Ventilation Grille with Nested Stacking for Reduced Shipping Volume
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ventilation fans often expose the blower, making them unsightly and potentially hazardous, while also occupying unnecessary space due to inefficient stacking and shipping methods.
Innovation Solution
A grille design with angled legs and rails that allows for nested stacking, providing aesthetic coverage of the blower and optimizing space usage during storage and shipping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the blower is exposed in the ventilation fan, then the structure is simple and manufacturing is easy, but the aesthetic appeal is poor and safety hazards increase
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation fan is divided into distinct functional modules: the blower assembly and the grille assembly. The grille acts as a separate protective component that can be attached to enclose the blower, thereby separating the functional breathing/open structure from the protective enclosing structure. This segmentation allows the blower to remain exposed for manufacturing simplicity while the grille provides safety and aesthetic coverage.
2Ease of manufacture
If grilles are stacked in traditional non-nested configuration, then manufacturing and assembly are simple, but storage and shipping space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The grille is designed with a nested stacking capability where one grille can be placed inside another grille in a telescoping arrangement. The outer grille's opening accommodates the inner grille, creating a compact nested configuration for storage and shipping. This nesting principle dramatically reduces the volume required for storing and transporting multiple grilles while maintaining simple manufacturing of individual grille components.
3Volume of stationary object
If the grille design incorporates angled legs and nested stacking capability, then storage and shipping efficiency improve, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The grille incorporates asymmetrically angled legs that extend from the grille frame at specific angles (e.g., 45 degrees) to enable the nested stacking configuration. This asymmetric angular design allows the grilles to interlock in a nested arrangement, optimizing storage and shipping space. While this adds some structural complexity compared to a simple rectangular grille, the complexity is localized to the leg components rather than the entire grille structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A ventilation system having a main housing configured to be positioned adjacent to a room of a building structure, a blower configured to be positioned in the main housing and draw air out of the room of the building structure, and a grille configured to be releasably secured to one of the main housing and the blower to at least partially block view of the blower. The grille has a plate defining an inner side and an opposing outer side and a plurality of legs extending from the plate and angled outwardly at an angle to the plate. The angle of the legs facilitates nested stacking of the grille with a second grille configured identically to the grille.