Abstract:
The present invention provides air fans with enhanced oscillating mechanism. In one aspect of this invention, the air fan comprises main propeller ( 19 ), a main motor ( 24 ) operably connected to the main propeller ( 19 ), driving the main propeller ( 19 ) to rotate to generate air stream, and a wind guide device composed of a wind guard plate ( 35 ) and a wind reject plate ( 21 ) and surrounding the main propeller ( 19 ). An auxiliary motor ( 53 ) operably connected to the wind guide device via a rotation-oscillation shifting device, for driving the wind guide device to oscillate to change the wind direction. In a further aspect of this invention, only the motor for the oscillating mechanism is in motion to drive the relatively lighter wind channel while the enclosure and motor for the wind wheel remain static during operation. The air fans feature less safety hazard, a prolonged service life, a lower noise and easier operation.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/101,875, filed on Apr. 7, 2005, the entire content of which is incorporated here by reference. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to air fans, and especially relates to air fans with enhanced oscillating mechanisms.  
       BACKGROUND ART  
       [0003]     The prior art discloses various fans such as ground fans, table fans, ceiling fans, vane rotating fans, and transverse flow type fans, some examples of which can be seen in the patent documents U.S. Pat. No. 6,344,065B1, CN1063530C, CN10343A and CN1141603A or in FS29-SW V4 tower fan as shown in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0004]     As for conventional ground fans, table fans, ceiling fans and transverse flow type fans, wind direction is changed by allowing the whole fan head and the whole substantially cylindrical housing to oscillate. In this circumstance, the whole fan head and the whole substantially cylindrical housing have a large mass, so the rotation inertia is relatively great, and more energy is consumed to change wind direction. With respect to the conventional vane rotating fans, the guide vanes in the front face are rotated to change wind direction. Under this circumstance, the radius of the guide vanes is relatively large, so the rotation inertia is relatively great, and more energy is consumed to change wind direction. In addition, the conventional fans with oscillating heads require a predetermined indoor laze for oscillation of the head, which is particularly disadvantageous in a narrow environment. To sum up, one defect of the fans in the prior art is greater consumption of energy and larger occupation of space.  
         [0005]     As the oscillating part (the whole fan head and the whole substantially cylindrical housing) or rotating part (guide vanes) for changing wind direction are exposed to the outside in the prior art, oscillation or rotation might injure by accident the ambient object or human beings such as an operator. For example, when a juvenile operates the air fan, the oscillating head, housing or rotating varies might injure his fingers by accident. In summary, another defect of fans in the prior art is a certain of danger in operation.  
         [0006]     In addition, the conventional fan with oscillating head, in operation, may shift its center of gravity due to oscillation of the head. Therefore, another defect of fans in the prior art is that the fan in operation is not stable and steady enough and is liable to overturn.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     In a first aspect of this invention, there is provided an air fan adopting an internal oscillation technology, comprising a main propeller and a main motor operably connected to the main propeller, the main motor driving the main propeller to rotate to generate air stream, characterized in that the air fan further comprises a wind guide device composed of a wind guard plate and a wind reject plate and surrounding the main propeller. A gap is provided between the wind guard plate and the wind reject plate for facilitating air flowing out. An auxiliary motor is operably connected to the wind guide device via a rotation-oscillation shifting device, for driving the wind guide device to oscillate to change the wind direction.  
         [0008]     In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the air fan further comprises an ion generator.  
         [0009]     In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the air fan further comprises a water filter.  
         [0010]     In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the air fan further comprises an enclosure in which the main propeller and the wind guide device are both disposed.  
         [0011]     In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the rotation-oscillation shifting device is a crank and rocker mechanism.  
         [0012]     In a even further embodiment of this invention, there is provided a tower-type electric fan, including an enclosure, a wind wheel, a main motor which drives a wind wheel to rotate to produce wind, a wind channel which transfers air out of the rotating wind wheel, and an oscillating mechanism, characterized in that in operation, the oscillating mechanism drives the wind channel to rotate while the enclosure and main motor remain static.  
         [0013]     As used herein, a “wind channel” refers to all components which deliver air out of the rotating wind wheel, including possibly front and rear wind guards, etc., but excluding the main motor and the motor holder which are secured inside the wind channel. The “wind channel system” refers to the structure comprises of the wind channel as well as the main motor  1 ′ and the motor holder  2 ′ which are installed inside as can be in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0014]     In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the separating plate of front enclosure and middle-shaft plate are removed from the motor securing structure. The motor holder is directly secured to the front enclosure, and functions as a stopper of the oscillating mechanism.  
