FLUID APPARATUS

Abstract: A fluid apparatus (82) comprising a motor (1), a blade wheel (5) connected to the motor shaft (4), plural moving blades (8) disposed along the outer circumference of the blade wheel (5) with each moving blade shaft (7) extending into the blade wheel (5) and being rotatable relative to the blade wheel (5), small gears (9) attached to the moving blade shaft (7) inside the blade wheel (5), a large gear (10) disposed to be on level with the blade wheel (5) so as to be geared with the small gears (9), an impeller (13) connected to the large gear (10) and housed in a casing (14) filled up with oil (15) so that there may appear a relative angle difference between the blade wheel (5) and the large gear (10) upon starting of the blower (82), and stoppers (17, 18) for stopping the large gear (5) at predetermined positions with respect to the blade wheel (5) at normal and reverse modes of the blower (82), respectively.

Description: This invention relates to a fluid apparatus according to the generic part of claim 1 A fluid apparatus of this kind is known from US-A-3,354,965 which describes a changeable-pitch propeller having positive pitch-changing action upon reversal of the driven direction. DE-A-1,626,027 describes a gas turbine engine in which the blades can also be rotated about their axes on a blade wheel and stopped at predetermined positions which is effected by a special servo mechanism. For ventilation, a fluid apparatus such as an axial flow blower is provided in a tunnel 81, as shown in Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings. The blower 82 generates winds blowing onto the road in accordance with traffic volume and atmospheric pressure at the entrance and at the exit of the tunnel 81, so that the tunnel 82 is ventilated effectively and economically. Generally, two types of blowers are known for such ventilation. One is, as shown in Figure 9, a blower provided with fixed moving blades 91 of rectangular cross section. This blower sends winds bidirectionally by only changing the direction of rotation of a blade wheel (not shown) the blades 91 are attached to. The other one is, as shown in Figure 10, a blower with rotatable moving blades 101 of streamline cross section. When changing the direction of ventilation by this blower, the blade wheel is rotated in reverse sense and the blades 101 are also rotated about their respective axes by approximately 180 degrees. However, in the former case, the moving blade has rectangular cross section so that its noise level is high and the ventilation efficiency is low. In addition, its electric power consumption is nearly 10 % higher than that of the latter blower. On the other hand, in the latter case, a complicated drive mechanism (not shown) is required to rotate the moving blades 101 about the axes thereof. Thus, it is very costly. The problem of this invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages of conventional blowers by providing a fluid device which is capable of rotating the moving blades to optimum position automatically by a simple mechanism. According to a first aspect of this invention, a blower comprising a motor and a blade wheel fixed to the shaft of the motor is provided. Along the outer circumference of the blade wheel, plural moving blades are provided. Each blade has a shaft extending into the blade wheel so that the blade may rotate about its shaft. A small gear is disposed at the end of said shaft, and a large gear is provided to be engaged with the small gears. The large gear is disposed to be level with the motor. The large gear has a shaft extending out of the blade wheel and to the end thereof an impeller is attached. The impeller is housed in a casing which contains oil. One projection is formed within the large gear and two stoppers within the blade wheel so that the rotation of the blade wheel may be limited by those stoppers and the projection. The stoppers and the projection are positioned such that the large gear is stopped at predetermined positions at normal mode and reverse mode of the blower, respectively. The impeller, the casing to house the impeller, and the oil in the casing together serve as damping means which delay the large gear relative to the blade wheel so that a relative angle difference therebetween may appear. When the blower is turned on, the blade wheel and the large gear both start rotating. However, the damping means provide resistance to the large gear, so that an angle difference appears between the large gear and the blade wheel. Meanwhile, inside the blade wheel, each small gear starts rotating and therefore each moving blade rotates about the axis thereof. In short, the moving blades start rotating about the axes thereof when the blower is turned on. Each blade rotates clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on the switch mode of the blower. Each blade automatically stops rotating at an optimum position which is determined by the stopper of the large gear and the projection of the blade wheel. According to a second aspect of the present invention, a blower is provided, comprising a motor and a blade wheel which is disposed on the shaft of the motor. Along the outer circumference of the blade wheel, plural moving blades are disposed. Each blade has a shaft extending into the blade wheel so that the blade may rotate about its shaft. A small gear is disposed at the end of said shaft inside