WO2025063872A1

WO2025063872A1 - Fan with controlled air flow

Info

Publication number: WO2025063872A1
Application number: PCT/SE2024/050746
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zack PALOMAKI; Christian Göte Alexander LUNDBERG
Original assignee: Electrolux Appliances AB
Current assignee: Electrolux Appliances AB
Priority date: 2023-09-21
Filing date: 2024-08-23
Publication date: 2025-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 2026-03-21

Abstract

A fan (10) is provided The fan comprises an air inlet (12) and at least one motor driven rotating member for forming an air flow. The fan further comprises a first air outlet (22) for directing a first portion of the air flow, and a second air (24) outlet for directing a second portion of the air flow. The first air outlet and the second air outlet are configured to direct respective air flows to form a combined air flow from the first air outlet and the second air outlet. The fan further comprises an air distributor (60) configured to vary the air flow to the two air outlets to form a variable combined air flow from the two air outlets. Hereby a combined air flow that mimics a fan with means to redirect the air flow can be obtained without having to to swing the entire fan unit from side-to side or to use some kind of system consisting of vanes to redirect the air flow.

Description

FAN WITH CONTROLLED AIR FLOW

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a fan. In particular present invention relates to a an having an air flow control mechanism that can control the air flow in different directions.

BACKGROUND

A fan is a device which can create a flow of air. This is typically achieved by a rotating arrangement of vanes or blades which act on the surrounding air. Usually, the fan is contained within some form of housing, or case. The housing can be provided with some kind of mechanism to direct the airflow, or increase safety by preventing objects from contacting the fan blades.

A common solution re-direct the air flow horizontally from the fan, is to swing the entire fan unit from side-to side or to use some kind of system consisting of vanes to redirect the air flow.

Another mechanism for directing air flow is described in KR20220105251. This document describes a blower that causes a flow of air, circulating the air in the indoor space, or forming an airflow toward a user. The blower has two upstanding columns each having a vertical, elongated air outlet. The two upstanding columns are placed on a rotatable plate. The blower can direct air in different directions by rotating the plate.

There is a constant desire to improve fans and similar devices. Hence, there exists a need for an improved fan and also to a mechanism for re-directing air blown by a fan. SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved fan. In particular, it is an object to improve the air distribution from a fan.

These objects and or others are obtained by a fan as set out in the appended claims.

In accordance with the invention a fan is provided. The fan comprises an air inlet and at least one motor driven rotating member for forming an air flow. The fan further comprises a first air outlet for directing a first portion of the air flow, and a second air outlet for directing a second portion of the air flow. The first air outlet and the second air outlet are configured to direct respective air flows to form a combined air flow from the first air outlet and the second air outlet. The fan further comprises an air distributor configured to vary the air flow to the two air outlets to form a variable combined air flow from the two air outlets. Hereby a combined air flow that mimics a fan with means to redirect the air flow can be obtained with out having to to swing the entire fan unit from side-to side or to use some kind of system consisting of vanes to redirect the air flow.

In accordance with one embodiment, the air distributor is formed by one motor driven rotating member provided for each air outlet and further comprising a controller configured to drive the motor driven rotating members at a controlled speeds so as to form the variable combined air flow. Hereby one easy to implement air distributor can be provided.

In accordance with one embodiment, the air distributor comprises a plate, the plate comprising at least one opening, and wherein the plate is rotatable to cause different amounts of air to flow. Hereby an alternative implementation of the air distributor can be obtained.

In accordance with one embodiment, the air distributor comprises a shutter plate for each air outlet, each shutter plate being individually settable so as to cause different amounts of air to flow to the different air outlets. Hereby yet another air distributor can be provided. In accordance with some embodiments a motor is provided and configured to drive the air distributor into different positions. Hereby a mechanism using a motor can be provided so that a varying air flow can be provided without manually setting the air distributor.

In accordance with one embodiment, the air outlets comprise an elongated vertical opening. Hereby a comfortable air flow can be provided. The elongated vertical openings can advantageously be identically shaped and parallel to each other for facilitating a good and comfortable air distribution of the combined air flow.

In accordance with one implementation two air outlets are provided.

In accordance with some embodiments an air directing surface is located at each air outlet. Hereby the air from each air outlet can be directed in an intended path from the air outlet in a robust manner.

The fan can be used in various devices where air distribution is useful such as in an air-conditioner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of air distributed from a fan,

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with another distribution of air,

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of a fan in accordance with a first embodiment, Fig. 4 is a partial view of the fan in accordance with the first embodiment in an assembled state,

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of a fan in accordance with a second embodiment, and

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view of the fan in accordance with the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. For example, like or similar components of different embodiments can be exchanged between different embodiments. For example, the fan as described herein is shown for only blowing air. However, the fan can be part of an air purifier, or on any other type of air conditioner. Some components can be omitted from different embodiments. Also, some components typically used in an air-conditioner have been omitted to more clearly show the invention. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description.

