The present disclosure relates to a blower device.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In general, a blower device configured to discharge air taken in from an intake port to an exhaust port includes, for example, a fan, motor configured to drive the fan, and circuit board on which circuit components such as a Metal Oxide Semiconductor-Field Effect Transistor (MOS-FET) and the like configured to drive the motor are arranged (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
However, in a blower device of such a kind, when a circuit board on which circuit components such as a MOS-FET and the like are arranged is arranged in the vicinity of a motor, the MOS-FET and the like generate a large amount of heat during an operation of the blower device, and hence a coil arranged in the motor is heated by the generated heat. When the temperature of the motor coil is raised by the heating, the drive efficiency of the motor relative to the supplied electric power lowers, and hence the output (blast pressure and blast flow rate) of the blower device lowers.
Moreover, the heat generation itself of the coil becomes a hindrance to the heat radiation of the periphery of the motor, and hence the coil temperature of the motor unnecessarily rises. Accordingly, when the motor is driven within an allowable temperature range, the output of the blower device lowers.
Embodiments described herein aim to provide a blower device capable of suppressing a rise in the coil temperature of the motor, and preventing the output thereof from lowering.
A blower device according to an embodiment includes a housing including an intake chamber configured to take in external air from an intake port, an accommodation chamber communicating with the intake chamber through an opening, and an exhaust port configured to discharge the air inside the accommodation chamber to the outside; a motor provided in the accommodation chamber of the housing and including a coil; a fan provided on a rotating shaft of the motor and configured to introduce the air inside the intake chamber from the opening into the accommodation chamber and blow the air from the accommodation chamber to the exhaust port; a sealing member configured to seal up the intake chamber; and a circuit board which is provided above the sealing member and on which circuit components configured to drive the motor are arranged.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that in the following descriptions, functions and elements substantially identical to each other are denoted by identical reference numbers and are described as the need arises. Further, the drawings are schematic, and relationships between the thickness and planar dimensions, ratios of the thickness of each layer, and like may sometimes differ from those in the actual case.
[Configuration]
[Overall Configuration]
The overall configuration of a blower device 10 according to a first embodiment will be described below by using
As shown in
The intake cover (sealing member) 14 is provided on the housing member 11c, and the housing member 11c and intake cover 14 constitute the intake chamber INR. The intake cover 14 is constituted of a material having excellent thermal conductivity such as aluminum, and functions as a heat sink.
A circuit board 30 is provided above the intake cover 14. Circuit components including a power MOS-FET 32 configured to drive the motor 12 and control circuit 31 configured to control the operation of the power MOS-FET 32 are arranged on the circuit board 30.
A plurality of plate-like heat sinks (heat-radiation members) 20a to 20c are provided between the intake cover 14 and circuit board 30. More specifically, the heat sink 20a is arranged beneath the control circuit 31, heat sink 20b is arranged beneath the control circuit 31 and at a central part in the vicinity of an opening 17c, and heat sink 20c is arranged beneath the power MOS-FET 32. The heat sinks 20a to 20c are constituted of a material excellent in the thermal conductivity such as aluminum. Undersurfaces of the heat sinks 20a to 20c are, for example, pressure-welded to the top surface of the intake cover 14. Top surfaces of the heat sinks 20a to 20c are, for example, pressure-welded to the undersurface of the circuit board 30. The heat sinks 20a to 20c conduct heat generated from the control circuit 31 and power MOS-FET 32 arranged on the circuit board 30 to the intake cover 14.
The board cover 15 is attached to the intake cover 14. The circuit board 30 is covered with the board cover 15. The board cover 15 may be constituted of a material excellent in thermal conductivity such as aluminum.
It should be noted that the housing member 11a is provided on a base plate 200 arranged at the bottom part. An attaching member 220 configured to attach the blower device 10 to a predetermined position is provided on the base plate 200. The base plate 200 and attaching member 220 are fixed to each other with an attaching screw 210n penetrating the base plate 200 and attaching member 220. The attaching member 220 and a coil board 230 are fixed to each other with an attaching screw 230n penetrating the attaching member 220 and coil board 230. The base plate 200, attaching member 220, and housing member 11a are fixed to each other with an attaching screw 200n penetrating these three members. Further, cushion rubbers 221 sandwiching the top surface and undersurface of the attaching member 220 are arranged at ends of the attaching member 220. The blower device 10 is configured in such a manner that the blower device 10 can be attached to an arbitrary position by fixing attaching screws 221n penetrating the attaching member 220 and cushion rubbers 221 to predetermined attaching positions.
