Airflow apparatus
The oscillation mechanism with a slip clutch and magnets enhances airflow apparatuses by enabling precise airflow adjustments, addressing the challenge of user-controlled direction changes and improving thermal comfort and environmental control.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- GB · GB
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- DYSON TECH LTD
- Filing Date
- 2024-10-01
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-10
AI Technical Summary
Existing airflow apparatuses lack the ability to efficiently adjust airflow direction and orientation in response to user preferences, leading to suboptimal thermal comfort and environmental control.
An oscillation mechanism with a drive assembly and slip clutch, featuring magnets on the drive and driven members, allows for precise control of airflow direction and orientation by preventing motor back-driving during user adjustments, enabling fine airflow assembly adjustments and multiple discrete positions.
The mechanism provides enhanced user control over airflow direction and orientation, improving thermal comfort and environmental control by allowing for precise airflow adjustments without damaging the motor.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
BACKGROUND An airflow apparatus is typically used for the purposes of thermal comfort and / or environmental control. An airflow apparatus generally has a base unit, an airflow assembly supported for movement on the base unit, and a controller to control output from the airflow apparatus and movement of the airflow assembly with respect to the base unit. SUMMARY According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an oscillation mechanism for oscillating an airflow assembly with respect to a base unit, wherein the oscillation mechanism comprises a drive assembly and a driven gear, wherein the drive assembly comprises: a motor having a motor shaft; a drive gear configured to mesh with the driven gear; and a slip clutch comprising a drive member and a driven member, wherein the drive member is operatively attached to the motor shaft, and wherein at least one of the drive member or the driven member comprise at least one magnet. The slip clutch prevents the motor from being back driven when the airflow assembly is reorientated with respect to the base unit by a user while the motor is operating. Thus, the direction of air emitted from the airflow assembly can be re-directed to best suit the user during operation of the motor. The provision of at least one magnet on one or both of the drive member or the driven member is advantageous as the slip torque of the slip clutch can be finely controlled. In addition, the provision of the slip clutch as part of the drive assembly - on the motor side of the oscillation mechanism - may advantageously facilitate fine airflow assembly adjustment capability in certain oscillation mechanism configurations as discussed in further detail below. In one example, each of the drive member and the driven member comprise at least one magnet. This can enable a fixed slip interval to be used, thereby helping to provide a fixed airflow assembly adjustment angle interval which may be preferred by some users. The drive member and the driven member may comprise the same number of magnets. Each magnet located on the drive member may therefore be paired with a magnet on the driven member in each slip position. Each magnet pair may provide an orientational position of the airflow assembly with respect to the base unit. This may provide an airflow apparatus which is configured to allow multiple discrete orientations of the airflow assembly with respect to the base unit. The number of discrete positions may be determined by the number of magnet pairs. In another example, the at least one magnet comprises a plurality of magnets which may be arranged in a ring. Such an arrangement may help to provide a compact assembly. The plurality of magnets may be uniformly spaced apart. Such an arrangement may provide evenly spaced discrete positions between the airflow assembly and the base unit. In one example, at least one of the drive member or the driven member comprises a friction plate. The friction plate may comprise a magnetic material. This arrangement may allow a user to select any orientation of the airflow assembly with respect to the base unit. In another example, the drive member and / or the driven member comprises at least one recess or through-hole for accommodating a respective at least one magnet. This provides a compact assembly and a robust method of locating the at least one magnet within the drive member and / or driven member. Optionally, the drive gear comprises the driven member. This may provide a compact assembly with a reduced number of manufactured parts. Consequently, in one example the drive gear comprises at least one recess or through-hole for accommodating a respective at least one magnet. This may provide a compact assembly. In one example, a surface of the drive member is in contact with an opposing surface of the driven member. This may provide a frictional drive coupling between the drive member and the driven member. A frictional drive coupling may be beneficial for the transmission of larger torques. In another example, the oscillation mechanism comprises a gap located between a surface of the drive member and an opposing surface of the driven member. This may prevent direct