Patent Application
20240426306
The present invention relates to a computer fan, especially to a parallel-connected lighting fan which is able to be connected with a plurality of the lighting fans of the same type in parallel quickly.
Refer to Taiwanese Pat. No. M580203 already granted, an illumination fan connectable with at least one illumination fan for a computer is provided. The illumination fan includes a fan in center of a body, an illumination area on at least two sides of the fan at top of the body, a power socket and a first connector on one side of the body, and a second connector on another side of the body. The power socket is electrically connected with the first connector, the second connector, the fan and the illumination area of the body. The fan and the illumination area are respectively driven to rotate and illuminate when the power socket is connected to a power source. After the first connector of the body being joined with the second connector of another body, a fan and an illumination area of the another body are respectively driven to rotate and illuminate.
The above first and the connectors are fixed on the body of the fan and easy to be oxidized and worn-out after being used for a period of time. Then poor contact or breakdown may occur. Thus the whole illumination fan for the computer must be replaced or discarded. This is wasteful and the service life of the illumination fan is affected.
Refer to Taiwanese Utility Pat. No. M635856, an illumination fan connection structure is provided. The illumination fan connection structure connection structure includes a plurality of illumination fans and external connectors. The illumination fans are connected in parallel and arranged adjacent to each other. A blade of the illumination fan is disposed in a frame while a light guide ring combined with a lighting module is arranged around the blade. The frame is provided with a locking portion and a fan circuit board which is electrically connected to the blade and the lighting module. The external connector consists of a plate base with a pair of locking hooks and a connection circuit board with a first and a second pins. The plate base is arranged between the two adjacent illumination fans and the locking portions of the adjacent illumination fan are hooked by the locked hooks of the plate base so that the first pin and the second pin are respectively electrically connected to one of fan circuit boards and the other fan circuit board. Thereby wire-arranging complexity is reduced and the illumination fan is more convenient to use. The external connector of the illumination fan of Patent No. M635856 mentioned above is not only used for power transmission but also used in combination with a holder to connect the two adjacent illumination fans in parallel.
The main components used for connection of the two adjacent illumination fans include only a pair of locking hooks on the plate base of the external connector and the holder also provided with locking hooks. By the locking hooks hooked with the locking portions of the adjacent illumination fan, the whole structure strength is weak. Moreover, the plate base of the external connector and the holder are not designed to have acceptable and convenient part to which a force can be applied. Thereby the plate base and the holder can be disassembled only by screwdrivers or other tools. Thus the components for connection of the illumination fans is inconvenient to use.
Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a parallel-connected lighting fan which is convenient and fast to be connected to a plurality of the lighting fans of the same type in parallel. Electrical connection of the plurality of the lighting fans is completely at the same while the lighting fans connected are not coming off easily.
In order to achieve the above object, a parallel-connected lighting fan according to the present invention includes an outer frame, an electric motor provided with a fan blade connected to an output shaft of the electric motor, a plug-in electrical connector, and a light emitting member. The outer frame is provided with a plurality of slots each of which is formed at an intersection of two adjacent sides of the outer frame. A plurality of first electrodes is disposed on each of the slots and both side walls of the respective slots is provided with a first guide rail corresponding to each other. When the two outer frames of the same type are connected in parallel, the two slots of the two outer frames adjacent to each other form a linked slot. The first electrodes of the slots of the same outer frame are electrically connected in a one-on-one manner. The electric motor is provided with a fan blade connected to an output shaft of the electric motor. Both the electric motor and the fan blade are arranged at a center of the outer frame and the electric motor is electrically connected to the first electrode of one of the plurality of the slots for getting power. The plug-in electrical connector is composed of a housing and a circuit board mounted in the housing. The housing is provided with a third guide rail while the circuit board consists of a plurality of second electrodes and a plurality of third electrodes which are electrically connected to the second electrodes in a one-on-one manner. The plug-in electrical connector can be plugged into or unplugged from the linked slot in a pluggable direction. When the plug-in electrical connector is inserted into the linked slot, the second electrodes are in contact with the first electrodes of one of the two outer frames parallel connected to each other while the third electrodes are in contact with the first electrodes of the other one of the outer frames parallel connected to each other. At the same time, the third guide rail is just coupled with the first guide rails of the linked slot to link the two outer frames of the same type connected in parallel. The light emitting member is electrically connected to one of the electrodes including the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode.
Preferably, one side of the outer frame of the lighting fan used for connection with another lighting fan is provided with a first magnetic member while another side of the outer frame opposite to the side of the outer frame with the first magnetic member is provided with a second magnetic member which is mated with the first magnetic member.