The motor 12 is, for example, a coreless motor. The motor 12 includes at least a shaft (rotating shaft) 121, minute gap 122, sleeve 123, magnet 124, coil 125, fixed yoke 126, hub 127, and thrust magnets 128a and 128b.
The shaft 121 is fixed to the base plate 200 with an attaching screw 121a. The minute gap 122 is a very small gap provided between the shaft 121 and sleeve 123. The sleeve 123 is provided at an outer circumferential part of the shaft 121 through the minute gap 122. The magnet 124 is provided at an outer circumferential part of the sleeve 123. The coil 125 is provided at an outer circumferential part of the magnet 124. The fixed yoke 126 is provided at an outer circumferential part of the coil 125 in order to form a predetermined magnetic circuit. The hub 127 is a rotary member configured to support the sleeve 123 and magnet 124 and cover the upper part of the shaft 121. The thrust magnet 128a is a ring-like magnet fixed to the upper part of the shaft 121. The thrust magnet 128b is a ring-like magnet fixed to the upper part of the hub 127 so as to the face aforementioned thrust magnet 128a. In this embodiment, the air dynamic pressure bearing is constituted of the above-mentioned configuration.
It should be noted that in the vicinity of the motor 12, a separate coil 125a is provided as an inductor electrically connected to the coil 125 through the coil board 230. Further, a reinforcing ring configured to prevent the magnet 124 from being broken by the centrifugal force due to the rotation of the fan 13 is provided between the magnet 124 and coil 125.
The fan 13 is arranged in the accommodation chamber LR, and is fixed to the hub 127 functioning as the rotary member. The fan 13 includes a plurality of fan blades 131 configured to blow the air introduced into the intake chamber INR from the intake port 17a to the exhaust port 17b through the opening 17c with a predetermined output (blast pressure and blast flow rate). The plurality of fan blades 131 are provided on the top surface of the fan 13 at predetermined intervals, and each of the fan blades 131 is constituted of a plate-like member protruding in the axial direction.
Furthermore, predetermined gaps are formed between the undersurface 13b of the fan 13 and housing member 11a constituting the accommodation chamber LR, and between the housing member 11a and motor 12. The air inside these gaps is, as will be described later by using
[Assembly Process]
An assembly process of the blower device 10 according to the first embodiment will be described below by using
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
It should be noted that it is desirable that as shown in
As shown in
After this, the board cover 15 shown in
[Electrical Configuration]
As shown in
The power MOS-FET 32 is, for example, a power MOS-FET or the like of the high-voltage system, one end of a current path thereof not shown is electrically connected to a predetermined electric power source through a connector 310 or connector 320, the other end thereof is electrically connected to the coil 125, and control terminal thereof is electrically connected to the control circuit 31.
The control circuit 31 transmits a control signal to the control terminal of the power MOS-FET 32 on the basis of a drive status or the like of the fan unit 51, and controls the electric power to be supplied to the motor 12. Accordingly, the control circuit 31 may include a controller or the like configured to control, for example, the operation of the power MOS-FET 32.
[Air-Blowing Operation]
In the configuration described above, an air-blowing operation of the blower device 10 according to the first embodiment will be described below in detail by using
When the motor 12 is driven by the control unit 52, the fan 13 is rotated, and the pressure inside the blower device 10 becomes a negative pressure as compared with the outside atmospheric pressure, whereby the external air is introduced into the intake chamber INR from the intake port 17a (B0 to B2).
The air introduced into the intake chamber INR is further introduced into the accommodation chamber LR through the opening 17c of the housing member 11b, turns in the accommodation chamber LR, and is discharged from the exhaust port 17b to the outside with a predetermined output (blast pressure and blast flow rate) (B3 to B6). The above-mentioned flow path BO to B6 constitute the main flow path MW of the air flow paths formed by the blower device 10.
Here, as shown in
Returning to
On the other hand, as shown in
The air inside the housing member 11a is introduced into the circuit chamber BR through the flow path hole 11h provided in the housing member 11a, and flow path holes 14h and 30h respectively formed in the intake cover 14 and circuit board 30. Accordingly, the separate coil 125a is cooled by the flow path BW of the air led to the inside of the housing 11a and, furthermore, the control circuit 31 and power MOS-FET 32 are cooled by the flow path BW of the air introduced into the circuit chamber BR. The air inside the circuit chamber BR is discharged into the atmospheric air from the atmospheric hole 151 formed in the board cover 15 (
[Function and Advantage]
According to the above-mentioned first embodiment, the intake chamber INR is sealed up by the intake cover 14 which is a heat sink member, and is arranged in the flow path of the air flowing from the intake port 17a to the fan 13 (
Moreover, the intake chamber INR is arranged between the drive control unit 52 including the control circuit 31 and power MOS-FET 32 and coil 125 of the motor 12, and hence it is possible to physically separate the drive control unit 52 and coil 125 from each other. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the coil 125 of the motor 12 from being raised by the operation heat generated from the control circuit 31 and power MOS-FET 32, and prevent the output of the motor 12 from being lowered.
