Hard Drive Backplane Assembly and Electronic Device

Abstract

A hard drive backplane has a plurality of ventilation holes, and the expansion cavity muffler is mounted in the ventilation holes of the hard drive backplane. The expansion cavity muffler includes at least one expansion cavity and at least one connecting pipe in communication in a first direction. The connecting pipe at one end of the expansion cavity muffler facing toward the hard drive backplane is fixedly mounted in the ventilation hole such that the expansion cavity muffler is in communication with the ventilation hole. An area of a cross-section that is of each expansion cavity and that is perpendicular to the first direction is larger than an area of a cross-section that is of the connecting pipe adjacent to the expansion cavity and that is perpendicular to the first direction. The first direction is perpendicular to a surface of the hard drive backplane.

Claims

1. A hard drive backplane assembly, comprising: a hard drive backplane comprising a surface and a plurality of ventilation holes, and an expansion cavity muffler disposed in communication with the ventilation holes and comprising: at least one expansion cavity; and at least one connecting pipe disposed in communication with the at least one expansion cavity in a first direction and comprising a first end that is facing toward the hard drive backplane and that is fixedly mounted in the ventilation hole, wherein a first area of a cross-section that is of each expansion cavity and that is perpendicular to the first direction is larger than a second area of a cross-section that is of the at least one connecting pipe adjacent to the expansion cavity and that is perpendicular to the first direction, and wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the surface.

2. The hard drive backplane assembly claim 1, wherein the expansion cavity muffler further comprises an expansion cavity having two ends and two connecting pipes respectively in communication with the two ends.

3. The hard drive backplane assembly of claim 1, wherein the expansion cavity muffler further comprises at least two expansion cavities, and wherein every adjacent two expansion cavities are in communication with each other through the at least one connecting pipe.

4. The hard drive backplane assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one connecting pipe extends into adjacent expansion cavities by a specified distance.

5. The hard drive backplane assembly of claim 1, wherein the expansion cavity muffler further comprises a ventilation cavity, wherein a vertical projection of the ventilation cavity on the surface completely covers the ventilation holes.

6. The hard drive backplane assembly of claim 1, further comprising a sound-absorbing layer disposed on an inner surface or an outer surface of the expansion cavity muffler.

7. The hard drive backplane assembly of claim 1, wherein the expansion cavity muffler is coupled to the hard drive backplane by snap-fit, adhesion, or a screw.

8. The hard drive backplane assembly of claim 1, wherein the expansion cavity muffler is an integrally molded structure.

9. The hard drive backplane assembly of claim 1, wherein a first shape of the first cross-section and a second shape of the second cross-section are identical to a third shape of the ventilation holes.

10. An electronic device, comprising: a hard drive backplane assembly comprising: a hard drive backplane comprising a surface plurality of ventilation holes; and an expansion cavity muffler comprising: at least one expansion cavity; and at least one connecting pipe disposed in communication with the at least one expansion cavity in a first direction and comprising a first end that is facing towards the hard drive backplane and that is fixedly mounted in the ventilation hole, wherein a first area of a first cross-section that is of each expansion cavity and that is perpendicular to the first direction is larger than a second area of a second cross-section that is of the at least one connecting pipe adjacent to the at least one expansion cavity and that is perpendicular to the first direction, and wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the surface.

11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the expansion cavity muffler further comprises an expansion cavity having two ends and two connecting pipes respectively in communication with the two ends.

12. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the expansion cavity muffler further comprises at least two expansion cavities, and wherein every adjacent two expansion cavities are in communication with each other through the at least one connecting pipe.

13. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the at least one connecting pipe extends into adjacent expansion cavities by a specified distance.

14. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the expansion cavity muffler further comprises a ventilation cavity, wherein a vertical projection of the ventilation cavity on the surface completely covers the ventilation hole.

15. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the hard drive backplane assembly further comprises a sound-absorbing layer disposed on an inner surface or an outer surface of the expansion cavity muffler.

16. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the expansion cavity muffler is coupled to the hard drive backplane by snap-fit, adhesion, or a screw.

17. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the expansion cavity muffler is an integrally molded structure.

18. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein a first shape of the first cross-section and a second shape of the second cross-section are identical to a third shape of the ventilation holes.

19. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the expansion cavity muffler further comprises an expansion cavity and a connecting pipe in communication with the expansion cavity.

20. The hard drive backplane assembly of claim 1, wherein the expansion cavity muffler comprises an expansion cavity and a connecting pipe in communication with the expansion cavity.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] FIG. 1 is a partial schematic structural diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of this application;

[0018] FIG. 2 is a partial schematic structural diagram of a hard drive backplane assembly according to an embodiment of this application;

[0019] FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a hard drive backplane according to an embodiment of this application;

[0020] FIG. 4 is a schematic three-dimensional structural diagram of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application;

[0021] FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application;

[0022] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a model of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application;

[0023] FIG. 7 is another schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application;

[0024] FIG. 8 is another schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application;

[0025] FIG. 9 is another schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application;

[0026] FIG. 10 is another schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application;

[0027] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a relationship between a noise reduction and a noise frequency according to an embodiment of this application; and

[0028] FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of engagement between an expansion cavity muffler and a hard drive backplane according to an embodiment of this application.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0029] 100—frame; [0030] 200—cooling fan; [0031] 300—hard drive; [0032] 400—hard drive backplane assembly; [0033] 410—hard drive backplane; [0034] 411—ventilation hole; [0035] 420—expansion cavity muffler; [0036] 421—expansion cavity; [0037] 422—connecting pipe; [0038] 423—hook portion; [0039] 500—electronic component.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0040] Terms used in the following embodiments are merely intended to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit this application. As used in the specification and the appended claims of this application, the singular expressions “a/an”, “one”, “said”, “the above”, “the” and “this” are intended to also include such expressions as “one or more”, unless otherwise clearly indicated in the context.

[0041] Reference to “an embodiment” or “a specific embodiment” or the like described in the specification means that one or more embodiments of this application include a specific feature, structure, or characteristic described with reference to this embodiment. The terms “include”, “comprise”, “have”, and variations thereof all mean “including, but not limited to”, unless otherwise particularly specified.

[0042] To facilitate understanding of a hard drive backplane assembly and an electronic device provided in embodiments of this application, the following first describes an application scenario of the hard drive backplane assembly and the electronic device. For electronic devices having a hard drive, as performance of the electronic devices gradually increase, the capacity of hard drives gradually increases, and heat dissipation requirements also gradually increase. However, a higher rotational speed of a cooling fan indicates higher noise generated, and a higher probability of vibration of the hard drive. Hard drive vibration is likely to reduce IOPS of a large-capacity hard drive, resulting in degraded performance of the electronic device. In conventional technologies, impact of the noise of the cooling fan on the vibration of the hard drive is reduced by regulating an airflow from the fan, preventing backflow, and reducing wind resistance. However, in practice, regulating the airflow from the fan, preventing backflow, and reducing wind resistance can achieve a limited noise reduction effect, especially for systems originally having a smooth flow field. Specifically, a waveguide board may be used to regulate the airflow, and sound-absorbing cotton may be used to absorb noise. However, such structures affect the air intake volume, resulting in poor heat dissipation and increased CPU temperature. Therefore, this application provides a hard drive backplane assembly and an electronic device, to reduce impact of noise of a cooling fan on a hard drive while ensuring a good heat dissipation effect, thereby improving IOPS of the hard drive. The electronic device in embodiments of the present disclosure may be a storage system, a server, or the like. The following uses specific embodiments to describe technical solutions of this application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0043] FIG. 1 is a partial schematic structural diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of this application. FIG. 2 is a partial schematic structural diagram of a hard drive backplane assembly according to an embodiment of this application. FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a hard drive backplane according to an embodiment of this application.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the electronic device may be specifically a server. The server includes a frame 100, and a cooling fan 200, a hard drive 300, and an electronic component 500 such as a CPU that are disposed in the frame 100, and further includes a hard drive backplane assembly 400. The hard drive 300 is mounted on the hard drive backplane assembly 400. The hard drive backplane assembly 400 includes a hard drive backplane 410 and an expansion cavity muffler 420. The cooling fan 200 and the hard drive 300 are located on two sides of the hard drive backplane assembly 400. The cooling fan 200 is disposed on the side of the hard drive backplane assembly 400 on which the expansion cavity muffler 420 is disposed. The hard drive 300 is disposed on the side of the hard drive backplane 410 that faces away from the expansion cavity muffler 420. As shown in FIG. 3, the hard drive backplane 410 includes ventilation holes 411, so that an airflow generated by the cooling fan 200 may circulate through the ventilation holes 411.