         [0015]     The fan in this embodiment adopts an oscillating mechanism in which only the wind channel is in rotational movement while the fan body and main motor remain static. The motor is installed on the new-type motor holder which is secured to the enclosure of the fan. A motor holder hole is made on the plane of the motor holder and a round ring is made along the hole.  
         [0016]     The upper end of the new wind channel is tightly connected to a shaft, and the shaft is fixed to the top of the fan enclosure through a clamping-pad, vibration isolating rubber and wearing-proof bushing. A motor holder hole is also made at the bottom of the wind channel and a round ring is made along the hole. The ring is covered by a wearing-proof track. A ball ring containing  6  steel balls is attached to the bottom of the track. Other numbers of the steel balls are also contemplated in this invention.  
         [0017]     The wind channel, track and ring are connected together to the motor holder ring. The steel balls of the ball ring are horizontally slideable on the top plane of the motor holder. The wind wheel is installed after the motor shaft has extended through the motor holder, ball ring, track and the motor holder hole of the wind channel. The upper end of the wind wheel is fixed to a bearing which is fastened to the fan enclosure with two screws.  
         [0018]     In this way, during oscillation the entire fan body does not need to rotate and a wide fanning range can be created by driving the wind channel alone. Other parts fixed to the enclosure, such as the main motor, wind wheel and internal wire, do not oscillate with the motion of the fan body, thus significantly reducing load of the oscillating mechanism and noise from oscillation. Potential safety hazard of short-circuit caused by wire&#39;s rubbing on oscillating mechanism can be absolutely eliminated.  
         [0019]     In another preferred embodiment of the invention, a bolt for securing the motor holder is placed at the bottom of the aforementioned front enclosure. The aforementioned motor holder is a U-shaped bracket composed of three faces. The top face of the motor holder acts as the supporting surface of the oscillating wind channel. A hole is made on the motor holder, and a round ring is made along the hole and used as a stopping plate for centering the operation of the oscillating wind channel. A motor holder hole is made at the lower plane of the aforementioned wind channel, and a round ring is made along the hole.  
         [0020]     During oscillation of the wind channel, its upper end rotates inside the shaft bushing by means of a shaft, and the lower end slides horizontally on the plane of the motor holder by means of the 6 steel balls.  
         [0021]     The main motor for the wind wheel can be secured either to the base of the fan or to the inner side wall of the enclosure, where the latter is more technically desirable because the main motor being secured to the inner side wall of the enclosure is closer to the wind wheel. Thus a shorter motor shaft can be used between them to bear higher torque and achieve stable operation.  
         [0022]     As compared with the prior art, the present invention is advantageous in the following points: 1) the rotation inertia of the oscillating member (i.e., the wind guard plate and the wind reject plate) is smaller, so the air fan according to the present invention is enemy saving; besides, no space need to be reserved to facilitate oscillation of head of the air fan, which is particularly advantageous in a narrow environment; 2) the enclosure is stationary and encloses the oscillating wind guide device so that the air fast is pretty much safer; 3) the internal oscillation technology allows the center of gravity of the whole air fan to be stable and steady so that the center of gravity is not shifted any more as in the conventional fans due to oscillation of head, As a result, the air fan according to the present invention is extremely stable and is not liable to overturn. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0023]     The present invention will be specified by describing the preferred embodiments with reference to the following drawings:  
         [0024]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an air fan of the preferred embodiment according to the first aspect of the present invention;  
         [0025]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of component parts of the air fan of the preferred embodiment according to the first aspect of the present invention;  
         [0026]      FIG. 3  is another perspective view of the air fan of the preferred embodiment according to one aspect of the present invention, roughly showing the mounting positions of and connection relation between a wind guide device end an auxiliary motor;  
         [0027]      FIG. 4  is a view of a FS29-SW tower fan in the prior art;  
         [0028]      FIG. 5  is a structural illustration of the fan according to another aspect of this invention;  
         [0029]      FIG. 6  is an A-A sectional view of the fan of  FIG. 5 ;  
         [0030]      FIG. 7  is a structural illustration of the fan of  FIG. 5 ;  
         [0031]      FIG. 8  is an illustration of the front enclosure of the fan of  FIG. 5 ; and  
         [0032]      FIG. 9  is an installation illustration of the wind channel of the fan of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0033]     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the air fan of the preferred embodiment (the applicant&#39;s product model JH-AFN) according to the one aspect of the present invention comprises a substantially cylindrical main propeller  19  which may be a conventional propeller used in a transverse flow fan or of other similar configurations, so the specific structure of the main propeller is not described in detail herein. In the description hereunder, “axial direction” refer to the direction of the vertical axis of the main propeller  19  when the air fan is placed normally, and “radial direction” refers to the direction perpendicular to the axis. A main motor  24  is operatively connected to the main propeller  19  in a convectional manner along the axial direction of the main propeller  19 , and is used to drive the main propeller  19  to rotate to generate air stream. The main motor  24  is detachably held in a main motor holder  26  via screws.  
