Blower wheel attachment for clothes dryer
A blower wheel for a clothes dryer has a plurality of radial fan blades and a hub having a central opening surrounding a center axis of the blower wheel. A first wall portion extends outwardly from the hub adjacent the central opening to at least partially surround the center axis. An electric motor has a shaft with a threaded shaft end portion extending through the central opening and the at least one first wall portion. The threaded shaft end portion has threads arranged in a predetermined orientation. A nut is held within the at least one first wall portion and secured to the threaded shaft end portion whereby the blower wheel rotates with rotation of the shaft.
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The present invention relates to an appliance for drying clothing articles, and, more particularly, to an improved attachment of the blower wheel to a drive motor shaft in a clothes dryer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONClothes dryers used for drying articles of clothing typically have a rotating drum into which the articles of clothing are inserted. The drum is rotated by a motor and transmission interconnecting a shaft of the motor to the drum. This transmission typically comprises a pulley attached to the shaft of the motor and a belt entrained about the pulley and the drum. Heated air is moved through the drum, as the drum is rotated, to dry the articles in the drum. Air is moved through the drum by a blower wheel or centrifugal fan that moves air through ducting typically located in the air exhaust for the dryer drum. The blower wheel is driven by connection with the shaft of the motor.
In a current blower wheel attachment, utilized in clothes dryers manufactured by MABE Canada Inc., for attaching the blower wheel to the shaft of the motor the shaft of the motor has a flat on its end portion that extends through a central opening in the hub of the blower wheel. The blower wheel also has a screw opening on the hub offset from the central opening of the hub. A clip having an aperture with a matching flat is inserted over the flat of the motor shaft. The other end of the clip has a second opening through which a screw passes into the screw opening in the hub of the centrifugal fan. In this manner, the centrifugal fan is caused to rotate by the interconnection of the hub and the flat of the shaft by the clip. Completing this interconnection is a labour intensive step during the manufacturing process of the clothes dryer.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,557,201 discloses a centrifugal fan in which a nut is threaded onto a coupling socket that is in turn secured by a locating screw to the shaft of a motor. The arrangement discloses an attachment that is also relatively labour intensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,707 discloses a blower assembly where the radial or centrifugal fan is secured to a motor shaft by a sleeve bearing, washer and a lock washer fitted into a recess found on the end of the motor shaft. This attachment requires numerous parts.
U.S. patent publication 2004/0221477 A1 discloses a blower wheel attachment to the shaft of a motor which incorporates a nut threaded onto the end of the shaft of the motor. The attachment of this nut requires torquing the nut to the proper force so that the nut (will not become disengaged during normal operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a blower wheel attachment for attaching a centrifugal fan or a blower wheel to a threaded shaft end portion of an electric motor used in a clothes dryer. In particular, the present invention utilizes a nut that is held in place by the blower wheel so that the nut may be tightened to the shaft end portion as the motor rotates. The blower wheel has a hub with a central opening surrounding a center axis of the blower wheel. The blower wheel comprises at least one first wall portion extending outwardly from the hub adjacent the central opening to at least partially surround the center axis. The nut is simply inserted and then held within the at least one first wall portion of the blower wheel so as to secure the nut to the threaded shaft end portion by simply rotating the fan relative to the shaft end portion. When the motor operates, due to the predetermined orientation of the threads on the threaded shaft end portion, the nut is torqued sufficiently and is always tightened. As a result, the nut translates the rotation of the shaft into rotation of the fan.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a blower wheel attachment comprising a blower wheel, an electric motor and a nut. The blower wheel comprises a plurality of radial fan blades and a hub having a central opening surrounding a center axis of the blower wheel. The blower wheel comprises at least one first wall portion extending outwardly from the hub adjacent the central opening to at least partially surround the center axis. The electric motor has a shaft with a threaded shaft end portion extending through the central opening and the at least one first wall portion. The threaded shaft end portion has threads arranged in a predetermined orientation. The nut is held within the at least one first wall portion and secured to the threaded shaft end portion to cause the blower wheel to rotate with the rotation of the shaft of the motor.
