CN112412877A

CN112412877A - Fan module

Info

Publication number: CN112412877A
Application number: CN201910782766.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王赟皓
Original assignee: Inventec Pudong Technology Corp; Inventec Corp
Current assignee: Inventec Pudong Technology Corp; Inventec Corp
Priority date: 2019-08-23
Filing date: 2019-08-23
Publication date: 2021-02-26

Abstract

The invention discloses a fan module which is arranged on a mainboard. The fan module comprises a fan and a shell. The fan has a plurality of contacts. The housing accommodates the fan and has a positioning structure. The positioning structure protrudes from the side surface of the shell and accommodates the contact. The positioning structure is provided with at least one positioning hole, the main board is provided with at least one positioning column, and the positioning hole is arranged to be coupled with the positioning column so as to fix the fan module on the main board.

Description

Fan module

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a fan module, and more particularly to a fan module with a positioning structure.

Background

Most of the heat dissipation fans used in electronic products are manually positioned on the motherboard, and the fans are fixed on the motherboard by screws. In addition, the wires of the heat dissipation fan need to extend to the corresponding terminals of the motherboard to electrically connect with the motherboard.

However, the manual positioning method consumes a lot of labor and time, and the production speed is slow. In addition, the wires of the cooling fan need to be arranged and fixed, a lot of time is consumed, and the problems of short circuit of the cooling fan caused by wire damage or assembly errors are easy to happen.

Therefore, how to provide a fan module capable of solving the above problems is one of the problems that the industry needs to invest in research and development resources to solve.

Disclosure of Invention

The application discloses fan module.

In an embodiment of the present application, the fan module is disposed on the motherboard, and the fan module includes a fan and a housing. The fan has a plurality of contacts. The housing accommodates the fan and has a positioning structure. The positioning structure protrudes from the side surface of the shell and accommodates the contact. The positioning structure is provided with at least one positioning hole, the main board is provided with at least one positioning column, and the positioning hole is arranged to be coupled with the positioning column so as to fix the fan module on the main board.

In an embodiment of the present application, the positioning structure has a plurality of slots, and the contacts of the fan are respectively located in the slots.

In an embodiment of the present application, the number of the positioning holes is two, and the slot is located between the two positioning holes.

In one embodiment of the present application, the extending direction of the positioning hole is the same as the extending direction of the slot.

In one embodiment of the present application, the diameter of the positioning hole is larger than the width of each slot.

In one embodiment of the present application, the main board has power terminals. The power terminal is located in one of the slots and is configured to be electrically connected with one of the contacts of the fan.

In one embodiment of the present application, one of the contacts of the fan is a power contact, and the power contact and the power terminal of the motherboard are both located in one of the slots and electrically connected to each other.

In one embodiment of the present application, the motherboard has a signal terminal located in one of the slots and configured to electrically connect to one of the contacts of the fan.

In one embodiment of the present application, one of the contacts of the fan is a signal contact, and the signal contact and the signal terminal of the motherboard are both located in one of the slots and electrically connected to each other.

In an embodiment of the present application, the positioning hole is a through hole.

According to the above embodiments of the present application, since the fan module of the present application can utilize the positioning holes of the positioning structure and the positioning posts of the motherboard, the process of positioning and locking screws between the fan module and the motherboard can be achieved by the robot arm. Therefore, the inconvenience of visual positioning by human eyes in the prior art can be improved, and the effect of improving the productivity is achieved.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the problems, solutions to problems, and other aspects of the present invention, and the specific details thereof are set forth in the following description and the related drawings.

Drawings

In order to make the aforementioned and other objects, features, advantages and embodiments of the invention more comprehensible, the following description is given:

fig. 1 is a top view of a fan module according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a positioning structure of the fan module shown in fig. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the positioning structure of the fan module shown in FIG. 1 along line 3-3.

Description of the symbols:

100: fan module

110: fan with cooling device

112. 112a, 112 b: contact point

120: shell body

122: positioning structure

124: hole site

1222: locating hole

1224: slotting

200: main machine board

210: positioning column

212 a: power supply terminal

212b, and (3 b): signal terminal

A1: axial direction

D: diameter of

W: width of

3-3: line segment

H1: depth of field

H2: depth of field

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, but rather the description of the structural operations is intended to limit the order of execution, and any arrangement of components which results in a structure which achieves equivalent functionality is intended to be included within the scope of the invention. In addition, the drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not drawn to scale. For ease of understanding, the same or similar elements will be described with the same reference numerals in the following description.

Further, the terms (terms) used throughout the specification and claims have the ordinary meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, in the context of this invention, and in the context of a particular application, unless otherwise indicated. Certain terms used to describe the invention are discussed below or elsewhere in this specification to provide additional guidance to those skilled in the art in describing the invention.