[0045] FIG. 4 is a schematic three-dimensional structural diagram of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application. With reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, the expansion cavity muffler 420 includes at least one expansion cavity 421 and at least one connecting pipe 422, and the expansion cavity 421 and the connecting pipe 422 are disposed in communication with each other in a first direction M. The expansion cavity muffler 420 faces toward the connecting pipe 422 of the hard drive backplane 410, and is fixedly connected to the ventilation holes 411 of the hard drive backplane 410. The first direction M is perpendicular to a surface of the hard drive backplane 410. Therefore, the expansion cavity muffler 420 is directly in communication with the ventilation holes 411, and generates small wind resistance, and the airflow generated by the fan may flow directly through the expansion cavity muffler 420 and the ventilation holes 411. Therefore, this solution has little impact on a heat dissipation effect of the electronic device, and the electronic device can have a good heat dissipation effect. In addition, an area of a cross-section of the expansion cavity 421 perpendicular to the first direction M is larger than an area of a cross-section of the connecting pipe 422 adjacent to the expansion cavity 421 perpendicular to the first direction M such that noise transmitted through the expansion cavity muffler 420 can be reduced. This solution can greatly reduce the noise transmitted through the expansion cavity muffler 420, and therefore reduce vibration caused by the noise, so that the hard drive 300 suffers less vibration interference, thereby improving IOPS of the hard drive 300. Therefore, this solution reduces impact of noise of the cooling fan 200 on the hard drive 300 while ensuring a good heat dissipation effect of the electronic device.

[0046] The expansion cavity muffler 420 is a structural form of a resistive muffler. Pipes and cavities of different shapes are properly combined to achieve an impedance mismatch of the pipe system to reflect or interfere with a sound wave, thereby reducing acoustic energy radiated outward through the expansion cavity muffler 420. A solid part of the hard drive backplane 410 has a good sound insulation effect, but a sound wave may directly pass through the ventilation holes 411. In this application, the expansion cavity muffler 420 mounted on the ventilation holes reduces noise transmitted to the hard drive 300, and has little impact on ventilation. It should be noted that a tight connection between the expansion cavity 421 and the connecting pipe 422 adjacent to each other should not lead to air leakage.

[0047] In addition, to reduce impact of the expansion cavity muffler 420 on the ventilation through the ventilation holes 411, a ventilation cavity inside the expansion cavity muffler 420 may further completely cover the ventilation hole 411 of the hard drive backplane 410. To be specific, a vertical projection of the ventilation cavity of the expansion cavity muffler 420 on the hard drive backplane 410 completely covers the ventilation hole 411. In other words, an area of a vertical projection of the ventilation cavity of the expansion cavity muffler 420 on the hard drive backplane 410 at any position is greater than or equal to the area of the ventilation hole 411. In addition, the ventilation cavity faces toward the ventilation hole 411. Therefore, the expansion cavity muffler 420 does not block the ventilation hole 411 at any position, thereby sufficiently ensuring the ventilation through the ventilation hole 411 and ensuring a heat dissipation effect of the cooling fan 200.

