U.S. patent application number 11/357066 was filed with the patent office on 2006-12-21 for hot swap fan and housing thereof.
This patent application is currently assigned to DELTA ELECTRONICS, INC.. Invention is credited to Jian-Chang Chen, Te Tsai Chuang, Wen Shi Huang, Peng-Chu Tao.
Application Number | 20060286925 11/357066 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37311244 |
Filed Date | 2006-12-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060286925 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chen; Jian-Chang ; et
al. |
December 21, 2006 |
Hot swap fan and housing thereof
Abstract
A hot swap fan, capable of being hot swapped in a system,
includes a first housing, a second housing, an impeller and a
terminal seat. The first housing is assembled with the second
housing to form an accommodating space therebetween for
accommodating the impeller therein. The terminal seat has at least
one terminal electrically connected to the fan so as to enable the
fan to be electrically connected to the system and drive the
impeller to rotate when the fan is installed in the system. The
terminal seat is disposed between the first housing and the second
housing.
Inventors: |
Chen; Jian-Chang; (Taoyuan
Hsien, TW) ; Tao; Peng-Chu; (Taoyuan Hsien, TW)
; Chuang; Te Tsai; (Taoyuan Hsien, TW) ; Huang;
Wen Shi; (Taoyuan Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BIRCH STEWART KOLASCH & BIRCH
PO BOX 747
FALLS CHURCH
VA
22040-0747
US
|
Assignee: |
DELTA ELECTRONICS, INC.
|
Family ID: |
37311244 |
Appl. No.: |
11/357066 |
Filed: |
February 21, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
454/339 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F04D 29/601 20130101;
F04D 25/0613 20130101; F04D 25/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
454/339 |
International
Class: |
F24F 7/00 20060101
F24F007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 19, 2005 |
TW |
094116204 |
Claims
1. A fan housing, comprising: a first housing; a second housing
coupled with the first housing; and a terminal seat disposed
between the first housing and the second housing and connected to
the first housing and/or the second housing.
2. The fan housing according to claim 1, wherein the terminal seat
has a plate shape, an L shape or a U shape.
3. The fan housing according to claim 1, wherein the terminal seat
is integrally formed with the first housing or the second housing
as a single piece.
4. The fan housing according to claim 1, wherein the terminal seat
is connected to the first housing and/or the second housing by way
of bonding, riveting, screwing, adhering, embedding, clamping,
locking or by a slot-track pair.
5. The fan housing according to claim 1, wherein the terminal seat
comprises a base and a plurality of terminals, and the base
comprises a plurality of terminal holes for respectively mounting
the terminals therein.
6. The fan housing according to claim 1, wherein the first housing
has a side surface, which is substantially flushed with the
terminal seat.
7. The fan housing according to claim 1, wherein the first housing
has a side surface, on which a notch is disposed, and the first
housing comprises at least one groove adjacent to the notch for
providing a coupling force to allow the terminal seat to be
embedded into the notch when the first housing is assembled with
the second housing such that the terminal seat is disposed between
the first housing and the second housing.
8. The fan housing according to claim 1, wherein the fan housing is
applied in an axial fan or a centrifugal fan.
9. The fan housing according to claim 1, wherein the first housing
and the second housing are integrally formed as a single piece.
10. A hot swap fan, capable of being hot swapped in a system,
comprising: a first housing and a second housing coupled with the
first housing to form an accommodating space therebetween; an
impeller disposed in the accommodating space; and a terminal seat
having at least one terminal electrically connected to the fan so
as to enable the fan to be electrically connected to the system and
drive the impeller to rotate when the fan is installed in the
system, wherein the terminal seat is disposed between the first
housing and the second housing.
11. The fan according to claim 10, wherein the terminal seat has a
plate shape, an L shape or a U shape.
12. The fan according to claim 10, wherein the terminal seat is
integrally formed with the first housing or the second housing as a
single piece.
13. The fan according to claim 10, wherein the terminal seat is
connected to the first housing and/or the second housing by way of
bonding, riveting, screwing, adhering, embedding, clamping, locking
or by a slot-track pair.