         [0034]     The air fan according to the present invention further comprises a wind guide device composed of a wind guard plate  35  and a wind reject plate  21  and surrounding the main propeller  19 . The wind guard plate  35  and the wind reject plate  21  are disposed along the axial direction of the main propeller  19  and are detachably connected to each other. The wind guard plate  35  has a top wall and a bottom wall extending along the radial direction of the main propeller  19 . The top end of the main propeller  19  is supported on the top wall and the lower end of the main propeller  19  is operably connected to the main motor  24 . The holder  26  of the main motor  24  is connected to the bottom wall of the wind guard plate  35 . Besides, there remains a gap between the wind guard plate  35  and the wind reject plate  21  for facilitaling air flowing out.  
         [0035]     The air fan according to the present invention further comprises an enclosure which is of a combined type, comprising an upper front enclosure  5 , a lower front enclosure  80 , an upper rear enclosure  65  and a lower rear enclosure  75 . The said enclosures are assembled together to form a substantially cylindrical unitary enclosure in which the main propeller  19  and the wind guide device are received. Specifically, the upper portion of the upper front enclose  5  can be provided with an opening for receiving a remote controller and some accessories thereof. The upper rear enclosure  65  comprises a top plate, a bottom plate and a middle partition. The wind guard plate  35  at the top end thereof is supported on the top plate of the upper rear enclosure  65  via the upper shaft  33  and accessories such a shaft clamp  29 , a shaft ring  31  and a shaft bushing  32 , and at the bottom end thereof is supported on the middle partition of the upper rear enclose  65  via a lower shaft  37  line accessories such as a shill clamp  43 , a shaft ring  41 , a shaft bushing  40 , a shaft support  39  and a washer  38 . The middle partition is provided thereon with a rotation-oscillation shifting device.  
         [0036]     Specifically, in the preferred embodiment according to the present invention, the rotation-oscillation shifting device is a crank and rocker mechanism shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , comprising a cam  51  and a cam lever  46  which both ends are respectively provided with a hole. One end of the cam  51  is provided with a hole cooperating with the output shaft of a synchronous motor  53 . The cam  51  is connected to the output shaft via a cam pin  52  so that the cam  51  can be driven by the synchronous motor  53  to rotate. The other end of the cam  51  is provided with a protruding portion for inserting into the hole at one end of the cam lever  46 , thereby hinged with said end of the cam lever  46 .  
         [0037]     In addition, the bottom wall of the wind of guard plate  35  is also provided with a protruding portion for inserting into the hole at the other end of the cam lever  46 , thereby hinged with said the other end of the cam lever  46 . In principle, the middle partition portion from the oscillation center of the wind guard plate  35  to the rotation center of the clam  51  is equivalent to the fixing lever of the crack and rocker mechanism, the cool  51  is equivalent to the crank, the cam lever  46  is equivalent to a connection lever, and the wind guard plate  35  is equivalent to a rocker.  
         [0038]     In operation, the synchronous motor  53  drives the cam  51  (crank) to rotate. The rotation is shifted into oscillation of the wind guard plate  35  (racket) via the crank and rocker mechanism, thereby realizing the object of charging wind direction. Although the rotation-oscillation shifting device is described in combination with a crack and rocker mechanism herein, those having ordinary skills in the art should understand that any other devices which can realize the shifting front rotation to oscillation all fall into the scope of the present invention, for example, parallel double crank mechanism, oscillation guide lever mechanism, oscillation driven member disk-shaped cam mechanism.  
         [0039]     In addition, a space is defined between the bottom plate and middle partition of the upper rear enclosure  65 , for receiving a main controller  57  and some accessories.  
         [0040]     After being assembled and formed, the unitary enclosure is seated into a base consisting of a front base  63  and a rear base  77 .  
