Patent Publication Number: US-8529213-B2

Title: Structure of decorating shell for ceiling fan

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The invention relates to a structure of the outer shell of a ceiling fan and, in particular, to a decorating shell structure of a ceiling fan. 
     2. Related Art 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the decorating cover for the hanging bell of a conventional ceiling fan. The surrounding surface at the bottom of the hanging bell  61  is formed with several through holes  62 . Several screws go through the through holes  62  to fix the hanging bell  61  under a hanging frame (not shown). Since the screws are exposed at the bottom of the hanging bell  61 , it is customary to cover them with a decorating cover  63 . The bottom of the hanging bell  61  converges downward to form a neck  64 . The inner rim of the neck  64  is protruded toward its center with at least three urging parts  65 . The inner rim of the decorating cover  63  is protruded upward with catching parts  66  corresponding to the urging parts  65 . Each of the catching parts  66  is formed with a groove  67 . Bumps  68  are formed at appropriate positions in the grooves  67 . To assemble them, one only needs to align the urging parts  65  with the concave part between the catching parts, followed by rotating the decorating cover  63  so that the urging parts  65  pass the bumps  68  and fall into the grooves  67  of the catching parts  66 . This completes the assembly. 
     The above-mentioned structure of decorating cover achieves the positioning effect by engaging the catching parts  66  of the decorating cover  63  with the urging parts  65  of the hanging bell  61 . Therefore, after combining the decorating cover  63  and the hanging bell  61 , it is likely to produce noises from the collisions between the catching parts  66  of the decorating cover  63  and the urging parts  65  of the hanging bell  61  when the ceiling fan is running. Moreover, the catching parts  66  and the urging parts  65  wear out each other, so that the decorating cover  63  in the end cannot be firmly fixed to the bottom of the hanging bell  61 . 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An objective of the invention is to provide a decorating shell structure of a ceiling fan, with the advantage of low cost and better assembly stability. 
     To achieve the above objective, the disclosed decorating shell structure of a ceiling fan has an outer shell and a decorating cover. 
     The top of the outer shell forms an open end to the environment. The bottom of the outer shell is formed with a connecting hole. The surrounding surface at the bottom of the outer shell is formed with at least two opposite grooves. 
     The decorating cover has an annular shape and is correspondingly disposed at the bottom of the outer shell. The inner rim of the decorating cover is protruded upward with a blocking ring urging the connecting hole at the bottom of the outer shell. The outer rim of the decorating cover is protruded upward with hook parts to engage with the grooves. At least one elastic body is interposed between the inner rim and the outer rim of the decorating cover. When the decorating cover is mounted onto the bottom of the outer shell, the elastic body is squeezed by the outer shell and the decorating cover to urge against the surrounding surface at the bottom of the outer shell. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the invention, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a three-dimensional exploded view of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a three-dimensional perspective view of the invention after assembly; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the invention after assembly; 
         FIG. 4  schematically shows the invention in use, when the hook parts of the decorating cover are inserted into the grooves on the outer shell; 
         FIG. 5  schematically shows the invention in use, when the engaging groove formed between the hook parts and the elastic body engages with the grooves; 
         FIG. 6  shows the decorating cover structure for the hanging bell of a ceiling fan in the prior art. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 to 3 . The decorating shell structure for a ceiling fan disclosed herein includes: an outer shell  11 , a decorating cover  21 , and a decorating ring  31 . 
     The top of the outer shell  11  forms an open end  12  to the environment, through which a fixing base (not shown) is to be accommodated in the outer shell  11 . The surrounding sidewall of the open end  12  is formed with several through holes  13  and positioning holes  14  at a fixed interval. The bottom of the outer shell  11  is formed with a surrounding surface  15 . The center of the surrounding surface  15  is formed with a connecting hole  16  in the axial direction. The surrounding surface  15  is further formed with two screw holes  17  and two grooves  18  around the connecting hole  16 . Each of the screw holes  17  allows a screw element  19  to go through, thereby fixing the outer shell  11  to the fixing base. 
