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US 12,510,089 B2Granted
Air-moving device with single-part rotor and methods
AssigneeWhisper Aero Inc.
InventorsMark Douglass Moore, Ian Andreas Villa, Devon Jedamski, Xiaofan Fei, Andrew George Terajewicz, Jonathan Jeffrey Paravano, Andrew Michael Marschner, Matthew Alan Dempsey, Timothy Jacob Mitchell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An air-moving device may include an aerodynamic rotor in the form of a bladed disk. The aerodynamic rotor may include a physical geometry that constrains a noise level of the air-moving device during operation. The air-moving device may be a leaf blower.
Claims26
An apparatus configured to generate thrust in an air-moving device, comprising:
- a single-part rotor comprising:
- a central hub configured to be axially rotated;
- a quantity of blades between 16 and 45 blades, wherein each blade has a proximate end that is integrally formed with the hub of the rotor and radially extends away from the hub to terminate at a terminal end and wherein each blade has a blade aspect ratio between about 1.24 and 6.20;
- wherein a circumferential spacing between the blades is in the range of approximately 1.00 millimeter to approximately 2.23 millimeters;
- and
- a shroud contiguously formed with and circumscribing the terminal ends of the blades;
- wherein the rotor is constructed to allow rotation with a blade passage frequency (BPF) in the range of approximately 10-13 kilohertz (kHz) to create thrust.
4 more elements
A leaf blower comprising:
- a housing that defines a primary airpath between an inlet duct and an outlet duct;
- a motor;
- a drive shaft coupled to the motor;
- and
- a single-part rotor coupled to the drive shaft, the rotor axially located along the primary airpath within the housing between the inlet duct and the outlet duct, the rotor having a singular contiguous construction and comprising:
- a hub;
- blades contiguously formed with and radially extending away from the hub, wherein a quantity of the blades is in the range of 16-45 blades, and wherein each blade has a blade aspect ratio between about 1.24 and 6.20;
- wherein a circumferential spacing between the blades is in the range of approximately 1.00 millimeter to approximately 2.23 millimeters;
- and
- a shroud contiguously formed with and circumscribing the quantity of blades;
- a user interface configured to, based on receiving user input, cause the motor to provide power to the drive shaft that causes the rotor to rotate at a blade passage frequency in the range of about 10-13 kHz to create a fan pressure ratio in the range of about 1.01-1.1, such that the rotation of the rotor results in a noise level of the leaf blower in the range of approximately 45-65 A-weighted decibels dB(A) at distance of at 50 feet.
8 more elements
A leaf blower comprising:
- a housing that defines a primary airpath between an inlet duct and an outlet duct;
- an electric motor;
- a drive shaft coupled to the electric motor;
- and
- a single-part injection-molded rotor coupled to the drive shaft, the rotor axially located along the primary airpath within the housing between the inlet duct and the outlet duct, the rotor having a singular contiguous construction and comprising:
- a hub;
- blades contiguously formed with and radially extending away from the hub, wherein a quantity of the blades is in the range of 26-38 blades, wherein each blade has a blade aspect ratio between about 1.24 and 6.20, and wherein a circumferential spacing between the blades is in the range of approximately 1.00 millimeter (mm) to approximately 2.23 millimeters;
- and
- a shroud contiguously formed with and circumscribing the blades defining an outer diameter of the rotor in the range of approximately 110-130 mm;
- a user interface configured to, based on receiving user input, cause the electric motor to provide power to the drive shaft that causes the rotor to rotate at a blade passage frequency in the range of about 10-13 kHz to create a fan pressure ratio in the range of about 1.01-1.1, such that the rotation of the rotor results in a noise level of the leaf blower in the range of approximately 45-60 A-weighted decibels dB(A) at distance of at 50 feet.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.