As has been realized, by combining, at least, two air streams blown from a fan, the resulting air stream can be made to move by varying the at least two air streams. The general principle is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig. 1 two symmetrically disposed air outlets 22, 24 are arranged on either side of a symmetry line 30 as seen in a cross- sectional top view. In this exemplary embodiment, the air outlets are identical and arranged on either side of a symmetry line 30 The air outlets 22, 24 can for example be similar to the air outlets shown in Figs 3 and 4. However, the principle is applicable to other embodiments where the first air outlet 22 and the second air outlet 24 are configured to direct air that form a combined air stream 40 from the first air outlet 22 and the second air outlet 24. The air outlets do not need to be identical and do not need to be arranged along a symmetry line. Also, more than two air outlets can be provided such as three or four or even more. Thus, in Fig. 1 two identical air streams 41 and 42 are combined into one resulting airstream 40. The air streams 41 and 42 can in one exemplary embodiment be guided by surfaces 62 and 64 to follow a predetermined path. In Fig. 1 the air streams 41 and 42 are assumed to be identical and the resulting air stream 40 will with the symmetrical positioning of the air outlets 22, 24 be a resulting air stream 40 along the symmetry line 30. However, if the air streams 41, 42 from the two air outlets 22, 24 are not identical the resulting air stream 40 will deviate from the symmetry line 30. This is illustrated in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 2, the air flow is distributed in different (uneven) proportions to the two air outlets 22, 24 to form an unevenly distributed airflow from the two air outlets. In this exemplary embodiment 70% of the air blown through the air outlets is blown from one air outlet 22, whereas the remaining 30 % is blown via the other air outlet 24. The combined air flow will then be an air vector deviating from the symmetry line 30. How much of a deviation will be dependent upon the ratio between the amount of air blown via the different air outlets 22, 24. By varying the amount of air between the different air outlets 22, 24, the resulting combined air stream 40 from the two air outlets can be made to have a varying direction. Hereby it is made possible to redirect the resulting air flow, the air flow vector, without having to redirect the air flowing from the respective air outlets 22, 24. In other words, a combined air flow that can mimic a fan with means to redirect the air flow can be obtained without having to to swing the entire fan unit from side-to side or to use some kind of system consisting of vanes to redirect the air flow. Instead, a swinging airflow can be obtained by varying the airflows to the different air outlets.

Thus, in conventional arrangements for varying the direction of an air flow from a fan some sort of redirection device is typically employed or the entire fan or fan outlet is rotated. Such arrangement can be avoided by instead varying the air flow to the different air outlets of a fan having two air outlets where the combined air flow from the different air outlets 22, 24 provide a combined air flow. Different mechanisms for directing a varying amount of air to the respective air outlets can be envisaged. Some exemplary embodiments will now be described in more detail with reference to the following figures.

In Fig. 3, an exploded view of a fan 10 is depicted. The fan 10 can be provided with an air inlet 12 at the bottom part. The air inlet can also be provided at the sides of the or both at the sides and at the bottom. The fan has a fan motor 14 configured to drive rotating member 16 for forming an air flow. The fan 10 further comprises a first air outlet 22 for directing a first portion of the air flow, and a second air outlet 24 for directing a second portion of the air flow. Thus, the air flow formed by the rotating member 16 is divided into different air streams, one for each air outlet 22, 24. The first air outlet 22 and the second air outlet 24 are configured to direct respective air flows to form a combined air flow from the first air outlet 22 and the second air outlet 24-

In the exemplary embodiment of Fig. 3, the air outlets 22, 24 are shaped as vertically positioned pillars having elongated openings in a vertical direction. The air outlets 22, 24 are advantageously identically shaped so as to facilitate formation of a combined air flow that can be directed in different directions. The air outlets 22, 24 can be located on a common base member 25.

The fan 10 further comprises an air distributor 60 configured to vary the air flow to the two air outlets. By varying the air flow to the two air outlets it is enabled to form a variable combined air flow from the two air outlets. In the exemplary embodiment of Fig. 3, the air distributor 60 comprises a plate 18, the plate 18 comprising at least one opening 19, The plate 18 having the opening 19 is rotatable to cause different amounts of air to flow to the different air outlets 22, 24. The air distributor 60 can further comprise a connector 26. The connector 26 can be formed with air channels •2TJ, as best seen in Fig. 4 for providing a channel to provide an interface connecting the air distributor 60 to the respective air outlets 22, 24.

The plate can be driven by a motor 31. In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the motor is a stepper motor. The motor 31 can in accordance with some embodiments be mounted in an air channel divider 32. The air channel divider 32 can function as an interface where the motor 31 can be attached to the platform and rotate the plate 18 which in turn controls the amount of airflow that is supplied to each outlet. The air channel dividers 2 can be integrated into the main platform.