the blade wheel, and a large gear is provided to be engaged with the small gears inside the blade wheel The large gear is disposed to be level with the motor. The large gear has a shaft extending out of the blade wheel, and an impeller is provided near the large gear shaft so that between the large gear shaft and the impeller an electromagnetic clutch for coupling and uncoupling these elements is provided. The impeller is housed in a casing filled up with oil. One projection is formed within the large gear while two stoppers are formed within the blade wheel so that the large gear may be stopped by those stoppers and the projection. The stoppers and the projection are positioned such that the large gear is stopped at predetermined positions upon normal mode switching and reverse mode switching of the blower respectively. The impeller, the casing for the impeller, and the oil in the casing serve in combination as damping means causing the large gear to rotate slower than the blade wheel, producing a relative angle difference therebetween. As the blower is turned on, the electromagnetic clutch is automatically turned on to connect the large gear with the impeller. When the moving blades rotate to the optimum position and the motor reaches its rated rotational speed, the electromagnetic clutch is automatically turned off so as to disconnect the large gear from the impeller. The electromagnetic clutch connects the large gear with the impeller only when the moving blades are rotating about the respective shafts. Therefore, after completion of the rotation of the moving blades, no power is transmitted therebetween so that the impeller will eventually stop. This construction minimizes the energy loss due to the impeller. According to a third aspect of this invention, a blower has a motor with a gear at the extending end of its shaft. A blade wheel also has a shaft parallel to the shaft of the motor and extending toward the motor. At the end of the shaft, a gear is provided which mashes with the gear of the motor. Along the outer circumference of the blade wheel, plural moving blades are disposed. Each blade has a shaft extending into the blade wheel so that the blade wheel may rotate about its shaft. A small gear is disposed at the end of each moving blade shaft inside the blade wheel, and there is a large gear to be engaged with the small gears. The large gear is disposed level with the blade wheel. The large gear has a shaft extending out of the blade wheel, and at the end thereof an impeller is attached. The impeller is housed in a casing filled up with oil. A projection is formed within the large gear while two stoppers are formed within the blade wheel so that the rotation of the large gear may be limited by those stoppers and the projection. The stoppers and the projection are positioned such that the large gear is stopped at predetermined positions at normal mode and reverse mode of the blower, respectively. The impeller, the casing for the impeller, and the oil in the casing serve in combination as damping means which delays the large gear relative to the blade wheel so that there may appear a relative angle difference therebetween. When a blower is turned on, the motor, the blade wheel, and the large gear start rotating in the blade wheel. In this case, the blade wheel rotates faster or slower than the blower motor because of a transmission ratio between the two gears thereof. Meanwhile, the damping means resists to the large gear, so that an angle difference is produced between the large gear and the blade wheel. And at the same time inside the blade wheel, each small gear starts rotating and therefore each moving blade starts rotating about its own axis. Each blade automatically rotates clockwise or counterclockwise depending on the switch mode of the blower. And each blade automatically stops rotating at an optimum position which is defined by the stopper of the large gear and the projection of the blade wheel. The above aspects and other aspects of the present invention will be understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in combination with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a view showing a construction of a blower of a preferred embodiment of this invention. Figures 2 and 3 are views to explain how the above embodiment functions respectively. Figure 4 is a view showing another embodiment of this invention. Figure 5 is a timing chart depicting how the embodiment of Figure 4 functions. Figures 6 and 7 are views illustrating further embodiments. Figure 8 is a schematic view of the installation of a conventional blower. Figures 9 and 10 are views for explaining the problems of the prior art. Figures 11 and 12 are views showing still other embodiments of this invention respectively. Referring to Figure 1, a motor 1 of a blower 82 is disposed on support struts 2 at the center of the housing 3 of a blower 82. The shaft 4 of the motor 1 is provided with a blade wheel 5. Plural through holes 6 are bored into the blade wheel 5 along the circumference thereof, and a shaft 7 is rotatably inserted in each through hole 6. At one end of each shaft 6, disposed out of the blade wheel 5, a moving blade 8 of streamline cross section is provided while at the other end, inside the blade wheel 5, a small gear 9 is provided. A large gear 10 is rotatably disposed inside the blade wheel 5 parallel to the back wall 11 of the blade wheel 