     The decorating cover  21  has an annular shape and is correspondingly disposed at the bottom of the outer shell  11  to cover the through holes  13 . The inner rim of the decorating cover  21  is protruded upward with a blocking ring  22  corresponding to the connecting hole  16  at the bottom of the outer shell  11 . The outer rim of the decorating cover  21  is protruded upward with two hook parts  23  corresponding to the two grooves  18  of the outer shell  11 . The two hook parts  23  are plates extending in the horizontal direction. Two elastic bodies  24  are interposed between the inner rim and the outer rim of the decorating cover  21 . The two elastic bodies  24  are on the sides of the two hook parts  23 . The height of the top surface of the two elastic bodies  24  is slightly higher than that of the inner and outer rims of the decorating cover  21 , so that engaging grooves are formed between the two hook parts  23  and the top surface of the elastic bodies to engage with the grooves  18  at the bottom of the outer shell  11 . The decorating cover  21  uses the engaging grooves  25  formed between its hook parts  23  and the elastic bodies  24  to engage with the grooves  18  at the bottom of the outer shell  11 . In this case, the elastic bodies  24  are squeezed by the outer shell  11  and the decorating cover  21  to urge against the surrounding surface  15  at the bottom of the outer shell  11 . 
     The decorating ring  31  has an annular shape, with an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the top of the outer shell  11 . It can be mounted on the top portion of the outer shell  11  to cover the through holes  13  thereon. The inner rim of the decorating ring  31  has two second elastic bodies  32  corresponding to the positioning holes  14  of the outer shell  11 . The inner diameter formed by the two second elastic bodies  32  is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the open end  12  on top of the outer shell  11 . The two second elastic bodies  32  can be depressed due to its elasticity, so that the decorating ring  31  can be smoothly mounted on the top portion of the outer shell  11 . When the decorating ring  31  is mounted on the top portion of the outer shell  11 , the second elastic bodies  32  urge against the positioning holes  14  in order to position the decorating ring  31 . 
     When the decorating cover  21  and the outer shell  11  are assembled, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the hook parts  23  of the decorating cover  21  are inserted into the grooves  18  of the outer shell  11 . The elastic bodies  24  are depressed so that the elastic bodies  24  urge against the surrounding surface  15  on the bottom of the outer shell  11 . Afterwards, the decorating cover  21  is turned, as shown in  FIG. 5 , so that the engaging grooves  25  formed between the hook parts  23  and the elastic bodies  24  engage with the grooves  18 . The reaction generated by the depression of the elastic bodies  24  imposes an extra force on the decorating cover  21  and the outer shell  11 . This effectively increases the stability of the assembled hook parts  23  and the grooves  18 . Even if the hook parts  23  or the grooves  18  are worn out, the urging effect of the elastic bodies  24  still maintain the stability of the decorating cover  21  and outer shell  11 . 
     The invention as described above has the following advantages: 
     1. One only needs to align and insert the hook parts  23  of the decorating cover  21  into the grooves  18  of the outer shell  11  and then turn the decorating cover  21  to accomplish a quick assembly. This is because the invention has a fairly simple structure and low production cost. 
     2. After the decorating cover  21  and the outer shell  11  are assembled, the elastic bodies  24  impose an extra urging force on the decorating cover  21  and the outer shell  11 . This effectively increases the stability in the assembly between the decorating cover  21  and the outer shell  11 . Even if the hook parts  23  or the grooves  18  are worn out, the urging effect of the elastic bodies  24  still maintain the stability of the decorating cover  21  and outer shell  11 . 
     3. After the assembly of the decorating cover  21  and the outer shell  11  according to the invention, the elastic bodies  24  urge against the surrounding surface  15  on the bottom of the outer shell  11  to provide a cushion effect. This alleviates the collision between the decorating cover  21  and the outer shell  11  when the ceiling fan is running. 
     4. Using the decorating cover  21  and the decorating ring  31 , the invention can cover the screw elements on the outer shell  11 . The ceiling fan thus looks more beautiful. 
     Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to people skilled in the art. Therefore, it is contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.