Forced air cooling fan having pivotal fan blades for unidirectional air flow

A forced air cooling fan comprising:

• a disk-shaped member having a plurality of spaced apertures around a periphery of the disk-shaped member;
• a bi-directional rotating means centrally connected to the disk-shaped member for rotating the disk-shaped member about a rotational axis;
• a plurality of V-shaped fan blades each pivotally connected across one of the plurality of spaced apertures and perpendicular to the periphery of the disk-shaped member and operative to generate an axial flow of air in response to rotation of the disk-shaped member about a rotational axis;
• and
• wherein the position of the plurality of V-shaped fan blades is relative to the rotational direction of the rotational means and the direction of the axial flow of air in response to the rotation of the disk-shaped member is independent of the rotational direction of the rotating means.

An apparatus for generating a forced air flow in a predetermined direction, the apparatus comprising:

• a disk-shaped member;
• a series of spaced apertures in groups of two apertures located around a periphery of the disk-shaped member;
• a rotational drive means for rotating the disk-shaped member about a rotational axis;
• and
• a plurality of V-shaped fan blades having a first blade member and a second blade member and a pivoting means therebetween, wherein each one of the plurality of V-shaped fan blades is pivotally connected between one of the groups of two apertures radial to the rotational axis and the V-shaped fan blade pivots to alternately cover one of the group of two apertures relative to the rotational direction of the disk-shaped member to generate the forced air flow in the predetermined direction.

An apparatus for generating a forced axial air flow in a predetermined direction, the apparatus comprising:

• a disk-shaped member having a plurality of spaced apertures located around the periphery of the disk-shaped member;
• a rotational drive means for rotating the disk-shaped member about a rotational axis;
• and
• a plurality of V-shaped fan blades each pivotally connected across one of the plurality of apertures and perpendicular to the periphery of the disk-shaped member and operative to generate the forced flow of air in response to rotation of the disk-shaped member about the rotational axis, the V-shaped fan blades comprising:
• a pivoting means having a first side and a second side;
• a first blade member connected to the first side of the pivoting means;
• a second blade member angularly connected to the second side of the pivoting means to form the V-shaped fan blade;
• and
• wherein the V-shaped fan blade pivots and the first and second blade members alternately cover a corresponding portion of one of the apertures relative to the rotational direction of the disk-shaped member to generate the forced axial flow of air in the predetermined direction.

A method of generating an axial flow of air in a predetermined direction utilizing an axial fan having disk-shaped member containing a series of V-shaped fan blades disposed across a series of spaced apertures located around the periphery of the disk-shaped member, the method comprising:

• engaging the disk-shaped member with a rotating drive;
• the rotating drive, rotating the disk-shaped member in a first direction about a rotational axis to interact with the surrounding air to pivot the V-shaped fan blades to a first uniform position;
• and
• generating the axial flow of air in the predetermined axial direction in response to rotation of the disk-shaped member.