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A ventilation system includes a ventilation tile. The ventilation tile has a substantially circular opening to allow air to flow through the ventilation tile and a collapsible damper operable to collapse and expand to alter the size of the substantially circular opening in the ventilation tile and t

A ventilation system includes a ventilation tile. The ventilation tile has a substantially circular opening to allow air to flow through the ventilation tile and a collapsible damper operable to collapse and expand to alter the size of the substantially circular opening in the ventilation tile and thereby variably restrict air flow through the substantially circular opening.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A ventilation system comprising: a ventilation tile having, a frame sized for placement as a modular floor tile on a raised floor of a data center,a substantially circular opening in the frame to allow air to flow through the ventilation tile;a collapsible damper formed of a sheet of material hav

1. A ventilation system comprising: a ventilation tile having, a frame sized for placement as a modular floor tile on a raised floor of a data center,a substantially circular opening in the frame to allow air to flow through the ventilation tile;a collapsible damper formed of a sheet of material having fold lines operable to collapse and expand into various folded positions to alter the size of the substantially circular opening in the ventilation tile and thereby variably restrict air flow through the substantially circular opening;a guide track supporting an outer edge of the collapsible damper;a cover positioned on the frame to protect the collapsible damper from physical damage;a sensor;an actuator for manipulating the collapsible damper; anda controller configured to receive a condition detected by the sensor and to manipulate the actuator based upon the received condition detected by the sensor. 2. The ventilation system of claim 1, wherein the sheet of material is configured to rotate around a substantially central location of the substantially circular opening to move between a fully collapsed position and a fully expanded position. 3. The ventilation system of claim 2, wherein a minimum amount of air flows through the opening in the ventilation tile when the collapsible damper is in the fully expanded position and a maximum amount of air flows through the opening in the ventilation tile when the collapsible damper is in the fully collapsed position. 4. The ventilation system of claim 2, wherein the sheet of material is divided into multiple segments between the fold lines operable to stack on top of each other as the collapsible damper is moved to the fully collapsed position. 5. The ventilation system of claim 4, wherein the multiple segments are sized to extend approximately the diameter of the substantially circular opening. 6. The ventilation system of claim 2, wherein the fold lines enable the collapsible damper to expand and collapse as the collapsible damper is rotated around the substantially central location of the substantially circular opening. 7. The ventilation system of claim 2, further comprising: a spindle located around the substantially central location of the substantially circular opening, wherein the collapsible damper is attached to the spindle. 8. The ventilation system of claim 7, wherein the actuator is configured to rotate the spindle to thereby cause the collapsible damper to be rotated around the substantially central location of the substantially circular opening. 9. The ventilation system of claim 7, further comprising: at least one support element configured to support the spindle at the substantially central location of the substantially circular opening. 10. The ventilation system of claim 2, wherein the at least one guide track is disposed around a periphery of the substantially circular opening, wherein the at least one guide track enables the collapsible damper to be moved between the fully collapsed position and the fully expanded position. 11. The ventilation system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a sensor for determining the position of the collapsible damper, and wherein the controller is configured to manipulate the collapsible damper in response to the position of the damper determined by the sensor. 12. The ventilation system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a sensor for detecting one or more environmental conditions, and wherein the controller is configured to manipulate the collapsible damper in response to the one or more environmental conditions detected by the sensor. 13. A room comprising: a raised floor having a plurality of modular floor tiles and an opening;a plenum positioned beneath the opening in the raised floora ventilation tile positioned within the opening, wherein the ventilation tile comprises a size similar to the plurality of modular floor tiles, and wherein the ventilation tile includes a substantially circular opening, a collapsible damper formed of a sheet of material having fold lines operable to collapse and expand into various folded positions to variably restrict air flow through the substantially circular opening in the ventilation tile, a guide track supporting an outer edge of the collapsible damper, and a cover positioned to protect the collapsible damper;at least one sensor;an actuator configured to manipulate the collapsible damper; anda controller configured to manipulate the actuator based upon a condition detected by the at least one sensor. 14. The room of claim 13, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a sensor for determining a position of the collapsible damper, and wherein the controller is configured to control the actuator to manipulate the collapsible damper into desired positions. 15. The room of claim 13, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a sensor for detecting one or more environmental conditions, and wherein the controller is configured to control the actuator to manipulate the collapsible damper to maintain one or more environmental conditions within predetermined ranges. 16. A method for controlling airflow through a ventilation system, said ventilation system including a ventilation tile having a substantially circular opening, a collapsible damper formed of a sheet of material having fold lines operable to collapse and expand into various folded positions to vary the size of an opening in the ventilation tile, a cover positioned on the frame to protect the collapsible damper, a guide track supporting an outer edge of the collapsible damper, and an actuator configured to move the collapsible damper, the method comprising: placing the ventilation tile in an opening of a raised floor, wherein the opening is sized to receive a modular floor tile and wherein the ventilation tile comprises a size similar to a modular floor tile;determining a target position for the collapsible damper;determining a current position of the collapsible damper;determining if a difference exists between the current position of the collapsible damper and the target position for the collapsible damper; andmoving the collapsible damper between various folded positions to decrease a difference between the current position of the collapsible damper and the target position of the collapsible damper. 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the collapsible damper is operable to collapse and expand and wherein moving the collapsible damper to decrease the difference further comprises at least one of: collapsing the collapsible damper to allow air to flow through the opening in the ventilation tile; andexpanding the collapsible damper by rotating the collapsible damper around a substantially central location of the substantially circular opening to reduce an amount of air flow through the opening. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the collapsible damper sheet of material is divided into multiple segments between the fold lines and wherein moving the collapsible damper to decrease any difference comprises: moving the segments between various stacked positions to vary the size of the substantially circular opening in the ventilation tile.