Characteristic comparative measurement system of motor fan in vacuum cleaner

This invention provides a system for measuring and comparing various characteristics of a motor fan rotated by a power generating unit, the system including the power generating unit for rotating the fan, a housing containing the power generating unit therein and being formed with a suction inlet for drawing air during rotation of the fan and a discharge outlet for discharging the air absorbed through the suction inlet, a supporting unit installed into the housing for supporting the power generating unit, a protection unit having in a front surface thereof a suction hole for drawing the air, for protecting breakage of the fan, a vacuum measuring unit installed to measure a vacuum in the housing, a wind amount regulating unit for controlling a draining port of the housing so as to maintain optimal vacuum in the housing, a revolution measurement unit for measuring revolution of the rotating unit installed to the power generating unit, and a torque table for measuring torque.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention relates to a characteristic comparative measurement system of 
a motor fan in a vacuum cleaner, for comparing characteristics uniquely 
exhibited in a configuration of the fan rotated by a power generating 
means, and more particularly, to a system which provides easy measurement 
of basic characteristics, such as revolution, torque, vacuum and wind 
amount of each fan by simply changing the fan, which contributes to 
developing an effective fan. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
A vacuum cleaner generally requires a fan which is used to provide suction. 
However, specific configurations of the fan may affect the suction. 
In most cases, a fan is installed into a product without consideration of 
the significant factors thereof, such as the advantageous characteristics 
the fan configuration would give or the revolution of the power generating 
means, so that it may result in poor suction performance for the vacuum 
cleaner and lowered product quality. 
Also, there is a problem in that influential factors, such as vacuum, wind 
amount, and revolution, as well as torque according to revolution of the 
fan cannot be properly examined. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
characteristic comparative measurement system of a motor fan used in, for 
example, a vacuum cleaner or the like, contributing to the effective 
development of a fan, adapted to measure basic characteristics such as 
revolution, torque, vacuum and wind amount of the fan, for designing an 
optimally-operated fan prior to the mass production thereof. 
The above objects are accomplished by the system for measuring and 
comparing various characteristics of a fan, the system comprising: 
a power generating means for rotating the fan; 
a housing for containing the power generating means therein and being 
formed with a suction inlet for drawing air during rotation of the fan and 
a discharge outlet for discharging the air absorbed through the suction 
inlet; 
a supporting means installed in the housing for supporting the power 
generating means; 
a protection means having a suction hole at a front surface thereof for 
drawing the air, which protects against breakage of the fan; 
a vacuum measuring means installed to measure the vacuum in the housing; 
a wind amount regulating means for controlling the draining port of the 
housing so as to maintain an optimal vacuum in the housing; 
a revolution measurement means for measuring the revolution of the rotating 
means installed at the power generating means; and 
a torque table as a means for measuring the torque of the fan.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The preferred embodiment according to the present invention will now be 
described in detail in accordance with the accompanying drawings. 
FIG. 1 schematically shows the internal configuration of a characteristic 
comparative measurement system of a motor fan in accordance with the 
present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the supporting 
means applied to the present invention. 
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes the power generating means for 
generating rotational power which a first shaft 2 is coupled thereto to be 
rotated in response to the rotational power generated. 
A fan 4 specifically configured can be coupled separately to the shaft 2, 
allowing for comparison and analysis of specific characteristics which 
each fan coupled thereto exhibits, respectively. 
A housing 30 has a power generating means 1 for rotating the fan 4 therein 
such that various characteristics to the fan configuration are compared 
and analyzed for every fan, and is formed with a suction inlet 31 for 
drawing air during rotation of the fan and a discharge outlet 32 for 
discharging the air absorbed through the suction inlet 31. 
Further, the housing 30 has a means 40 for supporting the power generating 
means 1 inside. 
The supporting means 40 includes, as shown in FIG. 2, a front supporting 
portion 41 in which a receiving portion 411 and fixing holes 412 are 
formed for accommodating and fixing the power generating means 1, and a 
bottom supporting portion 42 integrally formed with the front supporting 
means 41 in which a plurality of holes 421 are perforated such that the 
power generating means 1 is positioned at one selected location provided 
by the holes. 
Further, the housing 30 is provided with a base member 50 having fixing 
holes 51 therein such that the supporting means 40 is securely fixed 
thereto by coupling a fixing member 52, such as a bolt, etc., into the 
holes 51. 
