U.S. patent application number 12/582223 was filed with the patent office on 2010-12-30 for stopping structure of fan.
This patent application is currently assigned to MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONA'L CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Cheng Lung Chen, Ting Lun Liao, Kuo Huang Lu, Hsiang Hsing Sung.
Application Number | 20100329886 12/582223 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41720282 |
Filed Date | 2010-12-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100329886 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sung; Hsiang Hsing ; et
al. |
December 30, 2010 |
STOPPING STRUCTURE OF FAN
Abstract
A stopping structure of a fan is described. An opening is opened
on a surface of a frame, and a bearing support is disposed within
the frame. A blade wheel is accommodated within the frame and
pivoted to the bearing support. Then, a stopper is disposed at the
frame corresponding to the opening, such that a distance between
the stopper and the blade wheel is smaller than a distance between
blades of the blade wheel and the frame. When the blade wheel moves
outwards relative to the bearing support, the blade wheel is
stopped by the stopper to prevent the blades from interfering with
the frame, and a reactive force is generated at an axial center
position of the blade wheel, so that an axle of the blade wheel is
maintained on the same central axis as the bearing support when the
axle restores an original position thereof.
Inventors: |
Sung; Hsiang Hsing; (Sindian
City, TW) ; Lu; Kuo Huang; (Taipei County, TW)
; Chen; Cheng Lung; (Taipei County, TW) ; Liao;
Ting Lun; (Taipei County, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MORRIS MANNING MARTIN LLP
3343 PEACHTREE ROAD, NE, 1600 ATLANTA FINANCIAL CENTER
ATLANTA
GA
30326
US
|
Assignee: |
MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONA'L CO.,
LTD.
Taipei County
TW
|
Family ID: |
41720282 |
Appl. No.: |
12/582223 |
Filed: |
October 20, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
416/244R |
Current CPC
Class: |
F04D 17/16 20130101;
F04D 25/062 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
416/244.R |
International
Class: |
F04D 29/00 20060101
F04D029/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 26, 2009 |
TW |
098211642 |
Claims
1. A stopping structure of a fan, comprising: a frame, comprising
an opening opened on a surface thereof, wherein a bearing support
corresponding to the opening is disposed within the frame; a blade
wheel, disposed within the frame, wherein the blade wheel comprises
a hub and a plurality of blades annularly disposed on a peripheral
edge of the hub, and the hub comprises an axle pivoted in the
bearing support; and a stopper, disposed at the frame corresponding
to the opening, wherein the stopper is spaced apart from the hub by
a first distance, the blades are spaced apart from the frame by a
second distance, the first distance is smaller than the second
distance, and when the blade wheel moves outwards relative to the
bearing support, the hub is stopped by the stopper to prevent the
blades from interfering with the frame, and a reactive force is
generated at an axial center position of the hub, so as to maintain
the axle on the same central axis as the bearing support when the
axle restores an original position thereof.
2. The stopping structure of a fan according to claim 1, wherein
the stopper further comprises a bump corresponding to the hub, and
the first distance is a distance between the bump and the hub.
3. The stopping structure of a fan according to claim 1, wherein
the hub further comprises a bump corresponding to the stopper, and
the first distance is a distance between the bump and the
stopper.
4. The stopping structure of a fan according to claim 1, wherein
the stopper further comprises at least one connecting rib, and the
connecting rib is connected to the opening of the frame.
5. The stopping structure of a fan according to claim 1, wherein
the bearing support further comprises a bearing pivoted to the
axle, a coil is disposed around an outer edge of the bearing
support, and at least one magnet is disposed corresponding to the
coil.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This non-provisional application claims priority under 35
U.S.C. .sctn.119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 098211642 filed in
Taiwan, R.O.C. on Jun. 26, 2009, 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 stopping structure, and
more particularly to a stopping structure of a fan.
[0004] 2. Related Art
[0005] With the rapid development of high technologies, electronic
elements such as chips in electronic devices develop towards a
miniaturization trend, the intensity per unit area becomes even
higher, and the performance thereof is continuously improved. Due
to the above factors, the total heat generated by the electronic
elements is increased year by year. If there is no desirable
heat-dissipation manner for dissipating the heat generated by the
electronic elements, the excessive high temperature may shorten the
service life of the electronic elements. Therefore, how to
dissipate the heat to prevent the electronic elements from becoming
too hot has always been a problem beyond negligence.
