U.S. patent number 3,647,317 [Application Number 05/021,009] was granted by the patent office on 1972-03-07 for fiberglass fan assembly.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Fluor Products Company, Inc.. Invention is credited to James F. Forchini, Donn B. Furlong, Samuel Luzaich.
United States Patent |
3,647,317 |
Furlong , et al. |
March 7, 1972 |
FIBERGLASS FAN ASSEMBLY
Abstract
A fan assembly including a fan hub engaged with a driving means
for rotation, a streamlined hub cover and a plurality of fan blades
attached to the fan hub. The fan blades have an exterior fiberglass
skin, filled with high-density polyurethane foam, and a reinforcing
steel spar positioned within the exterior skin. The spar is
fabricated in a tapered "H" cross section to provide maximum
strength without impairing the efficiency of an optimum
airfoil.
Inventors: |
Furlong; Donn B. (Santa Rosa,
CA), Luzaich; Samuel (Santa Rosa, CA), Forchini; James
F. (Santa Rosa, CA) |
Assignee: |
Fluor Products Company, Inc.
(N/A)
|
Family
ID: |
21801823 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/021,009 |
Filed: |
March 19, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
416/226;
416/229R |
Current CPC
Class: |
B64C
27/473 (20130101); F04D 29/388 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B64C
27/473 (20060101); B64C 27/32 (20060101); F04D
29/38 (20060101); F04d 019/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;416/229,230,224,226 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Powell, Jr.; Everette A.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A fan blade, comprising:
a. a fiberglass exterior skin, including upper and lower skin
portions, defining a cavity therebetween;
b. a spar, having a longitudinally extending "H" section, located
within said cavity and spaced from said exterior skin, extending
for substantially the full span of said exterior skin to carry
substantially the full load imposed on the blade; and
c. filler means, substantially filling said cavity, effective to
transfer applied blade loads to said spar.
2. A fan blade as defined in claim 1, wherein said filler means is
a polyurethane foam.
3. A fan blade as defined in claim 1, wherein said upper and lower
skin portions comprise polyester resin reinforced with fiberglass
mat.
4. A fan blade as defined in claim 1, wherein said upper and lower
skin portions comprise epoxy resin reinforced with fiberglass
mat.
5. A fan blade as defined in claim 1, wherein said spar is
fabricated in a longitudinally tapered "H" section.
6. A fan blade, comprising:
a. an exterior skin, of generally airfoil shape, including an upper
and lower skin portion defining a cavity therebetween, said
exterior skin being synthetic resin reinforced with fiberglass
mat;
b. a tapered longitudinally extending spar, having an "H" cross
section, located within said cavity and spaced from said exterior
skin, extending for substantially the full span of said cavity, to
carry substantially the full load imposed on the blade;
c. filler means of polyurethane foam substantially filling said
cavity effective to transfer applied blade loads to said spar;
and
d. connecting means attached to one end of said spar for attachment
to a fan hub.
7. A fan blade as defined in claim 1, wherein the adjacent legs of
said "H" section slant towards each other and taper in width and
depth progressing outward from said hub.
8. A fan assembly for a cooling tower, comprising:
a. a fan hub engaged with and rotated by a driving means;
b. streamlined fiberglass hub cover means positioned so as to
shroud the back flow area at the fan center; and
c. a plurality of fan blades attached to said fan hub;
d. said fan blades including a hollow exterior fiberglass skin of
generally airfoil shape; a spar, having a longitudinally extending
"H" section, located within said exterior skin and spaced therefrom
extending for substantially the full span of said exterior skin, to
carry substantially the full load imposed on said blades into said
fan hub; and filler means, substantially filling said open area,
effective to transfer applied blade loads to said spar.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to fans, and more particularly to axial flow
fans or cooling towers. Although disclosed for use on water-cooling
towers, the instant fan blades and assemblies are readily applied
to dry-surface heat exchangers and other similar devices, depending
upon air movement for cooling.
A conventional cooling tower installation, of the type applicable
to the present invention, is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No.
3,345,048, assigned to the same assignee as the instant invention.
Airflow, induced by a cooling tower fan, enters the tower through a
set of louvers, and is drawn through the tower to cool falling and
splashing water droplets and water films (on tower filling) by
intimate contact with the air. Cooling is brought about by heat and
mass transfer: by evaporation and sensible heat transfer from the
water droplets and films.
More specifically, the invention pertains to an improved cooling
tower fan blade structure. The conventional cooling tower fan
blades have heretofore been constructed of cast or extruded
aluminum, fabricated stainless steel, and cast or hollow molded
plastic. Metals are subject to corrosion, stress cracking, pitting
and erosion. Several of these problems are also found in plastics.
Metallic fan blades are subject to fatigue and skin cracking from
vibration. Optimum blade helix form and blade widths cannot be used
because of metal casting or fabrication limitations. The fan blade
of the instant invention solves these and other problems that have
plagued the industry.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The general purpose of this invention is to provide a fan blade
having unique optimum design features and operating efficiency, and
possessing the advantages of similarly employed prior art devices
and none of the above-described disadvantages.
With these and other considerations in view, it is an important
object of this invention to provide a cooling tower fan assembly
which provides for long-term endurance under severe fatigue-loading
conditions, is easily assembled, and needs little maintenance.
Another object is to provide a cooling tower fan blade which will
resist corrosion, stress cracking, pitting and erosion.
A further object is to provide a cooling tower fan blade in which
stresses are kept low enough to be within the endurance limits of
the materials for the prevailing loading conditions; and the blade
frequencies are well under the operating frequencies apt to be
encountered in service.
