JP5088170B2 - Fan cleaning time determination device, method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fan cleaning time determination device, method, program, and recording medium, and more particularly to a fan cleaning time determination device, method, program, and recording medium for a fan having a normal / high-speed rotation mode.

  The inside of the housing of the electronic device is composed of devices such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and a power source, and these generate heat during use and raise the temperature inside the housing. Therefore, a fan is used as a cooling device. The fan sucks outside air from the intake port and exhausts it from the exhaust port, thereby forcibly sending air into the housing and cooling the housing temperature to a specified temperature.

  However, when inhaling outside air, dust and dirt are often sucked in, and if the sucked dust or dirt adheres to electronic parts such as devices, it may cause a malfunction or malfunction. . In view of this, a structure has been proposed in which a dust-proof filter is provided at the intake port to suck in air from which dust or dust has been removed.

However, while using the dustproof filter, dust and dirt adhere to the filter and clogging occurs. When clogging occurs, the amount of air to be taken in decreases, and if it is used as it is for a long time, the inside of the device cannot be cooled sufficiently, the temperature of the electronic device rises, and the device breaks down. It was. To check for clogged filters, maintenance personnel regularly checked the filters visually and cleaned them as necessary. In addition, a technique has been proposed in which the cooling performance is determined from the filter clogging detection technique, the temperature in the apparatus, and the like, and when the cooling performance is reduced, the user is notified of the situation (see Patent Document 1). .
JP 2006-127283 A

  However, both are techniques for detecting a failure of a fan or a filter. If the user notices the failure by notification from the device or the like and does not replace the filter, the temperature rise in the device cannot be prevented. Therefore, even if the filter is clogged or the like, it can be considered that the fan enters the high speed rotation mode for cooling.

  However, there is a concern that the power consumption increases as the frequency of the fan entering the high-speed rotation mode increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to determine the fan cleaning time and reduce the frequency at which the fan enters the high-speed rotation mode to save power.

  A first fan cleaning time determination device according to the present invention includes: a fan that cools the inside of a housing and rotates in a normal / high-speed rotation mode; and a dust-proof filter provided at an intake port that sucks air by the fan. A cooling means comprising: a casing temperature sensor for measuring a temperature in the casing; a switching means for switching the fan from a normal rotation mode to a high speed rotation mode when the temperature in the casing exceeds a set value; and the high speed And determining means for determining whether or not it is time to clean the cooling means when the mode is switched to the rotation mode.

  The first fan cleaning time determination method according to the present invention includes a step of measuring a temperature inside the case with a case temperature sensor, and a normal / high-speed rotation mode when the measured temperature inside the case exceeds a set value. And a fan for rotating the fan to cool the inside of the housing from the normal rotation mode to the high-speed rotation mode, and at the time of switching to the high-speed rotation mode, the fan and an intake port for sucking air by the fan are provided. And a step of determining whether or not it is time to clean the cooling means comprising the dustproof filter.

  The first fan cleaning time determination program according to the present invention includes a process for measuring the temperature in the casing by the casing temperature sensor, and a normal / high-speed rotation mode when the measured temperature in the casing exceeds a set value. The fan that rotates inside the casing by rotating at the normal rotation mode is switched from the normal rotation mode to the high-speed rotation mode, and when the fan is switched to the high-speed rotation mode, the fan and the intake port for sucking air by the fan are provided. And determining whether or not it is time to clean the cooling means comprising the dustproof filter.

  The first recording medium according to the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium for recording the processing of the first fan cleaning time determination program of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to determine the fan cleaning time, reduce the frequency at which the fan enters the high speed rotation mode, and save power.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are preferred embodiments of the present invention, and thus various technically preferable limitations are given. However, the scope of the present invention is particularly limited in the following description. As long as there is no description of the effect, it is not restricted to these aspects.

  In this embodiment, the cooling capacity of the fan depends on the intake air temperature and the air volume, and further, the air volume depends on the rotational speed of the fan and the area of the suction port. Therefore, if the filter is gradually clogged with dust, Focusing on the fact that the area of the suction port will decrease, periodically record the rate of decrease in internal temperature when the fan enters high-speed rotation mode due to temperature rise inside the housing, and record the history When the rate of decrease in internal temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold by monitoring, the user does not need to periodically check the filter by instructing the user terminal, etc., to clean the filter. The filter can be cleaned at an appropriate timing.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a fan cleaning time detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. An intake air temperature sensor 10, a fan 11, an in-casing temperature sensor 12, a fan rotation mode switching circuit 13, a temperature recording circuit 14, a temperature history table 15, a load factor measuring circuit 19, a cooling prediction table 16, A fan cleaning time determination circuit 17 and a fan cleaning notification circuit 18 are configured.