[0006] In order to solve the heat-dissipation problem of electronic
elements, a heat-dissipation fan is commonly used to dissipate the
heat generated by the electronic elements. For example, in a
notebook computer, a heat-dissipation fan is generally disposed on
electronic elements (for example, chips, a central processing unit
(CPU), or integrated circuits (ICs)) of a motherboard, such that
the heat-dissipation fan operates to generate an air flow for
exchanging heat, so as to enable the electronic elements to
maintain their operational efficiencies within a certain
temperature range. Meanwhile, considering the heat-dissipation
efficiency of the heat-dissipation fan and the thin design of the
notebook computer, a side-blowing blower fan is generally adopted
to provide an air flow with a higher pressure, thereby achieving a
better heat-dissipation effect.
[0007] Such a conventional blower fan mainly comprises a case and a
fan accommodated within the case. An air outlet is opened on a side
edge of the case. The fan is disposed on a bearing sleeve in the
case, and the bearing sleeve has an oil-lubricated bearing therein.
The fan is pivoted in the bearing by a rotating shaft. After the
rotating shaft is inserted into the bearing, a C-shaped snap ring
is snapped at a bottom portion of the bearing sleeve corresponding
to one end of the rotating shaft, so as to prevent the fan blades
from detaching from the oil-lubricated bearing by using the weight
of the C-shaped snap ring.
[0008] However, the structural design of the C-shaped snap ring
requires an additional space in the bearing sleeve to accommodate
the C-shaped snap ring, and as a result, the entire structure of
the blower fan cannot be further thinned. What's worse, the
C-shaped snap ring is easily worn out or even loosened due to
elastic fatigue after the blower fan operates for a long period of
time.
[0009] Moreover, with the thinning development of structures inside
the notebook computer, the height of a blower fan is greatly
reduced. Accordingly, a blower fan structure with no C-shaped snap
ring was proposed in the prior art. Basically, an air inlet is
opened on upper and lower surfaces of a case of the blower fan, and
the air is drawn into the case via the air inlet by the rotation of
fan blades, and then the air flow is guided to an air outlet and
then blown outwards. In order to guide the air flow to flow out of
the case via the air outlet, a bearing sleeve and a fan structure
are disposed at an eccentric position of the blower fan, in which
the eccentric position is not located right at the center of the
case. In other words, after the bearing sleeve and the fan are
disposed at the eccentric position, one side edge of the fan blade
is spaced from the case by a larger distance, the other side edge
of the fan blade is spaced from the case by a smaller distance, and
a passage for guiding the air flow is formed by using the larger
distance.
[0010] In order to prevent the fan blades from detaching from the
bearing, when the structure of the blower fan is designed, the air
inlet is generally designed with such a small aperture that the
aperture of the air inlet is smaller than an outer diameter of the
fan blades. As such, the fan blades are stopped by the case, so
that the rotating shaft of the fan blades is prevented from
detaching from the bearing. However, since the fan has a small size
and a light weight, if the case itself is used to prevent the
rotating shaft of the fan from detaching from the bearing, the fan
blades inevitably collide with the case. As the two side edges of
the fan blade are spaced from the case by different distances, the
arms of force are different when the two side edges of the fan
blade collide with the case, and as a result, different reactive
forces are exerted on the two side edges of the fan blade. In this
case, due to the different reactive forces exerted on the two side
edges of the fan blade, the rotating shaft of the fan with
excessive light weight easily displaces, shakes, or even gets
jammed in the bearing when restoring the original position thereof,
such that the rotating shaft cannot be maintained at the same axial
center as the bearing. As a result, the rotating shaft interferes
with the bearing to cause noises or unsmooth rotation or even cause
a failure of the fan, thus greatly reducing the service life of the
entire fan.
[0011] Therefore, how to solve the above problems and defects is a
research direction as for manufactures in the industry.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] In view of the above problems, the present invention is a
stopping structure of a fan, so as to solve the problem in the
prior art that when the blower fan uses the case itself to prevent
the rotating shaft of the fan from detaching from the bearing, the
rotating shaft of the fan with excessively light weight easily
displaces or shakes when restoring an original position thereof due
to different reactive forces exerted on the two side edges of the
fan blade, and as a result, the rotating shaft is abraded due to
the friction with the bearing or even jammed in the bearing.
