Patent Publication Number: US-2003228841-A1

Title: Airflow balancer for ventilation outlet

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to a ventilation device, and more particularly to an inexpensive airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet, which can ensure the outlet air evenly flowing through the ventilation outlet.  
       [0003] 2. Description of Related Arts  
       [0004] Nowadays, ventilation system plays a main role for all modem buildings such as office and home to be well ventilated in order to provide a comfortable indoor climate condition for the residents. For example, the resident is able to turn on the air conditioning during the summer time and the heater during the wintertime, so as to set an acceptable indoor climate condition. General speaking, the ventilation system generates a flow of cool or hot air to each room of the building through a ventilation outlet mounted on a ceiling, wall or roof of each room of the building.  
       [0005] When the ventilation system is pre-set at a predetermined temperature, especially the central control ventilation system, the ventilation system generates the same amount of airflow directly exhausted through the ventilation outlets to the rooms of the building respectively. As a result, the ventilation system may not be sufficient to properly ventilate the much bigger room of the building. To deal with this problem, the ventilation system must be set to generate a larger airflow and the ventilation outlet can be selectively opened and closed to admit ventilating air into the room when desired. In other words, the resident is able to fully open the ventilation outlet that allows more air flowing into the larger room and partially close the ventilation outlet to block the air flowing into the smaller room. However, such method is practiced in the art but do not work as a cost effective and energy efficient way.  
       [0006] Moreover, the resident may feel uncomfortable when he or she sits right under the ventilation outlet such that the airflow will directly blow towards the resident. However, the airflow may hardly reach the area that far from the ventilation outlet. Therefore, it is an important consideration when designing the location of the ventilation outlet for each room that the airflow can be evenly distributed to every corner of the room while being cost effective and energy efficient.  
       [0007] Although it is possible to install an electric fan at each ventilation outlet to evenly blow the airflow therethrough, it is not practical because:  
       [0008] (i) it is too troublesome in installation;  
       [0009] (ii) electric power is required by extending electric cords to every ventilation outlet;  
       [0010] (iii) extra power switches are required to control the on/off of the electric fans;  
       [0011] (iv) expensive and heavy motor is required to drive the fan to rotate; and  
       [0012] (v) it is difficult to mount and install at existing ventilation outlets.  
       SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0013] A main object of the present invention is to provide an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet, which can guide and evenly distribute a flow of air through the ventilation outlet while being cost effective and energy efficient.  
       [0014] Another object of the present invention is to provide an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet, wherein the airflow balancer is automatically driven by the out flowing of air generated by the ventilation system, such that no electric is needed to propelled the airflow balancer of the present invention so as to substantially save the additional cost and energy associated with the present invention.  
       [0015] Another object of the present invention is to provide an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet, wherein the airflow balancer automatically stops when the ventilation system stops.  
       [0016] Another object of the present invention is to provide an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet, wherein the user may select the airflow balancer to functions and works automatically whenever the ventilation system is working or not to function anytime.  
       [0017] Another object of the present invention is to provide an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet, wherein the airflow is guided to enter into the room through the ventilation outlet in a circular motion such that the airflow balancer is adapted to direct the airflow to evenly spread out in the entire room. In other words, the resident will not feel uncomfortable even though he or she sits right under the ventilation outlet.  
       [0018] Another object of the present invention is to provide an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet, wherein the installation operation of the airflow balancer is simple and fast that one individual is able to self-install the airflow balancer to the ordinary ventilation outlet by simply mounting to the ventilation outlet.  
       [0019] Another object of the present invention is to provide an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet, wherein the airflow balancer can be built in a new type of ventilation outlet for new construction. The user may also replace the ventilation outlet manufactured to have the airflow balancer of the present invention.  
       [0020] Another object of the present invention is to provide a airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet, wherein the rotational speed of the airflow balancer is adapted to be selectively adjusted in order to control the amount of the airflow entering into the room, such that the airflow balancer can be set to have a higher rotational speed to allow a higher circulating speed of the airflow, such as for a larger room, and set to have a lower rotational speed to allow a lower circulating speed of the airflow, such as for a smaller room. In other words, no matter the resident stay in a larger room or a smaller room, the ventilation system is adapted to supply sufficient airflow to the room by controlling the speed of the airflow balancer.  
       [0021] Another object of the present invention is to provide an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet, wherein no expensive or complicated part is required to employ in the present invention in order to achieve the above mentioned objects. Therefore, the present invention successfully provides an economic and efficient solution for permitting ventilating air to evenly diffuse to the room through the ventilation outlet.  
