Plenum Kit
A plenum assembly for a shallow chassis in a rack-mount system. The rack mount system includes a first set of posts at a first end of the rack, a second set of posts at a second end of the rack, and guide rails that extend between the first and second sets of posts. A shallow chassis mounted on the guide rails extends from the first end of the rack to an intermediate location, between the first and second ends of the rack. The plenum assembly is also mounted on the guide rails, and extends from the second end of the rack to the intermediate location, providing an airway from the second end of the rack to the shallow chassis. The plenum assembly can include telescoping sections to extend various lengths. Alternately, the plenum assembly can have a two piece construction, which is assembled after routing cables to the shallow chassis.
Latest Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. Patents:
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/578,737, entitled “Plenum Kit”, which was filed on Dec. 21, 2011, and is incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a rack mountable plenum kit.
RELATED ART‘Pizza box’ and chassis-based systems are typically housed in racks or rack cabinets. The depths of the systems into the rack vary. One end (front or back) of all the systems in a rack are typically aligned to a set of posts in the rack. For example, the front end of all systems mounted in the rack may be aligned with a set of front posts in the rack. Airflow in the rack can be front to back or back to front. The intake side is designated the “cool aisle” while the exhaust side in designated the “warm aisle”. There can be interfaces and connections on either side of the system which need easy access. An issue occurs when systems of different depths are housed in the same rack. There is the possibility of warm exhaust air being re-circulated into the intakes of a less deep chassis. This issue is illustrated by
It would therefore be desirable to have an efficient method and structure for reducing the temperature of air drawn into shallow chassis 100.
SUMMARYAccordingly, the present invention provides a plenum assembly for use with a shallow chassis in a rack-mount system. The rack mount system includes a first set of posts at a first end of the rack, a second set of posts at a second end of the rack, and guide rails that extend between the first and second sets of posts. A shallow chassis mounted on the guide rails extends from the first end of the rack to an intermediate location, between the first and second ends of the rack. The plenum assembly is also mounted on the guide rails, and extends from the second end of the rack to the intermediate location, providing an airway from the second end of the rack to the shallow chassis. In this configuration, air can be drawn directly from the second end of the rack (e.g., the cool aisle), through the airway of the plenum assembly, to the shallow chassis. As a result, recirculation of air from the first end of the rack (e.g., the warm aisle) is eliminated.
In one embodiment, the plenum assembly includes slots for engaging protrusions on the guide rails, and mounting tabs for engaging the second set of posts. A support strut can be included within the plenum assembly to prevent crushing of the airway.
In one variation, the plenum assembly can include telescoping sections, which allow the plenum assembly to be extended to various lengths. In another variation, the plenum assembly has a two piece construction, which can include a tray and a lid. In this variation, tray may be mounted on the guide rails/second set of posts, wherein cables from the shallow chassis are easily routed through the tray. After the cables are routed through the tray, the lid is attached to the tray, thereby forming the airway of the plenum assembly. In a particular embodiment, the lid is slid into slots in the tray.
The present invention will be more fully understood in view of the following description and drawings.
As described in more detail below, the cables that extend from the rear of the shallow chassis (e.g., the rear (power) cords of the shallow chassis) are routed through the hollow pathway 305 of plenum assembly 300 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. However, it is understood that plenum assembly 300 can alternately include openings that allow top, bottom and/or side cable egress.
The mounting tabs 311 and 312 are attached to center holes on the rear posts 513 and 514 by screws 701 and 702, respectively, thereby holding plenum assembly 300 in place within rack 510. Note that guide rails 521 and 522 also include mounting tabs 521A and 522A, respectively, which are similarly attached to rear posts 513-514 by screws (including screws 701 and 702). Plenum assembly 300 is easily removable from rack 510 by releasing screws 701-702 and sliding the plenum assembly 300 from the rack 510. As illustrated by
Although plenum assembly 300 has a fixed length (L), as illustrated in
Although plenum assembly 300 has been illustrated as having a height to fit a 1 rack unit high chassis, it is understood that plenum assemblies of multiple heights can be designed using the same principles described above.
Although plenum assembly 300 has been described in connection with a configuration wherein the hollow pathway 305 operates as a cold air intake, receiving cold air from the cold aisle, it is understood that plenum assembly 300 can alternately be used as a warm air exhaust. In this embodiment, shallow chassis 500 would be mounted immediately adjacent to the cold aisle, and warm air expelled from shallow chassis would be routed through plenum assembly 300 to the warm aisle.
Plenum assembly 300 requires that power cords (and possibly signal carrying cables) coupled to the rear of shallow chassis 500 to be threaded through the hollow pathway 305 of plenum assembly 300. With this configuration, rear access to shallow chassis 500 may be difficult. In accordance with one variation of the present invention, the plenum assembly 300 is split into two parts to facilitate access to the rear of shallow chassis 500.
After the cables are connected and lower tray 1001 is installed in rack 510, lid 1002 is attached to lower tray 1001, thereby forming a hollow pathway 1005 between lid 1002 and lower tray 1001. In the illustrated embodiment, the upper edges of lower tray 1001 includes opposing slots 1031-1032, wherein lid 1002 is slid into these slots 1031-1032, as illustrated by the dashed arrows in
In another embodiment of the present invention, cable management devices, such as cable tie-downs, hooks or channels can be included within the plenum assembly of the present invention to assist with the orderly routing of cables through this plenum assembly (and ensure optimal airflow through these plenum assemblies).