[0048] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a model of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application. With reference to FIG. 6, a noise reduction of the expansion cavity muffler 420 meets:

[00001]$L_R=10lg\left[1+\frac{1}{4}{\left(m-\frac{1}{m}\right)}^2{\sin }^{2}kl\right]$ [0049] where m represents an expansion ratio, m=S.sub.2/S.sub.1, S.sub.2 represents a cross-sectional area of the expansion cavity, S.sub.1 represents a cross-sectional area of the connecting pipe 422, k represents a wave number, k=2πf/c, f represents a frequency of a sound wave, c represents sound velocity, and l represents a length of the expansion cavity. It can be learned that the noise reduction of the expansion cavity muffler 420 periodically changes with respect to the frequency of the sound wave, and a larger expansion ratio indicates a larger noise reduction.

[0050] Based on the foregoing formula, a frequency corresponding to a maximum noise reduction, a frequency corresponding to a minimum noise reduction, and a cut-off frequency may be obtained. Therefore, dimensions of the expansion cavity muffler 420 may be calculated based on a frequency of noise to be reduced.

[0051] The frequency corresponding to the maximum noise reduction is:

[00002]$f_{\max }=\left(2n+1\right)\frac{c}{4l}n=0,1,2,.Math.$

[0052] The frequency corresponding to the maximum noise reduction, that is, the frequency corresponding to L.sub.R=0, is:

[00003]$f_{\min }=\frac{n}{2l}cn=0,1,2,.Math.$

[0053] The cut-off frequency is:

[00004]$f_{upper}=1.22\frac{c}{D}$${\mathrm{fl}}_{\mathrm{ower}}=\frac{c}{\surd 2\pi }\star \surd \frac{S_1}{{\mathrm{Vl}}_1}$ [0054] where V represents a volume of the expansion cavity, l.sub.1 represents a length of the connecting pipe 422, and D represents an equivalent diameter of the expansion cavity.

[0055] In a specific embodiment, a specific structure of the expansion cavity muffler 420 is not limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the expansion cavity muffler 420 includes one expansion cavity 421 and two connecting pipes 422 disposed in communication with each other in the first direction M, and the two connecting pipes 422 are respectively located at two ends of the expansion cavity 421. One connecting pipe 422 is connected to the hard drive backplane 410, and the other connecting pipe 422 faces toward the cooling fan 200. In this solution, the expansion cavity muffler 420 has a simple structure, is convenient to fabricate, and occupies small space. Further, a height of the expansion cavity muffler 420 may be made not greater than a height of any other component on the hard drive backplane 410 such as not to occupy wiring space. This helps improve integration of the electronic device.

[0056] FIG. 7 is another schematic structural diagram of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 7, the expansion cavity muffler 420 may alternatively include only one expansion cavity and one connecting pipe 422. This solution can further simplify the structure of the expansion cavity muffler 420 and reduce the space occupied by the expansion cavity muffler 420.

[0057] FIG. 8 is another schematic structural diagram of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 8, the expansion cavity muffler 420 includes at least two expansion cavities 421 disposed in communication with each other in the first direction M, and every two adjacent expansion cavities 421 are in communication with each other through the connecting pipe 422. In other words, the expansion cavities 421 and the connecting pipes 422 are sequentially connected in an alternate manner. In this solution, the expansion cavities 421 are connected in series, so that a multi-stage noise reduction effect can be achieved. Through the proper design of the expansion cavities 421 and the connecting pipes 422, noise of multiple frequencies can be reduced, thereby providing a good noise reduction effect. It is found by comparing and testing an electronic device equipped with the expansion cavity muffler 420 and an electronic device not equipped with the expansion cavity muffler 420 that the expansion cavity muffler 420 in this technical solution of this application can reduce noise in a frequency band of 2 kilohertz (kHz) to 10 kHz by 3.5 decibels (dB), and improve IOPS performance of the hard drive 300 by up to 10%.