       [0022] Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet, which comprises:  
       [0023] an air guider comprising an airflow baffle which has a plurality of ventilating slots for allowing an airflow passing through and a supporter provided at a center of the airflow baffle for suspendedly supporting the airflow baffle on the ventilation outlet in a rotatable manner; and  
       [0024] a rotor coaxially and upwardly extended from the air guider and arranged in responsive to a breeze blowing of the airflow passing through the rotor so as to drive the airflow baffle to rotate, in such a manner that a rotational movement of the air guider is adapted for evenly diffusing the airflow through the ventilating slots toward the ventilation outlet.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0025]FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0026]FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the airflow balancer mounted on the ventilation outlet according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0027]FIG. 3A is a partially sectional view of the airflow balancer according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the magnetic attraction of the speed control arrangement.  
     [0028]FIG. 3B illustrates an alternative mode of the speed control arrangement of the airflow balancer according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0029]FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0030]FIG. 5 is a sectional perspective view of the airflow balancer mounted on the ventilation outlet according to the above second preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0031]FIG. 6A illustrates an operation of the airflow balancer according to the above second preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the airflow baffle rotating in a suspended manner.  
     [0032]FIG. 6B illustrates an operation of the airflow balancer according to the above second preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the airflow baffle rotating frictionally.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0033] Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, an airflow balancer for a ventilation outlet according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the ventilation outlet  10 , which can be any conventional ventilation outlet, is mounted on a roof, a ceiling or even a wall for exhausting or supplying an airflow A to outside therethrough.  
     [0034] The airflow balancer comprises an air guider  20  comprising a supporter  21  and an airflow baffle  22 . The airflow baffle  22  has a plurality of ventilating slots  221  for allowing the airflow A passing through. The supporter  21 , which has a rotation ridge  211  downwardly protruded, is provided at a rotation center of the airflow baffle for suspendedly supporting the airflow baffle  22  on the ventilation outlet  10  in a rotatable manner.  
     [0035] The airflow balancer further comprises a rotor  30 , such as a propeller fan as shown in FIG. 1, coaxially and upwardly extended from the air guider  20  to form an integral body. The rotor  30  is shaped and sized in such a manner that, in response to the airflow A passing through the rotor  30 , the rotor  30  is driven to rotate, so as to drive the air guider  20  to rotate simultaneously. Therefore, such rotational movement of the air guider  20  is adapted for evenly diffusing the airflow A through the ventilating slots  221  toward the ventilation outlet  10 .  
     [0036] According to the first preferred embodiment as shown in FIGS.  1  to  3 B, the supporter  21  has a hollow cone shape that defines a circular bottom rib as the rotation ridge  211  to rotatably support the airflow baffle  22  on the ventilation outlet  10  in a suspended manner. As shown in FIG. 1, the rotation ridge  211  of the supporter  21  should be made as thin as possible so as to minimize the rotation friction between the rotating air guider  20  and the ventilation outlet  10 .  
     [0037] The airflow baffle  22  should be smaller in size than a size of the ventilation outlet  10  wherein the supporter  21  is preferred to be mounted at a center of the airflow baffle  22  in such a manner that when the supporter  21  is mounted on the ventilation outlet  10 , the airflow baffle  22  is suspendedly supported on the ventilation outlet  10  in a balance manner. In other words, the supporter  21  is protruded from the airflow baffle  22  in such a manner that the rotation ridge  211  of the supporter  21  is arranged for rotatably supporting on the ventilation outlet  10  in a frictionless movable manner.  
     [0038] It is worth to mention that since the airflow baffle  22  does not in contact with the ventilation outlet  10 , no resisting friction will be formed between the airflow baffle  22  and the ventilation outlet  10  to stop the rotation of the airflow baffle  22  accidentally and, moreover, no contacting noise will be generated by the frictional force between the airflow baffle  22  and the ventilation outlet  10 .  
     [0039] The airflow baffle  22  has a top side and a bottom side, wherein the ventilating slots  221  is evenly formed on the airflow baffle  22  to communicate the top side with the bottom side of the airflow baffle  22 . Each of the ventilating slots  221  is inclinedly extended from the top side to the bottom side of the airflow baffle  22  in such a manner that when the airflow A passes through the ventilating slots  22 , the airflow A is guided to evenly spread out towards the ventilation outlet  10  in a circular motion.  
     [0040] As shown in FIG. 1, the rotor  30  comprises a fan body  31  having a central hole and two or more fan blades  32  outwardly and radially extended from the fan body  31 . The fan blades  32  of the rotor  30  are shaped and sized to sufficiently drive the airflow baffle  22  to rotate when the airflow A passes through the fan blades  32 .  
