# US 10,480,520 B2 · Motor-driven fan with an assembly for minimizing vibration and strain > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,480,520 B2 - Document ID: US10480520B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/291,196 - Filed: 2016-10-12 - Published: 2017-12-21 - Granted: 2019-11-19 - Earliest claimed: 2016-06-16 - Applicants: Scott C. Mancl; Dennis J. Mancl - Inventors: Scott C. Mancl; Dennis J. Mancl - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10480520B2 ## CPC - F04D 25/0606: {the electric motor being specially adapted for integration in the pump} - B05B 7/0081: {Apparatus supplied with low pressure gas, e.g. "hvlp"-guns; air supplied by a fan} - B05B 7/2416: {characterised by the means for producing or supplying the atomising fluid, e.g. air hoses, air pumps, gas containers, compressors, fans, ventilators, their drives} - F04D 17/164: {Multi-stage fans, e.g. for vacuum cleaners} - F04D 29/023: {especially adapted for elastic fluid pumps} - F04D 29/263: {mounting fan or blower rotors on shafts} - F04D 29/281: {for fans or blowers} - F04D 29/30: Vanes - F04D 29/626: {Mounting or removal of fans} - F04D 29/668: {damping or preventing mechanical vibrations} - H02K 5/1732: {radially supporting the rotary shaft at both ends of the rotor (H02K5/1737 takes precedence)} - H02K 7/003: {Couplings; Details of shafts (means for mounting rotors on shafts H02K1/28)} - H02K 7/08: Structural association with bearings - H02K 7/083: {radially supporting the rotary shaft at both ends of the rotor (H02K7/086, H02K7/09 take precedence)} - H02K 7/14: Structural association with mechanical loads, e.g. with hand-held machine tools or fans (with fan or impeller for cooling the machine H02K9/06) - H02K 13/006: {Structural associations of commutators} - F04D 29/056: Bearings - F05D 2230/54: by sheet metal manufacturing - F05D 2240/304: related to the trailing edge of a rotor blade - F04D: NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS (engine fuel-injection pumps F02M; ion pumps H01J41/12; electrodynamic pumps H02K44/02) - B05B: SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES (spray-mixers with nozzles B01F25/72; processes for applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces by spraying B05D) - H02K: DYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES (dynamo-electric relays H01H53/00; conversion of DC or AC input power into surge output power {H03K3/53}) - F05D: INDEXING SCHEME FOR ASPECTS RELATING TO NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES OR ENGINES, GAS-TURBINES OR JET-PROPULSION PLANTS ## Abstract HVLP (High Velocity Low Pressure) motor-driven fans and other types of fans, blowers and vacuums include one or more features for minimizing vibration and eliminating other causes of fan or motor failure. Examples of such features include a fan blade with a particularly short tail section, a fan wheel spacer with a counterbore in an axial face of the spacer, and a small boss or thin shim adjacent to a screw that clamps an assembly of stator laminations between two motor brackets. The tail section, being relatively short, resists bending during high speed rotation, thereby preventing vibration. The counterbore in the spacer provides the spacer with resilience for maintaining an axial clamping force even as part dimensions change due to thermal expansion. The boss or shim allows the screw to tightly clamp the stator laminations without cracking either of the motor brackets. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A motor-driven fan, comprising: an inboard bracket defining an outlet; an outboard bracket; a stator comprising a plurality of laminations; a screw clamping the stator between the inboard bracket and the outboard bracket; an armature comprising a shaft being elongate in an axial direction, a commutator supported by the shaft, and a set of windings being electrically coupled to the commutator; a set of bearings mounted to at least one of the inboard bracket and the outboard bracket, the set of bearings providing the shaft with support in a radial direction that is perpendicular to the axial direction, the set of bearings further supporting the shaft in the axial direction so as to position the set of windings proximate the stator; a fan housing connected to the inboard bracket, the fan housing defining an inlet that is in fluid communication with the outlet of the inboard bracket; a plurality of fan wheels being in an axially stacked arrangement within the fan housing; a nut fastening the plurality of fan wheels to the shaft; and the inboard bracket comprising a first axial surface and a second axial surface both of which face toward and engage the stator, and the outboard bracket comprising a third axial surface and a fourth axial surface both of which face toward and engage the stator, the first axial surface and the third axial surface being adjacent to the screw, the second axial surface extending farther away from the screw than does the first axial surface, the fourth axial surface extending farther away from the screw than does the third axial surface, the first axial surface being spaced apart a first axial distance from the third axial surface, the second axial surface being spaced apart a second axial distance from the fourth axial surface, the first axial distance being less than the second axial distance, and the first axial surface extending further towards the outboard bracket in the axial direction than the second axial surface. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The motor-driven fan of claim 1, wherein the inboard bracket includes an annular shim, and the first axial surface is on the annular shim of the inboard bracket. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The motor-driven fan of claim 1, wherein the first axial surface and the second axial surface are displaced out of coplanar alignment with each other. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The motor-driven fan of claim 1, wherein the outboard bracket includes an annular shim, and the third axial surface is on the annular shim. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The motor-driven fan of claim 1, wherein the third axial surface and the fourth axial surface are displaced out of coplanar alignment with each other. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The motor-driven fan of claim 1, wherein the second axial distance minus the first axial distance equals an offset axial distance that is less than twice an axial thickness of a single lamination of the plurality of laminations. ### Claim 7 A motor-driven fan, comprising: an inboard bracket defining an outlet; an outboard bracket; a stator comprising a plurality of laminations; a screw clamping the stator between the inboard bracket and the outboard bracket; an armature comprising a shaft being elongate in an axial direction, a commutator supported by the shaft, and a set of windings being electrically coupled to the commutator; a set of bearings mounted to at least one of the inboard bracket and the outboard bracket, the set of bearings providing the shaft with support in a radial direction that is perpendicular to the axial direction, the set of bearings further supporting the shaft in the axial direction so as to position the set of windings proximate the stator; a fan housing connected to the inboard bracket, the fan housing defining an inlet that is in fluid communication with the outlet of the inboard bracket; a plurality of fan wheels being in an axially stacked arrangement within the fan housing; a nut fastening the plurality of fan wheels to the shaft; and the inboard bracket comprising a first axial surface and a second axial surface both of which face toward and engage the stator, and the outboard bracket comprising a third axial surface and a fourth axial surface both of which face toward and engage the stator, the first axial surface and the third axial surface being adjacent to the screw, the second axial surface extending farther away from the screw than does the first axial surface, the fourth axial surface extending farther away from the screw than does the third axial surface, the first axial surface being spaced apart a first axial distance from the third axial surface, the second axial surface being spaced apart a second axial distance from the fourth axial surface, the first axial distance being less than the second axial distance, and the third axial surface extending further towards the inboard bracket in the axial direction than the fourth axial surface.