14. The fan according to claim 10, wherein the terminal seat
comprises a base and a plurality of terminals, and the base
comprises a plurality of terminal holes for respectively mounting
the terminals therein.
15. The fan according to claim 10, wherein the first housing has a
side surface, which is substantially flushed with the terminal
seat.
16. The fan according to claim 10, wherein the first housing has a
side surface on which a notch is disposed, and the first housing
comprises at least one groove adjacent to the notch for providing a
coupling force to allow the terminal seat to be embedded into the
notch when the first housing is assembled with the second housing
such that the terminal seat is disposed between the first housing
and the second housing.
17. The fan according to claim 10, wherein the fan is an axial fan
or a centrifugal fan.
18. The fan according to claim 10, wherein the first housing and
the second housing are integrally formed as a single piece.
Description
[0001] This non-provisional application claims priority under
U.S.C..sctn. 119(a) on Patent Application no(s). 094116204, filed
in Taiwan, Republic of China on May 19, 2005, the entire contents
of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a fan and a housing
thereof, and in particular to a hot swap fan and a housing
thereof.
[0004] 2. Related Art
[0005] Accompanying to the progress of technology, the efficiency
of the electronic products is gradually enhanced. However, if the
heat generated from the running electronic product is not properly
dissipated, the stability and the efficiency of the electronic
products tend to be deteriorated or even burned out. In general, a
heat dissipating device such as a fan is often adapted to maintain
the electronic products to be operated within a predetermined
temperature range.
[0006] FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a conventional fan 1
connected to a system 2. The conventional fan 1 has a plurality of
wires 11 bonded to a connector 111 by soldering. Then, the
connector 111 is connected to the system 2 such as a motherboard of
a server for receiving the power or the signals so as to drive the
fan 1. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, another simpler connection
method is that the wires 11 are directly bonded onto the system 2
by soldering for receiving the power or the signals.
[0007] However, no matter which connection method is used, the fan
1 has to be replaced whenever the fan 1 is abnormal. Due to the
limitation of the conventional connector, the power of the system 2
has to be shut off before the fan is replaced. Thus, it is
time-consuming and labor-consuming and may cause delays in the
regular work. Furthermore, the conventional fan 1 is usually fixed
to the system 2 by additional components, such as screws, or even
the replacing operation has to be performed by using additional
tools. Thus, the customer may feel inconvenient in usage because
the fan cannot be quickly and simply replaced, thereby causing a
lot of economic loss.
[0008] It is thus imperative to provide a hot swap fan and a
housing thereof capable of facilitating the disassembling of the
fan quickly without cutting off the system power.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides a
hot swap fan and a housing thereof for facilitating the
disassembling of the fan quickly without cutting off the system
power.
[0010] To achieve the above, a fan housing according to the present
invention includes a first housing, a second housing and a terminal
seat. The second housing is coupled with the first housing. The
terminal seat is disposed between the first housing and the second
housing and is connected to the first housing and/or the second
housing. The terminal seat may be an independent element disposed
between the first housing and the second housing. Alternatively,
the terminal seat may be integrally formed with the first housing
or the second housing as a single piece. The terminal seat has a
plate shape, an L shape or a U shape, and the terminal seat is
connected to the first housing and/or the second housing by way of
bonding, riveting, screwing, adhering, embedding, clamping, locking
or by a slot-track pair.
[0011] The fan housing is applied to an axial fan or a centrifugal
fan. The first housing and the second housing may be two
independent elements assembled with each other or may be integrally
formed as a single piece. In addition, the first housing has a side
surface substantially flushed with the terminal seat.
[0012] To achieve the above, a hot swap fan according to the
present invention may be hot swapped in a system. The hot swap fan
includes a first housing, a second housing, an impeller and a
terminal seat. The first housing is assembled with the second
housing to form an accommodating space therebetween for
accommodating the impeller. The terminal seat has at least one
terminal electrically connected to the fan to enable the fan to be
electrically connected to the system and drive the impeller to
rotate when the fan is installed in the system. The terminal seat
is disposed between the first housing and the second housing.
