Bi-directional cooling fan
AssigneeNidec Motor Corporation
InventorJose L. Vadillo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A radial fan comprises a base with a plurality of straight primary blades radially oriented and substantially uniformly spaced around the circumference of the base. A like plurality of splitter vanes are interspersed between successive primary blades. The splitter vanes have a length that is about 50-70% of the length of the primary blades. The inner edges of the splitter vanes are angled to improve airflow through the inlet area between primary blades while reducing the occurrence of vortices and recirculation. The addition of splitter vanes increases the airflow capacity of the fan without any significant increase in operating noise.
Claims20
A radial fan comprising:
- a conical base defining a central hub for engagement to a source of rotation about an axis of rotation;
- a plurality of primary blades radially oriented and spaced around the circumference of said conical base, each primary blade having an outer edge that terminates adjacent an outer edge of said conical base and an inner edge that terminates adjacent said central hub, each primary blade having a primary length from said outer edge to said inner edge,
- wherein each primary blade has a blade base connected to said conical base and an opposite upper edge having a portion that is substantially parallel to said conical base and a portion that is substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said conical base along said primary length;
- and
- a plurality of splitter vanes interspersed between successive primary blades and radially oriented on said conical base, said splitter vanes each having a vane outer edge that terminates adjacent the outer edge of said conical base and a vane inner edge that terminates radially outboard of the inner edge of each of said primary blades, said splitter vanes each having a vane length from said vane outer edge to said vane inner edge that is about 50-70% of said primary length.
A radial fan comprising:
- a conical base defining a central hub for engagement to a source of rotation about an axis of rotation;
- a plurality of primary blades radially oriented and spaced around the circumference of said conical base, each primary blade having an outer edge that terminates adjacent an outer edge of said conical base and an inner edge that terminates adjacent said central hub, each primary blade having a primary length from said outer edge to said inner edge,
- wherein each primary blade has a blade base connected to said conical base and an opposite upper edge having a portion that is substantially parallel to said conical base and a portion that is substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said conical base along said primary length;
- and
- a plurality of splitter vanes interspersed between successive primary blades and radially oriented on said conical base, said splitter vanes each having a vane outer edge that terminates adjacent said outer edge of said conical base and a vane inner edge that terminates radially outboard of the inner edge of each of said primary blades.
A bi-directional radial fan adapted for rotation in clockwise or counter-clockwise directions, said fan comprising:
- a conical base defining a central hub for engagement to a source of rotation about an axis of rotation;
- a plurality of straight primary blades radially oriented and spaced around the circumference of said conical base plate, each primary blade having an inner edge that terminates adjacent said central hub and an outer edge that terminates outboard of said inner edge, each primary blade having a primary length from said outer edge to said inner edge, wherein each primary blade has a blade base connected to said conical base and an opposite upper edge having a portion that is substantially parallel to said conical base and a portion that is substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said conical base along said primary length;
- and
- at least one straight splitter vane interspersed between two successive primary blades and radially oriented on said conical base, each splitter vane having an inner edge and an outer edge defining a vane length from said outer edge to said inner edge that is less than said primary length of the primary blades.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.