JP2018151314A - Information terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information terminal device equipped with a temperature sensor that measures the temperature of a temperature measurement object without increasing wirings separately.SOLUTION: The information terminal device comprises a temperature measurement object 25 the temperature of which is measured, a flexible circuit board 29 arranged so as to stretch over the temperature measurement object 25, a temperature sensor 32 for measuring the temperature of the temperature measurement object 25, the temperature sensor 32 being provided in a portion of the flexible circuit board 29 stretching over the temperature measurement object 25 and connected to a portion of a wiring 34 of the flexible circuit board 29, and a processing device for receiving, via a portion of the wiring 34 of the flexible circuit board 29 to which the temperature sensor 32 is connected, the temperature information of the temperature measurement object 25 measured by the temperature sensor 32 and processing the received temperature information, with the operation or temperature of the temperature measurement object 25 being thereby controlled.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present application relates to an information terminal device.

  Information terminal devices such as notebook personal computers (hereinafter referred to as notebook personal computers) have been reduced in size or thickness. For this reason, for example, a solid state drive (hereinafter referred to as SSD) equipped with a NAND flash memory is provided as a storage device. The SSD provided in the information terminal device is provided with a temperature sensor in the vicinity of the NAND flash memory. This temperature sensor is provided so that when the SSD reaches a predetermined temperature or higher, the processing speed is automatically reduced so that a thermal runaway state called thermal throttling does not occur.

  As a method for measuring the temperature of such a storage device, it has been proposed to use a fixing member of a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) as a component having good thermal conductivity and to attach a temperature sensor to the fixing member of the HDD. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-114759 A

  However, since the temperature measured by the temperature sensor of the SSD is not sent to a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) of the information terminal device, the temperature of the CPU is uniquely measured by the SSD. Information cannot be obtained. If the CPU can acquire the temperature information of the SSD, before the SSD goes into a thermal runaway state, the amount of heat generated can be reduced by increasing the amount of air blown by the cooling fan or decreasing the frequency of the CPU itself. You can take action.

  When the temperature sensor connected to the CPU is installed in an SSD, HDD, or the like that is a temperature measurement object, it is necessary to separately provide wiring for transmitting temperature information obtained by the temperature sensor to the CPU. For this reason, there are problems that the number of parts such as wiring provided on the circuit board is increased and the number of operations for incorporating the wiring is increased.

  In one side, it aims at measuring the temperature of a temperature measurement object, without increasing wiring separately.

  According to one embodiment, there are a temperature measurement object for measuring temperature, a flexible circuit board arranged so as to straddle the temperature measurement object, and a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the temperature measurement object, which is flexible The temperature sensor is provided in a portion of the circuit board across the temperature measurement object and connected to a part of the wiring of the flexible circuit board, and the temperature sensor via a part of the wiring of the flexible circuit board to which the temperature sensor is connected. And a processing device that receives and processes the temperature information of the temperature measurement object measured in step (1).

  The temperature of the temperature measurement object can be measured without providing separate wiring.

It is a perspective view which shows the notebook personal computer which is an information terminal device of an indication. (A) is a plan view showing the inside of an information terminal device main body, which is a comparative technique, and (b) is information along line B2-B2 in a state in which a top cover is attached to the information terminal device main body shown in (a). It is sectional drawing of a terminal device main body. (A) is a top view which shows the inside of the information terminal device main body to disclose, (b) is the information terminal device along the line B3-B3 in a state where the top cover is attached to the information terminal device main body shown in (a). It is sectional drawing of a main body. (A) is a top view which shows the 1st Example of the flexible circuit board provided in the information terminal device main body to disclose, (b) is sectional drawing along the B4-B4 line. It is a perspective view which shows a part of 1st Example of a temperature sensor and a flexible circuit board. (A) is a top view which shows the 2nd Example of the flexible circuit board provided in the information terminal device main body to disclose, (b) is sectional drawing along the B6-B6 line. It is a perspective view which shows a part of 2nd Example of a temperature sensor and a flexible circuit board. (A) is a top view which shows the 3rd Example of the flexible circuit board provided in the information terminal device main body to disclose, (b) is sectional drawing along the B8-B8 line. It is a perspective view which shows a part of 3rd Example of a temperature sensor and a flexible circuit board. It is a top view which shows the 4th Example of the flexible circuit board provided in the information terminal device main body disclosed. (A) is a top view which shows the 5th Example of the flexible circuit board provided in the information terminal device main body to disclose, (b) is sectional drawing along the B11-B11 line. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process in which CPU of an information terminal device controls operation | movement of SSD by the temperature information by a temperature sensor.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present application will be described in detail based on specific examples with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiments, the same or similar elements are denoted by common reference numerals, and the scale of these drawings is appropriately changed for easy understanding.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a notebook personal computer 1 which is an example of the information terminal device of the present embodiment. The notebook computer 1 includes a terminal body 10 and a display 11 that is opened and closed at the rear end of the terminal body 10 via a hinge. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the display 11 is opened. The terminal body 10 houses a circuit board on which electronic components such as a CPU and an SSD are mounted. Input devices such as a keyboard and a touch panel are provided on the upper surface of the terminal body 10.