Preferably, the first magnetic member and the second magnetic member are magnets able to be magnetically attached to each other.
Preferably, the first electrode is golden finger while the second and the third electrodes are spring-pin elastic electrodes or spring-plate elastic electrodes.
Preferably, the first guide rail is a long strip member projecting from the two side walls of the slot while the third guide rail is a long straight groove formed on a surface of an outer side of the housing.
Preferably, the light emitting member is a light emitting diode (LED) or a small liquid crystal display (LCD).
Preferably, the light emitting member is a single-color LED or a multi-color LED.
Preferably, the plug-in electrical connector further includes a push button switch which consists of a push button, a spring, a back cover, and a push-type fastener. The push-type fastener is arranged at the slot of the outer frame and provided with a moveable claw. The push button is slidably disposed on the housing and moved forward and backward to an act position and a release position in the pluggable direction. The spring is arranged between a back surface of the push button and the back cover for providing an elastic force to push the push button back to the release position in an elongated state. The push button together with the circuit board is mounted in the housing and the back cover is disposed on the bottom of the housing for sealing the push button and the circuit board in the housing. The second electrodes and the third electrodes of the circuit board are inserted through the back cover to be exposed and in contact with the first electrodes of the outer frame. A back surface of the push button is provided with at least one latch extending in the plug-in direction. The moveable claw can clip the latch to hold the push button at the act position so that the plug-in electrical connector is further fixed in the linked slot. Once the latch is released from the moveable claw, the push button is pushed back to the release position by the elastic force of the spring. Thereby the plug-in electrical connector is further pulled out of the linked slot.
Preferably, the push button is provided with the two latches arranged in parallel and interacting with the two push-type fasteners correspondingly when the two outer frames of the same type are connected in parallel.
Preferably, the push button further includes a button cap and a stopping portion projecting from a periphery of the button cap. A top of the button cap is inserted through an opening on a top of the housing and the push button can be moved freely along the plug-in direction. The stopping portion would interfere with an edge of the opening of the housing to prevent the push button from coming off the housing.
Preferably, the light emitting member is a light emitting diode (LED) which is arranged at the circuit board and electrically connected to the second electrode or the third electrode. A front surface of the button cap is provided with a translucent portion which permits light emitted from the LED to pass through. Preferably, the translucent portion is a through hole which is in the form of a word or a figure. The LED is a single-color LED or a multi-color LED.
Preferably, the light emitting member is a small liquid crystal display (LCD) disposed on the side of the outer frame and electrically connected to the first electrode.
Preferably, at least one of the plug-in electrical connectors is provided with an external power cord having one end electrically connected to the second electrode or the third electrode and the other end electrically connected to a power connector.
Preferably, the outer frame is rectangular and each of the two parallel sides of the outer frame is provided with the slots. For the plurality of the slots disposed on the same parallel-connected lighting fan, the first electrodes of the slots are electrically connected in a one-on-one manner by layout (wires) inside the same outer frame. The first electrodes of the slots share one external power cord and one power connector to get power supply from the outside.
Preferably, the two side walls of the slot and the housing of the plug-in electrical connector in the linked slot are provided with corresponding insertion holes.
The parallel-connected lighting fan according to the present invention has the following advantages and functions. While connecting the lighting fans of the same type in parallel, a plurality of the lighting fans of the same type is connected in parallel conveniently and quickly by the plug-in electrical connector. The plug-in electrical connector has a replaceable design. When electrode oxidation or wear-out occurs after the lighting fan being used for a period of time, only the plug-in electrical connector need to be replaced for solving the above problems. There is no need to replace or discard the whole lighting fan of the computer. Thereby the service life of the computer lighting fan is extended and waste of resources is avoided.
As to implementations, technical features and functions of the present invention, please refer to the following embodiments with detailed descriptions and related figures.
In the following descriptions and embodiments in figures according to the present invention, directions mentioned (such as upper, lower, left, right, front and rear) are defined according to related figures and used for showing structure or relationship (such as positions, connections, and actions) among respective components. In principle, the directions described are proper when positions of the components or the structure mentioned in the specifications matches those in figures. Once the positions of the components or the structure mentioned in the specifications change, the directions described should have corresponding changes.
Refer to
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a parallel-connected lighting fan according to the present invention includes an outer frame 10, an electric motor 20 provided with a fan blade 21 connected to an output shaft of the electric motor 20, a plug-in electrical connector 50, and a light emitting member 30.
The outer frame 10 is provided with a plurality of slots 11 each of which is formed at an intersection of two adjacent sides of the outer frame 10 and recessed toward a center of the outer frame 10. The slot 11 is defined by a bottom surface 110, two side walls 111, 112 parallel to each other, and a back surface 113. In a preferred embodiment, the slot 11 includes openings A1, A2 toward different directions. The plug-in electrical connector 50 can be mounted into or removed from the slot 11 through the opening A1 in a plug-in direction D. The opening A2 is facing another opening A2 of a slot 11 of an outer frame 10 going to be connected in parallel. Structures of the two slots 11 located at two ends of the same side of the same outer frame 10 are symmetrical to each other.
Refer to a partial enlarged view in
As shown in
In a preferred embodiment, one side of the outer frame 10 of the lighting fan going to be connected to the other lighting fan is provided with a first positioning member 43 while another side of the outer frame 10 opposite to the side of the outer frame 10 with the first positioning member 43 is provided with a second positioning member 44 which is mated with the first positioning member 43. In a preferred embodiment, the first positioning member 43 is a protruding block while the second positioning member 44 is a concave portion able to be coupled with the first positioning member 43. By the first magnetic member 41 and the second magnetic member 42 magnetically attached to each other and with assistance of the first positioning member 43 and the second positioning member 44, parallel connection between the two lighting fans of the same type can be completely faster and more accurately.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the electric motor 20 is arranged at a center of the outer frame 10 and electrically connected to the first electrode 12 of one of the plurality of the slots 11 for getting power. The fan blade 21 is connected to the output shaft of the electric motor 20.
The plug-in electrical connector 50 provides the following functions. First the plug-in electrical connector 50 is used to link the two parallel-connected outer frames 10. The plug-in electrical connector 50 is also used as a connecting member for transmission of power and control signals of at least two parallel-connected lighting fans. The plug-in electrical connector 50 is further used as a power connector for electrical connection between at least two parallel-connected lighting fans and external power supplies.
As shown in
The light emitting member 30 is electrically connected to one of the electrodes including the first electrode 12, the second electrode 53, and the third electrode 54 so as to get external power supply from one of the first, the second, and the third electrodes 12, 53, 54. In a preferred embodiment, the light emitting member 30 can be a light emitting diode (LED) or a small liquid crystal display (LCD). In another preferred embodiment, the light emitting member 30 can be a single-color LED or a multi-color LED.
In a preferred embodiment, the plug-in electrical connector 50 further includes a push button switch 60 which is used for fixing the plug-in electrical connector 50 in the linked slot P, without coming off, or releasing the plug-in electrical connector 50 from the linked slot P to be unplugged from the linked slot P. Refer to
Refer to
A back surface of the push button 61 is provided with at least one latch 611 extending in the plug-in direction D. Refer to
When the plug-in electrical connector 50 is not plugged in the linked slot P, the push button 61 is located at the release position (as shown in
In a preferred embodiment, the light emitting member 30 is a light emitting diode (LED) arranged at the circuit board 52. A front surface of the button cap 612 of the push button 61 is provided with a translucent portion 614 which permits light emitted from the LED to pass through. The translucent portion 614 can be a through hole which is in the form of a word or a figure for providing visual effect by lighting word or lighting figure, as shown in
In another preferred embodiment, the light emitting member 30 is a small liquid crystal display (LCD) disposed on the side of the outer frame (as shown in
Refer to
In a preferred embodiment, the first plug-in electrical connector 50 for electrical connection to the external power supply and the plug-in electrical connector 50 in the last slot 11 and used as the terminal end are both in a half size (as shown in
In a preferred embodiment, both the two side walls 111, 112 of each of the slots 11 and the housing 51 of the plug-in electrical connector 50 in the linked slot P are provided with corresponding insertion holes 72 each of which is inserted through by a bolt to install the parallel-connected lighting fan at a preset position (such as a computer case).
In a preferred embodiment, the number of the first electrode 12, the second electrode 53, and the third electrode 54 is determined according to actual needs. Basically, the number of the first electrode 12, the second electrode 53, and the third electrode 54 should be sufficient to provide not only power required for electrical connection of the electric motor 20 and the light emitting member 30 but also control signals to the electric motor 20 and the light emitting member 30 according to their specific functions. For example, the control signals include speed control signals of the electric motor 20, control signals of the light emitting member 30 for generating dynamic lighting effect and light in different colors, and image signals of LCD.
As shown in
After the outer frames 10 of at least the two or three parallel-connected lighting fans (
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, and representative devices shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalent.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 113122382 | Jun 2024 | TW | national |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 18211759 | Jun 2023 | US |
| Child | 18783033 | US |