To attain these and other objectives, the novel fan assembly of the
present invention provides a fan hub engaged with a driving means
for rotation, a streamlined hub cover and a plurality of fan blades
attached to the fan hub. The fan blades have an exterior fiberglass
reinforced polyester or epoxy resin skin, filled with a high
density polyurethane foam, and a reinforcing steel spar positioned
within the exterior skin. The spar is fabricated in a tapered "H"
cross section. The fiberglass skin offers exceptional corrosion and
abrasion resistance under severe cooling tower environments.
Fiberglass fabrication techniques further allow the exacting
design, complicated by blade helix and chord width variation, to be
duplicated accurately and economically. The high density
polyurethane foam reinforces the airfoil profile over the entire
blade length, effectively transfers applied blade loads to the
spar, and enhances the torsional stability and impact strength of
the blade.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
With these and other objects in view, as will hereinafter more
fully appear, and which will be more particularly pointed out in
the appended claims, reference is now made to the following
description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in
which:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view, partially broken away, of
the fan assembly in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional elevational view of the fan blade
to hub connection in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged top plan view, partially broken away, of the
fan blade in accordance with the instant invention; and
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3 showing
the novel interior construction of the fan blade.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, the improved fan assembly 10, comprises a fan
hub 30 secured to a driven shaft 35, fan blade support arms 40 and
fan blades 50 rigidly secured to the blade supports 40. Shaft 35 is
the conventional output shaft of an electric motor, speed reducer,
gear motor or similar power source, not shown.
The shape of a fan blade is determined by the desired air-moving
capability. The blade theoretically should increase in width
proceeding from the outer tip towards the hub. The leading and
trailing edges would resemble two hyperbolic envelopes approaching
infinity at the fan center of rotation. The blade angle similarly
increases from relatively flat at the tip to a greater angle as the
fan center is approached. An airfoil (or family of airfoils) is
utilized thru the blade length to obtain the desired lift and drag
characteristics for given performance, and yet provide geometrical
blade sections having sufficient strength to carry imposed loadings
within suitable stress levels. The instant invention enables use of
optimum airfoil sections thru the blade length, relatively
unrestricted by the usual manufacturing limitations of casting or
forming.
This invention deals primarily with the structural fabrication of
the fan blades 50. As can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 fan blade 50
consists of an exterior skin 52, a filler means 54 and a
reinforcing spar 56. Exterior skin 52, having upper and lower skin
portions 57 and 58 respectively, is a fiberglass airfoil of
synthetic resin laminate (i.e., polyester or epoxy resin)
consisting of an exterior gel-coat (highly filled and pigmented
polyester resin) and a synthetic resin/glass mat. Fiberglass offers
exceptional corrosion and abrasion resistance under severe cooling
tower environments. Fiberglass fabrication techniques further allow
the exacting design to be duplicated accurately. The open area or
cavity within exterior skin 52 is filled with a high density (5- 15
pounds/cu. ft.) rigid polyurethane foam. The foam increases the
blade stiffness and reinforces the airfoil profile over the entire
blade length.
The blades are reinforced with a high-strength alloy steel spar 56.
Spar 56 has an "H" shape cross section and tapers as it extends
towards the tip of the blade. As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 the adjacent
legs slant towards each other and taper in width and depth
progressing outward from the hub to provide maximum spar section
within the exterior skin. All combined loads are carried by the
spar over the entire blade length. The spar 56 may be both
mechanically interlocked and chemically bonded to the foam filler
54 to provide a common action between the steel reinforcement and
the skin. The "H" cross section spar provides maximum strength and
stiffness for bending moments from air and blade weight loadings;
and centrifugal forces and superior resistance to torsional
loadings. The "H" section enables use of thin efficient air foils
not encumbered by requirements of a thick blade just to cover the
spar. Generally, the thicker the blade the greater the aerodynamic
drag--and ultimately the greater the horsepower to operate the fan.
Thus use of this spar results in manufacturing and operating
economies.
Welded to the inner edge of spar 56 is a flange 44 for attachment
to the fan hub. Support arm 40 extends outwardly from fan hub 30
and has a flange 42, at its outer end, for field attachment to
flange 44. As seen in FIG. 2, flanges 42 and 44 are bolted together
in a conventional manner to insure a rigid attachment of blade 50
to hub 30. Conventional tangentially slotted bolt holes, not
illustrated, may be provided in flange 44 to allow easy assembly
and fan pitch adjustment.
A streamlined fiberglass reinforced polyester or epoxy resin hub
cover 20 may be fastened to the hub through angle brackets 60 at
each hub arm 40 in a conventional manner as shown in FIG. 2. Hub
cover 20 provides an effective seal against back flow of air at the
fan center, to improve fan performance. Cover 20 also provides a
smooth fairing to seal air losses at the inner or widest portion of
the fan blades. Fiberglass provides a great flexibility in
fabricated forms, and can be produced in aerodynamically clean
shapes and can be readily balanced.
It will be understood from the foregoing description that this
invention provides an efficient solution to long standing problems
connected with the operation of a conventional cooling tower. By
means of this novel design and construction, blades may be
fabricated for large diameter fans, i.e., 10 to 36 feet in
diameter, without excess structural support or power requirements.
The fan blades of the instant invention resist corrosion, stress
cracking, pitting and erosion while providing long term endurance
under severe fatigue loading conditions. In short, the novel
reinforced fiberglass blades are corrosion resistant and may be
driven with low operating horsepower and require minimum field
service and replacement.
Although an embodiment constructed in accordance with the present
invention has been described with the requisite particularity, the
disclosure is, of course, only exemplary. Consequently, numerous
changes in details of construction, in size, configuration, and
arrangement of components and materials and in modes of application
will be apparent to those familiar with the art and may be resorted
to without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth
in the following claims.
* * * * *