contact between the drive member and the driven member which may increase the lifespan of the slip clutch by reducing the effect of wear. In one example, the driven gear comprises an arcuate or circular rack having a set of teeth which mesh with the drive gear. This may help to controls the movement of the airflow assembly with respect to the base unit and defines the magnitude of the oscillation. An oscillation range of around 70° may be provided for an arcuate rack. This may provide an airflow in a fan shape, describing a segment of a circle. According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an airflow apparatus comprising: an airflow assembly; and a base unit, wherein the base unit houses the oscillation mechanism of the first aspect of the invention, as described above. In one example, the driven gear is fixed to the base unit, and the motor is fixed to the airflow assembly and constrained to move therewith with respect to the base unit. In some examples, the base unit may comprise a first section and a second section. The first section may be a lowermost portion of the base unit, and the second section may be an uppermost portion of the base unit. The driven gear may be fixed to the first section of the base unit, and the motor may be fixed to the second section of the base unit and the airflow assembly. In such arrangements, the second section of the base unit and the airflow assembly move together with respect to the first section. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 shows a front view of an airflow apparatus; Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of an airflow assembly of the airflow apparatus; Fig. 3a shows a cross section through a base unit of the airflow apparatus; Fig. 3b shows a cross-sectional perspective view of part of the base unit; Fig. 4a shows an exploded perspective view of part of a first drive assembly; Fig. 4b shows an exploded perspective view of a second drive assembly; Fig. 4c shows an exploded perspective view of part of a third drive assembly; and Fig. 5 shows a cross section through the part of the drive assembly shown in Figure 4c. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Fig. 1 is a front view of an airflow apparatus 10. The airflow apparatus 10 comprises a base unit 12 and an airflow assembly 14 which is supported for rotation on the base unit 12 via a mounting collar 34. The base unit 12 comprises a substantially cylindrical outer casing 16 having a plurality of air inlets 18 in the form of apertures located in the outer casing 16 through which an air flow is drawn into the base unit 12 from the external environment by an airflow motor. In this embodiment, the base unit 12 includes a user interface comprising a plurality of user-operable buttons and / or dials 20 for controlling the operation of the airflow apparatus 10. Other user interfaces may be utilised; indeed the airflow apparatus may be controlled via a remote control, or an app. With reference to Fig. 2, the airflow assembly 14 has an annular shape and defines a central opening 24. The airflow assembly 14 comprises a mouth 26 located towards the rear of the airflow assembly 14. The inner periphery of the airflow assembly 14 comprises a Coanda surface 28 located adjacent the mouth 26 In use, airflow is directed from the airflow assembly 14 via the mouth 26 towards a diffuser surface 30 located downstream of the Coanda surface 28. Airflow exits the airflow assembly 14 via an opening 32 located opposite the mouth 26. Referring to Figs. 3a and 3b, the base unit 12 houses a controller 40 for controlling the operation of the airflow apparatus 10 in response to operation of the user operable buttons and / or dials 20 shown in Fig. 1. The base unit 12 also houses an oscillating mechanism 50 for oscillating the airflow assembly 14 relative to the base unit 12. In the illustrated embodiment, the oscillating mechanism 50 comprises a driven gear 54 in the form of an arcuate rack, and a drive assembly 70. The drive assembly 70 comprises a motor 60 having a motor shaft 61, a drive gear 52, and a slip clutch 72 (described in greater detail below). The driven gear 54 comprises a set of teeth 56 which mesh with teeth 58 of the drive gear 52. The controller 40 is arranged to control the oscillation of the airflow assembly 14 relative to the base unit 12 by controlling the motor 60 to cause rotation of the drive gear 52 and thus movement along the driven gear 54. In this embodiment, the driven gear 54 is fixed to the base unit 12 and the motor 60 is fixed to the airflow assembly 14 and constrained to move therewith about shaft 100 with respect to the base unit 12. Fig. 4a shows an exploded perspective view of part of the drive assembly 70. As discussed above, the drive assembly 70 comprises a motor 60 (not shown in Fig. 4a) which has a motor shaft 61, a drive gear 52, and a slip clutch 72. The slip clutch 72 comprises a drive member 74 and a driven member 76. In this embodiment, the driven member 76 and the drive gear 52 are integral with one another such that the drive gear 52 comprises the driven member 76. A plurality of magnets 80 are accommodated in a corresponding plurality of appropriately sized recesses 78 in the driven member 76. In an alternative embodiment, the recesses 78 may comprise through-holes. The drive member 74 comprises a metal plate capable of magnetic attraction formed, for example, of iron or a steel. The drive member 