AXIAL FAN BLOWER
A blower includes a power supply unit drivingly coupled to a fan assembly including a plurality of fan stages via an input shaft coupled to the fan stages. Each fan stage includes a housing, a plurality of stationary vanes, and a fan including blades extending radially away from a hub. The fan stages are non-identical, and include fans having varied characteristics such as hub diameter, blade length, axial blade width, blade twist, and/or blade orientation. For example, the diameter of the fan hubs may increase moving in a downstream direction. In addition, the fan assembly may be a stand-alone unit or attachment having an input shaft pro trading from the fan assembly that is configured to be coupled to a generic power supply unit for operating the fan assembly.
This application claims priority to co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/174,561 filed on Jun. 12, 2015, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUNDThe present invention relates to axial fan blowers and more particularly to an axial fan blower with a plurality of fan stages.
SUMMARYThe present invention provides, in one aspect, a blower including a main housing supporting a motor a fan assembly coupled to the main housing and operatively coupled to the motor. The fan assembly includes a first fan stage including a first housing section having a first plurality of stationary vanes and a first fan having a first plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a first hub, and a second fan stage coupled to the first fan stage and including a second housing section having a second plurality of stationary vanes and a second fan having a second plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a second hub. The second fan stage is not identical to the first fan stage. The blower also includes an air inlet, defined at least partially within the main housing, and an air outlet, defined by a tapered air outlet that is coupled to the fan assembly.
The present invention provides, in another aspect, a blower attachment including a rotatable input shaft operatively coupled to a fan assembly. The fan assembly includes a first fan stage including a housing section having a first plurality of stationary vanes and a first fan having a first plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a first hub, and a second fan stage coupled to the first fan stage and including a housing section having a second plurality of stationary vanes and a second fan having a second plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a second hub. The second fan stage is not identical to the first fan stage. The blower attachment also includes an air outlet, defined by a tapered air outlet that is coupled to the fan assembly.
The present invention provides, in another aspect, a blower including a main housing supporting a motor and at least partially defining an air inlet, and a fan assembly coupled to the main housing downstream from the air inlet and operatively coupled to the motor. The fan assembly includes a first fan stage including a first housing section coupled to the main housing and having a first plurality of stationary vanes and a first fan having a first plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a first hub, a second fan stage coupled to the first fan stage and including a second housing section having a second plurality of stationary vanes and a second fan having a second plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a second hub, and a third fan stage coupled to the second fan stage and including a third housing section having a third plurality of stationary vanes and a third fan having a third plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a third hub. The first fan, the second fan, and the third fan each non-identical. The blower also includes a tapered air outlet disposed downstream from the fan assembly.
Other features and aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
With continued reference to
The directed air outlet 62 includes a first end 66 coupled to the air guide assembly 58 and a second end 70 that is preferably tapered relative to the first end 66. The directed air outlet 62 is detachably coupled to the air guide assembly 58 via at least one coupling member 74 disposed on the first end 66 of the directed air outlet 62. In this construction, the coupling member 74 is shown as a bayonet coupling, with a generally L-shaped slot 74a located on the directed air outlet 62 and a projection on the air guide assembly 58 configured to fit in the L-shaped slot 74a . However, other coupling features have been contemplated as useful.
The air guide assembly 58 includes a generally conical housing 78 disposed circumferentially about a guide cone 82 (
With reference to
Each of the fan stages includes the housing 112 with each housing 112 having substantially the same outside diameter (
With continued reference to
With reference to
In operation, a user actuates the trigger 40 to operate the motor to rotate the output shaft, which in turn rotates the input shaft 52 of the blower fan assembly 50 causing rotation of each fan 100. As shown by the flow lines in
In an alternate embodiment of a blower fan assembly 250, shown in
With continued reference to
The directed air outlet 462 includes a first end 466 coupled to the air guide assembly 458 and a second end 470 that is preferably tapered relative to the first end 466. The directed air outlet 462 is detachably coupled to the air guide assembly 458 via at least one coupling member 474 disposed on the first end 466 of the directed air outlet 462. In this construction, the coupling member 474 is shown as a bayonet coupling, with a generally L-shaped slot 474a located on the directed air outlet 462 and a projection on the air guide assembly 458 configured to fit in the L-shaped slot 474a . However, other coupling features have been contemplated as useful.
The air guide assembly 458 includes a generally conical housing 478 disposed circumferentially about a guide cone 482 (
With reference to
Each of the fan stages includes the housing 512 with each housing 512 having substantially the same outside diameter (
With continued reference to
With reference to
In operation, a user starts the motor 422 (e.g., using a pull-start cord, electronic starter, etc.) and actuates the trigger 440 to operate the motor 422 to rotate the output shaft, which in turn rotates the input shaft 452 of the blower fan assembly 450 causing rotation of each fan 500. As shown by the flow lines in
In an alternate embodiment of a blower fan assembly 650, shown in
Each fan stage 654 includes a fan stage housing 612 having a set of stationary guide vanes 616, and a fan 600 rotatably coupled to the housing 616. The blower assembly 650, and therefore each fan stage 654, includes substantially similar characteristics to those described above in reference to
The blower fan assembly 50, 250, 450, 650 may be used in other applications outside of a blower (e.g., power unit assembly 20). For example, the fan stages 54, 254, 454, 654 may be incorporated into an HVAC or cooling system, an air drying system, a humidifier, a pump, an industrial exhaust system, a medical device (e.g., aspiration equipment), a workshop dust collection system, a sand blaster, an airbrush, an air reel for agricultural harvesting, or a commercial grain/seed spreader, among others. As such, the fan stages 54, 254, 454, 654 may be configured to generate suction rather than a directed airflow. In such a construction, the fan stages would be operable to direct air in the reverse direction to the flow lines shown in
As discussed, each of the various embodiments includes multiple fan stages in which the blades of each progressing stage change. Specifically, when moving in the direction of blower flow, the axial width of each stage of blades narrows. In addition, the amount of twist for each blade reduces in the blower flow direction. Finally, the total number of blades in each stage increases in the direction of blower flow. It should be noted that in some constructions, some or all of these parameters may remain the same for two adjacent rows.
