parallel to the mother board 40 from the side surface 10d of the housing 10 (the direction of the right downward arrow in FIG. 3).

  Here, two hard disks 70 can be mounted on the riser card 60. Then, mirroring (RAID 1) is performed by the daughter board 44 which is a hardware RAID controller, and the same data is automatically stored in the two hard disks 70. Note that cooling air is sent to the two hard disks 70 through the duct 15.

  When peripheral devices other than the hard disk 70 (optical device such as a CD-ROM) are connected, connector terminals such as RS232C, USB, LAN, and IEEE1394 provided on the side surface 10c of the housing 10 (see FIG. (Not shown) can be used.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a method for mounting the hard disk 70.
As shown in FIG. 4, the two hard disks 70 are respectively connected to the two connectors 61 of the riser card 60 only by being inserted in the directions of the arrows, and are directly mounted without cables. Therefore, it is not necessary to insert and remove a complicated cable, and the hard disk 70 is excellent in mountability and expandability. A part of the cooling air from the fan 13 attached to the air inlet 11 (see FIG. 3) is guided by the duct 15 and blown to the two hard disks 70 through the air vent 62 of the riser card 60. Yes.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state in which the hard disk 70 is mounted, and is a view seen from the side surface 10d (see FIG. 3) side of the housing 10.
As shown in FIG. 5, the two hard disks 70 are respectively positioned by a pair of insertion guides 14 provided in the housing. Therefore, each hard disk 70 can be easily connected to the riser card 60 simply by being inserted.

  Further, the two hard disks 70 are mounted in a space below the mother board 40 and away from the AC power supply port 51 of the power supply board 50. Further, the memory 43 of the mother board 40 is located in a space beside the hard disk 70, and the daughter board 44 is located in parallel with the upper side of the mother board 40. Therefore, the overall space efficiency is excellent.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications such as the following are possible.
(1) In the present embodiment, the server 1 is taken as an example of a small computer, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to a personal computer as another small computer.

  (2) In this embodiment, two hard disks 70 can be mounted on the riser card 60, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, by mounting four hard disks 70 and performing mirroring (RAID 1) with a hardware RAID controller, the same data can be automatically stored in the four hard disks 70, and the reliability of the server 1 is further improved. You can also

  The small computer of the present invention is excellent in space efficiency, has high heat dissipation efficiency in the computer case, and is excellent in mountability and expandability of the hard disk in the case, so that it can be widely applied to small computers used as servers and the like. Can do.

It is an appearance perspective view showing server 1 of this embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the housing | casing 10, the cover 20, and the leg part 30 of the server shown in FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the inside of the housing | casing 10 of the server 1 shown in FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a method for mounting a hard disk 70. FIG. FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state in which a hard disk 70 is mounted, and is a view seen from the side surface 10d (see FIG. 3) side of the housing 10.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Server 10 Case 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d Side surface 11 Intake port 12 Exhaust port 13 Fan 14 Insertion guide 15 Duct 16 Protrusion 20 Cover 20A Upper cover 20B Lower cover 21A, 21B Inlet port 22A, 22B Exhaust port 30 Leg 40 Motherboard 41 Groove 42 CPU
43 Memory 44 Daughter board 50 Power supply board 51 AC power supply port 60 Riser card 61 Connector 62 Ventilation port 70 Hard disk

Claims (5)

A rectangular parallelepiped housing consisting of four side surfaces and two top surfaces;
A small computer comprising a motherboard mounted on one of the top surfaces,
An intake port and an exhaust port are respectively formed on the two opposite side surfaces of the housing, and a power supply board is mounted on the other of the top surface,
A riser card is connected to the motherboard in a direction perpendicular to the motherboard,
When a hard disk is inserted into the housing in a direction parallel to the motherboard from the other side surface where the air inlet or the air outlet is not formed, the hard disk is directly attached to the riser card without a cable. A small computer characterized by that. The small computer according to claim 1.
A plurality of hard disks can be attached to the riser card. The small computer according to claim 1 or 2,
A small computer, wherein the housing is provided with an insertion guide for inserting the hard disk. The small computer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein
The small computer characterized in that the mother board and the riser card are detachable. The small computer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein:
A small computer, wherein a connector terminal of an interface is provided on the other side surface opposite to the one side surface into which the hard disk is inserted into the housing.

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