Fan shroud and motor assembly comprised thereof
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsGregory Michael Stehulak, Joshua Zachary Fried
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This disclosure proposes designs for a fan shroud that dissipates thermal energy from a motor using a single, externally-powered fan design. Examples of the proposed fan shroud allow the cooling fluid to achieve maximum velocity at a position at which the fan shroud exposes the flow to cooler ambient air that surrounds the fan shroud/motor assembly. In this configuration, the high-velocity cooling fluid draws the cooler ambient air towards the surface of the motor, which, in turn, increases the thermal capacity of the moving cooling fluid to dissipate more thermal energy from the motor.
Claims20
A fan shroud for a motor, said fan shroud comprising:
- a top element, a first side element, and a second side element, wherein the first side element and the second side element couple with the top element at a first end and terminate at a second end, wherein the second end of the first side element and the second end of the second side element terminate at, respectively, a first plane and a second plane, and wherein the first plane and the second plate are perpendicular to, respectively, a first tangent plane and a second tangent plane that are both tangent to an outer profile of the motor.
A fan shroud for a motor, said fan shroud comprising side elements with ends that terminate at, respectively, a first plane and a second plane, and wherein the first plane and the second plane are perpendicular to, respectively, a first tangent plane and a second tangent plane that are tangent to an outer profile of the motor.
A motor assembly, comprising:
- a motor with a motor housing and a central motor axis;
- and
- a fan shroud coupled to the motor, the fan shroud comprising a first side element and a second side element have an end that terminate at, respectively, a first plane and a second plane, and wherein the first plane and the second plane are perpendicular to, respectively, a first tangent plane and a second tangent plane that are both tangent to an outer profile of the motor.
The motor assembly of claim 19, wherein the gap at the end of the first side element is the same size as the gap at the end of the second side element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.