Patent Application
20210148370
The subject matter herein generally relates to fans, and in particular to a fan with a longer life.
Generally, a fan includes a base, a bearing, a fixing shaft, and a rotor. The bearing is installed on the base and the fixing shaft is fixed on the rotor. When the fan is running, the bearing keeps still and the fixing shaft rotates with the rotor. In this way, during the operation of the fan, the fan may not have a long life because a contact friction loss occurs when the bearing rotates around the fixing shaft.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.
Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the figure. The components in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts may be exaggerated to better illustrate details and features of the present disclosure.
The term “coupled” is defined as connected, whether directly or indirectly through intervening components, and is not necessarily limited to physical connections. The connection can be such that the objects are permanently connected or releasably connected. The term “comprising,” when utilized, means “including, but not necessarily limited to”; it specifically indicates open-ended inclusion or membership in the so-described combination, group, series, and the like.
As illustrated in
The fixing shaft 12 is positioned at a center of the shaft tube 111. The fixing shaft 12 is configured to carry and support the rotating assembly 20. When the fan 100 is running, the fixing shaft center 12 remains stationary. In this embodiment, the fixing shaft 12 can be fixed at the center of the shaft tube 111 by means of clamping, adhesion, integral molding, fitting, clamping, or the like.
The stator 13 is positioned outside the shaft tube 111. The stator 13 can be a magnetic dipole. The stator 13 is configured to drive the rotating assembly 20 to rotate. In this embodiment, the stator 13 includes a magnetically conductive sheet 131, a coil 132, and an insulation frame 133.
The magnetically conductive sheet 131 is magnetic. For example, when encountering a magnet, the magnetically conductive sheet 131 and the magnet will attract each other. In this embodiment, the magnetically conductive sheet 131 has a circular shape. The magnetically conductive sheet 131 is positioned outside the coil 132. In this embodiment, the magnetically conductive sheet 131 may be a silicon steel sheet or other element having magnetism.
The coil 132 is wound on the insulation frame 133. A material of the coil 132 may be metal, alloy, or other conductive materials. In one embodiment, the coil 132 may be axially or radially wound on the insulation frame 133, or in other manner.
In this embodiment, the circuit board 14 is positioned below the stator 13. The circuit board 14 is electrically connected to the coil 132 to control an operation of the fan 100.
The rotating assembly 20 includes a rotor 21, a bearing 22, and a magnetic member 23.
The rotor 21 is a casing with one end defining an opening. The rotor 21 is substantially in a cylindrical shape. One end of the rotor 21 defines a through hole 211 (shown in
In this embodiment, the bearing 22 is a sleeve bearing. A size of the bearing 22 is smaller than that of the through hole 211. The bearing 22 is sleeved on the fixing shaft 12 and has no contact with an inner wall of the through hole 211. That is, the bearing 22 is spaced apart from the inner wall of the through hole 211. When the bearing 22 is sleeved on the fixing shaft 12, one end of the bearing 22 adjacent to the base 11 extends into the shaft tube 111 and is spaced apart from a peripheral wall of the shaft tube 111. That is, the bearing 22 is not in contact with the peripheral wall of the shaft tube 111. In one embodiment, the bearing 22 is, for example, an oil-containing bearing.
The magnetic member 23 is positioned on an inner wall of the rotor 21. The magnetic member 23 is spaced apart from the stator 13. The magnetic member 23 is flexible, and can be folded and bent without damaging its magnetic properties. In this embodiment, the magnetic member 23 is a gel magnet. The gel magnet is made of synthetic rubber or plastic mixed magnetic powder.
In this embodiment, the fan blades 30 are positioned at a surface of the rotor 21 and radiate outward. In this embodiment, the fan blades 30 may be centrifugal fan blades, flat fan blades, axial fan blades, or other types of fan blades.
In this embodiment, when the coil 132 is energized under a control of the circuit board 14, a current passes through the coil 132, electromagnetic induction occurs, and a magnetic field is induced. The induced magnetic field interacts with the magnetic member 23 and produces magnetic repulsion, thereby driving the magnetic member 23 to operate. Since the magnetic member 23 is fixed to the inner wall of the rotor 21, the coil 132 drives the rotor 21, the bearing 22, and the fan blades 30 to rotate around the stator assembly 10.
At the same time, because the magnetically conductive sheet 131 is magnetic, the magnetically conductive sheet 131 will generate a magnetic force with the magnetic member 23. As a result, under the control of the magnetic force, the bearing 22 sleeved on the fixing shaft 12 will follow the rotating assembly 20 to operate in a physically suspended state because of the magnetic repulsion. In this embodiment, the suspended state means that the bearing 22 does not contact with the base 11 during rotation, and the fixing shaft 12 remains stationary because the fixing shaft 12 is fixed on the base 11.
Specifically, when the fan 100 is running, the magnetic member 23 and the magnetically conductive sheet 131 are attracted to each other by magnetic force, so that the rotating assembly 20 is magnetically suspended above the stator assembly 10. That is, the bearing 22 is suspended above the base 11 without contacting the base 11 and the stator 13, so as to reduce friction and contact loss of the bearing 22, the base 11, and the stator 13.
In other embodiments, the bearing 22 is not limited to an oil-containing bearing, and it may also be other type of bearing. For example, referring to
As illustrated in
The fan 100/200/300 generates magnetic force through the magnetic member 23 and the magnetically conductive sheet 131. The rotor 21 runs without contacting the base 11, and the bearing 22 is rotated around the fixing shaft 12 under the magnetic suspension. Under this condition, the bearing 22 is only in partial contact with the fixing shaft 12 and does not contact other components of the stator assembly 10. The friction and contact loss of the bearing 22 is reduced when the fan 100 is running, thereby ensuring a reliability and effectively extending the life of the fan 100/200/300.
It is believed that the embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the disclosure or sacrificing all of its advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being illustrative embodiments of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201911124967.X | Nov 2019 | CN | national |
