U.S. patent application number 11/536285 was filed with the patent office on 2008-03-20 for apparatus of centrifugal fan and a dust-collecting module using the same.
This patent application is currently assigned to INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE. Invention is credited to Jiing-Fu Chen, Yu-Liang Chung, Chun-Hsien Liu, Yann-Shuoh Sun, Tung-Chuan Wu.
Application Number | 20080069689 11/536285 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39188798 |
Filed Date | 2008-03-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080069689 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sun; Yann-Shuoh ; et
al. |
March 20, 2008 |
Apparatus of Centrifugal Fan and a Dust-Collecting Module Using the
Same
Abstract
A centrifugal fan apparatus is disclosed in the present
invention. The characteristics of the centrifugal fan apparatus
lies in that the width of airflow channel defined between the rim
of the impeller and the inner wall of the housing accommodating the
impeller is uniform, and two airflow spaces defined between the
axial cross section of the impeller and upper housing and lower
housing respectively are not symmetry. Due to these two
characteristics, the centrifugal fan apparatus is capable of making
larger pressure difference to inducing higher flow rate and
reducing noise while the centrifugal fan apparatus is operated. The
present invention also provides a dust-collecting module that is
formed by adopting the centrifugal fan apparatus with a designed
dust-collecting casing, which is capable of being a sucker of a
vacuum cleaner to collect dust of the surroundings for the purpose
of environment cleaning.
Inventors: |
Sun; Yann-Shuoh; (Taipei
County, TW) ; Chung; Yu-Liang; (Taipei City, TW)
; Chen; Jiing-Fu; (Hsinchu City, TW) ; Wu;
Tung-Chuan; (Hsinchu City, TW) ; Liu; Chun-Hsien;
(Taipei City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WPAT, PC
7225 BEVERLY ST.
ANNANDALE
VA
22003
US
|
Assignee: |
INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH
INSTITUTE
Hsinchu
TW
|
Family ID: |
39188798 |
Appl. No.: |
11/536285 |
Filed: |
September 28, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
415/203 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F04D 29/4226 20130101;
F02C 7/052 20130101; F04D 29/4233 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
415/203 |
International
Class: |
F01D 1/02 20060101
F01D001/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 15, 2006 |
TW |
095134161 |
Claims
1. A centrifugal fan apparatus, comprising: a housing with an
accommodating space, having an intake hole and an outflow hole; an
impeller, arranging in the accommodating space while enabling an
airflow channel of uniform width to be formed between a rim of the
impeller and a side wall of the housing; and a driving device,
connected to the impeller for driving the same to rotate.
2. The centrifugal fan apparatus of claim 1, wherein the
accommodating space is divided into a first space and a second
space by a virtual cross section passing the axial center of the
impeller while enabling the first space to be asymmetrical to the
second space.
3. The centrifugal fan apparatus of claim 2, wherein a helical
airflow channel is extending from the second space and channeling
to the outflow hole.
4. The centrifugal fan apparatus of claim 3, wherein the sectional
area of the helical airflow channel is increasing progressively
from the beginning thereof to the outflow hole.
5. The centrifugal fan apparatus of claim 1, wherein the housing
further is composed of: a top shell, having the intake hole formed
thereon; and a bottom shell, having the outflow hole formed
therein, being connected to the top shell.
6. The centrifugal fan apparatus of claim 1, wherein each blade
used in the impeller is a blade selected from the group consisting
of airfoil blades of signal-blade design and airfoil blades of
dual-blade design.
7. A centrifugal fan apparatus, comprising: a housing with an
accommodating space, having an intake hole and an outflow hole; an
impeller, arranging in the accommodating space while enabling the
accommodating space to be divided into a first space and a second
space by a virtual cross section passing the axial center of the
impeller while enabling the first space to be asymmetrical to the
second space; and a driving device, connected to the impeller for
driving the same to rotate.
8. The centrifugal fan apparatus of claim 7, wherein a helical
airflow channel is extending from the second space and channeling
to the outflow hole.
9. The centrifugal fan apparatus of claim 8, wherein the sectional
area of the helical airflow channel is increasing progressively
from the beginning thereof to the outflow hole.
