Patent Publication Number: US-6213716-B1

Title: Folding fan

Description:
This invention relates to ceiling fans, and in particular to pre-assembled ceiling fans having foldable blades and mounting arms that are factory installed onto the ceiling fan motor and packed in a ready to hang unit so that the ceiling fan can immediately be hung when removed from their package cartons. 
     BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART 
     Store bought ceiling fans usually are shipped in cartons having separate packing materials such as foam inserts for the multiple components that must be assembled by the installer when the ceiling fan is made ready to be hung. It is common that at the least the ceiling fan blades are detached from the motor housing and along with blade fasteners such as screws are separately packed in the shipping carton. 
     Generally each conventional ceiling fan blade generally requires some five fasteners such as screws for the assembly process. Thus, the cartons that carry the ceiling fans from the store to the installation location must have separate packaging for twenty screws for a four blade fan, and twenty-five screws if the fan has five blades. Clearly, problems can further occur if only one fastener(screw) is missing. 
     Additionally, the boxed ceiling fan generally uses separate packaging for the blades and the blade arms. Extra foam inserts and additional manufacturing costs occur for each separate part that must be packaged. Thus, the installer has multiple loose parts and packaging materials when the store bought ceiling fan is first taken out of the carton. 
     In addition to having multiple loose parts, a typical installer must follow a tedious process in order to assemble and hang the ceiling fan. In FIG. 1, a conventional ceiling fan motor housing  10  has a rotor component  20  that rotates about a central axis within motor housing  10 , which is in turn connected to a hanger assembly  5  that is attached beneath a ceiling  2 . A plurality of fan blades  30  are connected to the rotor  20  by mounting arms  40 . Each mounting arm  40  has one end  42  connected to an end  32  of each fan blade  30 , and a second end  44  having at least two through-holes  45  therethrough, so that conventional fasteners such as screws  50  pass through the through-holes  45  to mateably thread into threaded holes  25  in the bottom of rotor  20 . 
     Usually most conventional directions have the installer first connect and hang the motor housing  10 , rotor  20  and hanger assembly  5  to a ceiling. More often than not the installer is usually perched on a stool or ladder. Next, many directions have the installer attach the fan blades  30  to their respective mounting arms  40 . Finally, one of the last steps is to connect the blade  30  and respective mounting arm  40  to the rotor  20  on the motor. 
     To finish this final assembly step takes great dexterity, patience, balance and time. In order for a single person  60  to be able to complete this final step, the installer  60  needs to hold in one hand  62  the fan blade  30  and already attached mounting arm  40 , and to position a screw driver  70  to the heads of screws  50  with the other hand  64 . The installer must be able to balance the mounting screws  50  on the tip of the screw driver  70 , insert the screws upwardly though the holes  44  in the mounting arm, making sure not to accidentally drop the screws  50  and then screw the screws  50  into the mating holes  25  on the rotor  20  all while still holding the blade  30  and arm  40 . This assembly requires the installer to have to constantly hold both hands  62  and  64  raised high above their head, while again standing on a stool or ladder. 
     Many problems occur from this traditional method of assembly and installation of the ceiling fan. Screws  50  can and do accidentally fall and become lost causing more time and more expense to finish the installation. The installer  60  often has to constantly re position the blade  30  and arm  40  in order to be able to properly line up the through-holes  45  in the mounting arms  40  with their respective mating holes  25  in the bottom of rotor  20 . The blade  30  and mounting arm  40  have been known to fall on and cause injury to the user  60  during assembly. Additionally, the user can lose their balance and injure themselves as well as falling off the ladder and stool. Additional problems also occur after installation. For example, uneven tightening of each of the plural fasteners that connect the mounting arm to the motor has resulted in wobble effects when the ceiling fan system is running. Thus, these current assembly and installation steps has become known as a frustrating, undesirable, difficult, tedious, time consuming and sometimes dangerous for the installer. 
     The problem of extra packaging and loose parts previously discussed occurs again if and when the ceiling fan needs to be taken down and reboxed. In order to fit again in the original carton, each of the ceiling fan blades must be detached from the motor housing and the separate fasteners and separate blades must be repacked back into the original carton. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The first objective of the present invention is to provide a device to allow a single user to safely and easily install a pre-assembled ceiling fan to a ceiling. 
     The second object of this invention is to provide a ceiling fan that eliminates an installer from having to mount and align blades onto a ceiling fan motor. 
     The third object of this invention is to provide foldable ceiling fan blades that unfold when the ceiling fan is hung. 
     The fourth object of this invention is to provide a ceiling fan that requires less time to install compared to conventional packaged ceiling fans. 
     The fifth object of this invention is to provide a ceiling fan having foldable blades that can be taken down and packed into a box without detaching the blades from the motor housing. 
     The sixth object of this invention is to eliminate wobble effects when running the ceiling fan by having pre-attached factory mounted blades on the ceiling fan. 
     A first preferred embodiment of the novel invention includes a ceiling fan motor having a rotating member and at least two novel fan blades having foldable arms attached thereto, so that the ceiling fan can be directly hung from a ceiling, without any additional assembly. The invention further includes a novel packing box for allowing the ceiling fan with folding blades and arms to be stored without having to dismantle the blades and arms from the motor. A second embodiment has foldable blades that are pre-attached to the rotating member/rotor on the motor. A still another version combines both the folding arms and the folding blades so that the entire ceiling fan be packed more compactly into a smaller storage box. The pre-attached blades and mounting arms can be made of materials such as but not limited to plastic, wood, zinc die-cast metal, and the like. 
     Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 shows a prior art view of a blade with mounting arm attached to ceiling fan motor and rotor. 
     FIG. 2A is a perspective view of two foldable mounting arms for the invention in an unfolded position. 
     FIG. 2B is a view of one of the foldable mounting arms of FIG. 2A folded up. 
     FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the foldable mounting arms of FIGS. 2A-2B attached to both blades and a motor. 
     FIG. 3B is a side view of FIG. 3A along arrow B. 
     FIG. 3C is a top view of FIG. 3B along arrow C. 
     FIG. 4A is an exploded view of the folded mounting arms with blades and motor of FIGS. 3A-3C about to be packed into a single box. 
     FIG. 4B is a side view of the packaged ceiling fan of FIG.  4 A. 
     FIG. 4C is a top view of FIG. 4B along arrow D. 
     FIG. 4D is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4B along arrow E—E. 
     FIG. 5A is a view of a second preferred embodiment of foldable mounting arms. 
     FIG. 5B is a view of a single foldable mounting arm of FIG. 5A folded up. 
     FIG. 6A is a perspective view of another embodiment having foldable blades. 
     FIG. 6B is a top view of FIG. 6A along arrow F. 
     FIG. 6C is a side view of FIG. 6A along arrow G. 
     FIG. 7A is a perspective view of FIGS. 6A-6C having both the blades and the mounting arms folded up ready for packing. 
     FIG. 7B is a top view of FIG. 7A along arrow H. 
     FIG. 7C is side view of FIG. 7B along arrow I. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the particular arrangement shown since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. The drawings are shown without any pitch on the blade for simplicity only. Normally, ceiling fan blades can be adjusted to have some pitch. 
     FIG. 2A is a perspective view  100  of two foldable mounting arms  140  for the invention in an unfolded position. FIG. 2B is a view  100 ′ of one of the foldable mounting arms  140  of FIG. 2A in a folded up position. Referring to FIGS. 2A-2B, mounting arm  140  includes one end  142  connected to an end of a fan blade  30 , and a second end  144  having at least two through-holes  145  therethrough. The fan blade end  142  of mounting arm  140  is attached to the main trunk portion  141  by a hinge  149  having a pivoting pin  146  that allows the fan blade end  142  to fold up in the direction of arrow R 1 , and fold down in the direction of arrow R 2 . Outer edges  147 ,  143  of the mounting arm trunk  141  and fan blade end  142 , respectively limit the fold down position of the mounting arm  140 . 
     FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the foldable mounting arms of FIGS. 2A-2B attached to both the blades  30  and rotor component  20  within motor housing  10  of a ceiling fan in a folded up position. FIG. 3B is a side view of FIG. 3A along arrow B. FIG. 3C is a top view of FIG. 3B along arrow C. Referring to FIGS. 3A-3C, rotor component  20  rotates about a central axis within motor housing  10 , which is in turn connected to a hanger assembly  5  that is attached beneath a ceiling  2 , which are similar to those components previously described. A plurality of fan blades  30  are connected to the rotor  20  by foldable mounting arms  140 . 
     FIG. 4A is an exploded view of the folded mounting arms  140  with blades  30  and motor housing  10  of FIGS. 3A-3C about to be packed into a single box  170 . FIG. 4B is a side view of the packaged ceiling fan of FIG.  4 A. FIG. 4C is a top view of FIG. 4B along arrow D. FIG. 4D is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4B along arrow E—E. 
     Referring to FIG. 4A, storage box  170  can have a rectangular configuration with an open top portion  172  and a closed bottom  174 , and an interior compartment having a bottom floor  175  that can be pre-molded to conform to the bottom shape irregular shape  150  of the folded ceiling fan blades  30  and the motor housing  10 . Box  170  can be formed from pre-molded foam, and the like. Alternatively, box  170 , can be separately inserted into another box(not shown) such as one made of cardboard, and the like, and having a closing cover lid. A separator insert  180  can be formed from a pre-molded foam having four corners  190  having rectangular configurations  192 ,  193 ,  194 ,  195 ,  196 , flat sides  182 ,  184 ,  186 ,  188  and partially closed bottom  183  having a circular opening  185  therethrough. When packaged at the factory, the folded ceiling fan  100 ′ can be inserted into the compartment  172  of box  170  by being moved downward in the direction of arrow P 1 . Next, separator insert  180  is moved downward in the direction of arrow P 2  until opening  185  fits about hanger assembly  5  and abuts against the upper surface of ceiling fan motor housing  10 . Corners  190  are sized to so that folded up blades  30  are kept separated from one another and uniformly in place. To remove the ceiling fan from the box  170 , the above steps are reversed. 
     FIG. 5A is a view of a second preferred embodiment  240  of the foldable mounting arms. FIG. 5B is a view of a single foldable mounting arm  240  of FIG. 5A folded up with a blade detached. Referring to FIGS. 5A-5B, mounting arm  240  has the same rotor mounting end  144 , trunk portion and fan blade end  142  as the preceding embodiment. Here, an L-shaped extension leg  241  is connected to the trunk  141 , and an opposite end is connected to hinge mounts  242  approximately one third beyond the rear edge  143  of blade mount end  142 . A pin  146  in the hinge assembly  241 ,  242  allows the blade mount end  142  to pivot and fold upward relative to trunk portion  141  of the mounting arm  240 . This embodiment allows the folded up blades to be able to be stored in smaller boxes. A portion of the fan blade end hangs below the hinge allowing a box with a shorter height to be used. This embodiment can be used with a larger motor housing than those previously described without having to use a longer main trunk portion  141  which allows one to keep a simple aesthetic look and the same blade size. 
     FIG. 6A is a perspective view of another embodiment  300  having foldable blades  330 . FIG. 6B is a top view of FIG. 6A along arrow F. FIG. 6C is a side view of FIG. 6A along arrow G. Referring to FIGS. 6A-6C, embodiment  300  includes blades  330  where each blade has two sections: an outer portion  332  and an inner portion  336  connected to one another by hinges  335 . Outer portion  332  has a flat inner side edge  333  and inner blade portion  336  has a flat outer edge portion  337  that limit the unfolded position of the blades  330 . Outer blade portion can fold upward in the direction of arrow R 3  to be in a folded position. The mounting arms that can connect the blades  330  to the rotor portion  20  of motor housing  10  can be a conventional mounting arm  40 (such as that described and shown in reference to FIG.  1 ). Alternatively, the mounting arm can itself be one of the foldable mounting arms  140 ,  240  that were previously described. 
     FIG. 7A is a perspective view of FIGS. 6A-6C having both the blades  330  and the mounting arms  140 / 240  folded up ready for packing. FIG. 7B is a top view of FIG. 7A along arrow H. FIG. 7C is side view of FIG. 7B along arrow I. The folded assembly of FIGS. 7A-7C can be packed and unpacked in boxed similar to that described in reference to FIGS. 4A-4D. 
     Although the preferred embodiments show four foldable blades, the invention can be practiced with two, three, five and more foldable blades attached to the ceiling fan motor. 
     A canopy downrod and optional light kit(not shown) can also be pre-installed so that the ceiling fan and a light kit can be ready to hang right out of a shipping box. 
     While the invention has been described, disclosed, illustrated and shown in various terms of certain embodiments or modifications which it has presumed in practice, the scope of the invention is not intended to be, nor should it be deemed to be, limited thereby and such other modifications or embodiments as may be suggested by the teachings herein are particularly reserved especially as they fall within the breadth and scope of the claims here appended.