METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A FAN GRILL AND A FAN PRODUCING A MULTI-DIRECTIONAL AIR CURRENT
A method and an apparatus for a fan grill, and a fan utilizing the fan grill, that produces a multi-directional air current. The fan grill includes a frame, and a first subset of one or more louvers with major surfaces that are angled to be about perpendicular to a horizontal plane of the fan grill frame. The fan grill also includes a second subset of one or more louvers with major surfaces that are angled to deviate from the first subset of louvers at an offset angle. The fan grill, and the fan utilizing the grill, is capable of producing an air current in a cone or vortex-shape in order to significantly increase air flow in a room. The fan may rotate the fan grill on an axis that is collinear with an axis of rotation of the propellers of the fan.
This application is a non-provisional application that claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/010,236, filed on Jun. 10, 2014, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments relate generally to a fan grill (and a fan utilizing the fan grill) able to produce a multi-directional air current. More particularly, example embodiments relate to a method and apparatus for a fan grill (and a fan utilizing the fan grill) able to produce a cone or a vortex-shaped air current.
2. Related Art
As shown in
Example embodiments provide a method and apparatus for a fan grill, and a fan that may utilize the grill, that may produce an air flow current in the shape of a cone or a vortex in order to significantly increase air circulation in a room. In particular, the fan grill may act to produce air flow currents that spread out across the sides of fan propellers that drive air through the fan grill. The fan grill may also act to produce air flow currents at elevations that are significantly above and below an elevation of the fan propellers, themselves. The fan may also rotate the fan grill, clockwise and/or counter-clockwise, in a plane that is about perpendicular to a direction of air flow that is leaving the fans propellers.
The above and other features and advantages of example embodiments will become more apparent by describing in detail, example embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. The accompanying drawings are intended to depict example embodiments and should not be interpreted to limit the intended scope of the claims. The accompanying drawings are not to be considered as drawn to scale unless explicitly noted.
Detailed example embodiments are disclosed herein. However, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely representative for purposes of describing example embodiments. Example embodiments may, however, be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein.
Accordingly, while example embodiments are capable of various modifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit example embodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but to the contrary, example embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of example embodiments. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description of the figures.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it may be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between”, “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent”, etc.).
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising,”, “includes” and/or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.
As shown in
The offset louvers may be positioned at varying angles, and these angles may be slightly increased or decreased for offset louvers that are directly adjacent to any particular louver. This is shown in
It should also be noted that the surfaces of the louvers of the grill may each have a unique angle, such that none of the louvers share a common angle relative to the flat surface of the grill frame. Furthermore, it should be noted that none of the louvers have to be 90 degrees relative to the flat (horizontal) surface of the grill frame (such that all of the louvers may be ‘offset’ from 90 degrees, relative to the horizontal grill frame). Lastly, it should be understood that the extremely offset louvers (the louvers with the greatest ‘offset’ relative to the grill frame, shown as louvers 1, 2 and 29 in
Example embodiments having thus been described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the intended spirit and scope of example embodiments, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. A fan grill, comprising:
- a grill frame existing in a horizontal plane; and
- a plurality of louvers affixed within the grill frame, each of the louvers being substantially flat and having a longitudinal length, the plurality of louvers being about parallel to each other,
- the plurality of louvers including at least a first subset of louvers that are positioned within the grill frame with at least a first offset angle, the first offset angle deviating from an angle of a centerline of the grill frame relative to the horizontal plane, the centerline traversing through a midpoint of the grill frame and being about perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the grill frame.
2. A fan, comprising:
- a fan frame;
- propellers positioned inside the fan frame;
- a first motor configured to rotate the propellers to produce an air flow in a first direction; and
- the fan grill of claim 1 positioned within the fan frame such that the air flow in the first direction is directed through the fan grill, the first direction being about parallel to the centerline of the grill frame.
3. The fan of claim 2, further comprising:
- a second motor configured to rotate the fan grill in one of a clock-wise and a counter-clockwise direction within the fan frame.
