1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a blower fan and, more particularly, to a blower fan including air guiding tubes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional blower fans include a housing having an axial air inlet and a side air outlet. An impeller is rotatably mounted in the housing for drawing in air currents that are concentrated before exiting the side air outlet to a heat source. In use, the blower fans must be mounted adjacent the heat source with the side air outlet aligned with the heat source to assure temperature lowering of the heat source.
Currently available electronic products may have several heat sources such as the main board, the central processing unit, the display card, etc located in different locations. However, the conventional blower fans can only perform heat dissipation for the heat sources adjacent the side air outlet. A solution to this is increasing the number of the blower fans that leads to inevitable increase in the costs. In another approach, the housing of the blower fan is provided with several air outlets or an external air guiding tube for dissipating heat generated by heat sources in different locations.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a blower fan with increased air output.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a blower fan capable of dissipating heat of heat sources in different locations.
The present invention fulfills the above objectives by providing, in a preferred form, a blower fan including a housing having a lateral wall defining a compartment. The housing further includes an air inlet and an air outlet both in communication with the compartment. The air outlet includes opposite first and second end edges. The housing defines a first plane passing the first and second end edges. An impeller is rotatably mounted in the compartment of the housing. The impeller includes a hub and a plurality of blades mounted on an outer periphery of the hub. The impeller defines a second plane including a center of the hub. The second plane is parallel to and spaced from the first plane. At least one air guiding tube includes an inlet end and an outlet end. The compartment of the housing includes an air outlet section and a pressure accumulating section on opposite sides of the second plane. The air outlet section is located between the first and second planes. The lateral wall of the housing includes at least one air guiding hole located in the pressure accumulating section. The inlet end of the at last one air guiding tube is coupled to the at least one air guiding hole.
The present invention will become clearer in light of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments of this invention described in connection with the drawings.
The illustrative embodiments may best be described by reference to the accompanying drawings where:
All figures are drawn for ease of explanation of the basic teachings of the present invention only; the extensions of the figures with respect to number, position, relationship, and dimensions of the parts to form the preferred embodiments will be explained or will be within the skill of the art after the following teachings of the present invention have been read and understood. Further, the exact dimensions and dimensional proportions to conform to specific force, weight, strength, and similar requirements will likewise be within the skill of the art after the following teachings of the present invention have been read and understood.
Where used in the various figures of the drawings, the same numerals designate the same or similar parts. Furthermore, when the terms “first”, “second”, “inner”, “outer”, “end”, “section”, “centrifugal”, and similar terms are used herein, it should be understood that these terms have reference only to the structure shown in the drawings as it would appear to a person viewing the drawings and are utilized only to facilitate describing the invention.
A blower fan of a first embodiment according to the preferred teachings of the present invention is shown in
Specifically, the housing 1 includes a lateral wall 11 defining a compartment 111. The housing 1 further includes an air inlet 12 and an air outlet 13 that are in communication with the compartment 111. The air outlet 13 includes opposite first and second end edges 131 and 132. The housing 1 defines a first plane P1 passing the first and second end edges 131 and 132. A cover 14 is mounted to the lateral wall 11 of the housing 1 and includes an opening 141 aligned with the air inlet 12. Air currents generated by the impeller 2 can flow through the opening 141 and the air inlet 12 into the compartment 111 of the housing 1. The housing 1 can include at least one auxiliary air inlet preferably aligned with the air inlet 12.
The impeller 2 is rotatably mounted in the compartment 111 and includes a hub 21 and a plurality of blades 22. The impeller 2 defines a second plane P2 including a center of the hub 21. The second plane P2 is parallel to and spaced from the first plane P1. The blades 22 are mounted to an outer periphery of the hub 21 for driving the air currents to the air outlet 13 and the air guiding tube 3.
More specifically, the compartment 111 is divided into an air outlet section 111a and a pressure accumulating section 111b by defining the first and second planes P1 and P2. The air outlet section 111a is located between the first and second planes P1 and P2. The pressure accumulating section 111b and the air outlet section 111a are located on opposite sides of the second plane P2. The lateral wall 11 includes an air guiding hole 15 in the pressure accumulating section 111b for coupling the air guiding tube 3.
The air guiding tube 3 includes an inlet end 31 and an outlet end 32. The inlet end 31 is coupled to the air guiding hole 15 of the housing 1 and in communication with the compartment 111. Namely, the inlet end 31 is located in the pressure accumulating section 111b. The outlet end 32 extends away from the housing 1 for guiding the air currents to the heat source 4.
With reference to
Since the inlet end 31 of the air guiding tube 3 is in the pressure accumulating section 111b, the wind pressure of the air currents drawn in by the impeller 2 via the air inlet 12 can be accumulated in the pressure accumulating section 111b to provide a larger wind pressure. Thus, the air currents driven by the blades 22 can flow more easily along an inner face of the lateral wall 11 of the housing 1 to the heat source 4 after passing through the air guiding tube 3. Thus, the air guiding tube 3 provides more amount of air by the larger wind pressure to dissipate the heat generated by the heat source 4, enhancing the overall heat dissipating effect.
More specifically, with reference to
The housing 1 of the blower fan according to the teachings of the present invention can include one or more air guiding holes 15 cooperating one or more air guiding tubes 3 according to needs. Furthermore, the blower fan according to the teachings of the present invention can utilize various types of the air guiding tubes 3.
In a preferred form shown in
In another preferred form shown in
In another preferred form shown in
According to above, by locating the air inlet ends 31 of the air guiding tubes 3 in the pressure accumulating section 111b, the air currents driven by the impeller 2 can flow through the air guiding tubes 3 to the heat sources 4 under less resistance, providing excellent heat dissipation and enhancing the heat dissipating effect.
The air guiding tubes 3 according to the teachings of the present invention can provide more amount of air for dissipating heat generated by a plurality of heat sources 4 while providing air output via the air outlet 13, of the housing 1. Thus, the amount of outputted air is increased.
The blower fan according to the teachings of the present invention can proceed heat dissipation for a heat source 4 via the air outlet 13 of the housing 1 as well as for a plurality of heat sources 4 distant to the blower fan by using at least one air guiding tube 3, providing enhanced utility.
Thus since the invention disclosed herein may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or general characteristics thereof, some of which forms have been indicated, the embodiments described herein are to be considered in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is to be indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.