[0013] A stopping structure of a fan is provided in an embodiment
of the present invention, which comprises a frame, a blade wheel,
and a stopper. An opening is opened on a surface of the frame, and
a bearing support corresponding to the opening is disposed within
the frame. The blade wheel is disposed within the frame. The blade
wheel comprises a hub and a plurality of blades annularly disposed
on the peripheral edge of the hub, and the hub comprises an axle
pivoted in the bearing support. Then, the stopper is disposed at
the frame corresponding to the opening, such that the stopper is
spaced apart from the hub by a first distance, the blades are
spaced apart from the frame by a second distance, and the first
distance is smaller than the second distance. When the blade wheel
moves outwards relative to the bearing support, the hub is stopped
by the stopper to prevent the blades from interfering with the
frame, and a reactive force is generated at an axial center
position of the hub, so that the axle is maintained on the same
central axis as the bearing support when the axle restores an
original position thereof.
[0014] The efficacy of the present invention lies in that, the
stopper stops the hub of the blade wheel, so as to prevent the
plurality of blades at the peripheral edge of the hub from
colliding with the frame during operation. Meanwhile, when stopping
the hub, the stopper generates a reactive force at the axial center
position of the hub, such that the axle is maintained on the same
central axis as the bearing support when the axle restores an
original position thereof. As such, the rotational stability and
smoothness of the blade wheel are effectively improved.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The present invention will become more fully understood from
the detailed description given herein below for illustration only,
and thus is not limitative of the present invention, and
wherein:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an external appearance of a
stopping structure of a fan according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of a stopping
structure of a fan according to the embodiment of the present
invention;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of a stopping
structure of a fan in an inverted state according to the embodiment
of the present invention; and
[0019] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of a stopping
structure of a fan according to another embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] In a stopping structure of a fan provided according to the
present invention, the fan may be an axial fan or a blower fan
applicable to electronic devices requiring heat dissipation such as
a display card chipset, a memory module, or a motherboard chipset.
In the following embodiments of the present invention, the blower
fan is taken as an example. However, the application products and
scope of the present invention are not limited to the following
embodiments.
[0021] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an external appearance of a
stopping structure of a fan according to an embodiment of the
present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of a
stopping structure of a fan according to the embodiment of the
present invention.
[0022] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a stopping structure of a fan in
the present invention comprises a frame 10, a blade wheel 20, and a
stopper 30. The frame 10 mainly comprises a bottom plate 11, a
plurality of side plates 12 erected on the peripheral edge of the
bottom plate 11, and a cover plate 13 covered on the side plates
12. The bottom plate 11, the plurality of side plates 12, and the
cover plate 13 constitute an accommodating space 14. In addition, a
bearing support 15 located within the accommodating space 14 is
disposed on the bottom plate 11, and the bearing support 15 and the
bottom plate 11 may be integrally formed. A bearing 151 is disposed
within the bearing support 15, a coil 152 is wound around the
exterior of the bearing support 15, and at least one magnet 153 is
disposed corresponding to the coil 152. However, the
electromagnetic interaction produced between the coil 152 and the
magnet 153 belongs to the prior art, and is not a technical feature
of the present invention, so that the structures thereof are not
described in detail herein.
[0023] Moreover, an air outlet 121 is opened on one of the side
plates 12 of the frame 10, and is used for guiding an air flow
generated by the rotation of the blade wheel 20 towards the air
outlet 121, so that the air flow is blown outwards via the air
outlet 121.
[0024] In addition, an opening 131 is opened on the cover plate 13,
such that a position of the opening 131 is corresponding to that of
the bearing support 15.
[0025] The blade wheel 20 is accommodated within the accommodating
space 14 of the frame 10, and the blade wheel 20 comprises a hub 21
and a plurality of blades 22 annularly disposed on the peripheral
edge of the hub 21. The hub 21 comprises an axle 23 therein, such
that the axle 23 is correspondingly inserted into the bearing 151
of the bearing support 15. The axle 23 is pivoted to the bearing
151 to form a rotating shaft structure, so as to drive the hub 21
and the plurality of blades 22 to rotate.
[0026] The stopper 30 is disposed at the frame 10 corresponding to
the opening 131 of the cover plate 13. A plurality of connecting
ribs 31 is mainly disposed on a peripheral edge of the stopper 30,
and the stopper 30 is connected to an inner wall surface of the
opening 131 of the cover plate 13 by the connecting ribs 31. The
stopper 30 further comprises a bump 32 protruding from one side
surface thereof, such that the protruding position of the bump 32
is corresponding to the hub 21.