As used herein, the terms "first," "second," …, etc., are not intended to be limited to the exact order or sequence presented, nor are they intended to be limiting, but rather are intended to distinguish one element from another or from another element or operation described by the same technical term. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms "comprising," "including," "having," "containing," and the like are open-ended terms that mean including, but not limited to.

In this document, the articles "a" and "an" may mean "one or more" unless the context specifically states otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," "including" and similar terms, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Fig. 1 is a top view of a fan module 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the fan module 100 is disposed on the main board 200. The fan module 100 includes a fan 110 and a housing 120. The housing 120 accommodates the fan 110 and has a positioning structure 122. The locating structure 122 protrudes from the side of the housing 120. The positioning structure 122 has a positioning hole 1222, and the main board 200 has a positioning post 210. Positioning hole 1222 is disposed to couple with positioning post 210 to fix fan module 100 on motherboard 200.

Specifically, when the fan module 100 is assembled to the motherboard 200, the fan module 100 is held by a robot arm, and the fan module 100 is positioned on the motherboard 200 along a direction perpendicular to the paper (see the axial direction a1 in fig. 3) by aligning the positioning holes 1222 and the positioning posts 210.

As shown in fig. 1, the housing 120 of the fan module 100 further has a plurality of hole locations 124. When the fan module 100 is positioned on the motherboard 200, the robot arm can automatically lock the screws through the holes 124 to the corresponding screw holes (not shown) on the motherboard 200, without manually confirming whether each hole 124 is aligned with the screw hole on the motherboard 200. In other words, through the pre-alignment between the positioning holes 1222 and the positioning posts 210, the robot can be used to perform the locking action between the fan module 100 and the main board 200, and the manual alignment procedure between the holes 124 and the screw holes can be omitted, thereby achieving the effect of improving the productivity.

According to the above descriptions, the fan module 100 of the present application can utilize the positioning holes 1222 of the positioning structure 122 and the positioning posts 210 of the motherboard 200 to achieve the process of positioning and screwing between the fan module 100 and the motherboard 200 by a robot. Therefore, the inconvenience of visual positioning by human eyes in the prior art can be improved, and the effect of improving the productivity is achieved.

As shown in fig. 1, in the present embodiment, the positioning structure 122 of the fan module 100 has two positioning holes 1222, which can be coupled to two positioning posts 210 on the main board 200 respectively. By such a structure design, the accuracy of alignment between the fan module 100 and the motherboard 200 can be increased. Specifically, in some embodiments, the positioning accuracy of the positioning structure 122 can be ± 0.15 mm, but the present application is not limited thereto.

As shown in fig. 1, in the present embodiment, the positioning hole 1222 of the positioning structure 122 and the positioning post 210 on the main board 200 are both cylindrical structures, but the present application is not limited thereto. Specifically, the positioning holes 1222 and the positioning posts 210 can be correspondingly coupled.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the positioning structure 122 of the fan module in fig. 1. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the positioning structure 122 of the fan module 100 of FIG. 1 along the line 3-3. Refer to fig. 2 and 3. The fan 110 has contacts 112 and the positioning structure 122 also has slots 1224. The contacts 112 of the fan 110 are received in the slots 1224, respectively. In the embodiment, the depth H1 of the positioning hole 1222 of the positioning structure 122 in the axial direction a1 is lower than the depth H2 of the slot 1224 in the axial direction a1, so that the material can be saved and the positioning effect can be maintained, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

As shown in fig. 2, the main board 200 further has a power terminal 212a located in one of the slots 1224 and configured to electrically connect to one of the contacts 112 of the fan 110. For example, as shown in fig. 3, one of the contacts 112 of the fan 110 is a power contact 112a, and the power contact 112a and the power terminal 212a are both located in the left slot 1224 and electrically connected to each other.

As shown in fig. 2, the main board 200 further has a signal terminal 212b located in the other slot 1224 and configured to electrically connect to the other contact 112 of the fan 110. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the other contact 112 of the fan 110 is a signal contact 112b, and the signal contact 112b and the signal terminal 212b are both located in the right slot 1224 and electrically connected to each other.