74 is fixed within a sleeve 62 which is connected to the motor shaft 61 and constrained to move therewith. A lowermost surface 75 of the drive member 74 is in contact with an uppermost surface 77 of the driven member 76 and the uppermost surfaces 81 of the plurality of magnets 80 (as shown in Fig. 3b). The material of the drive member 74 is attracted to the magnets 80 such that an attractive force exists between the drive member 74 and the driven member 76. In use, as the motor shaft 61 rotates the drive member 74 via the sleeve 62, the frictional contact between the lowermost surface 75 of the drive member 74 and the uppermost surfaces 77, 81 of the driven member 76 and the plurality of magnets 80 causes the driven member 76 to be driven by the drive member 74. This in turn causes the drive gear 52 to move along the teeth 56 of the driven gear 54, thereby causing the airflow assembly 14 to rotate about the shaft 100 relative to the base unit 12. When the direction of the motor 60 is reversed by the controller 40, the drive gear 52 travels along the driven gear 54 in the opposite direction. The motor 60 reverses direction at a desired frequency thereby causing oscillation of the airflow assembly 14 relative to the base unit 12. A user may alter the position of the airflow assembly 14 relative to the base unit 12 while the motor 60 is operating by grasping the anulus of the airflow assembly 14 and moving it to the desired position. By doing this, the motor 60 is caused to move along with the airflow assembly 14. This in turn causes an increase in torque through the drive assembly 70. If the torque in the drive assembly exceeds the slip friction of the slip clutch 72, the slip clutch 72 will slip thereby preventing the motor 60 from being back driven. In this example, the new, or slipped, position of the drive member 74 with respect to the driven member 76 may be any angular position as there is nothing to limit or prefer the slipped position of the drive member 74 with respect to the driven member 76. In this example seven magnets 80 are arranged in a ring and are spaced equidistantly from one another to provide annular symmetry. It will be appreciated that fewer or a larger number of magnets 80 may be used than the seven magnets shown in the Figures. Similarly, it will be understood that the magnets 80 may be spaced in any desired pattern. For example, a first ring of magnets may have a smaller diameter than a second ring of magnets. The attractive force, and hence the slip friction, between the drive member 74 and the driven member 76 may be increased or decreased by using more or fewer magnets 80, or by using magnets 80 of greater or lesser strength. Fig. 4b shows an exploded view of an alternative embodiment of a drive assembly 70’. As for the previous embodiment, the driven member 76’ is integrally formed with the drive gear 52’ and comprises recesses 78’ for accommodating a plurality of magnets 80’. In this embodiment the drive member 74’ comprises a hole 94 for direct connection to the motor shaft 61 (not shown in Fig. 4b). The drive member 74’ comprises an annular plate which accommodates a second corresponding plurality of magnets 90 within through-holes 92. The annular drive member 74’ is formed from a plastics material or from a metal which is not capable of magnetic attraction. Consequently, the magnetic attraction between the drive member 74’ and the driven member 76’ is provided by the attraction of the second plurality of magnets 90 in the drive member 74’ to the plurality of magnets 80’ in the driven member76’. In this example, drive member 74’ and the driven member 76’ comprise the same number of magnets which align in pairs. In this example both set of magnets 80’ and 90 comprise six button magnets and are arranged in a ring having a similar diameter. The use of a plurality of paired magnets allows discrete positioning of the airflow assembly 14 with respect to the base unit 12 as each time the slip clutch slips, the relative angular position between the drive member 74’ and the driven member 76’ increments by an amount corresponding to the angular separation of the magnets 80’, 90 in each set. Figs. 4c and 5 show part of another alternative embodiment of a drive assembly 70”. In this embodiment, the driven member 76” comprises a metal plate 82 which is capable of magnetic attraction, and which is fixedly retained within the drive gear 52”. In an alternative example, the drive gear 52” itself may be formed of a metal capable of magnetic attraction so that the driven member 76” is integral with the drive gear 52”. The drive member 74” comprises a metal or plastics plate which accommodates a plurality of magnets 90’ within through-holes 92’. Where the drive member 74” comprises a metal, the metal is not capable of magnetic attraction. As with the example embodiment of Fig. 4a described above, in this example embodiment the new, or slipped, position of the drive member 74” with respect to the driven member 76” may be any angular position as there is nothing to limit or prefer the slipped position of the drive member 74” with respect to the driven member 76”. In each of the example embodiments described above magnetically generated forces are used to enable transfer of rotational energy from the motor 60 through the slip clutch to provide drive to the drive gear which consequently moves along the driven gear to cause the airflow assembly 14 to rotate with