10. The centrifugal fan apparatus of claim 7, wherein the housing
further is composed of: a top shell, having the intake hole formed
thereon; and a bottom shell, having the outflow hole formed
therein, being connected to the top shell.
11. The centrifugal fan apparatus of claim 7, wherein each blade
used in the impeller is a blade selected from the group consisting
of airfoil blades of signal-blade design and airfoil blades of
dual-blade design.
12. A dust-collecting module, comprising: a case, having a recess
and a through hole channeling to the recess, and a side thereof
being arranged with a groove hole channeling to the recess; a
dust-collecting lid, connected to the groove hole; a box with a
dust-collecting space, capable of being received in the recess for
enabling the duct-collecting space to channel with the through hole
and the groove hole; and a centrifugal fan apparatus, arranged upon
the case, further comprising: a housing with an accommodating space
formed therein, having an intake hole connected to the through hole
and an outflow hole; an impeller, arranging in the accommodating
space while enabling an airflow channel of uniform width to be
formed between a rim of the impeller and a side wall of the
housing; and a driving device, connected to the impeller for
driving the same to rotate.
13. The dust-collecting module of claim 12, wherein the
accommodating space is divided into a first space and a second
space by a virtual cross section passing the axial center of the
impeller while enabling the first space to be asymmetrical to the
second space.
14. The dust-collecting module of claim 13, wherein a helical
airflow channel is extending from the second space and channeling
to the outflow hole.
15. The dust-collecting module of claim 14, wherein the sectional
area of the helical airflow channel is increasing progressively
from the beginning thereof to the outflow hole.
16. The dust-collecting module of claim 12, wherein the housing
further is composed of: a top shell, having the intake hole formed
thereon; and a bottom shell, having the outflow hole formed
therein, being connected to the top shell.
17. The dust-collecting module of claim 12, wherein each blade used
in the impeller is a blade selected from the group consisting of
airfoil blades of signal-blade design and airfoil blades of
dual-blade design.
18. The dust-collecting module of claim 12, wherein a filtering
device is arranged between the centrifugal fan apparatus and the
through hole.
19. The dust-collecting module of claim 12, wherein the
dust-collecting lid is further comprised of a roller.
20. The dust-collecting module of claim 19, wherein the
dust-collecting lid is further comprised of a brush.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a centrifugal fan
apparatus, and more particularly, to a low noise, high flow rate
centrifugal fan apparatus with asymmetry fan housing design, which
has an uniform airflow channel formed between the rim of its
impeller and its housing, and is applicable to a dust-collecting
module.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] An autonomous vacuum cleaner, being a fully automated
cleaning device, is a renovating device different from those
conventionally vacuum cleaners and other sweeping devices, that is
can clean a specific area autonomously without any human attention
and thus is foreseen to be the future cleaning device replacing
those conventional manual-operated vacuum cleaners and other
cleaning devices. After the operation mode is set, an autonomous
vacuum cleaner is able to maneuver around obstacles while
performing a ground cleaning operation, even cleaning those usually
considered as the dead spots of cleaning.
[0003] Although the autonomous vacuum cleaner is a great help to
daily household cleaning, its function is limited by its power
source, which is not an alternating current (AC) power source, and
by its own interior space, which limited the same from adopting
those air compressors used in those conventional vacuum cleaners.
Therefore, as the autonomous vacuum cleaner only has limited power
supply, a good centrifugal fan is essential for enabling the same
to have good performance. Nonetheless, the centrifugal fan is
beneficial for its operating noise is lower than those conventional
air compressors.
[0004] It is noted that current design of a centrifugal fan is
focusing on low noise, high pressure difference and large flow rate
while maintaining smooth operation. One such design is disclosed in
TW Pat. No. M246471, which shows a centrifugal fan device and a
vacuum cleaner adopting the same. However, as the housing of the
aforesaid centrifugal fan device is not improved while no proper
deflector is available in the airflow channel, it is prone to
generate noise. Another such design is disclosed in EPC Pat. No.
EP0943808, in which its casing is designed for enabling its air
pressure cavity to run spirally to an outflow aperture whereas its
casing tongue is made with a through curvature for separating the
airflow of the intake end from that of the outflow end so that the
efficiency of the aforesaid centrifugal fan device can be improved
as turbulence is avoided.
