Collapsible fan and system and method incorporating same
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsJohn Franz, Wade Vinson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A collapsible fan. The collapsible fan may be disposed in parallel or series with one or more other fans. If the collapsible fan becomes inactive or non-operable, such as by malfunction or failure, then its fan blades collapse to a less restrictive flow configuration allowing the remaining fans to operate more effectively. The fan blades may have any suitable expansion and contraction mechanism, such as a hinge, a pivot joint, or a multi-section inner or outer support structure having different sections of the fan blades.
Claims22
A fan, comprising:
- a support structure;
- and
- a plurality of collapsible fan blades coupled to the support structure, wherein the plurality of collapsible fan blades comprises multiple blade sections, wherein the multiple blade sections comprise at least first and second blade sections disposed on first and second longitudinally adjacent support structure sections of the support structure.
A system, comprising:
- a housing having an opening;
- and
- a flow-inducing device disposed in the opening and comprising a plurality of collapsible blades, each collapsible blade comprising a first blade segment and a second blade segment rotatably coupled by a hinge, and wherein the first blade segment comprises substantially most of the surface area of the collapsible blade and is rotatable about the hinge relative to the second blade segment.
A flow-inducing system, comprising:
- a first fan;
- and
- a second fan disposed in the flow path of the first fan, wherein the first fan comprises fan blades each being rotatable about a central axis of rotation of the first fan, wherein the fan blades comprise at least three blade sections.
A flow-inducing system, comprising:
- a first fan;
- and
- a second fan disposed in the flow path of the first fan, wherein at least one fan of the first and second fans comprises collapsible fan blades, wherein the collapsible fan blades comprises a first segment and a second segment, the second segment being positionable substantially behind the first segment relative to the flow path.
A flow-inducing system, comprising:
- a first fan;
- and
- a second fan disposed in the flow path of the first fan, wherein the first fans comprises collapsible fan blades, wherein the collapsible fan blades comprise a plurality of multi-sectional fan blades having different blade sections disposed on different axially adjacent sections of a multi-sectional support structure.
A method for transferring heat, comprising:
- flowing a medium through a plurality of fans disposed in a flow path;
- and
- collapsing fan blades of a non-operational fan of the plurality of fans, wherein collapsing fan blades comprises longitudinally stacking sections of each of the fan blades in alignment with the flow path.
A method of manufacture, comprising:
- deploying a fan in a device;
- and
- providing the fan with a support structure having a plurality of collapsible fan blades extending from the support structure, each of the collapsible fan blades having a first segment and a second segment, the second segment being positionable behind the first segment relative to a flow direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.