Patent Application
20120216985
This invention relates to household heaters, fans and blowers, and more specifically, to such portable appliances having centrifugal blower wheels surrounded by scrolls for directing a warm or cool airflow into the surrounding environment.
There is an ever-increasing need to obtain localized heating at home and in the work place. There is also an ever-increasing need to obtain localized cooling or ventilating air flow in those places. As costs rise and incomes fall in a declining economy, the need to obtain a variety of such functions in a single portable appliance becomes more and more advantageous.
Existing air blowing appliances typically prevail in two main types; axial fans and centrifugal blowers. Axial fans have an electric motor typically oriented such that its rotational axis is aligned with the direction of air movement. An air propeller affixed to the motor's rotor rotates about the axis and causes air to be pushed forwardly from the fan in the direction along the axis. Centrifugal blowers have an electric motor typically oriented such that its rotational axis is perpendicular to the direction of air movement. A blower wheel affixed to the motor's rotor rotates about the axis and causes air to be pulled into the wheel, then pushed outwardly toward a surrounding scroll, which focuses and guides the airflow forwardly from the appliance.
Certain electrical air heaters also incorporate such a blower wheel and scroll, along with a heating element. Air is pushed or pulled through the element to be warmed before it exits the appliance. While airflows from cooling appliances are preferably made high to cause a “wind chill” effect when the airflow impacts the user, airflows are preferably made low from air heaters to avoid such an effect, which would contradict their intended warming function.
Variable air flow rates from centrifugal blowers are typically achieved by variation of the motor speed, either by using a speed controller or by including a multitude of taps into the motor coil, either of which adds cost, complexity, and an additional opportunity for failure compared to a single speed blower.
There exists the need for an efficient portable air blowing appliance which selectively provides cooling at a higher airflow, and warming at a lower airflow, and such is an object of the present invention.
There exists the need for such an appliance which selectively provides either airflow without the need for a speed controller, and such is an object of the present invention.
There exists the need for such an appliance which selectively provides either airflow without the need for a multiple-speed motor, and such is an object of the present invention.
There exists the need for such an appliance which selectively provides either airflow without the need for multiple motor coils or taps, and such is an object of the present invention.
Other needs and objects will become apparent upon a reading of the following disclosure in combination with the appended drawings.
The present invention may be embodied as a portable air blowing appliance having an elongate housing with an elongate scroll defining an airflow passage. As described herein, such an exemplary embodiment may include an elongate blower surrounded by the scroll and adapted when energized to move air through the airflow passage. The airflow passage may be arranged to cause the moved air to be sent forwardly from the appliance and into the surrounding environment. By a user-controlled mechanism, the airflow may be either directed from the appliance at the user at a high airflow rate for cooling, or may be passed through a heating element, where it is warmed and slowed, and directed from the appliance into the surrounding environment at a lower airflow rate for warming.
According to the exemplary embodiment disclosed and described herein as a portable air blowing appliance, the invention may include a housing, a blower retained by the housing and adapted when energized to create an airflow through and from the housing, a heating element retained by the housing and adapted when energized to impart heat to the airflow, and a movable deflector for selectively steering the airflow either though or not through the heating element.
The blower may be, in combination, a motor-driven centrifugal blower rotatable about a blower axis to create the airflow, and a scroll surrounding the blower wheel and adapted to direct the airflow from the blower wheel forwardly from the housing. The deflector may be movable about a pivot axis perpendicular to the blower axis between a warming position wherein the airflow is steered through the heating element and a cooling position where the airflow is steered not through the heating element.
The appliance may include a switch actuatable in cooperation with movement of the deflector such that the heating element is energized only when the deflector is in the heating position. The heating element may be an electrical heating element and the switch may be an electrical switch.
The heating element may be disposed aerodynamically downstream of the blower so that air flow from the blower is pushed through the heating element by the blower when the deflector is in the heating position. Or, the heating element may be disposed aerodynamically upstream of the blower so that air flow from the blower is pulled through the heating element by the blower when the deflector is in the heating position.
The invention may be embodied in any appliance configured for selectively providing either a warm airflow or a cool airflow, characterized by the cool airflow having a lower flow volume than the warm airflow. The warm and cool airflows may each be created by a blower having identical operating characteristics for both airflows, and the lower flow volume of the warm airflow may be achieved by steering air from the blower through an airflow-impeding heating element.
The steering may be caused by a movable deflector which selectively steers air from the blower through the airflow-impeding heating element only during a heating configuration. The heating element may be energized to warm the air from the blower only during the heating configuration. The deflector may be movable to a cooling configuration wherein the deflector steers air from the blower not through the heating element. The heating element may be de-energized automatically when the deflector is moved to the cooling configuration.
The invention may be embodied in a method of treating air by an appliance configured for selectively providing either a warm airflow or a cool airflow, wherein both the warm and cool airflows are created by a blower having identical operating characteristics for both airflows. The method may include steering air from the blower through an airflow-impeding heating element during a heating mode to cause the warm airflow, and alternatively steering air from the blower not through the airflow-impeding heating element during a cooling mode to cause the cool airflow, whereby the warm airflow during the heating mode has a lower flow volume and speed than the cool airflow during the cooling mode. The method may also include energizing the heating element only during the heating mode.
The steering may be accomplished by a selectably movable air deflector which may cooperate with the heating element to energize the heating element only during the heating mode.
Additional aspects of the invention can be appreciated upon perusal of the following detailed description of an exemplary air blower according to the invention along with the accompanying drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The elongate front and rear covers, together with the cut-off, are assembled around, and form a scroll around blower wheel 108, which is connected to and rotatable by electric blower motor 110. Deflector 114, movable within the housing, serves as a changeable air director in conjunction with the scroll.
As seen best in
During the cooling mode of
Movement of the deflector is pivotal about a vertical hinge axis 126, which is perpendicular to the vertical blower axis about which blower wheel 108 rotates. This pivotal movement is caused by the user's sliding actuation of deflector actuator 130, from the cooling mode position of
As the user instead continues to force the actuator “over center”, that is to say beyond the position of
The unrestricted airflow through the cooling exhaust opening 118 during the cooling mode has a relatively high volume and velocity, ideal for providing a cooling breeze during, for instance, warm summer months. Activation of the motorized oscillation mechanism 106 causes the housing 102 to swing in an oscillatory fashion back and forth relative to the stationary base 104 to enable the distribution of this cooling airflow over a wide angle. Or de-activation of this oscillation allows the cooling airflow to be constantly directed at the same area. Such activation and de-activation, along with control of other electrical functions, are accomplished by switches and controls disposed at the control panel 144 of the top cover 102C. Functions which may be provided and controlled from this panel may include; appliance on/off, adjustments of the heating element power, and adjustments to the blower speed.
The restricted airflow through the heating element 124 and warming exhaust opening 120 during the warming mode has a relatively lower volume and velocity than the cooling airflow, ideal for providing a more gentle warming flow of heated air into the surrounding environment, with or without oscillation, according to the user's selection.
From the foregoing, it will be clear that the present invention has been shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment that merely exemplifies the broader invention revealed herein. Certainly, those skilled in the art can conceive of alternative embodiments. For instance, those with the major features of the invention in mind could craft embodiments that incorporate one or more major features while not incorporating all aspects of the foregoing exemplary embodiment. Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. With this in mind, the claims that follow will define the scope of protection to be afforded the invention, and those claims shall be deemed to include equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Certain of these claims may express certain elements as a means for performing a specific function, at times without the recital of structure or material. As the law demands, any such claims shall be construed to cover not only the corresponding structure and material expressly described in the specification but also equivalents thereof.