For a better understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention reference may be had by way of example to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:
An electronic interface and display panel 56 allows the user to program operation of the dryer and further allows for monitoring progress of respective cycles of operation of the dryer.
Referring to
The blower wheel 48 has a first continuous wall portion 72 which is shown in the shape of a hexagon. This first wall portion 72 extends outwardly from the hub 66 adjacent the central opening 68 so as to surround the center axis 70 of the blower wheel 48. As shown in
In the embodiment shown, the electric motor 44 has a shaft 74 which is connected to the blower wheel 48 by the nut 80 (see
As best seen in
Referring to
While the invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as disclosed herein.
Claims
1. A blower wheel attachment comprising:
- a blower wheel comprising a plurality of radial fan blades and a hub having a central opening surrounding a center axis of the blower wheel, and the blower wheel comprising at least one first wall portion extending outwardly from the hub adjacent the central opening to at least partially surround the center axis;
- an electric motor having a shaft with a threaded shaft end portion extending through the central opening and the at least one first wall portion, the threaded shaft end portion having threads arranged in a predetermined orientation;
- a nut held within the at least one first wall portion and secured to the threaded shaft end portion causing the blower wheel to rotate with rotation of the shaft of the motor.
2. The blower wheel attachment of claim 1 wherein the nut is tightened on the threads of the threaded shaft portion during initial rotation of the shaft.
3. The blower wheel attachment of claim 1 wherein the at least one first wall portion has a hexagonal shape.
4. The blower wheel attachment of claim 1 wherein the at least one first wall portion and nut are shaped to provide an interference fit therebetween to hold the nut relative to the at least one first wall portion.
5. The blower wheel attachment of claim 1 wherein the shaft has an intermediate portion of diameter larger than that of the threaded shaft end portion thereby providing a shoulder between the intermediate portion and the threaded shaft end portion, and the blower wheel has at least one second wall portion extending from the hub adjacent the central opening on a side of the blower wheel opposite to that supporting the at least one first wall portion, and the shoulder and the intermediate portion of the shaft being seated against the hub within the at least one second wall portion.
6. A domestic clothes dryer comprising:
- a cabinet;
- a drum mounted for rotation within the cabinet;
- a blower wheel assembly for moving air through the drum, said blower wheel assembly comprising:
- a blower wheel comprising a plurality of radial fan blades and a hub having a central opening surrounding a center axis of the blower wheel, and the blower wheel comprising at least one first wall portion extending outwardly from the hub adjacent the central opening to at least partially surround the center axis;
- an electric motor having a shaft with a threaded shaft end portion extending through the central opening and the at least one first wall portion, the threaded shaft end portion having threads arranged in a predetermined orientation;
- a nut held within the at least one first wall portion and secured to the threaded shaft end portion causing the blower wheel to rotate with rotation of the shaft of the motor.
7. The domestic clothes dryer of claim 6 wherein the nut is tightened on the threads of the threaded shaft portion during initial rotation of the shaft.
8. The domestic clothes dryer of claim 6 wherein the at least one first wall portion has a hexagonal shape.
9. The domestic clothes dryer of claim 6 wherein the at least one first wall portion and nut are shaped to provide an interference fit therebetween to hold the nut relative to the at least one first wall portion.
10. The domestic clothes dryer of claim 6 wherein the shaft has an intermediate portion of diameter larger than that of the threaded shaft end portion thereby providing a shoulder between the intermediate portion and the threaded shaft end portion, and the blower wheel has at least one second wall portion extending from the hub adjacent the central opening on a side of the blower wheel opposite to that supporting the at least one first wall portion, and the shoulder and the intermediate portion of the shaft being seated against the hub within the at least one second wall portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 29, 2007
Publication Date: Jan 31, 2008
Applicant: MABE CANADA Inc. (Burlington)
Inventor: Francis Forget (Laval)
Application Number: 11/819,833
International Classification: D06F 58/06 (20060101);