Abstract: A blower assembly for an environmental control system comprising a blower housing and a blower operably carried in that housing, the housing having a one-piece inlet ring and ring support, the support having a plurality of upstanding columns that define the space within which the blower operates, and the housing being characterized by the absence of apertured side members. A unitary inlet ring and ring support for a blower assembly, the support having a plurality of upstanding columns, some columns having upstanding webs extending between them and between the inlet ring.

Abstract: The rotor (1) of the fan is surrounded by a casing (5) having inlet and outlet sections (6, 8) interconnected by an enlarged intermediate section (7) defined between and end wall (10) located upstream of the rotor and an end wall (11) axially disposed between the leading and trailing blade edges (12, 13). The annular chamber (9) defined within the intermediate section (7) is subdivided into a plurality of compartments (25) by means of guide vanes (14), the innermost edge zones of which are inclined towards the direction of rotation of the rotor and include an angle of 40.degree. to 65.degree. with a radius to the rotor axis (3). The guide vanes (14) are preferably curved such that they meet the peripheral wall (15) of the annular chamber (9) at right angles.