Fan Impeller Segmented Ring and Flat Blades for Airflow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fans with a limited number of blades face a trade-off between airflow efficiency and windage/noise, where increasing blades enhances airflow but increases windage and noise, and reducing blades decreases airflow efficiency, which is inadequate for compact devices requiring enhanced heat dissipation.
Innovation Solution
A fan design featuring a hub, a ring with flat blades that are tangent to the hub's rim, connected by arms with varying cross-sections, allowing for increased blade count without substantial contact, thereby enhancing airflow efficiency and reducing windage and noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the number of fan blades is increased, then airflow efficiency is improved, but windage and noise increase
Solution Approach 1:
The impeller is segmented into distinct components: a hub, a ring, and multiple fan blades. The ring is separated from the hub by a gap, allowing independent optimization of each component. This segmentation enables the design to achieve high airflow efficiency with many blades while controlling windage and noise through the gap structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring acts as an intermediary element between the hub and the fan blades. It provides a mounting structure for the blades while maintaining a gap from the hub, serving as a mediator that enables high blade count without directly increasing windage and noise.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the number of fan blades is reduced, then windage and noise are reduced, but airflow efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the impeller into hub, ring, and blades with gaps between components, the design can reduce windage and noise while maintaining adequate airflow efficiency through optimized blade arrangement and gap dimensions.
Solution Approach 2:
The gap between the ring and hub is optimized to a specific range (0.5-5 times the blade thickness) to control windage and noise while maintaining airflow efficiency. The blade count is increased to more than thirteen, with each blade having specific dimensional relationships to the hub and ring.
3Productivity
If the number of fan blades is increased to more than thirteen, then airflow efficiency is enhanced, but windage and noise increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The impeller is divided into hub, ring, and blade segments with gaps between them. This segmentation allows more than thirteen blades to be arranged on the ring without significantly increasing windage and noise, as the gap structure prevents excessive air interaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The gap dimension is precisely controlled (0.5-5 times blade thickness) and the blade dimensions are optimized (length 1.5-3 times width) to enable high blade count while maintaining acceptable windage and noise levels.
Data Source
AI summary
A fan includes a housing, an impeller and a motor. The impeller includes a hub, a ring and a plurality of flat blades. The ring surrounds the hub without substantial contact therewith and is connected to the hub by at least one connecting arm. The flat blades are disposed on the ring and the active surface of each flat blade has an imaginary extending lines which is which is tangent to a rim of the hub.