In yet another embodiment, an elastic/compliant gasket can be included on the end of the plenum assembly 300 that abuts shallow chassis 500, wherein the gasket forms a substantially airtight seal between the plenum assembly 300 and the shallow chassis 500, thereby providing efficient airflow through the plenum assembly and minimizing the recirculation of hot air. In another embodiment, the plenum assembly 300 can extend around the shallow chassis 500 on one or more sides, with or without a compliant gasket.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with various embodiments, it is understood that variations of these embodiments would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, although the present invention has been described in connection with a rack mount system having four posts, it is understood that the present invention can be implemented in other types of rack mount systems, including, but not limited to, rack mount systems having two posts (e.g., two front mounting posts or two mid-mount posts). In these embodiments, the manner of attaching the plenum assembly to the rack mount system will be dictated by the specific nature of the rack mount system, and will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings provided herein. For example, the plenum assembly of the present invention may be attached to a rail-based structure of a two post rack mounting system, in a manner similar to that described above. In yet another embodiment, a plenum assembly of the present invention can be engaged with a shallow chassis outside of a rack mount system. For example, the plenum assembly of the present invention can be engaged with a shallow chassis on a tabletop or other non-rack structure. Thus, the present invention is limited only by the following claims.
Claims
1. A plenum assembly comprising:
- a box having a first opening at a first end and a second opening at a second end, opposite the first end, wherein a hollow pathway extends between the first opening and the second opening;
- a set of mounting elements located at the first end of the box, wherein the set of mounting elements are configured to engage a first set of posts of a rack; and
- a pair of mounting slots located at the second end of the box, wherein the pair of mounting slots are configured to engage with a pair of guide rails that extend between the first set of posts of the rack and a second set of posts of the rack.
2. The plenum assembly of claim 1, wherein the box has a first length between the first end and the second end, and wherein the rack has a second length between the first set of posts and the second set of posts, wherein the first length is less than the second length.
3. The plenum assembly of claim 1, wherein the set of mounting elements comprise:
- a first tab that extends from a first surface of the box at the first end of the box; and
- a second tab that extends from a second surface of the box, opposite the first surface of the box, at the first end of the box.
4. The plenum assembly of claim 3, wherein the pair of mounting slots comprise:
- a first mounting slot located in the first surface of the box at the second end of the box; and
- a second mounting slot located in the second surface of the box at the second end of the box.
5. The plenum assembly of claim 4, wherein the first mounting slot comprises:
- a tapered lead-in region continuous with the first end of the box; and
- a parallel slot region continuous with the tapered lead-in region.
6. The plenum assembly of claim 1, wherein the second opening of the box has the same dimensions as an end of a chassis mounted on the pair of guide rails.
7. The plenum assembly of claim 1, wherein the first opening and the second opening are rectangular.
8. The plenum assembly of claim 1, further comprising a support strut attached to the box within the hollow pathway.
9. The plenum assembly of claim 1, further comprising one or more openings formed through one or more surfaces of the box.
10. The plenum assembly of claim 1, wherein the box comprises telescoping sections that slide along one another to vary a length of the box between the first end and the second end.
11. The plenum assembly of claim 1, wherein the box comprises:
- a tray;
- a lid; and
- means for manually engaging and disengaging the lid and the tray, wherein the lid and the tray form the hollow pathway when the lid is engaged with the tray.
12. The plenum assembly of claim 1, wherein the box comprises:
- a tray that forms three continuous surfaces of the box, wherein the tray includes slots on two opposing surfaces; and
- a lid inserted into the slots of the tray, thereby forming a fourth surface of the box.
13. The plenum assembly of claim 12, further comprising:
- a first connector attached to the tray at the first end of the box; and
- a second connector attached to the lid at the first end of the box; and
- a fastener that attaches the first connector to the second connector.
14. A system comprising:
- a rack;
- a first set of guide rails extending from a first end of the rack to a second end of the rack;
- a first chassis mounted on the first set of guide rails, wherein the first chassis extends from the first end of the rack to an intermediate location between the first end of the rack and the second end of the rack; and
- a plenum assembly mounted on the first set of guide rails, wherein the plenum assembly extends from the second end of the rack to the intermediate location.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the plenum assembly includes a hollow pathway that extends from the second end of the rack to the first chassis.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the plenum assembly further includes a support strut that extends across the hollow pathway.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein the plenum assembly comprises:
- a tray; and
- a lid that slides into the tray, thereby forming the hollow pathway.
18. The system of claim 14, further comprising:
- a second set of guide rails extending from the first end of the rack to the second end of the rack; and
- a second chassis mounted on the second set of guide rails, wherein the second chassis extends between the first end of the rack and the second end of the rack.
19. The system of claim 14, wherein the plenum assembly includes a plurality of slots that are engaged with protrusions on the first set of guide rails.
20. The system of claim 14, wherein the plenum assembly includes telescoping sections that slide over one another, thereby enabling the plenum assembly to be adjusted to extend from the second end of the rack to the intermediate location.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 25, 2012
Publication Date: Jun 27, 2013
Applicant: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (San Jose, CA)
Inventors: Scott W. Augsburger (San Jose, CA), Daniel K. Kilkenny (Pleasanton, CA), David A. Skirmont (Los Gatos, CA)
Application Number: 13/558,319