Fan mounting system

A system for mounting a cooling fan to a stationery panel, said system comprising:

• a stationary panel formed of generally planer sheet material defining parallel inner and outer surfaces;
• an electric motor including a relatively fixed stator assembly and a rotating armature assembly;
• a fan carried for rotation with said armature assembly;
• and
• a one-piece carrier mounting said electric motor and fan to said stationary panel adjacent an exhaust portal formed in said stationary panel, said carrier comprising,
• a body portion adapted for supporting said cooling fan assembly,
• a plurality of mounting legs integrally formed with said body portion and circumferentially arranged about an outer peripheral portion thereof, wherein each said mounting leg is bifurcated to form an outwardly depending diverging pair of cooperating spaced apart resilient leg portions terminating in opposed turned-out end portions configured to extend through a registering associated opening in said panel for inter-locking engagement therewith, and
• a plurality of spring members integrally formed with said body portion and circumferentially arranged between adjacent pairs of said mounting legs, wherein each said spring member extends from said body portion toward the stationary panel and is configured to continuously urge said body portion away from said stationary panel,
• wherein each said associated panel opening is elongated to define an enlarged opening region dimensioned to enable through passage of said associated mounting leg end portions when in a relaxed, spaced apart orientation, a residual opening region dimensioned smaller than said enlarged opening region to receive associated leg portions only when compressed partially toward one another, and an intermediate opening region dimensioned smaller than both said enlarged opening region and residual opening region to permit through passage of said associated mounting leg portions only when compressed substantially completely toward one another,
• wherein said panel member defines a recess registering with each said associated opening, wherein each said recess extends in the direction of the stationary panel inner surface toward said fan and motor, and wherein the associated leg turned-out portions reside in the recess, and
• wherein the associated leg turned-out portions have a characteristic thickness dimensioned less than or equal to a height of the recessed portion
• wherein each said associated panel opening is circumferentially elongated to enable inter-locking engagement of said mounting legs therein by limited relative rotational displacement of said body portion with respect to said stationary panel.