Abstract: A cooling system is provided for enclosed volumes having payloads of electronic or other equipment that are susceptible to failures when overheated. One particularly useful application of the present invention is in a cooling system for a turreted gimbaled system (i.e. a gimbal) that includes electronic and optical equipment typically used for surveillance, but many other applications will become apparent to those skilled in the art after being taught by the present disclosure. According to one aspect of the invention, a cooling system includes a pair of reciprocal openings between a gimbal sphere and yoke allowing for passage of air therethrough and a pair of fans for circulating the air between the sphere and yoke, thereby expanding the surface area available for heated air from the interior to conduct into the exterior air. In another example, a heat exchanger is provided in the yoke to allow further cooling of the circulated air.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
May 11, 2005
Date of Patent:
April 20, 2010
Assignee:
L-3 Communications Sonoma EO, Inc.
Inventors:
Allan A. Voigt, Keir John Batson, Daryl Lee Schmidt
Abstract: A filtering unit for receiving an electronic device. The filtering unit includes a housing, a filter, a fan, a detector, and a controller. The housing includes an inlet. The filter is disposed at the inlet of the housing. The fan is disposed in the housing. The detector detects the number of particles in the filter. The controller is coupled to the fan and the detector. When the number of the particles in the filter exceeds a threshold value, the detector outputs a signal to the controller to change the rotating direction of the fan.