  The fan 11 has a normal rotation mode / high-speed rotation mode. According to the instruction from the fan rotation mode switching circuit 13, the mode is switched to the high speed rotation mode.

  The fan rotation mode switching circuit 13 instructs the fan 11 to switch to the high speed rotation mode when the internal temperature notified from the internal temperature sensor 12 exceeds a predetermined set value. In addition, when the temperature in the housing is lower than a set value, the fan can be switched from the high speed rotation mode to the normal rotation mode.

  The load factor measurement circuit 19 measures the load factor of the cooling target device.

  The cooling prediction table 16 has a constant load factor of the cooling target device measured by the load factor measurement circuit 19, an intake air temperature measured by the intake air temperature sensor 10, and the fan 11 is in a high speed rotation mode under these conditions. A combination with a decrease value of the temperature in the housing that is predicted after a lapse of time is stored. An example is shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cooling prediction table 16 indicates that the cooling rate of the fan 11 measured by the load factor measuring circuit 19, the intake air temperature measured by the intake air temperature sensor 10, and the fan 11 is high speed under these conditions. The predicted decrease temperature of the temperature in the housing after a certain time has passed in the rotation mode is recorded for all possible combinations.

  The fan cleaning time determination circuit 17 checks the difference between the predicted temperature decrease in the housing and the actually measured temperature decrease in the housing, and determines the fan cleaning time based on the difference.

  The fan cleaning notification circuit 18 transmits a message urging the fan cleaning in response to an instruction from the fan cleaning time determination circuit 17.

  Next, an operation process of the fan cleaning time detection device according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation process according to the present embodiment.

  The fan rotation mode switching circuit 13 instructs the fan 11 to switch to the high speed rotation mode when the temperature inside the case notified from the case internal temperature sensor 12 exceeds a predetermined set value (step S1). (Step S2).

  At the same time, the temperature recording circuit 14 starts measuring the temperature decrease rate (step S3). The temperature recording circuit 14 shows the difference (decrease value) between the value of the temperature sensor 12 in the casing at the start of measurement and the value of the temperature sensor 12 in the casing after a certain time has elapsed (for example, after 5 minutes) from the start of measurement. 15 (steps S4 and S5).

  As described above, the cooling prediction table 16 includes the load factor of the cooling target device measured by the load factor measuring circuit 19, the intake air temperature measured by the intake air temperature sensor 10, and the fan 11 rotating at high speed under these conditions. The combination with the decrease value of the temperature in the housing that is predicted after the elapse of a certain time in the mode is stored.

  The above combination is searched using the load factor of the cooling target device measured by the load factor measuring circuit 19 and the intake air temperature measured by the intake air temperature sensor 10 as a search key, and the decrease in the temperature in the housing predicted under the condition (Predicted decrease temperature) is notified to the temperature recording circuit 14 (step S6).

  In the specific example shown in FIG. 2, for example, if the load factor measuring circuit 19 notifies the load factor of 60% or more and the intake air temperature sensor 10 notifies the intake air temperature of 26 ° C., the cooling prediction table 16 is the temperature recording circuit. 14, the predicted decrease temperature is notified as 2 ° C.

  The temperature recording circuit 14 records, in the temperature history table 15, the predicted temperature drop in the casing notified from the cooling prediction table 16 after the fan 11 has entered the high speed rotation mode and a certain time has elapsed.

  The fan cleaning time determination circuit 17 refers to the temperature history table 15 and checks the difference between the predicted temperature drop in the housing and the temperature drop in the housing calculated by actual measurement (step S7). When the difference exceeds a predetermined threshold value (step S8 / Yes), it is determined that it is time to clean the fan due to filter clogging or the like (step S9).

  The fan cleaning notification circuit 18 notifies the user terminal such as an administrator terminal that it is time to clean the fan in order to prompt the user to clean the fan (step S10).

  According to the above embodiment, the fan cleaning time can be automatically determined and a message prompting the cleaning can be transmitted, and the user can clean the filter at an appropriate timing, thereby reducing the frequency of the fan entering the high speed rotation mode and saving power. Can be planned.

  Further, since the frequency with which the temperature in the housing rises as the high-speed rotation mode is required can be suppressed, the reliability can be improved.

  The present invention can also be applied to a cooling fan for an information processing apparatus such as a server.

  As another embodiment, the number of times of switching to the high speed rotation mode by the fan rotation mode switching circuit 13 is stored, and when the number of times of switching to the high speed rotation mode exceeds a set value, the fan cleaning time is near. Predicting is also conceivable. Thereby, the user can know the fan cleaning time early, can prepare for cleaning, prepare a replacement filter, etc., and can respond quickly when the fan cleaning time comes.