The air channel divider operates to keep the ejected airflow from the main fan motor separate into (at least) two airstreams which can be regulated.

In Fig. 4, the air distributor 60 of Fig. 3 is shown in a perspective view in an assembled state. Here the connector 26 is seen with the air channels 27. Thus, when air is blown by rotating the rotating member 16, the air flow will be directed to the air channels 27 of the connector 26. Depending on the position of the plate 18, different amounts of air will be directed to the different air outlets. For example, in the position of the plate 18 in Fig. 4 more air will be directed to the air channels 27a connected to the first air outlet 22 than the amount of air directed to the air channels 27b connected to the second air outlet 24. Thus, in the position of the plate 18 of Fig. 4 two of the three air channels 27b connected to the second air outlet are full blocked by the plate 18 whereas only one air channel 27a connected to the first outlet 22 is blocked. Hence, the state of operation shown in Fig. 4 more air will flow to the first air outlet 22 than to the second air outlet 24. Rotating the plate 18 will cause the distribution of the air flow to the different air outlets to change.

In the embodiment of Fig. 4, a rotating plate is used to block open the different air channels 27. However, other similar mechanisms for changing the proportions of air flow between the different air outlets 22, 24 can be used. For example, the different air channels 27 can be selectively blocked. In accordance with another embodiment a shutter plate can be provided for each air outlet, each shutter plate being individually settable so as to cause different amounts of air to flow to the different air outlets 22, 24.

The control of the different states can be controlled by a controller (not shown). The controller can be set in different modes of operation by a user. For example, the controller can in one mode of operation be configured to vary the amount of air from one air outlet to the other in an oscillating motion such that the resulting airflow sweeps from one side to the other. In other words, the air flow distribution can be varied to mimic a moving air outlet sweeping from one side to the other and back again. In the embodiment with the rotatable plate 18, such a pattern can be implemented by rotating the plate back and forth. Hereby the fan 10 can be configured to mimic a resulting air flow swinging from side to side. This can be obtained without an air deflector at the outlet or a swinging motion of the air outlet itself.

In Fig. 5, another exemplary embodiment for providing an air distributor 60 configured to vary the air flow to the two air outlets to form a variable combined air flow from the two air outlets is shown. In the embodiment of Fig. 5, the air distributor 60 is formed by one motor driven rotating member 52, 54 provided for each air outlet and further comprising a controller (not shown) configured to drive the motor driven rotating members at a controlled speeds so as to form the variable combined air flow. Thus, by directly controlling the air flows to the different air outlets 22, 24 using a plurality of motor driven rotating members 52, 54. the air flow from the different air outlets 22, 24 can be controlled. The control can be controlled in the corresponding manner as for the embodiments described above and for example be configured to mimic a resulting air flow swinging from side to side.

In Fig. 6, a cross sectional view the fan 10 of Fig. 5 is depicted. The fan 10 comprises the two motor driven rotating members 52, 54 provided for each air outlet 22, 24. Air flows are fed from the motor driven rotating member 52, 54 to air outlets via air channels 53, 55 respectively.

Claims

1. A fan (10) comprising:

- an air inlet (12),

- at least one motor driven rotating member (16, 52, 54) for forming an air flow,

- a first air outlet (22) for directing a first portion of the air flow, and

- a second air outlet (24) for directing a second portion of the air flow, wherein the first air outlet and the second air outlet are configured to direct respective air flows to form a combined air flow from the first air outlet and the second air outlet,

- an air distributor (60) configured to vary the air flow to the two air outlets to form a variable combined air flow from the two air outlets.

2. The fan (10) according to claim 1, wherein the air distributor is formed by one motor driven rotating member (52, 54) provided for each air outlet and further comprising a controller configured to drive the motor driven rotating members at a controlled speeds so as to form the variable combined air flow.

3. The fan (10) according to claim 1, wherein the air distributor comprises a plate (18), the plate comprising at least one opening (19), and wherein the plate is rotatable to cause different amounts of air to flow.

4. The fan (10) according to claim 1, wherein the air distributor comprises a shutter plate for each air outlet (22, 24), each shutter plate being individually settable so as to cause different amounts of air to flow to the different air outlets.

5. The fan (10) according to any one of claims 3 or 4, further comprising a motor (31) configured to drive the air distributor into different positions.

6. The fan (10) according to any one of claims 1 - 5, wherein the air outlets comprise an elongated vertical opening.

7. The fan (10) according to claim 6, wherein the elongated vertical openings are identically shaped and parallel to each other.

8. The fan (10) according to any one of claims 1 - 7, wherein the number of air outlets is two.

9. The fan (10) according to any one of claims 1 - 8, wherein an air directing surface (62, 64) is located at each air outlet (22, 24).

10. An air-conditioner comprising the fan according to any one of claims 1 - 9.