Furthermore, the air introduced into the gap between the undersurface 13b of the fan 13 and housing member 11a constituting the accommodation chamber LR is introduced into the circuit chamber BR through the bypass flow path BW (
Further, by the aforementioned cooling effect, the scope of choices of the power MOS-FET 32 which is an heating element increases, and a power MOS-FET 32 of a smaller size can be applied, and hence the circuit components of the circuit board 30 can be made smaller. Furthermore, the temperature margin of the power MOS-FET 32 which is an heating element can be made wider, and hence the reliability can be improved.
Moreover, the heat released into the intake chamber INR warms the air introduced into the intake chamber INR, and is discharged into the atmospheric air from the exhaust port 17b through the main flow path MW. Here, when the blower device 10 is applied to a blower device or the like used for CPAP for medical treatment of a sleep-apnea syndrome, it is possible to warm the air for respiration to be supplied from the exhaust port 17b or body-worn attachment for respiration to be worn on the respiratory organ such as a mouth or the like by the endothermic effect obtained at the time of cooling of the drive control unit 52. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the air discharged from the exhaust port 17b from becoming too low as compared with the body temperature of the patient, and reduce the temperature shock occurring due to the temperature difference.
Next, a blower device 10A according to a second embodiment will be described below by using
[Structure]
As shown in
Further, it is possible to make the distance H11A between the top surface of the housing member 11c provided with the opening 17c and fin structural member 140 in the axial direction less than the distance H11 according to the first embodiment, and it is desirable that the distance H11A be provided in such a manner as to have a value, for example, greater than or equal to 5 mm and less than or equal to 15 mm.
Other structures are substantially identical to the above-mentioned first embodiment, and hence their detailed descriptions are omitted. Further, the operation is also substantially identical to the above-mentioned first embodiment, and hence a detailed description thereof is omitted.
[Function and Advantage]
According to the structure and operation of the blower device 10A associated with the second embodiment, at least a function and advantage identical to the first embodiment can be obtained.
Furthermore, the blower device 10A according to the second embodiment is further provided with a fin structural member 140 having a corrugated cross-sectional shape on the intake cover 14 on the intake chamber INR side. By further including the fin structural member 140, it is possible to increase the surface area for radiating the heat generated from the drive control unit 52 to the inside of the intake chamber INR, and enhance the endothermic effect to be obtained by the above-mentioned main flow path MW.
The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the blower devices 10 and 10A according to the above-mentioned first and second embodiments, and can be variously modified as the need arises.
For example, the material constituting the housing member 11c, intake cover 14, fin structural member 140, and board cover 15 may be made of a material (aluminum or the like) having excellent thermal conductivity. By forming the above-mentioned configuration out of a material having higher thermal conductivity, it becomes possible to further enhance the heat radiation effect to be obtained by both the main flow path MW and bypass flow path BW.
Further, the intake cover 14 and heat sinks 20a to 20c may be formed integral with each other by using the same structural member instead of separately forming the intake cover 14 and heat sinks 20a to 20c by using different structural members. Furthermore, the intake cover 14 and heat sinks 20a to 20c formed integral with each other may be formed of a material (aluminum or the like) having good thermal conductivity.
Furthermore, the intake cover 14 and fin structural member 140 may be formed integral with each other as one and the same member in the same manner, and the intake cover 14 and fin structural member 140 formed integral with each other may be formed of a material (aluminum or the like) having good thermal conductivity.
It should be noted that the usage of the blower devices 10 and 10A disclosed in these embodiments is not limited to CPAP for medical treatment of a sleep-apnea syndrome. The blower devices 10 and 10A are widely applicable to other usage items, for example, medical usage or the like for an artificial respirator.
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2016236084 | Dec 2016 | JP | national |
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/JP2017/035337, filed on Sep. 28, 2017, which claims priority to and the benefit of JP 2016-236084 filed on Dec. 5, 2016. The disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/JP2017/035337 | Sep 2017 | US |
Child | 16372900 | US |