Conical Snap-In Fan Wheel Assembly for Cooking Vapor Extraction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air cleaning devices for cooking vapors face challenges in assembly and balancing, requiring relative rotational positioning and mass adjustments to attach the fan wheel to the motor shaft, which complicates the design and increases production costs.
Innovation Solution
The air cleaning device features a conical design for the inner peripheral surface of the fan wheel and the outer peripheral surface of the motor shaft, allowing for a snap-in connection that facilitates centering and balancing, eliminating the need for mass adjustments and enabling easy assembly and cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the fan wheel is attached to the motor shaft using a freewheeling path and locking web, then the connection is secure, but the fan wheel cannot be attached in any relative rotational position and mass adjustments are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by using a conical surface on the motor shaft that interfaces with a corresponding conical recess in the fan wheel. This conical geometry provides inherent directional guidance and self-centering, eliminating the need for symmetric balancing weights and complex locking mechanisms while ensuring secure attachment in any rotational position.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the connection interface by using a conical surface with a specific angle range (3° to 15°). This parameter change allows the fan wheel to be attached to the motor shaft without requiring precise rotational positioning or additional balancing masses, as the conical geometry naturally guides and centers the components during assembly.
2Stability of the object's composition
If balancing weights and additional material are added to compensate for imbalance, then the fan wheel and motor shaft can be balanced, but the device complexity and production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The conical interface geometry inherently provides balancing functionality without requiring additional balancing weights or mass adjustments. The asymmetric conical surface distributes forces evenly during rotation, eliminating the need for complex balancing procedures and reducing manufacturing steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the balancing function from the traditional approach of adding balancing weights and integrates it directly into the conical connection geometry between the motor shaft and fan wheel. This eliminates the need for separate balancing components and simplifies the manufacturing process.
3Reliability
If the fan wheel and motor shaft require precise rotational positioning, then the connection is stable, but the assembly process becomes more difficult and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the connection geometry to a conical interface with a specific angle range (3° to 15°), the patent enables the fan wheel to be securely attached to the motor shaft without requiring precise rotational positioning. The conical geometry provides self-centering and guidance, making assembly easier while maintaining connection stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The conical surface geometry provides curved guidance that naturally directs the fan wheel into proper alignment with the motor shaft during assembly. This curvature eliminates the need for precise manual positioning while ensuring stable connection, as the conical surfaces self-align during the attachment process.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4
AI summary
In order to address the problem of providing an air-cleaning apparatus (10) which does not have the disadvantages known from the prior art, the invention proposes one such in which the fan wheel (32) has an accommodating recess (36) with an inner circumferential surface (38) and a base surface (40), and in which the motor shaft (64) has an axial end surface (68) and an outer circumferential surface (66), wherein the motor shaft (64) can be arranged in the accommodating recess (36) of the fan wheel (32), and wherein it is also the case that an inner circumferential region (50) of the inner circumferential surface (38) is of conical design at least in the vicinity of, or adjacent to, the main surface (40) of the accommodating recess (36) and, correspondingly, at least an outer circumferential region (76) of the outer circumferential surface (66) of the motor shaft (64) is of conical design in the vicinity of, or adjacent to, the axial end surface (68) of the motor shaft (64), and therefore the inner circumferential surface (38) of the fan wheel (32) and the outer circumferential surface (66) of the motor shaft (64) butt against one another at least in the inner circumferential region (50) and the corresponding outer circumferential region (76).