[0058] In another embodiment, FIG. 9 to FIG. 10 are other schematic structural diagrams of an expansion cavity muffler according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 10, the connecting pipe 422 extends into the expansion cavity 421 by a specified distance. In this solution, because the connecting pipe 422 extends into the expansion cavity 421 by the specified distance, the expansion cavity muffler 420 can achieve a large noise reduction for noise of each frequency. This helps improve a noise reduction effect of the expansion cavity muffler 420. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a relationship between a noise reduction and a noise frequency according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 11, a solid line in the figure represents a curve of a relationship between a noise frequency and a noise reduction of the expansion cavity muffler 420 when the connecting pipe 422 does not extend into the expansion cavity 421, and a dashed line in the figure represents a curve of a relationship between a noise frequency and a noise reduction of the expansion cavity muffler 420 when the connecting pipe 422 extends into the expansion cavity 421. It can be learned that when the connecting pipe 422 extends into the expansion cavity 421 by the specified distance, the expansion cavity muffler 420 achieves a large noise reduction for noise of all frequencies. Therefore, this solution has a good noise reduction effect for noise of all the frequencies.

[0059] For example, in the expansion cavity muffler 420 shown in FIG. 9, one expansion cavity 421 is in communication with two connecting pipes 422, and both the two connecting pipes 422 extend into the expansion cavity 421 by the specified distance. It is found by comparing and testing an electronic device equipped with the expansion cavity muffler 420 and an electronic device not equipped with the expansion cavity muffler 420 that the expansion cavity muffler 420 in this technical solution can reduce noise in a frequency band of 2 kHz to 10 kHz by 2.1 dB, and improve IOPS performance of the hard drive 300 by up to 5.7%.

[0060] In the foregoing embodiments, when two sides of the same expansion cavity 421 are each connected to a connecting pipe 422, the connecting pipes 422 on the two sides may extend into the expansion cavity 421 by the same or different specified distances. This may be designed according to an actual requirement.

[0061] To improve the noise reduction effect of the expansion cavity muffler 420, a sound-absorbing layer may be further disposed on an inner surface of the expansion cavity muffler 420, so that noise passing through the expansion cavity muffler 420 can be further reduced, thereby reducing impact of the noise on the hard drive 300.

[0062] In addition, a sound-absorbing layer may also be disposed on an outer surface of the expansion cavity muffler 420, so that noise outside the expansion cavity muffler 420 can also be reduced. This can also reduce overall impact of noise on the hard drive 300.

[0063] Specifically, when the expansion cavity muffler 420 is mounted on the hard drive backplane 410, as shown in FIG. 4, the expansion cavity muffler 420 may have a hook portion 423, and the hook portion 423 matches the ventilation hole 411. FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of engagement between an expansion cavity muffler and a hard drive backplane according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 12, the expansion cavity muffler 420 is directly snap-fit to the ventilation hole 411 of the hard drive backplane 410 through the hook portion 423. In this solution, the mounting process is simple, and no fabrication process needs to be additional performed on the hard drive backplane 410 to adapt to the mounting of the expansion cavity muffler 420. This solution is efficient and facilitates reconstruction of an existing electronic device. Alternatively, the expansion cavity muffler 420 may be mounted on the hard drive backplane 410 by adhesion or screw connection. This is not limited in this application.

[0064] A material of the expansion cavity muffler 420 is not limited, for example, may be plastic or metal. The plastic used may be specifically general-purpose plastic, engineering plastic, special-purpose plastic, or the like. This is not limited in this application.

[0065] The expansion cavity muffler 420 may specifically be an integrally formed structure. For example, when the material of the expansion cavity muffler 420 is plastic, the expansion cavity muffler 420 may be prepared by an injection molding process. This process is simple. In addition, the integrally formed structure can further ensure tightness of the connection between the expansion cavity 421 and the connecting pipe 422 to prevent air leakage, thereby providing good noise reduction and ventilation effects.

[0066] A shape of the cross-section of the expansion cavity 421 perpendicular to the first direction M and a shape of the cross-section of the connecting pipe 422 perpendicular to the first direction M may be identical or different, and may be designed according to a requirement, for example, may be any shape such as a circle, a square, an oval, or a polygon. Specifically, the shape of the cross-section of the expansion cavity 421 perpendicular to the first direction M and the shape of the cross-section of the connecting pipe 422 perpendicular to the first direction M may be identical to a shape of the ventilation hole 411, so that ventilation cavities of different parts match each other, thereby reducing the wind resistance generated by the expansion cavity muffler 420.

[0067] The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of this application, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of this application. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application shall fall within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.