[0005] Generally, in those disclosed centrifugal fan devices, the
convenience of attaching a dust-collecting box upon a centrifugal
fan device is mostly cancelled out by the blocking of the
smoothness of air flow in the centrifugal fan device's airflow
channel.
[0006] Therefore, it is in need of an improved centrifugal fan
apparatus and a dust-collecting module that are freed from the
foregoing drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is the primary object of the present invention to provide
a low noise, high flow rate centrifugal fan apparatus with
asymmetry fan housing design, which has an uniform airflow channel
formed between the rim of its impeller and its housing, and is
applicable to a dust-collecting module.
[0008] Another object of the invention is to provide a
dust-collecting module capable of utilizing it specially designed
casing to assemble a centrifugal fan apparatus of the invention so
as to be able to perform a dust-collecting operation while
maintaining the smoothness of airflow in the centrifugal fan
apparatus.
[0009] To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides
a centrifugal fan apparatus, comprising: a housing with an
accommodating space, having an intake hole and an outflow hole; an
impeller, arranging in the accommodating space while enabling an
airflow channel of uniform width to be formed between a rim of the
impeller and a side wall of the housing; and a driving device,
connected to the impeller for driving the same to rotate.
[0010] Preferably, the accommodating space is divided into a first
space and a second space by a virtual cross section passing the
axial center of the impeller, referring as axial cross section
hereinafter, whereas the first space is asymmetrical to the second
space. Moreover, a helical airflow channel is extending from the
second space and channeling to the outflow hole; and the sectional
area of the helical airflow channel is increasing progressively
from the beginning thereof to the outflow hole.
[0011] Preferably, the housing further is composed of: a top shell,
having the intake hole formed thereon; and a bottom shell, having
the outflow hole formed therein, being connected to the top
shell.
[0012] Preferably, each blade used in the impeller is a blade
selected from the group consisting of airfoil blades of
signal-blade design and airfoil blades of dual-blade design.
[0013] In a preferred aspect, to achieve the above objects, the
present invention provides a centrifugal fan apparatus, comprising:
a housing with an accommodating space, having an intake hole and an
outflow hole; an impeller, arranging in the accommodating space
while enabling the accommodating space to be divided into a first
space and a second space by a virtual cross section passing the
axial center of the impeller, referring as axial cross section
hereinafter, whereas the first space is asymmetrical to the second
space; and a driving device, connected to the impeller for driving
the same to rotate.
[0014] In addition, the present invention further provides a
ducts-collecting module, comprising: a case, having a recess and a
through hole channeling to the recess, and a side thereof being
arranged with a groove hole channeling to the recess; a
dust-collecting lid, connected to the groove hole; a box with a
dust-collecting space, capable of being received in the recess for
enabling the duct-collecting space to channel with the through hole
and the groove hole; and a centrifugal fan apparatus, arranged upon
the case, further comprising: a housing with an accommodating space
formed therein, having an intake hole connected to the through hole
and an outflow hole; an impeller, arranging in the accommodating
space while enabling an airflow channel of uniform width to be
formed between a rim of the impeller and a side wall of the
housing; and a driving device, connected to the impeller for
driving the same to rotate.
[0015] Preferably, a filtering device is arranged between the
centrifugal fan apparatus and the through hole.
[0016] Preferably, the dust-collecting lid is further comprised of
a roller with brush formed thereon.
[0017] Preferably, a plurality of sliding grooves are formed on two
side walls of the recess for enabling a plurality of protrusions
formed on two sides of the box, corresponding to the two side wall
of the recess, to abut against thereupon and thus enabling the box
to slide in and out the recess.
[0018] Yet, the present invention further provides a
dust-collecting module, which comprises: a case, a case, having a
recess and a through hole channeling to the recess, and a side
thereof being arranged with a groove hole channeling to the recess;
a dust-collecting lid, connected to the groove hole; a box with a
dust-collecting space, capable of being received in the recess for
enabling the duct-collecting space to channel with the through hole
and the groove hole; and a centrifugal fan apparatus, arranged upon
the case, further comprising: a housing with an accommodating space
formed therein, having an intake hole connected to the through hole
and an outflow hole; an impeller, an impeller, arranging in the
accommodating space while enabling the accommodating space to be
divided into a first space and a second space by a virtual cross
section passing the axial center of the impeller, referring as
axial cross section hereinafter, whereas the first space is
asymmetrical to the second space; and a driving device, connected
to the impeller for driving the same to rotate.