     [0041] Accordingly, both the air guider  20  and the rotor  30  are made of lightweight material, such as light wood, plastic, foam material, and etc., in such a manner that the rotor  30  must be as light as being able to be driven to rotate by a general power of airflow A generated by the ventilation system.  
     [0042] The airflow balancer further comprises a supporting shaft  40  to substantially support the air guider  20  on the ventilation outlet  10  in position. The supporting shaft  40  has an upper stopper end  41 , a bottom control end portion  42  for rotatably and perpendicularly penetrating through the ventilation outlet  10  to outside, and a shaft body  43  extended between the stopper end  41  and the control end portion  42 , wherein the air guider  20  and the rotor  30  are rotatably and coaxially mounted on the shaft body  43  of the supporting shaft  40  so as to retain the air guider  20  and the rotor  30  in position with respect to the ventilation outlet  10 . In other words, the airflow baffle  22  is rotated about the supporting shaft  40 .  
     [0043] As shown in FIG. 2, a central hole of the supporter  21  has an inner diameter slightly larger than a diameter of the shaft body  43  of the supporting shaft  40 , wherein when the shaft body  43  is rotatably passed through the supporter  21 , the airflow baffle  22  is held and supported on top of the ventilation outlet  10  that prevents any unwanted lateral movement of the air guider  20  when the airflow baffle  22  is rotated.  
     [0044] Furthermore, the supporting shaft  40  further comprises a blocking stopper  44 , having a ball shaped, securely mounted at the stopper end  41  of the supporting shaft  40  to hold the air guider  20  and the rotor  30  in position and block the rotor  30  from rotatably sliding out of the supporting shaft  40 , especially when the rotor  30  is spinning in a relatively high speed, which may drive the rotor  30  moving upwardly.  
     [0045] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the airflow balancer further comprises a holding mount  60 , having a ring shaped, for securely mounting on the ventilation outlet  10 . The holding mount  60  has a circular guiding groove  61  indented on a top surface of the holding mount  60  to substantially guide the rotational movement of the supporter  21  on the holding mount  60 , wherein the circular rotation ridge  211  of the supporter  21  is rotatably sit in the guiding groove  60  to guide the rotation of air guider  20  and the rotor  30 .  
     [0046] As shown in FIG. 1, the airflow balancer further comprises a speed control arrangement  50  to adjustably control a speed of the rotational movement of the airflow baffle  22 . The speed control arrangement  50  comprises a magnetic holder  51  being provided at the airflow baffle  22  and a magnetic seat  52  integrally connected to the control portion  42  of the supporting shaft  40  to engage with the holding mount  60  wherein the magnetic seat  52  is arranged to align with the magnetic holder  51  to adjustably control the speed of the rotational movement of the airflow baffle  22  by means of magnetic force.  
     [0047] Accordingly, the magnetic seat  52  further comprises a central hub  520  upwardly extended therefrom wherein the central hub  520  has an outer threaded section engaged with an inner threaded section of the holding mount  60  in such a manner that the supporting shaft  40  is adapted to be supported by the holding mount  60 , so as to selectively adjust a distance between the magnetic holder  51  and the magnetic seat  52 .  
     [0048] According to the first preferred embodiment, the magnetic seat  52  comprises a magnetic housing  521  made of non-magnetic material and a ring-shaped magnet  522  mounted in the magnetic housing  521  and arranged to provide a magnetic attraction force to the magnetic holder  51 . Symmetrically, the magnetic holder  51  has a magnetic socket  511  provided on the airflow baffle  22  and comprises a ring-shaped magnetic element  512  mounted in the magnetic socket  511 , wherein the magnetic element  512  has a bottom pole opposite to a top pole of the magnet  522  that confronts the bottom pole of the magnetic element  512 . Due to the magnetic theory of “Like poles attract; Unlike poles repel”, the opposite bottom and top poles of the magnetic element  512  and the magnet  522  will produce the magnetic attraction force therebetween, as shown in FIG. 3A.  
     [0049] In order words, when the magnetic seat  52  is moved towards the magnetic holder  51 , the magnetic attraction force therebetween will be increased that substantially reduces the rotation speed of the airflow baffle  22 . It is because the magnetic attraction force pulls the supporter  21  downwardly toward the magnetic seat  51  so as to increase the resisting frictional force and the magnetic attraction force between the rotation ridge  211  of the supporter  21  and the ventilation outlet  10 . Therefore, the rotational movement of the airflow baffle  22  is substantially slowed down or even stopped.  
