Industrial Fan Safety Retaining System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Large industrial fans pose a safety hazard due to the risk of fan blades falling when the motor shaft breaks or the hub disengages, especially with newer designs featuring multiple blades, which complicates the formation of engaging lips for securing systems.
Innovation Solution
A compact retaining system is implemented between the rotor and fan motor, comprising a first and second member positioned around the motor shaft, where the second member is sized to prevent falling through the first member's aperture, ensuring the hub and blades remain secured to the motor assembly even if the shaft breaks or the hub disengages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a lip formed on the hub is used to engage with a plate on the motor mount, then the fan blade assembly is secured against falling, but it becomes difficult to form lips on the hub when the fan has an increased number of blades
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining system is divided into separate components: a retaining member with aperture that fits over the motor shaft, and a hub with corresponding features. This segmentation allows the retaining function to be achieved without requiring complex lip formations on the hub, making manufacturing easier while maintaining safety retention.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining member acts as an intermediary component between the hub and the motor shaft. Instead of forming complex lips on the hub itself, the retaining member provides the engagement feature that secures the hub to the motor shaft, simplifying hub manufacturing while ensuring reliable retention.
2Volume of moving object
If a compact retaining system is implemented between the rotor and fan motor, then the safety mechanism becomes more space-efficient and suitable for factory installation, but the system must still reliably prevent hub detachment
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining member is designed to fit over the motor shaft in a nested configuration, with the aperture of the retaining member receiving the motor shaft. This nesting approach creates a compact retaining system that minimizes space while maintaining reliable retention through the interference fit and geometric constraints between the retaining member and shaft.
Data Source
AI summary
A securing system for a fan assembly. The securing system includes a first member which attaches to a motor mount and a second member which attaches to the hub of the fan assembly. The first member is interposed between the hub and the second member such that should the shaft of the motor break, the first and second members engage with one another and inhibit the fan assembly from falling away from the motor mount.