[0019] Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of
example the principles of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] FIG. 1A is an exploded diagram illustrating a centrifugal
fan apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the
invention.
[0021] FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram showing a centrifugal fan
apparatus of the invention.
[0022] FIG. 2A is a top view of an impeller having airfoil blades
of signal-blade design according to the present invention.
[0023] FIG. 2B is a top view of an impeller having airfoil blades
of dual-blade design according to the present invention.
[0024] FIG. 3A is a top view of a centrifugal fan apparatus
according to the present invention.
[0025] FIG. 3B is a cross sectional view of a centrifugal fan
apparatus according to the present invention.
[0026] FIG. 4 is a P-Q curve diagram illustrating the comparison
between a centrifugal fan apparatus of the invention and other
conventional centrifugal fan apparatuses.
[0027] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a dust-collecting
module according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.
[0028] FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram showing a case of a
ducts-collecting module according to a preferred embodiment of the
invention.
[0029] FIG. 6B is an exploded diagram depicting a case of a
ducts-collecting module according to a preferred embodiment of the
invention.
[0030] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a dust-collect lid
according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0031] For your esteemed members of reviewing committee to further
understand and recognize the fulfilled functions and structural
characteristics of the invention, several preferable embodiments
cooperating with detailed description are presented as the
follows.
[0032] Please refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, which are respectively
an exploded view and a pictorial view of a centrifugal fan
apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. As
seen in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the centrifugal fan apparatus 1 is
comprised of a housing 10, an impeller 11 and a driving device 14,
in which the housing is further composed of a top shell 101 and a
bottom shell 102. Apart from the helical casing, as that disclosed
in EPC Pat. No. EP0943808, the axial cross section of an
accommodating space formed by the assembling of the top shell 101
and the bottom shell 102 is shaped as a disc, which is different
from those of prior arts, whereas an intake hole 1011 is formed at
the center of the top shell 101; and an outflow hole 1021 is formed
at a side of the bottom shell 102.
[0033] Moreover, the impeller 11 is disposed inside the
accommodating space, which is composed of: a back panel 110; a
plurality of blades 113, arranged on the back panel 110; and a top
panel 112, arranged over the plural blades 113. The plural blades
113 can be arranged on the back panel 111 by manner as those
illustrated in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. However, it is only used as
illustration and is not limited thereby. In FIG. 2A, the plural
blades 113 are radially arranged while each blade 113 used in the
impeller 11 is an airfoil blade of signal-blade design. In FIG. 2B,
the plural blades 113a, 113b are radially arranged while each blade
used in the impeller 11a are two offset airfoil blades 113a, 113b,
i.e. blade of dual-blade design. In addition, the driving device 14
is connected to the impeller 11 by a pin 12 and an interfacing
panel 13 so that the impeller 11 can be driven to rotate by the
driving device 14.
[0034] Please refer to FIG. 3A, which is a top view of a
centrifugal fan apparatus according to the present invention. In
FIG. 3A, the manner that the impeller 11 is being arranged inside
the housing 10 is illustrated. As the axial cross section of the
accommodating space of the housing 10 is shaped like a disc, an
airflow channel 103 of uniform width D can be formed between a rim
of the impeller 11 and a side wall of the housing 10. Please refer
to FIG. 3B, which is a cross sectional view of a centrifugal fan
apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 3B, the
accommodating space is being divided into a first space A1 and a
second space A2 by a virtual cross section 8 passing the axial
center of the impeller 11 while enabling the first space A1 to be
asymmetrical to the second space A2. As seen in FIG. 1B and FIG.
3B, a helical airflow channel 1022 is formed in the second space A2
by the bottom shell 102 whereas the sectional area of the helical
airflow channel 1022 is increasing progressively from the beginning
thereof to the outflow hole 1021. In FIG. 3B, two sections 1022a,
1022b are shown whereas the section 1022a is at a position near the
outflow hole 1021 and the section 1022b is at a position near the
beginning thereof, in which the area of the section 1022a is larger
than that of the section 1022b.