  Here, a notebook personal computer which is an information terminal device of a comparative technique will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2A is a plan view showing the internal structure of the terminal main body 110 of the notebook computer of the comparative technique, and shows a state where the upper cover of the casing 120 of the terminal main body 110 is removed. FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B2-B2 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2A, the terminal main body 110 includes a housing 120, a main circuit board 121 and a sub circuit board 122 provided in the housing 120, a battery 140, and a cooling fan 124. Is provided. On the main circuit board 121, a CPU 123 as a processing device and an SSD 125 as a storage device are mounted. The SSD 125 is connected to the main circuit board 121 by a connector 135a. For example, terminals for connecting to an external device are mounted on the sub circuit board 122. The main circuit board 121 and the sub circuit board 122 are connected by a flexible circuit board 129 via connectors 135b and 135c provided respectively. When there are a plurality of substrates in the housing 120, a flexible circuit substrate 129 is used as means for transmitting a signal of one substrate (main circuit substrate 121) to the other substrate (sub circuit substrate 122). Then, connectors 135b and 135c are provided so that the flexible circuit board 129 protruding from the end of one board is connected to the end of the other board so that the length of the flexible circuit board 129 becomes shorter. The battery 140 is a power source for operating the CPU 123 and the SSD 125.

  The CPU 123 mounted on the main circuit board 121 is provided with a CPU heat dissipation plate 131. Then, the cooling fan 124 rotates according to the instruction of the CPU 123, whereby cooling air flows, and the CPU heat dissipation plate 131 is cooled, so that the CPU 123 in contact with it is cooled. The housing 120 is provided with a suction port 136 for taking in outside air and a discharge port 137 for discharging air taken in the vicinity of the cooling fan 124.

  The SSD 125 is an example of a storage device mounted on an information terminal device, and includes an SSD substrate 128, a plurality of NAND flash memories 126 mounted on the SSD substrate 128, and an SSD temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the SSD 125. 127. The SSD 125 is connected to the main circuit board 121 via the connector 135a. In addition, a heat radiating plate 130 for cooling the SSD 125 is disposed between the SSD 125 and the main circuit board 121. Since the SSD temperature sensor 127 is not connected to the CPU 123 on the main circuit board 121, the CPU 123 cannot monitor and control the temperature of the NAND flash memory 126 mounted on the SSD 125. Therefore, the heat radiating plate 130 is disposed as a physical heat radiating measure. If the heat dissipation measure is not sufficient, that is, the SSD 125 determines that the SSD 125 is in a thermal runaway state when the temperature obtained by the SSD temperature sensor exceeds a predetermined value. And since the SSD 125 itself lowers the operating speed of the SSD 125 itself, it leads to a decrease in the performance of the information terminal device. Also, the operation of the SSD 125 during a thermal runaway is different for each manufacturer and is not unified. For example, when there is a thermal runaway, there are things that gradually lower the performance, and those that lower the performance at once. Therefore, the CPU 123 of the information terminal device directly monitors the state of the SSD 125 and controls the operation of the SSD 125 and the cooling fan 124 to prevent the performance of the information terminal device from being deteriorated due to the unpredictable operation of the SSD 125. It was done.

  In addition, since recent information terminal devices are thin, small, and reduce manufacturing costs, it is required to simply install a temperature sensor without providing additional wiring.

  Furthermore, the arrangement of the NAND flash memory and the temperature sensor in the SSD differs depending on the manufacturer and the generation in which it is manufactured. For this reason, even if different NAND flash memories for different manufacturers are arranged at different locations, a temperature sensor capable of appropriately measuring the temperatures is required.