5 with its center being level with the motor shaft 4 so that it may be engaged with the small gears 9. At the external extending end of the shaft of the large gear 10 an impeller 13 is provided which is accommodated in a casing 14. The casing 14 is fixed to the blower housing 3 and filled with oil 15. The impeller 13, the casing 14, and the oil 15 serve in combination as damping means which will be described later. One projection 16 is formed at the back side of the large gear 10 while two projections 17 and 18 are formed at the front side of the back wall 11. The latter projections are called normal mode stopper 17 and reverse mode stopper 18 respectively. These stoppers 17 and 18 are located, as illustrated in Figure 2, such that at normal mode the large gear 10 may rotate to the optimum position for normal mode, namely it rotates until the normal mode stopper 17 encounters the projection 16 while at reverse mode the large gear 10 may rotate to the optimum position for reverse mode, namely until the reverse mode stopper 18 encounters the projection 16. As the blower 82 is switched to the normal mode the blade wheel 5 connected to the motor shaft 4 starts rotating, and the small gears 9 and the large gear 10 also start rotating. Simultanesously, the impeller 13 provided on the shaft 12 of the large gear 10 starts rotating with oil 15 inside the casing 14, so that a resistance is exerted onto the large gear 10 due to the effect of the oil 14 via the impeller 13. Therefore, the rotation of the large gear 10 delays relative to the blade wheel 5, and the small gears 9 are rotated by the large gear 10 inside the blade wheel 5, rotating each moving blade 8 about the respective shaft 7. After that, as shown in Figure 2, when the projection 16 of the large gear 10 meets the normal mode stopper 17, the relative movement between the blade wheel 5 and the large gear 10 stops, so that both 5 and 10 rotate simultaneously at the same speed. At this point, as shown in Figure 3-a, each moving blade 8 has been set to the optimum position, and therefore effective ventilation is ensured. At the reverse mode of the blower 82, the blower motor 1 is rotated in the reverse sense, and the large gear 10 as well. In this case, too, as mentioned above, the large gear 10 rotates slower than the blade wheel 5 due to the resistance of the impeller 13. And, as depicted in Figure 2, this relative movement continues until the projection 16 hits the reverse mode stopper 18. After that, the large gear 10 and the blade wheel 5 rotate simultaneously and as shown in Figure 3-b, each blade 8 is inclined to the optimum angle for ventilation, so that winds are most effectively generated. It is appreciated from the above explanation that as the blower motor 1 starts rotating in normal or reverse sense, the moving blades 8 are automatically rotated to the optimum positions thereby ventilating effectively. Referring to Figure 4 which illustrates another embodiment of this invention, an electromagnetic clutch 19 is provided between the shaft 12 of the large gear 10 and the impeller 13 so that power transmission therebetween may be controlled. In this case, as shown in Figure 5, the electromagnetic clutch 19 is turned on to connect the large gear 10 with the impeller 13 approximately at the time when the motor 1 is activated. And, as the motor 1 rotates, resistance is exerted onto the large gear 10 from the impeller 13, rotating the moving blades 8 to the optimum positions. At the completion of the blade rotation and after the motor 1 reaches its rated rotational speed, the electromagnetic clutch 19 is automatically turned off so that the large gear 10 and the impeller 13 are disconnected from each other. The electromagnetic clutch 19 is activated and deactivated automatically by a timer (not shown) so that the clutch 19 may be activated for a period T only. Therefore, the impeller 13 and the large gear 10 are connected only during the moving blades changing their angle, and once the motor 1 reaches its rated speed and the moving blades reach optimum positions, the impeller 13 is no longer driven by the blower motor 1 whereby it eventually stops. Accordingly, energy loss due to the resistance of the impeller is minimized. When the electromagnetic clutch 19 is off, the moving blades 8 are maintained at the optimum positions since there is friction at the bearings due to the centrifugal force of the moving blades 8. However, if the moment which reduces the blade angle (pitch angle reduction moment) is large and there is a possibility to change the pitch angle of the moving blade, counter balancers 20 are attached to the blade shafts 7. Moment M1 produced by the centrifugal force of the moving blade 8 is balanced by moment M2 produced by the counter balancers 20, whereby the optimum angle of the moving blade 8 is maintained. Fluid other than oil may be provided in the casing 14. The blade wheel 5 must not necessarily be disposed on the motor shaft 4. For instance, as shown in Figure 11, when the motor shaft 4 of the blower 82 extends beneath the shaft 21 of the blade wheel 5, the motor 1 and the blade wheel 5 are coupled by the gears 22 and 23. In the illustrated case, the rotation response of the blade wheel 5 relative to the rotation of the motor shaft 4 is faster than in the foregoing embodiments, since gear 22 is larger than gear 23. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 12, an electromagnetic powder clutch may be used in the damping means. In this case, a rotor 30 is disposed on level with the large gear 10, and the rotor 30 is connected to the shaft 12 of the large gear 10 by a coupling 31. The rotor 30 is rotatably housed in the casing 14 fixed to the housing 3 of the blower 82. A magnetic powder 32 is provided between the rotor 30 and the casing 14, and a coil 33 surrounds the casing 14 along the circumference thereof. Numeral 34 is a connection to the power source (not shown) and numeral 35 is a magnetic flux partition ring. When the electric power is supplied to the coil 33, the magnetic powder 32 is excited and becomes solid. Thereupon, the casing 14 and the rotor 30 are connected so that the rotor 30 is no longer rotatable, stopping the large gear 10. Upon cutting off of the electric power to the coil 33, the magnetic powder 32 returns to the powder state from the above-mentioned solid state, releasing the rotor 30 from the casing 14. The strength of the connection between the rotor 30 and the casing 14 by the magnetic powder 32 can be controlled by adjusting the current supplied to the coil 33. Moreover, a similar function of above-described clutch means provided with the damping means is obtained by way of electromagnetic force (for example, by eddy current) excited on the rotor 30 and the casing 14. In this case, the magnetic powder 32 is not required. The above embodiments have the following advantages. (i) It is possible to automatically change the pitch angle of each streamline-shaped moving blade 8 to an optimum value by use of rotative power of the blower 82, which leads to an effective ventilation. Also, noise is reduced as compared with the conventional blowers. (ii) Since no drive mechanism in addition to the blower 82 is required, conventional blowers can be modified according to this invention.

Claims: A fluid apparatus (82) comprising a motor (1) having a rotative shaft (4), and plural moving blades (8) disposed along the outer circumference of a blade wheel (5) so that the fluid apparatus (82) may produce fluid energy in the direction of the shaft (4) upon rotation of the shaft (4), each moving blade (8) having a shaft (7) extending in the radial direction of the blade wheel (5) and being disposed at the blade wheel (5) so that it may rotate about its own shaft (7) with each shaft (7) extending into the blade wheel (5), characterized in that the blade wheel (5) is in drive connection with the rotative shaft (4), a small gear (9) is provided at each moving blade shaft (7) inside the blade wheel (5), a large gear (10) is disposed to be level with the blade wheel (5) so as to engage with the small gears (9), damping means (13, 14, 15) is provided so as to be connected to a shaft (12) of the large gear (10) so that the rotation of the large gear (10) may be slowed down and a relative angle difference between the blade wheel (5) and the large gear (10), is produced upon starting of the fluid apparatus (82), and stoppers (17, 18) for stopping the large gear (10) at predetermined positions with respect to the blade wheel (5) in normal and reverse modes of the fluid apparatus (82), respectively. A fluid apparatus (82) according to claim 1, characterized in that the damping means comprises an impeller (13) disposed at the extending end of a shaft (12) of the large gear (10), a casing (14) for housing the impeller (13), and fluid (15), preferably oil, filled up in the casing (14). A fluid apparatus (82) according to claim 2, characterized in that means (19) for disconnecting the shaft (12) of the large gear (10) from the impeller (13) is provided. A fluid apparatus (82) according to claim 3, characterized in that said means is an electromagnetic clutch (19). A fluid apparatus (82) according to anyone of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the blade wheel (5) is fixed to the rotative shaft (4) of the motor (1). A fluid apparatus (82) according to anyone of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the blade wheel (5) is connected to the rotative shaft (4) of the motor (1) via gears (22, 23). A fluid apparatus (82) according to anyone of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that counter balancers (20) are attached to the moving blades (8) so as to suppress the rotation of the moving blades (8) about their respective shafts (7). A fluid apparatus (82) according to anyone of the foregoing claims , characterized in that a rotor (30) is disposed in the casing (14) so as to be connected to the large gear (10) by coupling means (31), magnetic powder (32) is disposed between the rotor (30) and the casing (14), and a coil (33) is disposed around the casing (14), so that the magnetic powder (32) is excited to be solid thereby connecting the rotor (30) to the casing (14). A fluid apparatus (82) according to anyone of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that a rotor (30) is disposed in the casing (14) so as to be connected to the large gear (10) by coupling means (31), and a coil (33) is disposed around the casing (14), so that the rotor (30) and the casing (14) are connected in a damping way by the electromagnetic force caused by the coil (33) or an eddy current of the coil (33) when electric power is supplied to the coil (33).

Inventors: SAITO, TAKESHI
Applicants: ISHIKAWAJIMA-HARIMA HEAVY INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: F04D19
IPC codes: F04D19