Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a fan apparatus according to the present invention will be described. Note that in the description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention herein, words such as upper, lower, left, right, upward, downward, top, and bottom for describing positional relationships between respective member and directions merely indicate positional relationships and directions in the drawings. Such words do not indicate positional relationships and directions of the member mounted in an actual device. Also, note that reference numerals, figure numbers and supplementary descriptions are shown below for assisting the reader in finding corresponding components in the description of preferred embodiments below to facilitate the understanding of the present invention. It should be understood that these expressions in no way restrict the scope of the present invention.
Also, as shown in
The inner surface 23 of the outer frame portion 21 includes, in order to stabilize the air flow, inclined portions 23a and 23b at which the further a portion thereof in the axial direction is located, the further outwardly in a radial direction the portion becomes (see
Also, each stator blade 24 includes a curved portion 25 at which a direction in which the stator extends is changed along a hypothetical surface that is substantially perpendicular to the axial direction. In particular, as shown in
The housing 15 is preferably a single component made of a resin material including the outer frame portion 21, the support portion 22 and the plurality of stator blades 24. The housing 15 is preferably made by using the mold having the fixed mold portion and the sliding mold portion as described above wherein the sliding mold portion slides in the axial direction A3. Therefore, as shown in
Since each stator blade 24 is, at the curved portion 25 thereof, inclined with respect to the axial direction A3 such that, when viewed from one end of the axial direction, the width thereof is thinnest (i.e., the stator blade is substantially perpendicular along with the axial direction A3). Therefore, the characteristics concerning the flow quantity, wind speed distribution, and the degree of quietness will be improved.
In particular, a configuration of the housing 15 according to the present preferred embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that an angle θ (see
In particular, as shown in
Therefore, due to restrictions imposed on the configuration of the mold used to form the housing 15 and the conventional housing, the configurations of the excessively bulging portion 26 located near the stator blades 24 and the areas surrounding the excessively bulging portion 26 according to the present preferred embodiment of the present invention are different from the configurations of the excessively bulging portion 6 located near the stator blades 1 and the areas surrounding the excessively bulging portion 6. By virtue of such a well-defined difference, compared with the conventional fan apparatus, the fan apparatus according to the present preferred embodiment of the present invention is better able to control the wind quantity, wind speed distribution and the degree of quietness, thereby improving the characteristics thereof. In particular, the stator blade 24 includes the curved portion 25 which is arranged at the portion near the inclined portion 23b having the smallest diameter at the inner surface 23. By virtue of such configuration, the air flow flowing through an opening of the fan apparatus is directed by a portion 24a of the stator blade 24 which is arranged radially inward of the curved portion 25 of the stator blade 24, is arched toward the direction opposite of the rotation of the impeller 12 and is inclined with respect to the axial direction A3. Also, regarding an air flow which passes through the portion near the inclined portion 23b and is most influenced by the excessively bulging portion 26, the stator blade 24 is inclined with respect to the rotational direction of the impeller 12, thereby minimizing an effect of the excessively bulging portion 26 has on the air flow.
Since a rotational component and a centrifugal force are imposed, respectively in the rotational direction A2 and the radial direction A1, on the air flow discharged from the fan apparatus via the impeller 12, the air flow is forced to spread in the radial direction A1 that is not parallel to the axial direction A3. Also the wind speed is, relatively speaking, greater for the air flow passing through an outer portion of the impeller 12 than that passing through an inner portion. Therefore, if the air flow passing though the outer portion of the impeller 12 is effectively controlled, the wind quantity and the degree of quietness will be improved.
In order to address the aforementioned phenomenon, the stator blade 24 according to the present preferred embodiment of the present invention is curved at the radially outward portion 24b toward the rotational direction A2. Therefore, the portion of the stator blade 24 radially outward of the curved portion 25 has minimum interference with the air flow passing therethrough. By virtue of such a unique configuration, an energy loss of the air flow will be minimized while the wind quantity and the degree of quietness will be improved compared with the fan apparatus according to the conventional configuration.
Also, the shape of the excessively bulging portion 26 is formed in conformity with the way in which the stator blade 24 is attached to the inner portion 23. In particular, as shown in
By virtue of the difference in the configuration of the excessively bulging portion 6 and that of the excessively bulging portion 26, the present preferred embodiment of the present invention has an improved characteristic with respect to the degree of quietness. That is, when the corner portion 6a of the excessively bulging portion 6 has an acute angle as in the conventional configuration, a flow separation occurs when the air flow passes through the excessively bulging portion 6 and therefore, a desirable degree of quietness will be not be achieved. On the other hand, since the corner portion 6 of the excessively bulging portion 26 according to the present preferred embodiment of the present invention has an obtuse angle, the flow separation will be minimized when the air flow passes through the excessively bulging portion 26, and therefore, a desirable degree of quietness will be achieved.
As clearly indicated in
Note that although the excessively bulging portion 26 is described as a portion generated due to the restriction imposed on the direction in which the sliding mold portion is moved with respect to the fixed mold portion while forming the stator blade 24, from a stand point of strengthening the mold, a broad surface portion 27 see
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is to be understood that variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing the scope and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention, therefore, is to be determined solely by the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2006-163085 | Jun 2006 | JP | national |