     [0050] Likewise, when the magnetic seat  52  is rotatably moved away from the magnetic holder  51 , the magnetic attraction force will be substantially reduced, so as to increase the speed of the airflow baffle  22  by means of reducing the frictional force.  
     [0051] Alternatively, the bottom pole of the magnet element  512  and the top pole of the magnet  522  are the same that provides a magnetic repelling force therebetween. Therefore, when the magnetic seat  52  is rotatably moved towards the magnetic holder  51  to substantially increase the magnetic repelling force, the magnetic repelling force will push the supporter  21  upwardly to reduce the frictional force between the rotation ridge  211  of the supporter  21  and the ventilation outlet  10  that renders the air guider  20  rotatably floating about the holding mount  60  and thus increases the rotation speed of the airflow baffle  22 , as shown in FIG. 3B.  
     [0052] In other words, when the magnetic seat  52  is moved away from the magnetic holder  51 , the magnetic repelling force therebetween will be substantially reduced and thus the frictional force between the rotation ridge  211  of the supporter  21  and the ventilation outlet  10  will be substantially increased, so as to reduce the rotation speed of the airflow baffle  22 .  
     [0053] As shown in FIG. 4, a second embodiment of the airflow balancer illustrates an alternative mode of the present invention, wherein the rotor  30 ″ is coaxially connected on top of the air guider  20 ′ to form a one-piece integral body.  
     [0054] According to the second embodiment, the supporter  21 ′ is embodied to form a semi-spherical shape so as to provide a round-shaped rotation ridge  211 ′ which is capable of minimizing the frictional force of supporter  21 ′ when the airflow baffle  22 ′, which also has a plurality of ventilating slots  221 ′ provided therethrough, is driven to rotate, so as to enhance the rotational movement of the air guider  20 ′.  
     [0055] Moreover, the supporting shaft  40 ′ is shaped and sized as a pin-like elongated member, wherein the supporting shaft  40 ′ also has an upper stopper end  41 ′ where the blocking stopper  44 ′ is slibably mounted thereon to block the rotor  30 ′ from sliding out of the supporting shaft  40 ′, a bottom control end portion  42 ′ rotatably extended through the ventilation outlet  10 ′ to outside, and a shaft body  43 ′ extended between the stopper end  41 ′ and the control end portion  42 ′. The supporter  21 ′ of the air guider  20 ′ and the rotor  30 ′ are mounted on the shaft body  43 ′ in a free rotatable manner. Therefore, the supporting shaft  40  is capable of supporting the air guider  20 ′ and the rotor  30 ′ in position with respect to the ventilation outlet  10 ′ while permitting the airflow baffle  22 ′ to rotate about the supporting shaft  40 ′.  
     [0056] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the airflow balancer of the second preferred embodiment also comprises a rigid holding mount  60 ′ securely mounted on the ventilation outlet  10 ′. The holding mount  60 ′ has an I-shaped cross section and a central hole integrally implanted with a holding member  61 ′ which is made of rubber or the like. The supporting shaft  40 ′ is axially and slidably penetrated through the holding member  61 ′. Accordingly, since the holding member  60 ′ is made of material having high friction coefficient such as rubber, the holding member  61 ′ is adapted to hold the supporting shaft  40 ′ in position by means of friction, along which air guider  20 ′ and the rotor  30 ′ are rotatably supported in position. Moreover, the holding member  61 ′ provides a round top surface to ensure a point contacting support with the round rotation ridge  211 ′ of the supporter  21 ′ so as to further reduce the frictional force therebetween.  
     [0057] The airflow balance of the second preferred embodiment also comprises a speed control arrangement  50 ′ to adjustably control a speed of the rotational movement of the airflow baffle  22 ′. The speed control arrangement  50 ′ also comprises a magnet holder  51  which is provided at a center portion of a bottom side of the air baffle  22 ′ and has a magnetic attraction ability provided at the airflow baffle  22 ′, and a magnetic seat  52 ′, which is embodied as the top holding piece of holding mount  60 ′ according to the second preferred embodiment, being adapted for mounting to the ventilation outlet  10 ′ to rotatably support the supporter  21 ′, wherein the magnetic seat  52 ′ is arranged to align and confront with the magnetic holder  51 ′ to adjustably control the speed of the rotational movement of the airflow baffle  22 ′ by means of magnetic force.  
