Claims
- 1. A blade for a ceiling fan comprising:
an elongated member having a shape corresponding to a leaf with a length greater than its width and with a perimeter having opposite sides, with the sides having generally concave perimeters facing each other; the elongated member comprising one or more strips of material disposed in the elongated direction; the elongated member having an obverse surface with an irregular topology and a reverse surface having a generally planar topology; the reverse surface having means for laterally securing the elongated member to prevent separation and fragmentation of the blade.
- 2. The ceiling fan of claim 1 wherein the means for laterally securing the elongated member to prevent separation and fragmentation of the blade comprises one or more cross braces extending generally transverse to the grain of the wooden elongated member for supporting the elongated member.
- 3. The ceiling fan blade of claim 1 wherein the elongated member comprises wood.
- 4. The ceiling fan blade of claim 1 wherein the material is selected from the group consisting of balsa, butternut, jelutong, eastern white pine, sugar pine, aspen, poplar, alder, spruce, basswood, fir, hemlock, paulowina, chestnut, teak, cedar, plastic, particle board, and resin impregnated wood particles.
- 5. The ceiling fan of claim 1 wherein the reverse side of the elongated member has one or more channels that have a floor and sidewalls spaced apart by the floor.
- 6. The ceiling fan of claim 5 wherein the channels are filled with wooden brace members.
- 7. The ceiling fan of claim 6 wherein the wooden brace member has its grain running along the length of the brace member and transverse to the grain of the elongated member.
- 8. The ceiling fan of claim 1 wherein the elongated member comprises a plurality of strips of wood that are laterally fixed to adjacent strips to form a laminated body of wood.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of the priority date of U.S. Design application Ser. No. 29/162,811 filed Jun. 21, 2002 and U.S. Design application Ser. No. 29/159,732 filed Apr. 18, 2002.