  The information terminal device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 3A is a plan view showing the internal structure of the terminal body 10 of the notebook personal computer 1 which is an example of the information processing terminal according to the present invention, with the top cover of the casing 20 of the terminal body 10 removed. FIG. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B3-B3 in FIG. 3A, and shows a state in which the top cover is covered. The terminal body 10 is similar to the terminal body 110 of the notebook computer of the comparative technique shown in FIG. 2, the housing 20, the main circuit board 21 and the sub circuit board 22 provided inside the housing 20, the battery 40, And a cooling fan 24. On the main circuit board 21, a CPU 23 as a processing device and an SSD 25 as a storage device are mounted. The SSD 25 is connected to the main circuit board 21 by a connector 35a. For example, terminals for connecting to an external device are mounted on the sub circuit board 22.

  The CPU 23 mounted on the main circuit board 21 is provided with a CPU heat radiation plate 31. The cooling fan 24 rotates in response to an instruction from the CPU 23 and can cool the CPU 23 by cooling the CPU heat radiation plate 31 with cooling air. Further, the cooling fan 24 rotates, so that the SSD 25 provided on the main circuit board 21 can also be cooled. The housing 20 is formed with a suction port 36 for taking in outside air and a discharge port 37 for discharging the taken outside air.

  In the present embodiment, an SSD 25 (an example of a temperature measurement object) is mounted as a storage device, similarly to the information terminal device of the comparative technique. The SSD 25 includes an SSD substrate 28, a plurality of NAND flash memories 26 mounted on the SSD substrate 28, and an SSD temperature sensor 27 that measures the temperature of the SSD 25. The SSD 25 is connected to the main circuit board 21 via the connector 35a. Further, a heat dissipation plate 30 for cooling the SSD 25 is disposed between the SSD 25 and the main circuit board 21.

  In the information terminal device 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the flexible circuit board 29 that connects the main circuit board 21 and the sub circuit board 22 straddles the SSD 25. Placed in. One end of the flexible circuit board 29 is connected to the connector 35 b of the main circuit board 21, and the other end is connected to the connector 35 c of the sub circuit board 22. As shown in FIG. 4A, the flexible circuit board 29 has a plurality of wirings 34 passing through the flexible circuit board 29 and is connected to the main circuit board 21 and the sub circuit board 22 via connectors 35b and 35c. Signals are transmitted and received between the circuit board 21 and the sub circuit board 22. Furthermore, a temperature sensor 32 that measures the temperature of the SSD 25 is provided above the portion where the flexible circuit board 29 straddles the SSD 25. As shown in FIGS. 4B and 5, the temperature sensor 32 is connected to two of the plurality of wirings 34 of the flexible circuit board 29. Since the wiring 34 is close to the SSD 25, the temperature sensor 32 can measure the temperature of the SSD 25. One of the wirings connected to the temperature sensor 32 is connected to the CPU 23, and the temperature information measured by the temperature sensor 32 can be sent to the CPU 23 via the wiring 34. That is, the CPU 23 receives the temperature information of the SSD 25 measured by the temperature sensor 32 via a part of the wiring 34 connected to the temperature sensor 32. In addition, the wiring 34 which connects CPU23 and the temperature sensor 32 uses the wiring which is not used for the communication of the signal of board | substrates, for example.

  Since the flexible circuit board 29 has a thin plate shape, if it is arranged on the SSD 25 of the temperature measurement object that generates heat, the flexible circuit board 29 and the back side thereof also have substantially the same heat. Therefore, if the temperature sensor 32 is arranged on the flexible circuit board 29, the temperature of the SSD 25 can be measured.

  The temperature sensor 32 may be disposed at any location on the flexible circuit board 29 as long as it can be connected to the wiring 34. Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, a fixing cushion 39 is provided between the inner wall of the housing 20 and the flexible circuit board 29 so that the flexible circuit board 29 and the SSD 25 as the temperature measurement object are in close contact with each other. It may be arranged.