4. The fan of claim 3, wherein the first subset of louvers share a common offset angle that is the first offset angle.
5. The fan of claim 3, wherein the first set of louvers have varying offset angles, the varying offset angles each deviating from the angle of the centerline of the grill frame relative to the horizontal plane.
6. The fan of claim 5, wherein the first set of louvers includes a first ordered series of louvers, the first ordered series of louvers each possessing a unique offset angle, the unique offset angles of the first ordered series of louvers progressively increasing from a first louver to a last louver within the first ordered series of louvers.
7. The fan of claim 4, wherein the plurality of louvers includes at least a second subset of louvers possessing at least a second offset angle relative to the horizontal plane of the grill frame, the second offset angle being different from the first offset angle.
8. The fan of claim 3, wherein at least one of the plurality of louvers has an offset angle that is about equal to the angle of the centerline of the grill frame relative to the horizontal plane.
9. The fan of claim 3, wherein the plurality of louvers each have an offset between 0 and 20 degrees.
10. The fan of claim 3, wherein the plurality of louvers each have an offset between 0 and 12.7 degrees.
11. A fan, comprising:
- a fan frame;
- propellers positioned in the fan frame;
- a first motor configured to rotate the propellers to produce an air flow in a first direction;
- a fan grill positioned within the fan frame such that the air flow in the first direction is directed through the fan grill; and
- a second motor configured to rotate the fan grill in one of a clock-wise and a counter-clockwise direction within the fan frame.
12. The fan of claim 11, wherein the fan grill includes,
- a grill frame existing in a horizontal plane, and
- a plurality of louvers affixed within the grill frame, each of the louvers being substantially flat and having a longitudinal length, the plurality of louvers being about parallel to each other,
- the plurality of louvers including at least a first subset of louvers that are positioned within the grill frame with at least a first offset angle, the first offset angle deviating from an angle of a centerline of the grill frame relative to the horizontal plane, the centerline traversing through a midpoint of the grill frame and being about perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the grill frame.
13. The fan of claim 12, wherein the first subset of louvers share a common offset angle that is the first offset angle.
14. The fan of claim 12, wherein the first set of louvers have varying offset angles, the varying offset angles each deviating from the angle of the centerline of the grill frame relative to the horizontal plane.
15. The fan of claim 14, wherein the first set of louvers includes a first ordered series of louvers, the first ordered series of louvers each possessing a unique offset angle, the unique offset angles of the first ordered series of louvers progressively increasing from a first louver to a last louver within the first ordered series of louvers.
16. The fan of claim 13, wherein the plurality of louvers includes at least a second subset of louvers possessing at least a second offset angle relative to the horizontal plane of the grill frame, the second offset angle being different from the first offset angle.
17. The fan of claim 12, wherein at least one of the plurality of louvers has an offset angle that is about equal to the angle of the centerline of the grill frame relative to the horizontal plane.
18. The fan of claim 12, wherein the plurality of louvers each have an offset angle between 0 and 12.17 degrees.
19. A method of making a fan, comprising:
- positioning propellers in a fan frame;
- configuring a first motor to rotate the propellers to produce an air flow in a first direction;
- positioning a fan grill within the fan frame such that the air flow in the first direction is directed through the fan grill; and
- configuring a second motor to rotate the fan grill in one of a clock-wise and a counter-clockwise direction within the fan frame.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
- forming the fan grill by, providing a grill frame that exists in a horizontal plane, affixing a plurality of louvers within the grill frame, each of the louvers being substantially flat and having a longitudinal length, the plurality of louvers being about parallel to each other, positioning at least a first subset of louvers, of the plurality of louvers, within the grill frame with at least a first offset angle, the first offset angle deviating from an angle of a centerline of the grill frame relative to the horizontal plane, the centerline traversing through a midpoint of the grill frame and being about perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the grill frame.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the plurality of louvers each have an offset between 0 and 12.7 degrees.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 10, 2015
Publication Date: Dec 10, 2015
Inventor: Joseph MCDONNELL (Miramar, FL)
Application Number: 14/735,457