Low solidity vehicle cooling fan
AssigneeHorton, Inc.
InventorsTristan Carlson, Scott Miller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An axial flow fan for use with a vehicle cooling system includes a hub defining an axis of rotation, and at least five blades supported on the hub. Each blade includes a leading edge, a trailing edge opposite the leading edge, a pressure side extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge, a suction side opposite the pressure side, a tip, and a root opposite the tip along a blade length. A solidity of the axial flow fan, measured as a percentage of an annular flow area between an outer diameter of the hub and an outer diameter of the tips of the blades projected onto a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation that is occupied by the blades, is less than 40%.
Claims19
An axial flow fan for use with a vehicle cooling system, the axial flow fan comprising:
- a hub defining an axis of rotation;
- and
- a plurality of blades supported on the hub, the plurality of blades including at least five blades, each blade comprising:
- a leading edge;
- a trailing edge opposite the leading edge;
- a pressure side extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge;
- a suction side opposite the pressure side;
- a tip;
- and
- a root opposite the tip along a blade length,
- wherein a solidity of the axial flow fan, measured as a percentage of an annular flow area between an outer diameter of the hub and an outer diameter of the tips of the plurality of blades projected onto a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation that is occupied by the plurality of blades, is less than 40%, and
- wherein each of the plurality of blades has a radially inner section having dihedral curvature that is concave at the pressure side and a radially outward straight section having essentially no dihedral curvature at the trailing edge, wherein the radially outward straight section extends to the tip.
The axial flow fan of any preceding claim, wherein the solidity is less than 25%.
An axial flow fan comprising:
- a hub defining an axis of rotation;
- and
- exactly five blades integrally and monolithically formed with at least a portion of the hub, each of the five blades being free-tipped and comprising:
- a leading edge;
- a trailing edge opposite the leading edge;
- a pressure side extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge;
- a suction side opposite the pressure side;
- a tip;
- a root opposite the tip along a blade length;
- and
- a hub ramp on the pressure side,
- wherein a solidity of the axial flow fan, measured as a percentage of an annular flow area between an outer diameter of the hub and an outer diameter of the tips of the five blades projected onto a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation that is occupied by the five blades, is less than 25%, and
- wherein a maximum total turning angle along the blade length of each of the five blades is greater than or equal to 80°;
- and
- wherein each of the five blades has a shape defined by a radially inner section having dihedral curvature that is concave at the pressure side and a radially outward section that is essentially straight in a dihedral direction at the trailing edge and at the leading edge, wherein the dihedral direction is perpendicular to chord, and wherein the radially outward straight section extends to the tip.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.