  6 (a), 6 (b) and 7 show a second embodiment of the flexible circuit board used in the information terminal device of the present invention. The flexible circuit board 29a includes a metal pattern 33 for assisting temperature detection instead of arranging the wiring 34 in a portion straddling the SSD 25. The metal pattern 33 is provided by enlarging the width of a part of the wiring of the flexible circuit board 29. Although the metal pattern 33 of the second embodiment is made of copper, the metal pattern 33 may be made of another material, such as aluminum, as long as it is made of a metal having good thermal conductivity. The flexible circuit board 29a is wider than the case where the normal wiring 34 is used, and can contact the SSD 25 in a wider range. That is, although the arrangement of the NAND flash memory 26 differs depending on the manufacturer, it is possible to perform measurement by contacting the NAND flash memory 26 by providing the wide metal pattern 33.

  FIGS. 8A, 8B and 9 show a flexible circuit board 29b according to the third embodiment. When the wide metal pattern 33 is arranged like the flexible circuit board 29a of the second embodiment, the area through which the wiring 34 passes is reduced, and the number of the wirings 34 is reduced. In the third embodiment, by providing the flexible circuit board 29b with a layer through which the wiring 34 passes and a layer on which the metal pattern 33b is formed, the width of the metal pattern 33b is made equal to the width of the flexible circuit board 29b, and The number of wirings 34 can be maintained. If the width of the SSD 25 and the width of the metal pattern 33b of the flexible circuit board 29b are substantially the same size, the metal pattern 33b can remove the heat of the NAND flash memory 26 no matter how the NAND flash memory 26 is arranged. Can receive.

  FIG. 10 shows a flexible circuit board 29c according to the fourth embodiment. In the flexible circuit board 29b shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the inside of the flexible circuit board 29b has two layers, and the wiring 34 and the metal pattern 33b are arranged. In the flexible circuit board 29c shown in FIG. 10, the metal pattern 33 is arranged at the center of the flexible circuit board 29 with a single layer, and the width of the flexible circuit board 29 where the metal pattern 33 is arranged is not arranged. It is wider than the width. In addition, wirings 34 are arranged on both sides of the metal pattern 33. By arranging the metal patterns 33 and the wirings 34 in this manner, the number of the wirings 34 can be maintained, and a wider metal pattern 33 can be provided.

  FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B show a flexible circuit board 29d according to the fifth embodiment. In the second to fourth embodiments, the metal pattern 33 is separately prepared and provided on the flexible circuit board 29 in advance. In the fifth embodiment, a temperature detection assisting metal pattern is formed by connecting some of the wirings 34 of all the wirings 34. As shown in FIG. 11A, the connection of the plurality of wirings 34 is desirably performed in the vicinity of the end portion of the SSD 25 when the flexible circuit board 29 d covers the SSD 25. The plurality of wirings 34 can be connected by forming a hole penetrating the coating of the flexible circuit board and providing a connecting metal 38 such as a metal tape outside the coating through the hole. The temperature sensor 32 can acquire temperature information from the SSD 25 via a plurality of wires 34.

  A procedure for controlling the SSD 25 using the temperature sensor 32 will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, although the code | symbol is abbreviate | omitted in FIG. 12, the code | symbol is attached | subjected to each member in description. In step S <b> 101, the CPU 23 receives temperature information from the temperature sensor 32 and detects the temperature of the SSD 25. Next, in step S102, the CPU 23 determines whether or not the temperature of the SSD 25 is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature (specified value). When the temperature of the SSD 25 is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature (in the case of YES), the CPU 23 determines that there is no danger that the SSD 25 is in a thermal runaway state, and the SSD 25 is not sent to the temperature sensor 32 without performing any particular processing on the SSD 25. Continue to detect the temperature. When the temperature of the SSD 25 is not lower than the specified value (in the case of NO), the SSD 25 may be in a thermal runaway state, so the CPU 23 executes a process for cooling the SSD 25. For example, the CPU 23 increases the number of rotations of the cooling fan 24 (the number of rotations UP), increases the air volume, or decreases the operation speed (operation frequency) of the CPU 23 (Clock Down).

  After executing the process of cooling the SSD 25, the CPU 23 detects the temperature of the SSD 25 again based on the temperature information received from the temperature sensor 32 (step S104). Then, the CPU 23 determines whether or not the temperature of the SSD 25 is equal to or lower than a specified value (step S105). If it falls below the specified value (in the case of YES), it is determined that there is no longer a possibility of a thermal runaway state. Then, the rotation speed of the cooling fan 24 is decreased (rotation speed DOWN) to reduce the air volume, or the operation speed (operation frequency) of the CPU 23 is increased (Clock Up) (Step S106). If it does not fall below the specified value (in the case of NO), the process of cooling the SSD 25 is continued as it is, and the process returns to step S104 so as to continue detecting the temperature of the SSD 25. The temperature detection is continued until the information terminal device 1 is turned off (step S107). If the power is not turned off in step S107 (in the case of NO), the process returns to step S101, and the CPU 23 detects the temperature of the SSD 25 and continues monitoring so as not to be in a thermal runaway state.

