Amazon patents rack system that auto-aligns liquid cooling pipes
Amazon has been granted a patent for a mechanical assembly designed to connect liquid cooling systems in server racks. The device uses a spring-loaded guide to automatically straighten a coolant pipe so it fits perfectly into a matching port without manual adjustment.
In the filing’s own words
A system can include an alignment assembly configured to be implemented relative to a rack-mountable chassis. The alignment assembly can include a collar sized to receive a cylindrical body of an adapter in a received position in which a fitting of the adapter and a coolant connector of the adapter are arranged extending away from opposite sides of the collar. A housing may contain the collar and include landing surfaces arranged for receiving a set of biasing members to press against the landing surfaces and impart biasing forces directed at least partially radially toward the collar. A guide block may be moveable relative the housing and include a bore sized for being received on the adapter in the received position. The guide block may be accompanied by a tapered surface engageable by axial translation to cause radial translation of the collar counter to at least some of the biasing members.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A system, comprising: a rack; a chassis slidingly received in the rack; a server component borne by the chassis; a coolant manifold coupled with the rack and including a port body and a guide pin spaced a predetermined distance from the port body; a conduit arranged in the chassis to convey coolant for cooling the server component; and an alignment assembly borne by the chassis and arranged between, and configured to facilitate alignment between, the conduit and the coolant manifold, the alignment assembly comprising: an adapter comprising a cylindrical body connected at a distal end with a fitting and at a proximal end with a coolant connector, wherein the fitting is connected with the conduit, and wherein the coolant connector is releasably connectible with the port body of the coolant manifold; a collar in which the cylindrical body is received; a set of biasing members distributed along an outer circumference of the collar and oriented to impart biasing forces directed radially toward the collar; a housing containing the collar and the set of biasing members; and a guide block having a bore received on the adapter, the guide block further comprising a guide socket having a tapered surface translatable axially toward the guide pin to engage the guide pin and cause radial translation of the collar and the adapter counter to at least some of the biasing members to correct radial misalignment of the coolant connector relative to the port body of the coolant manifold.
Facts
- Company
- Amazon (Amazon Technologies, Inc.)
- Official title
- Rack-based system with coolant connector alignment assembly
- Patent number
- US12772417B1
- Application number
- 18749396
- Filed
- Jun 20, 2024
- Granted
- Oct 20, 2026
- Inventors
- 7
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H05K 7/20272 Electricity & electronicsH05K 7/20781 Electricity & electronicsMore from Amazon in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.