         [0041]     It is easy to understand from the above that so-called internal oscillation technology means that rotation of the main propeller  19  and oscillation of the wind guide device both take place in the interior of the enclosure.  
         [0042]     In another preferred embodiment (applicant&#39;s product model JH-AFI) according to the present invention, the air far comprises an ion generator  85 . The wind reject plate  21  is made of for example metal and the ion generator  85  is secured to the wind reject plate  21  via an ion generator holder  81  and screws. It is understood herein that the mounting position of the ion generator  85  can he freely selected as needed. The functions, principle and structure of the on generator  85  are well known and therefore are not described in detail herein. The ion generator is advantageous in that it can generate anion in the course of operation of the air fan, in that it is conducive to improvement of ambient air environment and promotes a user&#39;s physical and mental health.  
         [0043]     In another preferred embodiment (applicant&#39;s product model JH-AFW) according to the present invention, the air fan comprises a water filter. In this embodiment, as shown in the left lower part of  FIG. 2 , the lower portion of the lower front enclosure  86  is provided with an opening through which a water tank  100  and its accessories are received in a space encompassed by the lower front enclosure  86  and the lower rear enclosure  75 . Said accessories include for example a shaded-pole motor  91 , a shaded-pole motor holder  92 , a propeller upper enclosure  94 , a propeller  95 , a propeller lower enclosure  97  and a water tank cover  99 . The functions, principle and structure of the water alter are well known and therefore are not described in detail herein. The water filler is advantageous in that it can filter dust and impurities in the air during the operation of the air fan and is conducive to improvement of ambient air environment. Besides, the water filter has the advantage of increasing air humidity when used in dry regions.  
         [0044]     Turning to  FIGS. 5-9 , the oscillating mechanism of the air fan according to a further aspect of this invention comprises a front enclosure  4 ′, a wind channel  12 ′, a track  30 ′ and a ball ring  31 ′, balls  32 ′, a wind wheel  13 ′, a main motor  1 ′ and a main motor holder  2 ′ as well as a synchronous motor  17 ′, among other things.  
         [0045]     The main motor  1 ′ is secured to the motor holder  2 ′, which in turn is fixed to the five bolts of the enclosure. A motor holder hole  34 ′ is made on the plane of the motor holder and a round ring  33 ′ is made on the hole.  
         [0046]     A shaft  10 ′ is tightly fastened to the upper end of the wind channel, and it is clamped to the top of the enclosure by means of a vibration isolating rubber  9 ′, a shaft bushing  11  ′ and a ball  8 ′.  
         [0047]     A motor holder hole  28 ′ is made on the lower plane of the wind channel, and a round ring  29 ′ is made along the hole. Then a wearing-proof track  30 ′ is put on the ring. A ball ring  32 ′ containing six steel balls is installed underneath the track.  
         [0048]     The wind channel, track and ball ring are fastened to the ring of the motor holder, and steel balls of the ball ring horizontally slides on the top surface of the motor holder.  
         [0049]     The main motor shaft  27 ′ is fastened to the wind wheel bushing  26 ′ after extending through the motor holder, ball ring and hole, and the wind wheel shaft  23 ′ is fixed to the bearing  25 ′ which is installed on the fan&#39;s enclosure with two screws  24 ′.  
         [0050]     A shaft connecting-point is made on the lower plane of the wind channel, and an oscillating shaft  21 ′ is tightened to the connecting-point. A plastic bushing  20 ′ fixed to the oscillating shaft is flexibly connected to a connecting lever  15 ′ of the oscillating mechanism.  
         [0051]     The synchronous motor  17 ′ of the oscillating mechanism is fixed to the enclosure of the fan unit. During oscillation the synchronous motor  17 ′ drives the crank  16 ′ to rotate with the connecting lever  15 ′, and the connecting lever  15 ′ drives the wind channel  12 ′ to achieve continuous oscillation. Although the preceding text describes the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings, those having ordinary skill in the art understand that the present invention is not limited to the above specific preferred embodiments. For example, the connection modes between component parts can be freely selected as needed, for example threaded connection, riveting, adhesive connection or welding. The adopted drive source can be any one motor selected by those having ordinary skill in the art and other drive sources beside motors, not limited to the synchronous motor and the shaded-pole motor as described herein. In addition, the function of one part can be realized by two or more parts, vice versa. In one word, those having ordinary skill in the art can make various variations and improvements to the extent they do not go beyond the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.