Bent Fan Guard Structure for Smooth Airflow in Air Cleaners
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air cleaners face challenges in achieving a balance between strengthening the fan guard to support the blower fan and motor while ensuring smooth air flow, as increasing rib thickness or number reduces airflow efficiency.
Innovation Solution
The air cleaner incorporates a fan guard with bent cross sections, including a guide grill with specific bent portions to enhance strength and a motor installation portion with supports, allowing for increased structural integrity without obstructing airflow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the thickness of ribs is increased or the number of ribs is increased to increase the strength of the guide grill, then the strength is improved, but air flow smoothness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensionality change by transitioning from a flat guide grill structure to a three-dimensional structure with bent portions. The bent portions create vertical displacement and spatial variation in the rib configuration, allowing the guide grill to maintain structural strength while providing smoother airflow paths. This dimensional transformation enables the ribs to support loads effectively while avoiding direct obstruction to air flow.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs curvature by designing bent portions in the ribs rather than straight linear structures. These curved/bent configurations allow the ribs to distribute mechanical loads more effectively while creating streamlined surfaces that guide air flow smoothly. The curvature in the rib structure eliminates sharp edges and corners that would otherwise disrupt airflow, thus maintaining both strength and airflow efficiency.
2Strength
If the fan guard structure is strengthened to support blower fan and motor loads, then structural integrity is improved, but air flow obstruction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fan guard is designed with bent portions that create three-dimensional spatial variation. This dimensional change allows the structure to achieve high structural integrity through geometric reinforcement while maintaining open airflow channels. The bent portions distribute mechanical stresses across multiple planes, strengthening the fan guard without adding material that would obstruct air flow.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by varying the rib configuration in different regions of the fan guard. The bent portions are strategically positioned to provide localized reinforcement where structural strength is needed, while other regions maintain minimal obstruction for optimal air flow. This regional differentiation allows the fan guard to have non-uniform properties optimized for both strength and airflow in different locations.
Data Source
AI summary
An air cleaner, which allows air to flow smoothly, has increased strength, and reduces noise generated when a blower fan rotates. The air cleaner includes a main body including an inlet and an outlet, a blower fan provided inside of the main body, and configured to induce air from outside of the main body to be suctioned into the inlet and to be discharged to the outlet, a motor configured to drive the blower fan, and a fan guard to which the motor is fixed, and configured to guide air suctioned into the inlet to the blower fan, where the fan guard is provided to include a plurality of bent cross sections arranged in a radial direction at different distances from the motor.