[0027] It should be particularly noted that, the bump 32 is spaced
apart from the hub 21 by a first distance D1, the cover plate 13 is
spaced apart from the blades 22 by a second distance D2, and the
first distance D1 is smaller than the second distance D2. In other
words, when the frame 10 is normally placed, the bearing support 15
is located at the bottom of the frame 10, and the blade wheel 20 is
pivoted to the bearing support 15. As such, when the hub 21
rotates, the blades 22 do not collide with the cover plate 13 of
the frame 10 during rotation due to the second distance D2 between
the cover plate 13 and the blades 22.
[0028] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of a stopping
structure of a fan in an inverted state according to the embodiment
of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, if the frame 10 is
inverted, the bearing support 15 is inverted and located above the
frame 10, and the blade wheel 20 pivoted to the bearing support 15
is located below the frame 10, such that the axle 23 of the blade
wheel 20 may slide out of the bearing 151. At this time, the bump
32 of the stopper 30 stops at an axial center position of the hub
21, so as to maintain the axle 23 on the same central axis as the
bearing support 15, thereby preventing the blade wheel 20 from
detaching out of the bearing support 15.
[0029] Moreover, as the first distance D1 between the bump 32 and
the hub 21 is smaller than the second distance D2 between the cover
plate 13 and the blades 22, when the frame 10 is inverted, not only
the bump 32 stops one side surface of the hub 21 to prevent the
blade wheel 20 from detaching from the bearing support 15, but also
the blades 22 are prevented from being damaged or interfered to
stop rotation due to the collision with the cover plate 13 during
rotation.
[0030] Therefore, even if the frame 10 is placed in different
directions, the bump 32 of the stopper 30 presses against the axial
center position of the hub 21 to generate a reactive force, such
that the axle 23 is maintained on the same central axis as the
bearing support 15 when the axle 23 restores an original position
thereof. Furthermore, the blade wheel 20 is stably positioned
within the accommodating space 14 of the frame 10, so as to
effectively prevent the blades 22 from colliding with the cover
plate 13 of the frame 10, thus avoiding any damage or unsmooth
rotation of the blades 22.
[0031] Accordingly, when the blade wheel 20 rotates, the axle 23 is
stably maintained on the central axis of the bearing support 15 by
using the structural design of the stopper 30, thereby preventing
the axle 23 of the blade wheel 20 from detaching out of the bearing
support 15 and preventing the blades 22 from colliding with the
frame 10 during rotation. As such, the surrounding air is guided by
the stably-rotating blades 22 and is drawn into the accommodating
space 14 of the frame 10 via the opening 131, and then blown by the
blades 22 towards the air outlet 121 of the frame 10, and then
blown outwards via the air outlet 121, so as to dissipate the heat
generated by related electronic devices.
[0032] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of a stopping
structure of a fan according to another embodiment of the present
invention. Referring to FIG. 4, this embodiment is approximately
the same as the structure of the above embodiment, so that merely
the differences there-between are illustrated below. In the
stopping structure of a fan of the present invention, a bump 211 is
disposed on one side surface of the hub 21, such that the bump 211
is spaced apart from the stopper 30 by a first distance D1, the
blades 22 are spaced apart from the cover plate 13 by a second
distance D2, and the first distance D1 is smaller than the second
distance D2.
[0033] As the first distance D1 between the bump 211 and the
stopper 30 is designed to be smaller than the second distance D2
between the blades 22 and the cover plate 13, when the blade wheel
20 moves relative to the bearing support 15, the bump 211 of the
hub 21 is stopped by the stopper 30, thereby preventing the blades
22 from being damaged or interfered to stop rotation due to the
collision with the cover plate 13 during rotation.
[0034] The efficacy of the stopping structure of a fan in the
present invention lies in that, the stopper disposed at the opening
of the frame is utilized to prevent the blades of the blade wheel
from interfering with the frame. Meanwhile, when the hub collides
with the stopper, the stopper generates a reactive force at the
axial center position of the hub, such that the axle is maintained
on the same central axis as the bearing support when the axle
restores an original position thereof, thereby enabling the axle to
stably and smoothly rotate within the bearing.
* * * * *