Still further, the housing 30 also has a draining port 32 controlled by the 
wind amount regulating means 60 which is installed thereto and operated to 
maintain optimal vacuum in the housing 30. 
On a front surface of the housing 30, a protection means 70 is assembled 
considering the possibility of breakage of the fan and possible injury to 
an operator. 
The protection means 70 has a suction hole 71 for taking up air when the 
fan 4 rotates, and the hole 71 also has an insertion hole 72 to which the 
vacuum measuring means 5 is installed to measure the vacuum for the 
absorbed air. 
In measuring the vacuum using the above-described system, first, the 
external protrusion condition of the first shaft 2 coupled to the power 
generating means 1 is confirmed after decoupling the protection means 70 
from the housing 30. The fan 4 to be analyzed is then coupled onto the 
first shaft 2, followed by coupling the protection means 70 to guard 
against any possible injury to the operator. Upon completion of such 
preparation to measure the vacuum, electric power is applied to the power 
generating means 1 for rotation action thereof. 
The rotation of the first shaft 2 caused by the rotational power generated 
from the power generating means 1 allows the fan 4 to be rotated 
accordingly, following suction of air through the suction hole 71. The 
vacuum measuring means 5 coupled to the protection means 70 measures the 
vacuum for the absorbed air through the suction hole 71. Air which has 
experienced vacuum measurement is discharged outside through the draining 
port 32. At this time, the varied internal vacuum of the housing 30 is 
measured by the vacuum measuring means 5 coupled to the housing 30. 
Using two measured vacuums for both the suction hole 71 and the housing 30, 
the respective characteristics that the fans 4 have are compared and 
analyzed, and one can select an optimal fan 4 accordingly. 
Meanwhile, FIG. 3 schematically shows an internal configuration of the same 
characteristic comparative measurement system as in FIG. 1, except that 
the system further comprises a rotating means 10 and a revolution 
measurement means 20, and further a second shaft 3 is coupled to the power 
generating means 1 opposite to the first shaft 2, wherein the rotating 
means 10 is coupled to the second shaft 3 and rotated in response to the 
power generating means 1 action. 
The rotating means 10 is configured, as shown in FIG. 4, such that at a 
central point of the means 10, a through hole 12 is formed for inserting 
the second shaft 3, and at an appropriate location in the means 10, a slot 
11 is formed through which a light is transmitted. Using the transmission 
of light through the slot allows the revolutions of the power generating 
means to be measured by the revolution measuring means 20. The slot 11 is 
preferably oriented towards the through hole 12 ending at the outer edge 
of the rotating means 10. 
Further, the revolution measurement means 20 supported by the supporting 
means to be described later consists of a detecting means having a pair of 
light emitting elements and light receiving elements which are, 
respectively, located near both sides of the rotating means 10, and a 
controller electrically coupled to the detecting means, wherein when the 
light emitted from the light emitting element is delivered to the light 
receiving means only through the slot 10 during rotation of the rotating 
means 10, the light receiving means in turn outputs pulse signals to the 
controller, and then the controller measures the revolution of the power 
generating means 1 by counting the pulses received. 
Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 3, for the base member 50 installed to align 
the first shaft direction with a central axis of the suction hole 31, 
alternatively, the member 40 may be instead, a well-known torque table 80 
providing the torque value of the power generating means 1, with its 
operation mechanism so that when a force caused by the vibration generated 
when the power generating means 1 is rotated is delivered to the 
supporting means 40, this occurrence causes resistance variation which can 
correspondingly indicate the desired torque value. More specifically, in 
case a force is generated when the motor is rotated and is conveyed to a 
moving body movably installed over a fixed body which is fixed into the 
housing 30, the force delivered to the moving body of the torque table is 
converted into resistance, variances of which may be displayed through a 
monitor connected to a personal computer, or an oscilloscope connected to 
the torque table. 
It should be apparent that instead of the hole 421 in FIG. 2, 
longitudinally extended holes 422 as shown in FIG. 5 may be used for 
longitudinal movements of the supporting means 40. 
In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the possible occurrence of the floating of 
the protection means 70 when exchanging one fan 4 for another may be 
minimized by a guide groove 34 formed in a side surface of the housing 30 
locating the protection means 70 and into which a leading edge of the 
protection means 70 is inserted. 
According to the present invention, the system for measuring basic 
characteristics, such as revolution, torque, vacuum, and wind amount 
enables to measure those characteristics simply by exchanging the fan to 
be measured, and therefore an effective development and design of the fan 
are possible.