Any feature described and illustrated herein with regard to one embodiment is equally applicable to any other embodiment described herein and should not be limited to that embodiment for which the feature is described.
Various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.
Claims
1. A blower comprising:
- a motor;
- a main housing supporting the motor;
- a fan assembly coupled to the main housing and operatively coupled to the motor, the fan assembly including a first fan stage including a first housing section having a first plurality of stationary vanes and a first fan having a first plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a first hub;
- a second fan stage coupled to the first fan stage and including a second housing section having a second plurality of stationary vanes and a second fan having a second plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a second hub, the second fan stage being different than the first fan stage;
- an air inlet, defined at least partially within the main housing; and
- a tapered air outlet that is coupled to the fan assembly.
2. The blower of claim 1, wherein a diameter of the first hub is smaller than a diameter of the second hub.
3. The blower of claim 1, wherein a length of each blade of the first plurality of blades is greater than a length of each blade of the second plurality of blades.
4. The blower of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of blades includes a first quantity of blades and the second plurality of blades includes a second quantity of blades that is different than the first quantity.
5. The blower of claim 1, wherein the first fan and the second fan are non-identical.
6. The blower of claim 1, wherein each blade of the first fan and the second fan includes a blade length, an blade width, a blade twist, and a blade pitch, and wherein at least one of the group consisting of the blade length, the blade width, the blade twist, and the blade pitch are different on the first fan and the second fan.
7. A blower attachment comprising:
- an input shaft rotatable about an axis;
- a fan assembly operatively coupled to the input shaft, the fan assembly including: a first fan stage including a housing section having a first plurality of stationary vanes and a first fan having a first plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a first hub; a second fan stage coupled to the first fan stage and including a housing section having a second plurality of stationary vanes and a second fan having a second plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a second hub, the second fan stage being non-identical to the first fan stage;
- a tapered air outlet that is coupled to the fan assembly.
8. The blower of claim 7, wherein a diameter of the first hub is smaller than a diameter of the second hub.
9. The blower of claim 7, wherein a length of each blade of the first plurality of blades is greater than a length of each blade of the second plurality of blades.
10. The blower of claim 7, wherein the first plurality of blades includes a first quantity of blades and the second plurality of blades includes a second quantity of blades that is different than the first quantity.
11. The blower of claim 7, wherein the first fan and the second fan are non-identical.
12. The blower of claim 7, wherein each blade of the first fan and the second fan each include a blade length, an blade width, a blade twist, and a blade pitch, and wherein at least one of the group consisting of the blade length, the blade width, the blade twist, and the blade pitch are different on the first fan and the second fan.
13. A blower comprising:
- a motor;
- a main housing supporting the motor and at least partially defining an air inlet;
- a fan assembly coupled to the main housing downstream from the air inlet and operatively coupled to the motor, the fan assembly including a first fan stage including a first housing section coupled to the main housing and having a first plurality of stationary vanes and a first fan having a first plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a first hub; a second fan stage coupled to the first fan stage and including a second housing section having a second plurality of stationary vanes and a second fan having a second plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a second hub; a third fan stage coupled to the second fan stage and including a third housing section having a third plurality of stationary vanes and a third fan having a third plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from a third hub; wherein the first fan, the second fan, and the third fan are non-identical;
- a tapered air outlet disposed downstream from the fan assembly.
14. The blower of claim 13, wherein a diameter of the third hub is greater than a diameter of the second hub and a diameter of the first hub.
15. The blower of claim 14, wherein the diameter of the second hub is greater than the diameter of the first hub.
16. The blower of claim 13, wherein the third plurality of blades includes a third quantity of blades, the second plurality of blades includes a second quantity of blades, and the first plurality of blades includes a first quantity of blades, and the third quantity of blades is greater than each of the second quantity of blades and the first quantity of blades.
17. The blower of claim 16, wherein the second quantity of blades is greater than the first quantity of blades.
18. The blower of claim 13, wherein the first housing section, the second housing section, and the third housing section each have approximately the same diameter.
19. The blower of claim 13, wherein an axial width of each blade of the first plurality of blades is greater than an axial width of each blade of the second plurality of blades and the third plurality of blades.
20. The blower of claim 13, wherein each of the first plurality of blades has an orientation that is different than the second plurality of blades and the third plurality of blades.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 11, 2016
Publication Date: Mar 29, 2018
Inventor: Ronald J. Hoffman (Iva, SC)
Application Number: 15/501,145