Portable hand-held battery-operated dust blower

Abstract

A hand-held, battery-operated air blower is disclosed having a housing with a handle portion, a discharge end, an air inlet, and a discharge aperture. A battery compartment is provided in the handle portion of the housing to contain one or more batteries. The battery compartment is electrically connected to a motor disposed within the housing between the battery compartment and the discharge aperture, transverse to the longitudinal axis of the housing. A centrifugal fan is mounted on the motor and positioned within the housing adjacent the air inlet in such a manner that operation of the fan draws air in through the air inlet and forces it out from the fan toward the discharge aperture then out through the discharge aperture. An actuator is provided for switching the flow of electricity from the batteries to turn the motor on and off.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT / US03 / 023399, filed Jul. 25, 2003, entitled “Portable Hand-Held Battery-Operated Dust Blower.” That application claimed the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 399,099, filed Jul. 26, 2002, under the same title.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] This invention relates to hand-held air blowers, and more particularly, to a hand-held, battery-operated air blower that achieves superior airflow through use of a centrifugal fan mounted transversely toward the front of the blower. [0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art [0005] Air blowers in various forms are available for numerous uses, such as drying hair or other objects, blowing fallen leaves, and blowing air into a fireplace or charcoal grill to accelerate combustion. Another application for air blowers is removal of dust from hard-to-reach places, such as between the keys of typewri...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hand-held, battery-operated blower that efficiently produces a stream of air through a discharge aperture from a transverse-mounted centrifugal fan. Specifically, the present invention provides a hand-held, battery-operated blower comprising: a housing having a handle portion and a discharge end with an air inlet on one side of the discharge end and a discharge aperture at the tip of the discharge end; a compartment within the handle portion for containing batteries; a motor disposed within the housing between the battery compartment and the discharge aperture transverse to the longitudinal axis of the housing, said motor being electrically connected to the battery compartment; a centrifugal fan mounted on the motor within the housing and adjacent to the air inlet; and means for controlling the supply of electricity from the power source to the motor in order to turn the blower on and off.

Problems solved by technology

This position may increase turbulence within the housing, diminishing the efficiency of blower operation.

This problem may be exacerbated by placement of the fan toward the rear of the blower housing in the device of U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,260 because the fan must force air past the blower motor and batteries before it reaches the discharge aperture.

Images