Roof mounted ventilation assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial ventilation systems with separate supply and relief fans are inefficient, expensive, and often improperly balanced, leading to negatively pressurized spaces that draw in dirty air and fail to maintain effective air movement, resulting in stagnant areas and recirculation of contaminants.
Innovation Solution
A roof-mounted ventilation assembly that integrates supply and relief fans into a single assembly, featuring a supply axial fan and a relief centrifugal fan, with a drive shaft to control airflow, ensuring a positive pressure ratio and efficient air distribution, reducing installation costs and improving air quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If separate supply and relief fans are used, then ventilation coverage can be extended, but system complexity and installation cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines supply and relief fan functions into a single integrated roof-mounted assembly. The housing contains both supply fan blades and relief fan blades that share a common drive shaft, eliminating the need for separate fan units, control systems, and installation infrastructure while maintaining effective ventilation coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated assembly performs multiple ventilation functions simultaneously - supply air intake, air distribution, and relief exhaust - all within one unit. The variable speed drive controls both supply and relief fan speeds independently, allowing the single assembly to adapt to different ventilation requirements.
2Ease of operation
If separate supply and relief fans are used, then airflow control can be independent, but installation cost and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates both supply and relief fan mechanisms within a single housing structure, sharing common components such as the drive shaft, motor mounting, and control electronics. This consolidation reduces installation costs for roof curbs, structural supports, power feeds, and controllers while maintaining independent airflow control through variable speed adjustment.
3Device complexity
If relief-only fans are used, then system simplicity is maintained, but negative pressure causes dirty air infiltration and stagnant areas
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated assembly combines supply fan blades and relief fan blades in a single housing, enabling the system to provide both positive pressure supply air and negative pressure relief exhaust simultaneously. This eliminates the harmful effects of relief-only systems while maintaining relative simplicity through the unified design.
4Reliability
If separate supply and relief fans are used, then each fan can be optimized for its function, but overall system efficiency decreases due to imbalance
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated assembly employs a variable speed drive that dynamically adjusts the rotation speed of both supply and relief fan blades based on actual ventilation requirements. This dynamic control ensures optimal balance between supply and relief airflow, maximizing system efficiency and preventing energy waste from improper air balance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The integrated system provides efficient air movement, reduces energy consumption, and maintains a positive air pressure ratio, preventing the recirculation of contaminants and improving worker comfort and health by ensuring clean, filtered air is supplied while relieving air at high locations, thus enhancing overall ventilation effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
the supply fan comprising a plurality of axial fan blades, and wherein the relief centrifugal fan portion fluidly couples the interior space with an external environment
Implementation Method 2
the relief centrifugal fan portion comprises backward inclined centrifugal blades
Data Source
AI summary
A roof mounted ventilation assembly having an integrated supply and relief fan assembly. The assembly is drum shaped with a central portion circumferentially defined by centrifugal blades that extend between top and bottom plates. Both top and bottom plates have a central opening, respectively, and axial supply fan blades are disposed within the central opening of the top plate. A supply duct extends through the central portion, fluidly coupling the central openings. The supply duct fluidly communicates a roof-mounted air intake to a supply discharge plenum operatively associated with an interior space. An inlet collar is fluidly couples the remainder of the central portion not closed off by the supply duct to the interior space, wherein relief air in this remainder of the central portion is urged by the centrifugal blades out exhaust ducts to the external environment in a direction transverse relative to axial supply air.