High Efficiency Ducted Fan
AssigneeDelta T, LLC
InventorsRichard M. Aynsley, Richard A. Oleson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fan assembly comprises a hub and fan blades. The hub includes a plurality of sockets configured to receive complementary mounting blocks of the fan blades. The mounting blocks each include at least one tapered shoulder portion. The mounting blocks are each tapered along three dimensions. Each mounting block comprises a rear face seated against a complementary rear face of the corresponding socket and a front face that is exposed relative to the hub. A cap secures the fan blades to the hub. The fan assembly may also include one or more shrouds positioned about the fan blades. The one or more shrouds may be substantially straight cylinders, may be flared or bell-shaped, may comprise a cage, may have any other suitable configuration, or may be omitted altogether.
Claims20
A fan assembly, comprising:
- (a) a hub, wherein the hub includes a plurality of sockets, wherein each socket has at least one tapered portion, wherein the hub is rotatable about a hub axis, wherein each socket extends along a direction that is substantially parallel to the hub axis;
- and
- (b) a plurality of fan blades, wherein each fan blade includes a block, wherein each block is inserted in a corresponding socket of the plurality of sockets, wherein each block has at least one tapered portion, wherein each fan blade extends along a respective fan blade axis, wherein the fan blade axes extend outwardly from the hub axis;
- wherein the at least one tapered portion of each socket complements the at least one tapered portion of each corresponding block.
A fan blade, the fan blade comprising:
- (a) a blade portion;
- and
- (b) a block portion, wherein the block portion is configured to secure the blade portion to a fan hub, wherein the blade portion and the block portion together define a fan blade axis, wherein the block portion comprises a shoulder extending outwardly from the fan blade axis, wherein the shoulder is tapered.
A method of assembling a fan, wherein the fan comprises a hub having sockets and a plurality of fan blades having mounting blocks, wherein the hub is rotatable about a hub axis, wherein each mounting block has a tapered shoulder portion, the method comprising:
- (a) inserting each mounting block into a corresponding socket of the hub, wherein the act of inserting comprises moving each block along a direction that is substantially parallel to the hub axis;
- and
- (b) securing a cap to the hub to substantially secure the fan blades to the hub along the direction that is substantially parallel to the hub axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.