According to the above descriptions, after the fan module 100 is positioned on the motherboard 200, the slot 1224 of the positioning structure 122 can accommodate the contact 112 of the fan module 110 and the power terminal 212a and the signal terminal 212b of the motherboard 200. In other words, the positioning structure 122 with the slot 1224 can have a connector-like effect configured to electrically connect the fan module 100 and the motherboard 200. In addition, the positioning structure 122 can be injection molded (integrally molded) with the entire housing 120, thereby saving assembly time and material cost.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the positioning hole 1222 and the slot 1224 extend in the same direction, and both extend along the axial direction a 1. That is, the positioning hole 1222 and the slot 1224 are open in the axial direction a 1. In this way, when the fan module 100 is positioned on the motherboard 200 along the axial direction a1 by the positioning hole 1222 and the positioning post 210, the power contact 112a and the signal contact 112b of the fan 110 can be electrically connected to the power terminal 212a and the signal terminal 212b of the motherboard 200, respectively. In addition, since the contacts 112 of the fan 110 are disposed in the slots 1224, they can be electrically connected to the motherboard 200 without extending to the outside of the housing 120 through wires. Therefore, the procedure of manually arranging the wires of the fan 110 can be omitted, and the problems of short circuit and the like caused by wire damage or assembly errors can be avoided.

In the present embodiment, the positioning structure 122 has four slots 1224 arranged in parallel, and the slots 1224 are located between the two positioning holes 1222. With such a design, the fan module 100 can be prevented from moving (e.g., pivoting or translating) on the motherboard 200, so as to ensure the alignment accuracy between the contacts 112 of each fan 110 and the power terminals 212a and the signal terminals 212b of the motherboard 200. In the present embodiment, the top profile of the slots 1224 is rectangular, and the top profile of each slot 1224 is substantially the same, but the present application is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the number of signal terminals 212b and signal contacts 112b is not limited. Specifically, the slots 1224 are sufficient to accommodate all of the power contacts 112a and the power terminals 212a and all of the contacts 112 of the fan 110.

In the present embodiment, the positioning hole 1222 of the positioning structure 122 is a through hole. By such a structure design, the problem of mismatch between the depth H1 of the positioning hole 1222 and the length of the positioning post 210 can be avoided, and the positioning reliability between the fan module 100 and the motherboard 200 can be increased. In other words, even if the length of the positioning post 210 is greater than the depth H1 of the positioning hole 1222, the positioning process between the fan module 100 and the motherboard 200 is not affected. In some other embodiments, the length of the positioning post 210 may be smaller than the depth H1 of the positioning hole 1222, as long as the positioning post 210 and the positioning hole 1222 can provide the positioning function.

In some other embodiments, the positioning hole 1222 of the positioning structure 122 may also be a closed-end recess. For example, the upper end of the positioning hole 1222 in fig. 2 may be closed, as long as the space of the groove is enough to accommodate the positioning pillar 210.

In this embodiment, the positioning hole 1222 has a diameter D, the slots 1224 have a width W, and the width W of each slot 1224 is substantially the same. The diameter D of positioning hole 1222 is greater than the width W of each slot 1224. Since the positioning difficulty between the positioning hole 1222 and the positioning post 210 is relatively low, the positioning between the positioning hole 1222 and the positioning post 210 allows the power contact 112a and the signal contact 112b of the fan 110 to be electrically connected to the power terminal 212a and the signal terminal 212b of the motherboard 200, respectively, so as to reduce the difficulty of directly positioning the contact 112 of the fan 110 and the power terminal 212a or the signal terminal 212b of the motherboard 200.

While the present application has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application, and it is intended that the present application shall be limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A fan module is arranged on a mainboard, and is characterized in that the fan module comprises:

a fan having a plurality of contacts; and

the positioning structure protrudes from the side surface of the shell and is used for accommodating each contact, the positioning structure is provided with at least one positioning hole, the mainboard is provided with at least one positioning column, and the positioning hole is arranged to be coupled with the positioning column so as to fix the fan module on the mainboard.

2. The fan module of claim 1, wherein the positioning structure has a plurality of slots, and each of the contacts of the fan is located in each of the slots.

3. The fan module as claimed in claim 2, wherein the number of the positioning holes is two, and each slot is located between the two positioning holes.

4. The fan module as claimed in claim 2, wherein the positioning holes extend in the same direction as the slots.

5. The fan module as claimed in claim 2, wherein the diameter of the positioning hole is greater than the width of each of the slots.

6. The fan module as claimed in claim 2, wherein the main board has a power terminal located in one of the slots and configured to electrically connect to one of the contacts of the fan.

7. The fan module of claim 6, wherein one of the plurality of contacts of the fan is a power contact, and the power contact and the power terminal are both located in one of the plurality of slots and electrically connected to each other.

8. The fan module as claimed in claim 2, wherein said main board has a signal terminal located in one of said slots and configured to electrically connect to one of said contacts of said fan.

9. The fan module as recited in claim 8, wherein one of said plurality of contacts of said fan is a signal contact, said signal contact and said signal terminal being disposed in one of said slots and electrically connected to each other.

10. The fan module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the positioning holes are through holes.