respect to the base unit 12. The magnets 80, 80’, 90, 90’ described above are arranged in respective rings. It will be understood that this is merely one example of a suitable formation. The number of magnets, their respective size and / or overlap all serve to determine the force, or torque that is required to cause the slip clutch to slip. In each of the embodiments described above, adjacent surfaces of the drive member and the driven member contact one another, and the slip clutch transmits rotation via friction. In an alternative embodiment, there may be provided a gap between the adjacent surfaces of the drive member and the driven member such that drive is transmitted from one to the other by virtue of the magnetic attraction between the drive member and the driven member. In another example, a continuous ring magnet may be used in place of the separate magnets 80, 80’, 90, 90’. Alternatively, a plurality of separate magnets 80, 80’, 90, 90’ may be positioned immediately adjacent to one another such that there is no gap between them. For both a continuously positionable slip clutch such as those shown in Figs. 4a and 4c, and for a discretely positionable slip clutch such as that shown in Fig. 4b, it is beneficial for the slip clutch to be located on the motor side of the oscillation mechanism as - in the embodiments described above - the motor side of the oscillation mechanism is the low torque side. This results in a better feel for the user as they adjust the airflow assembly 14 due to there being less backlash. For a discretely positionable slip clutch arrangement, such as that shown in Fig. 4b, the location of the slip clutch on the motor side of the oscillation assembly, as opposed to the driven gear side, provides more discrete positions of the airflow assembly 14 with respect to the base unit 12 as one discrete slip of the slip clutch position results in a smaller discrete adjustment of the airflow assembly 14 position than if the discrete clutch were located on the driven gear side. The term “airflow apparatus” as used herein refers to any airflow apparatus configured to generate and deliver an air flow. Such an airflow apparatus may for example comprise a fan, a purifier, a heater, an air conditioner, a dehumidifier and / or a humidifier. The airflow assembly may be capable of generating one or more of a dehumidified air flow, a humidified air flow, a purified air flow, a filtered air flow, a cooled air flow, and a heated air flow. The airflow assembly 14 in the embodiments described is cylindrical in shape and utilises the Coanda effect. However, this is not essential, and any suitable airflow assembly may be used.
Claims
1. An oscillation mechanism for oscillating an airflow assembly with respect to a base unit, wherein the oscillation mechanism comprises a drive assembly and a driven gear, wherein the drive assembly comprises:a motor having a motor shaft;a drive gear configured to mesh with the driven gear; anda slip clutch comprising a drive member and a driven member, wherein the drive member is operatively attached to the motor shaft, and wherein at least one of the drive member or the driven member comprise at least one magnet.
2. An oscillation mechanism according to claim 1, wherein each of the drive member and the driven member comprise at least one magnet.
3. An oscillation mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the drive member and the driven member comprise the same number of magnets.
4. An oscillation mechanism according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least onemagnet comprises a plurality of magnets.
5. An oscillation mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of magnets are arranged in a ring.
6. An oscillation mechanism according to claims 4 or 5, wherein the plurality of magnets are uniformly spaced apart.
7. An oscillation mechanism according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one of the drive member or the driven member comprises a friction plate, wherein the friction plate comprises a magnetic material.
8. An oscillation mechanism according to any preceding claim, wherein the drive member and / or the driven member comprises at least one recess or through-hole for accommodating a respective at least one magnet.
9. An oscillation mechanism according to any preceding claim, wherein the drive gear comprises the driven member.
10. An oscillation mechanism according to claim 9, wherein the drive gear comprises at least one recess or through-hole for accommodating a respective at least one magnet.
11. An oscillation mechanism according to any preceding claim wherein, a surface of the drive member is in contact with an opposing surface of the driven member.
12. An oscillation mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising a gap located between a surface of the drive member and an opposing surface of the driven member.
13. An oscillation mechanism according to any preceding claim, wherein the driven gear comprises an arcuate or circular rack having a set of teeth which mesh with the drive gear.
14. An airflow apparatus comprising:an airflow assembly; anda base unit, wherein the base unit houses the oscillation mechanism according to any preceding claim.
15. An airflow apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the driven gear is fixed to the base unit, and the motor is fixed to the airflow assembly and constrained to move therewith with respect to the base unit.