Fan having internal polyhedral strut frame
AssigneeAerojet-General Corporation
InventorPaul S. Buckmann
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Several embodiments of high efficiency fans having lightweight housings supported and interconnected with their impellers by star-shaped frames disposed inside the fans, or in other words inside the areas defined by the fan housings, are illustrated herein. The use of a support frame inside the fan permits a much lighter construction than is possible with an outside frame, because the support members are in tension rather than compression and bending forces on different portions of the housing balance each other. To further minimize weight, the fans include hollow support rings and diffusers that receive air from the fan impeller and are partially supported by that air against fan pressure loads.
Claims9
A fan comprising:
- a bladed impeller;
- a housing for said impeller defining a substantially enclosed area having at least one air inlet and one air outlet;
- and
- a housing support frame comprised of a plurality of struts disposed within said housing, at least one support ring supporting said struts, and means connecting said struts to said housing, each strut extending from said at least one support ring to said housing across the air flow path between said impeller blades and said air outlet at a non-orthoginal angle to said impeller, each end of said struts juxtatosed to an end of an adjacent strut to define a zig zag star shaped-pattern.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.