  Thus, based on the temperature information measured by the temperature sensor 32 provided on the flexible circuit board 29, the CPU 23 can control the SSD 25 so that it does not enter a thermal runaway state. The intended performance of the information terminal device 1 can be controlled.

  Since acquisition of the temperature information of the SSD 25 can be performed only by changing the arrangement of the flexible circuit board 29, no additional wiring is required. Therefore, the number of parts such as wiring provided on the circuit board does not increase, and the number of operations for incorporating wiring and the like does not increase.

  The SSD 25 which is a temperature measurement object is an M.D. It may be a 2 (M dot toe) type SSD. The SSD 25 may be an SSD with SATA connection. Further, the temperature measurement object is not limited to SSD, but a device that can generate heat, for example, HDD, memory for desktop personal computer (DIMM), memory used in notebook personal computer (SO.DIMM), etc. It may be.

  The present application has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof. For easy understanding of the present application, specific forms of the present application are appended below.

(Appendix 1) A temperature measurement object whose temperature is measured;
A flexible circuit board arranged to straddle the temperature measurement object;
A temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the temperature measurement object, the temperature sensor being provided in a portion of the flexible circuit board that straddles the temperature measurement object, and connected to a part of the wiring of the flexible circuit board; ,
An information terminal comprising: a processing device that receives and processes temperature information of the temperature measurement object measured by the temperature sensor via a part of the wiring of the flexible circuit board to which the temperature sensor is connected. apparatus.
(Additional remark 2) The said flexible circuit board is equipped with the metal pattern for temperature detection assistance connected to the said temperature sensor, The said metal pattern is expanded and provided in the width | variety of a part of said wiring of the said flexible circuit board. 1. The information terminal device according to 1.
(Additional remark 3) The said processing apparatus is an information terminal device of Additional remark 1 or 2 which controls operation | movement of the said temperature measurement target object based on the temperature information of the said temperature measurement target object received from the said temperature sensor.
(Additional remark 4) The said metal pattern is an information terminal device of Additional remark 2 provided with the width | variety expanded to the width | variety of the said temperature measurement target object which the said flexible circuit board straddles.
(Additional remark 5) The said flexible circuit board is equipped with the metal pattern for temperature detection assistance connected with the said temperature sensor, and the said metal pattern is arrange | positioned in the layer different from the layer with the said wiring of the said flexible circuit board. The information terminal device according to attachment 1.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Notebook personal computer 10,110 Terminal body 11 Display 20, 120 Case 21, 121 Main circuit board 22, 122 Sub circuit board 23, 123 CPU
24, 124 Cooling fan 25, 125 SSD
26, 126 NAND flash memory 27, 127 SSD temperature sensor 28, 128 SSD substrate 29, 29a, 29b, 29c, 29d, 129 Flexible circuit board 30, 130 Heat dissipation plate 31, 131 CPU heat dissipation plate 32 Temperature sensor 33 33b Metal pattern 34 Wiring 35a, 35b, 35c, 135a, 135b, 135c Connector 36, 136 Suction port 37, 137 Discharge port 39 Fixing cushion 38 Connecting metal 40, 140 Battery

Claims (3)

A temperature measurement object whose temperature is measured;
A flexible circuit board arranged to straddle the temperature measurement object;
A temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the temperature measurement object, provided at a portion straddling the temperature measurement object of the flexible circuit board, and connected to a part of the wiring of the flexible circuit board,
An information terminal comprising: a processing device that receives and processes temperature information of the temperature measurement object measured by the temperature sensor via a part of the wiring of the flexible circuit board to which the temperature sensor is connected. apparatus.   The said flexible circuit board is equipped with the metal pattern for temperature detection assistance connected with the said temperature sensor, The said metal pattern is expanded and provided in the one part width | variety of the wiring of the said flexible circuit board. Information terminal device.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing device controls an operation of the temperature measurement object based on temperature information received from the temperature sensor.

Images