     [0058] The magnetic seat  52 ′ has a magnetic housing  521 ′ made of non-magnetic material and a ring-shaped magnet  522 ′ is mounted in the magnetic housing  521 ′ and arranged to provide a magnetic repelling force to the magnetic holder  51 ′. Symmetrically, the magnetic holder  51 ′ has a magnetic socket  511 ′ provided on the center portion of the bottom side of the airflow baffle  22 ′ and comprises a ring-shaped magnetic element  512 ′ mounted in the magnetic socket  511 ′.  
     [0059] According to the second preferred embodiment, the magnet element  512 ′ received in the magnet socket  511 ′ has a bottom pole same as a top pole of the magnet  522 ′ received in the magnetic housing  521 ′ while the magnet element  512 ′ confronts with the magnet  522 ′ so as to provide a magnetic repelling force therebetween. Due to the magnetic repelling force, the integral body of the air guider  21 ′ and the rotor  30 ′ is pushed upwardly with respect to the ventilation outlet  10 ′ that substantially reduces the frictional force between the rotation ridge  211 ′ of the supporter  21 ′ and the magnetic seat  52 ′ so as to further enhance the rotational movement of the airflow baffle  22 ′. In other words, the air baffle  22 ′ is induced to rotatably float about the holding mount  60 ′ of the ventilation outlet  10 ′, as shown in FIG. 6A, due to the magnetic repelling force.  
     [0060] Since the airflow baffle  22 ′ is suspendedly supported on the air ventilation outlet  10 ′ by the magnetic repelling force, the frictional force between the rotation ridge  211 ′ of the supporter  21 ′ and the magnetic seat  52 ′ is minimized so as to increase the rotation speed of the airflow baffle  22 ′. When the airflow baffle  22 ′ is in rotation, the magnetic repelling force between the magnet element  512 ′ and the magnet  522 ′ and the centrifugal force of the rotating air baffle  22 ′ render the light-weight air guider  20 ′ and the rotor  30 ′ floating above the magnetic seat  52 ′ and the holding mount  60 ′ to further ensure the round rotation ridge  211 ′ of the supporter  21 ′ to have no contact with the round top surface of the holding member  61 ′, so as to further increase the rotation speed of the airflow baffle  22 ′.  
     [0061] In order to control the speed of the airflow baffle  22 ′, a downward force can be applied on the control end portion  42 ′ of the supporting shaft  40 ′ to pull the blocking stopper  44 ′ at the stopper end  41 ′ of supporting shaft  40 ′ downwardly in such a manner that the blocking stopper  44 ′ will be pulled to bias against the rotor  30 ′ so as to pull the air guider  20 ′ downwardly so as to drive the rotation ridge  211 ′ of the supporter  21 ′ to bias against the magnetic seat  52 ′ under a predetermined compression pressure, as shown in FIG. 6B.  
     [0062] Therefore, the user is able to selectively apply the downward force to adjust the position of the blocking stopper  44 ′. When the blocking stopper  44 ′ is pulled downwardly, two frictional forces are generated to reduce the speed of the airflow baffle  22 ′ wherein the first frictional force is produced between the blocking stopper  44 ′ and the rotor  30 ′ and the second frictional force is produced between the rotation ridge  211 ′ of the supporter  21 ′ and the magnetic seat  52 ′. Therefore, the two frictional forces will substantially reduce or even stop the rotational movement of the airflow baffle  22 ′.  
     [0063] When an upward force is applied on the control end portion  42 ′ of the supporting shaft  40 ′ to drive the blocking stopper  44 ′ moving upwardly, the magnetic repelling force will push the air guider  20 ′ to rotatably float up with respect to the guiding mount  60 ′. Therefore, the frictional force between the rotation ridge  211 ′ of the supporter  21 ′ and the magnetic seat  52 ′ will be reduced to speed up the rotational movement of the airflow baffle  22 ′. It is worth mentioning that since the holding member  523 ′ will hold the supporting shaft  40 ′ in position, the supporting shaft  40 ′ will not be accidentally drop down when the supporting shaft  40 ′ is pushed to an upper position.  
     [0064] While the foregoing description and diagram describe the preferred embodiment and its alternatives, it should be appreciated that certain obvious modifications, variations, and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, a ball bearing can be incorporated with the air guider  20 ,  20 ′ in order to enhance the smooth rotational movement of the air guider  20 ,  20 ′. Moreover, the airflow baffle  22 ,  22 ′ can be made of non-magnetic material or soft-magnetic metal having magnetic attraction ability so as to enhance the magnetic attraction or repel between the magnetic holder  51 ,  51 ′ and the magnetic seat  52 ,  52 ′.