[0013] The terminal seat may be an independent element clamped
between the first housing and the second housing, or may be
integrally formed with the first housing or the second housing as a
single piece. The terminal seat has a plate shape, an L shape or a
U shape. The terminal seat is connected to the first housing and/or
the second housing by way of bonding, riveting, screwing, adhering,
embedding, clamping, locking or by a slot-track pair.
Alternatively, the terminal seat and the first housing and/or the
second housing may be integrally formed as a single piece. In
addition, the first housing has a side surface substantially
flushed with the terminal seat.
[0014] As mentioned above, a hot swap fan and a housing thereof
according to the present invention are electrically connected to
the system through the terminal seat. When the fan in the system
has to be disassembled and replaced, a new fan may be hot swapped
for replacement directly and quickly without cutting off the power
of the system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The present invention will become more fully understood from
the detailed description given herein below illustration only, and
thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
[0016] FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic views showing conventional fans
connected to a system;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional exploded view showing a fan
according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a three-dimensional assembled view of the fan in
FIG. 3;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a three-dimensional exploded view showing a fan
according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and
[0020] FIG. 6 is a three-dimensional assembled view of the fan in
FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0021] The present invention will be apparent from the following
detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the
accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the
same elements.
[0022] FIGS. 3 and 4 are three-dimensional exploded and assembled
views showing a fan 3 according to a first embodiment of the
present invention. The fan 3 of this embodiment may be a hot swap
centrifugal fan, which is capable of being hot swapped in a system
(not shown). The fan 3 includes a fan housing 30 and an impeller
40.
[0023] The fan housing 30 includes a first housing 31, a second
housing 32 and a terminal seat 33. The second housing 32 and the
first housing 31 are coupled with each other in a vertical
direction to form an accommodating space therebetween for
accommodating the impeller 40 therein. The impeller 40 has a hub 42
and a plurality of blades 41 surrounding around the hub 42.
[0024] The first housing 31 of this embodiment has a side surface
311, on which a notch 312 is disposed. In addition, the first
housing 31 includes at least one groove 3121 adjacent to the notch
for providing a coupling force to allow the terminal seat 33 to be
embedded into the notch 312, when the first housing 31 is assembled
with the second housing 32, such that the terminal seat 33 is
disposed between the first housing 31 and the second housing 32.
Preferably, there are two grooves 3121 respectively disposed at
positions close to two sides of the notch 312. When the first
housing 31 and the second housing 32 are coupled with each other
vertically, the terminal seat 33 is embedded into the notch 312 by
the vertical coupling force so that the terminal seat 33 is
assembled between the first housing 31 and the second housing
32.
[0025] The terminal seat 33 includes a base 331 and a plurality of
terminals 332. The base 331 has a plurality of terminal holes for
respectively mounting the terminals 332 therein. The terminals 332
are electrically connected to the fan 3 via wires (not shown). When
the fan 3 is connected to a system (not shown), the terminal seat
33 is electrically connected to the fan 3 such that the fan 3 can
be in contact with and electrically connected to the system via the
terminals 332 of the terminal seat 33, whereby receiving the power
or the signals coming from the system and driving the impeller 40
to rotate.
[0026] The terminal seat 33 of this embodiment is an independent
element disposed between the first housing 31 and the second
housing 32 when the first housing 31 and the second housing 32 are
assembled with each other. The base 331 of the terminal seat 33 has
a plate shape, and preferably respectively has two extensions 3311
located at two ends of the base 331, respectively. Each of the
extension 3311 corresponds to the groove 3121 of the first housing
31, such that the terminal seat 33 is just accommodated in the
space formed by the notch 312 of the first housing 31, and the base
331 may be fixed between the first housing 31 and the second
housing 32 when the first housing 31 and the second housing 32 are
connected to each other. In addition, the base 331 is substantially
flushed with the side surface 311 of the first housing 31, and the
terminals 332 do not protrude over the fan 3. The wires connected
to the terminal seat 33 can be disposed at proper positions under
the precondition of not enlarging the size of the fan 3. Thus, the
terminal seat 33 of the present invention can satisfy the
requirement on the spatial limitation of the current electronic
products.