[0035] As there will be no obvious casing tongue by the housing
design of the invention, most of the air flow will be discharged
from the portion of the airflow channel under the impeller 11 so
that no backflow will be generated between the intake and outflow
and thus noise is reduced. Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a P-Q
curve diagram illustrating the comparison between a centrifugal fan
apparatus of the invention and other conventional centrifugal fan
apparatuses. In FIG. 4, curve 90 represents the P-Q curve of a
centrifugal fan apparatus of the invention, marked as MSL II; curve
91 represent the P-Q curve of a centrifugal fan apparatus disclosed
in TW Pat. No. M246471, marked as RV-10; and curve 92 represent the
P-Q curve of a centrifugal fan apparatus disclosed in EP0943808,
marked as Karcher; and curve 93 represent the P-Q curve of a
centrifugal fan apparatus of a current product, i.e. I-robot. As
seen in FIG. 4, the performance of the centrifugal fan device of
the invention is better than those other conventional centrifugal
fan apparatuses, as the curve 90 is outperforming the curves 91,
92, 93. In addition, the overall noise of the invention is about
the same as that of Karcher, but is much better than that of RV-10
by about 10 dB. Hence, the centrifugal fan apparatus of the
invention is considered to be a low noise, high flow rate
centrifugal fan apparatus.
[0036] As the aforesaid centrifugal fan apparatus of the invention
is capable of providing high flow rate while maintaining high
pressure difference, the centrifugal fan apparatus is suitable to
be adapted for a duct-collecting module. Please refer to FIG. 5,
which is a schematic diagram showing a dust-collecting module
according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The
duct-collecting module 2 is composed of a centrifugal fan apparatus
20 and a dust-collecting case 21, in which the centrifugal fan
apparatus 20 can be the one disclosed hereinbefore. Please refer to
FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, which are respectively a schematic diagram and
an exploded diagram showing a case of a ducts-collecting module
according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The
ducts-collecting case 21 further comprises: a case 210, having a
recess 2104 and a through hole 2101 channeling to the recess 2104;
a dust-collecting lid 212; and a box 211; wherein, a side of the
case 210 is arranged with a groove hole 2102 channeling to the
recess 2104; the through hole is channeled to the intake hole of
the centrifugal fan apparatus 20 while an extractable filtering
device is arranged between the through hole 2102 and the
centrifugal fan apparatus 20.
[0037] The box 211 is formed with a dust-collecting space 2110,
which is capable of being received in the recess 2104 as a drawer
while enabling the duct-collecting space to channel with the
through hole 2102 and the groove hole 2101. By which, a
duct-collecting bag received in the duct-collecting space can be
easily accessed and replaced as the box 211 can be easily pulled
out of the recess 2104. Please refer to FIG. 7, which is a
schematic diagram showing a dust-collect lid according to a
preferred embodiment of the invention. As seen in FIG. 7, an intake
2121 and an outflow 2120 are formed on the dust-collecting lid 212
while the intake 2121 is channeled with the groove hole 2101 of the
case 210. In addition, a roller, preferred formed with brush, can
be arranged at the intake 2121 of the dust-collecting lid 212.
[0038] In this preferred embodiment of the invention, for enabling
air flow to flow smoothly in its airflow channel, the intake hole
of its centrifugal fan apparatus is connected to the
dust-collecting case 212 through the dust-collecting lid 212 while
arranging the opening of the groove hole 2101 of the case 210 at a
side thereof instead of at the bottom thereof, by which the airflow
channel is not twist for the consideration of improving
dust-collecting efficiency and thus noise is reduced. Moreover, as
the case 210 and the box 211 are structured as a drawer that the
box 211 can be pull out of the case easily, not only it is good for
noise reduction, but also it is good for dust cleaning and filer
replacing.
[0039] To sum up, the invention can provide a dust-collecting
module capable of utilizing it specially designed casing to
assemble a low noise, high flow rate centrifugal fan apparatus so
as to be able to perform a dust-collecting operation while
maintaining the smoothness of airflow in the centrifugal fan
apparatus.
[0040] While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set
forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed
embodiment of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof
may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended
claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart
from the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *