Patent Publication Number: US-2019195241-A1

Title: Adjusting fan assembling having two degrees of freedom

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is in the field of assembling devices. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     When installing a fan mounting assembly, the installer, i.e. a fan technician, usually fixes the fan housing onto supports attached to a surface, i.e. a ceiling, a wall, a drywall or a mounting structure. With the fan motor assembly installed in support bars, the technician will adjust its height to align the fan face to the wall or ceiling. This height is adjusted and secured with the pin head, that exerts reasonable compression at the inner face of the fan housing, securing the housing in a static position. Adjusting the fan in the wall or ceiling is made difficult due to lack of degrees of freedom from the surface. 
     One embodiment of the fan assembly from the art is provided by parallel supporting rods which are secured to a frame and subsequently receive the fan housing. 
     Typically, these rods have fixed lengths, or some have a sort of arms that allows their lengths to be increased if the frame engaging region has spans of different sizes for receiving each arm of the assembly. 
     However, in general, such concretizations allow only one degree of freedom, i.e. they allow the fan housings to be moved in only one axis, which allows adjusting in either the horizontal axis, or the vertical axis, for instance, which makes the installation difficult, expensive and time consuming, if the installer wishes to align the fan housing to the surface that it is being installed, such as a ceiling, wall or partition. Further, if necessary to change the height of the fan assembly, the installer must disassemble the entire structure plus the supporting bars, to reposition it and fix it in the frame and support again. 
     Disadvantageously, improperly installed fan assemblies can lead to loss of efficiency and noise. 
     An example of a prior art assembly which may allow the adjustment of positioning of the fan assembly on two distinct axes is revealed at CA2532841, published on Jul. 13, 2007, originally entitled “Hanger assembly”, which discloses the use of mounting arms for installing the fan housing in a support structure, wherein such mounting arms allow sliding of the fan housing along a longitudinal axis. Furthermore, these mounting arms comprise mounting flaps having apertures which allow their attachment in various directions, including having oblong slots which could allow adjustment of the mounting position of the fan housing along a transverse axis. 
     However, in a disadvantageous manner, the art does not provide means for adjusting the positioning of the fan housing after its installation in the support structure, without depending on the disassembly of the assembly already installed. Moreover, disadvantageously, no means of adjusting the vertical positioning together with the horizontal position of the fan housing is provided. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a fan assembly with two degrees of freedom, facilitating assembly and reducing installation time of the fan assembly. 
     The present disclosure generally relates to hanger assemblies and, more particularly, to a hanger assembly for mounting and positioning a fan housing in a building. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to improvements in supporting provisions for fans, and more particularly to an improved, easily installed arrangement for a two degrees of freedom fan, while permitting easy physical positioning of the assembly in a surface, a wall, drywall or structure, as well as facilitating the mounting of the fan assembly. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a mounted adjusting fan assembling having two degrees of freedom. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the adjusting fan assembling having two degrees of freedom of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the adjusting fan assembling having two degrees of freedom of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a rear perspective view of the support. 
         FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of the support. 
         FIG. 6  is perspective front view of the adjusting fan assembling having two degrees of freedom of  FIG. 1   
         FIG. 7  is perspective rear view of the adjusting fan assembling having two degrees of freedom of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Before any embodiments are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein are meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a two-dimensional adjusting assembling ( 1 ), including a fan secured in a fan housing ( 10 ).  FIG. 2  depicts the fan housing ( 10 ) having a height, defined by the fan housing wall ( 10   a ) and a diameter D. In  FIG. 3  the diameter D of the fan housing ( 10 ) defines a fan housing center which passes a housing axis ( 100 ), in the same direction of the fan housing height/wall. The wall housing of the fan housing is provided with a first cutout ( 11 ) and a second cutout ( 12 ) disposed each one at opposing sides of the housing ( 10 ). The cutouts extend along the housing height, in the same direction of the housing axis ( 100 ). Preferably, the cutouts extend along the majority of the fan housing ( 10 ), and more preferably extend at least 95% of the fan housing height. In practical terms, the cutouts end close to the lower end of the housing ( 10 ). 
       FIG. 4  illustrates the first cutout ( 11 ) provided with a first channel ( 111 ) at the inner side of the housing, the second cutout ( 12 ) is provided with a second channel ( 121 ) at the inner side of the housing, said channels having grooves ( 41 ,  42 ) that engage to a pin ( 20 ,  21 ) and allow the pin to slide through the channel, parallel and along the housing axis ( 100 ). The movement of the pin along the fan housing cutout provides the fan housing with a first degree of freedom, allowing the positioning of the fan housing (and the fan) closer of farther from a surface such as a wall, drywall, ceiling or any structure the assembly is mounted. 
     The pins are preferably screws and, provided with nuts, allow adjusting the tightness of the grip between the supports and the fan housing, making easier to install the fan housing to the pins. For instance, if the user wishes the fan housing to be secured only after installation of the adjusting fan assembly, the fan housing is positioned and slidably secured by the pins at the desired position, screwing the screws and nuts, the screws and nuts are tightened together, and the fan housing becomes immovable. If the user prefers the fan housing closer or farther from the surface (i.e. a ceiling, a wall), the screws and nuts are loosened, allowing the screws to slide/travel along the cutouts and the fan housing is positioned in the desired position. 
     The fan housing is secured by the pin ( 20 ) to a first support ( 30 ) and by a second pin ( 21 ) to a second support ( 40 ) (see  FIG. 5 ). Both supports are provided with horizontal side walls arranged in parallel and with openings forming a “C” type clamp, having an outer face disposed on the opposite side of the inner face of the support ( 30 ,  40 ). The horizontal side walls arranged in parallel and with openings forming a “C” type clamp cooperate with hangers ( 50 ,  55 ) to secure the support to the hangers. 
     The first hanger ( 50 ) and the second hanger ( 55 ) having a longitudinal length defining a hanger axis ( 200 ) (see  FIG. 3 ) and having an outer surface provided with a gap that is configured to receive the support ( 30 , 40 ).  FIG. 7  illustrates the supports ( 30 ,  40 ) attached to the hangers and allowing the fan house to can move along the hanger axis ( 200 ), in a second degree of freedom. 
     The support ( 30 ) is slidably engaged to the fan housing ( 10 ) by the pin ( 20 ) and is slidably engaged to the hanger ( 50 ) by the clamp. The support ( 40 ) is also slidably engaged to the fan housing ( 10 ) by the pin ( 21 ) and is slidably engaged to the hanger ( 55 ) by the clamp. 
     The construction fan housing ( 10 ) plus pins ( 30 , 40 ) plus the hangers ( 50 ,  55 ) allow a positioning of the fan housing relative to the structure joists ( 60 ) in a surface ( 70 ) in two degrees of freedom.