[0027] The terminal seat 33 may be an independent element disposed
between the first housing 31 and the second housing 32, and the
base 331 can be connected to the first housing 31 by way of
bonding, riveting, screwing, adhering, embedding, clamping,
locking, or by a slot-track pair or other connecting methods.
Alternatively, the base 331 of the terminal seat 33 may be directly
and integrally formed with the first housing 31 or the second
housing 32 as a single piece, and then the terminal seat 33 is
disposed between the first housing 31 and the second housing 32
when the first housing 31 and the second housing 32 are assembled
together. The base 331 and the first housing 31 may be formed by
way of plastic injection molding such that the base 331 and the
first housing 31 are one-piece molded. In addition, the base 331
may also have different shapes in accordance with the shapes of the
first housing 31 and the second housing 32, such as an L shape or a
U shape.
[0028] FIGS. 5 and 6 are three-dimensional exploded and assembled
views showing a fan 5 according to a second embodiment of the
present invention. The fan 5 of this embodiment may be a hot swap
axial fan, which is capable of being hot swapped in a system (not
shown). The fan 5 includes a fan housing 50 and an impeller 60.
[0029] The fan housing 50 includes a first housing 51, a second
housing 52 and a terminal seat 53. The first housing 51 and the
second housing 52 are two separate components and are assembled
with each other to form an accommodating space therebetween for
accommodating the impeller 60 therein. In addition, the first
housing 51 and the second housing 52 of the fan 5 may also be
one-piece molded into a single housing having an accommodating
space for accommodating the impeller 60.
[0030] The terminal seat 53 of this embodiment includes a base 531
and a plurality of terminals 532. The base 531 has a plurality of
terminal holes for respectively mounting the terminals 532 therein.
The terminals 532 are electrically connected to the fan 5 via wires
(not shown). When the fan 5 is connected to a system (not shown),
the terminal seat 53 is electrically connected to the fan 5 such
that the fan 5 can be in contact with and electrically connected to
the system via the terminals 532 of the terminal seat 53, whereby
receiving the power or the signals coming from the system and
driving the impeller 60 to rotate.
[0031] The terminal seat 53 of this embodiment is an independent
element disposed between the first housing 51 and the second
housing 52 when the first housing 51 and the second housing 52 are
assembled with each other. The base 531 of the terminal seat 53 has
an L shape, and preferably respectively has two protrusions 5311
located at two ends of the base 531, respectively. Each of the
protrusion 5311 corresponds to a positioning hole 511 of the first
housing 51 or a positioning hole 521 of the second housing 52 so
that the base 531 of the terminal seat 53 can be fixed between the
first housing 51 and the second housing 52 by ways of the two
protrusions 5311 engaging with the positioning holes 511 and 521.
In addition, the outer surface of the base 531 is substantially
flushed with the side surface of the first housing 51, and the
terminals 532 do not protrude over the fan 5. The wires connected
to the terminal seat 53 can be disposed at proper positions under
the precondition of not enlarging the size of the fan 5. Thus, the
terminal seat 53 of the present invention can satisfy the
requirement on the spatial limitation of the current electronic
products.
[0032] In summary, a hot swap fan and a housing thereof according
to the present invention are connected to the system via the
terminal seat. The terminal seat is connected to the fan by fixing
between the upper and lower housings without modifying the original
design of the housings. Thus, the molds for forming the housings
need not to be manufactured again. In addition, the hot swap fan
and the housing can provide an easy and simple way for installing
and disassembling the fan through the connection between the
terminal seat and the system. When the fan installed in the system
needs to be replaced, users can directly disassemble the old fan
and replace the old fan with a new one without cutting off the
power of the system. Thus, it is possible to eliminate the
inconvenience and the economic loss. When the fan in the system
(e.g., a fan tray) has to be disassembled and replaced, a new fan
can be hot swapped for replacement directly and quickly in an easy
and economic way without using any tool and without cutting off the
power of the system.
[0033] Although the present invention has been described with
reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to
be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the
disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be
apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore,
contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications
that fall within the true scope of the present invention.
* * * * *