Ceiling fan structure

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6364612
  • Patent Number
    6,364,612
  • Date Filed
    Monday, December 11, 2000
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, April 2, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Ryznic; John E.
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Abstract
A ceiling fan structure including a housing, a motor casing, a fixing disc and multiple vanes. A motor is installed in the housing and enclosed in the motor casing. The motor casing is formed with multiple thread holes on a periphery of bottom face of the motor casing. Multiple vanes are pivotally disposed on bottom side of the fixing disc via vane brackets. The fixing disc is formed with multiple through holes corresponding to the thread holes. A bolt is passed through each through hole for locking the motor casing with the fixing disc and spacing the motor casing from the fixing disc by a certain distance, A spring is fitted on each bolt within the distance for absorbing swinging force exerted onto the vanes during rotation of the ceiling fan.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention is related to a ceiling fan structure which is able to absorb swinging force and keep the ceiling fan in a balanced state during rotation.





FIGS. 4 and 5

show a conventional ceiling fan composed of a fixing seat


81


, a connecting rod


82


, a housing


83


, multiple vane fixing brackets


84


and multiple vanes


85


. The fixing seat


81


is a semispherical body which is fixed on a ceiling via a locking bracket


811


. The locking bracket


811


has two symmetrical locking sections


812


upward extending therefrom. The connecting rod


82


is connected with bottom face of the fixing seat


81


. The locking bracket


811


has a lateral opening


813


through which the connecting rod


82


is passed for inlaying the fixing seat


81


in the locking bracket


811


. The housing


83


is connected to the other end of the connecting rod


82


. A motor


831


is installed in the housing


83


and enclosed in a motor casing


832


. The periphery of bottom side of the motor casing


832


is connected with multiple vane brackets


84


by multiple bolts


86


. Each vane bracket


84


is pivotally connected with a vane


85


which is radially arranged and centered at the motor


831


.




In general, the vane


85


of the ceiling fan is wood-made. The wood will have slightly different specific weight due to different varieties. Therefore, the vanes


85


of the ceiling fan often have different weights. Accordingly, when assembling the ceiling fan, it is necessary to cautiously select the vanes


85


with the same weight. In the case that the respective vanes


85


mounted on the vane brackets have different weights, during rotation of the ceiling fan, the vanes


85


together with the motor


831


will swing. Under such circumstance, the motor


831


will drive the fixing seat


81


to swing on the locking bracket


811


. As a result, after a period of use, the contacting sections of the fixing seat


81


and the locking bracket


811


will be speedily worn out.




Furthermore, in preliminary use, the ceiling fan can keep in a balanced state. However, after a period of use, the weight of the wooden vanes


85


may change due to humidity in the air. This leads to unbalanced state of the ceiling fan and swinging of the entire ceiling fan during rotation.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a ceiling fan structure in which multiple springs are arranged between the motor casing and the fixing disc. The springs are able to absorb the swinging force exerted onto the vanes during rotation due to different weights of the vanes. Therefore, the ceiling fan can be safely and durably used.











The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:




BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a partially sectional view the ceiling fan structure of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a view according to

FIG. 1

, showing that the springs absorb the swinging force exerted onto the vanes of the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a perspective view of the fixing seat of the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a perspective view of a conventional ceiling fan;





FIG. 5

is a partially sectional view of the conventional ceiling fan; and





FIG. 6

shows the fixing seat of the conventional ceiling fan.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Please refer to

FIGS. 1 and 3

. The ceiling fan of the present invention includes a fixing seat


1


, a connecting rod


2


, a housing


3


, a fixing disc


4


and multiple vanes


5


. The fixing seat


1


via a locking bracket


11


is fixed on the ceiling. The connecting rod


2


is connected with bottom face of the fixing seat


1


. The locking bracket


11


has two symmetrical locking sections


12


upward extending therefrom. The locking bracket


11


has a lateral opening


13


between the two locking sections


12


. The connecting rod


2


is passed through the opening


13


for inlaying the fixing seat


1


in the locking bracket


11


. The housing


3


is connected to the other end of the connecting rod


2


. A motor


31


is installed in the housing


3


and enclosed in a motor casing


32


. The motor casing


32


is formed with multiple thread holes


33


on the periphery of bottom face of the motor casing


32


. Multiple vanes


5


via vane brackets


51


are pivotally disposed on bottom side of the fixing disc


4


. The bottom face of the fixing disc


4


is formed with multiple through holes


41


corresponding to the thread holes


33


. A bolt


42


is passed through each through hole


41


for locking the motor casing


32


with the fixing disc


4


. An upper section of the bolt


42


is a thread section


421


screwed in the thread hole


33


. The lower section of the bolt


42


is a head section


422


. The bolt


42


further has a polished section


423


between the head section


422


and the thread section


421


. After the bolt


42


is tightened, the polished section


423


spaces the motor casing


32


from the fixing disc


4


by a certain distance d. A spring


43


is fitted on the polished section


423


within the distance d for absorbing swinging force.




In the case that the ceiling fan swings during rotation due to different weights of the vanes


5


, since the motor casing


32


is spaced from the fixing disc


4


by the distance d, the fixing disc


4


has an upward displacement space. Under such circumstance, the springs


43


positioned between the motor casing


32


and the fixing disc


4


will absorb the swinging force. When the vanes


5


are laterally tilted due to swinging, the springs


43


will be partially compressed to buffer the swinging of the vanes


5


. Therefore, the swinging vanes


5


will not drive the motor casing


32


, the motor


31


, the connecting rod


2


and the fixing seat


1


to swing along with the vanes


5


. Accordingly, the fixing seat


1


will not abrade the locking bracket


12


. In addition, the springs


43


serve to absorb the swinging force so that the respective vanes


43


are allowed to have slightly different weights. Therefore, it is no more necessary to so precisely select the vanes


5


with the same weights. Moreover, after a period of use, in case the weights of the vanes


5


are changed due to environmental factors and the vanes


5


start to swing during rotation, the springs


43


are able to absorb the swinging force.




In conclusion, the springs


43


positioned between the motor casing


32


and the fixing disc


4


are able to absorb the swinging force exerted onto the vanes


5


during rotation due to different weights. Therefore, the ceiling fan can be safely used without easy damage.




The above embodiment is only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiment can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. A ceiling fan structure comprising a housing, a motor casing, a fixing disc and multiple vanes, a motor being installed in the housing and enclosed in the motor casing, the motor casing being formed with multiple thread holes on a periphery of bottom face of the motor casing, multiple vane brackets being pivotally disposed on bottom side of the fixing disc, a vane being fixed on each of the vane brackets, the fixing disc being formed with multiple through holes corresponding to the thread holes, a bolt being passed through each through hole for locking the motor casing with the fixing disc, said ceiling fan structure being characterized in that the motor casing is spaced from the fixing disc by a certain distance and a spring is fitted on the bolt, an upper and a lower ends of the spring respectively abutting against the motor casing and the fixing disc.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Number Name Date Kind
2148524 Bsrtch et al. Feb 1939 A
2484197 Veldhuis Oct 1949 A
2995295 Day Aug 1961 A
3039678 Sharpe Jun 1962 A
4511310 Pearce Apr 1985 A
5593281 Tai Jan 1997 A
5944487 Pearce Aug 1999 A