Tower fan

Abstract

An air blowing apparatus is disclosed having an elongate housing with an elongate scroll defining an airflow passage. An elongate blower is surrounded by the scroll and adapted when energized to move air through the airflow passage. The airflow passage is partially helically-shaped to cause the moved air to be distributed into the surrounding environment in a partially helical pattern.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention relates to household fans and blowers, and more specifically, to tower fans having upright centrifugal blower wheels and scrolls for directing a cooling breeze into the surrounding environment.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]There is an ever-increasing need to provide cooling or ventilating air flow at home and in the work place. Existing air blower apparatuses typically prevail in two main types; axial fans and centrifugal blowers. Axial fans have an electric motor typically oriented such that its rotational axis is aligned with the direction of air movement. A fan blade affixed to the motor's rotor rotates about the axis and causes air to be pushed forwardly from the fan in the direction along the axis. Centrifugal blowers have an electric motor typically oriented such that its rotational axis is perpendicular to the direction of air movement. A blower wheel affixed to the motor's rotor rotates about the axis and causes air to be pushed ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is an air blowing apparatus that has an elongated housing with a scroll that defines an airflow passage. The apparatus includes an elongated blower that is surrounded by the scroll and is adapted to move air through the airflow passage. The airflow passage is partially helically-shaped, which causes the moved air to be distributed into the surrounding environment in a partially helical pattern. This results in an advantageous airflow distribution without additional components, such as noise or power consumption. The perceived effect of the distributed air gives a simulated swept airflow of an oscillating fan or blower."

Problems solved by technology

When embodied in an axial fan, such an oscillation is typically caused by an elaborate and expensive oscillation gearing system that converts rotational energy from the motor's rotor and causes the orientation of the motor and its rotor to sweep back and forth relative to the environment.

Not only are such gearing systems expensive to manufacture, but the multitude of moving parts renders them somewhat short-lived and their parasitic use of the motor's rotational energy reduces the desired airflow from the fan.

Because of the structural limitations of such tower fans, in order to obtain an oscillation of sufficient breadth and smoothness, the auxiliary oscillation motors must be somewhat expensive, noisy, and powerful, using relatively high amounts of costly electrical energy that could otherwise be fed to the fan motor to increase airflow.

There exists the need for an efficient air blowing apparatus which overcomes the above problems of fans and blowers by providing means for causing a sweeping airflow from an air blowing apparatus that requires no auxiliary gearing systems, no auxiliary motors, no additional moving parts, and no additional energy input, and which does not provide sweeping airflow at the cost of reduced air moving performance.

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