  A program for the CPU to execute the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 constitutes a program according to the present invention. As a recording medium for recording the program, a semiconductor storage unit, an optical and / or magnetic storage unit, or the like can be used. By using such a program and a recording medium in a system having a configuration different from that of each of the above-described embodiments and causing the CPU to execute the program, substantially the same effect as the present invention can be obtained.

  Although the present invention has been specifically described above based on the preferred embodiments, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described ones and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

It is a schematic block diagram of the fan cleaning time detection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the cooling prediction table 16 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement process of the fan cleaning time detection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Intake temperature sensor 11 Fan 12 Case temperature sensor 13 Fan rotation mode switching circuit 14 degree recording circuit 15 Temperature history table 19 Load factor measurement circuit 16 Cooling prediction table 17 Fan cleaning time determination circuit 18 Fan cleaning notification circuit

Claims (8)

A cooling means including a fan that cools the inside of the housing and rotates in a normal / high-speed rotation mode, and a dust-proof filter provided in an air intake port that sucks air by the fan;
A housing temperature sensor for measuring the temperature in the housing;
A switching means for switching the fan from a normal rotation mode to a high-speed rotation mode when the internal temperature exceeds a set value;
A determination unit that determines whether it is time to clean the cooling unit when the high-speed rotation mode is switched;
An intake air temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the intake air;
With
The determination means includes a housing temperature prediction decrease value predicted from a combination of a load factor of the cooling target device and an intake air temperature measured by the intake air temperature sensor, and the housing based on the measurement value measured by the housing temperature sensor. When the difference between the decrease value of the body temperature is a certain value or more, it is determined that it is the cleaning time of the cooling means,
Fan cleaning time determination device. From a combination of the load factor of the cooling target device and the intake air temperature, a cooling prediction table that predetermines a predicted temperature drop in the case when the fan is in a high-speed rotation mode, and
When switched to the high speed mode, the reduction value calculating means for calculating the reduced value of the temperature in the case by the housing temperature sensor,
When switched to the high speed mode, the the load of the cooling target device, wherein, the intake air temperature measured by the intake air temperature sensor and the search key, detects the temperature in chassis predicted reduction value from the cooling prediction table Predictive decrease value detecting means for
The determining means includes a reduction value of the temperature in the case, to calculate the difference between the temperature in the case the predicted reduction value, if the calculated difference is equal to or larger than a predetermined value is the cleaning time of the cooling means The fan cleaning time determination device according to claim 1, wherein   The fan cleaning time determination device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a notification means for notifying that when the determination means determines that it is the cleaning time of the cooling means. 4. The fan according to claim 1, wherein the switching unit switches the fan from a high-speed rotation mode to a normal rotation mode when the temperature in the housing is lower than a set value. 5. Cleaning time determination device. Storage means for storing the number of times of switching to the high-speed rotation mode by the switching means;
The fan cleaning time determination according to claim 1, further comprising: a fan cleaning time prediction determination unit that predicts that the fan cleaning time is near when the stored number of times of the high-speed rotation mode exceeds a set value. apparatus. Measuring the temperature in the housing with the housing temperature sensor;
When the measured temperature in the housing exceeds a set value, the fan that rotates in the normal / high-speed rotation mode to cool the inside of the housing is switched from the normal rotation mode to the high-speed rotation mode;
A step of determining whether or not it is time to clean the cooling means comprising a dust filter provided in the fan and an intake port for sucking air by the fan when switching to the high-speed rotation mode;
A step of measuring the temperature of the intake air by an intake air temperature sensor,
In the determination step, the housing temperature prediction decrease value predicted from the combination of the load factor of the cooling target device and the intake air temperature measured by the intake air temperature sensor, and the housing based on the measured value measured by the housing temperature sensor. When the difference between the decrease value of the body temperature is a certain value or more, it is determined that it is the cleaning time of the cooling means,
Fan cleaning time judgment method . A process of measuring the temperature in the housing by the housing temperature sensor;
When the measured temperature in the housing exceeds a set value, a process of switching the fan that rotates in the normal / high-speed rotation mode and cools the inside of the housing from the normal rotation mode to the high-speed rotation mode;
When it is switched to the high-speed rotation mode, a process for determining whether or not it is time to clean the cooling means comprising the fan and a dust-proof filter provided at an intake port for sucking air by the fan;
A process of measuring the temperature of the intake air by an intake air temperature sensor;
To the computer,
In the determination process, the housing temperature predicted decrease value predicted from a combination of the load factor of the cooling target device and the intake air temperature measured by the intake air temperature sensor, and the housing based on the measured value measured by the housing temperature sensor. If the difference between the decrease value of the body temperature is a certain value or more, it is determined that it is time to clean the cooling means.
Fan cleaning time determination program . A computer-readable recording process of the fan cleaning time determination program according to claim 7.
Recordable media.

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