Patent Publication Number: US-2023143104-A1

Title: Fan shroud assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
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     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The disclosure relates to shroud devices and more particularly pertains to a new shroud device for filtering air being blown by a fan. 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The prior art relates to shroud devices. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a shroud that has a continuously arcuate outer boundary such that the shroud has a circular shape. In this way the shroud can be positioned around a cage of a fan. The shroud has a filtering portion which is comprised of a particulate filtering material. In this way the filtering portion filters particles from air being blown by the fan thereby reducing allergens in the air. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of a fan shroud assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    is a back view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  3    is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  4    is a right view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  5    is a left view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  6    is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS.  1  through  6    thereof, a new shroud device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS.  1  through  6   , the fan shroud assembly  10  generally comprises a shroud  12  which has a continuously arcuate outer boundary  14  such that the shroud  12  has a circular shape. In this way the shroud  12  can be positioned around a cage  16  of a fan  18 . The shroud  12  has a filtering portion  20  which is comprised of a particulate filtering material to filter particles from air being blown by the fan  18  thereby reducing allergens in the air. The fan  18  may be an electric fan with a circular cage that is commonly employed for blowing air in a house, for example, to cool a room in the house. 
     The filtering portion  20  has a front surface  22 , a back surface  24  and a perimeter edge  26  extending between the front surface  22  and the back surface  24 . The perimeter edge  26  is continuously arcuate about a center point of the filtering portion  20  such that the filtering portion  20  has a disk shape. Moreover, the perimeter edge  26  defines the continuously arcuate outer boundary  14  of the shroud  12 . The filtering portion  20  may comprise foam rubber, pressed fiber or other type of material commonly employed for filtering dust from air. 
     The shroud  12  has a mesh portion  28  which has a first edge  30  and a second edge  32 . The first edge  30  is coupled to the perimeter edge  26  of the filtering portion  20  having the first edge  30  being coextensive with the perimeter edge  26  such that the mesh portion  28  is spaced from the back surface  24  of the filtering portion  20 . The second edge  32  is co-arcuate with the first edge  30  such that the second edge  32  defines an opening  34  into the shroud  12 . In this way the opening  34  can be positioned on a forward side  36  of the cage  16  of the fan  18 . Thus, the fan  18  blows air through the opening  34  when the fan  18  is turned on. The mesh portion  28  may be comprised of a mesh material or other type of fluid permeable material that can pass air therethrough unimpeded. 
     The filtering portion  20  rests against a rear side  38  of the cage  16  of the fan  18  when the shroud  12  is positioned on the cage  16 . The filtering portion  20  has a hole  40  extending through the front surface  22  and the back surface  24  of the filtering portion  20 . The hole  40  surrounds a motor housing  42  of the fan  18  when the shroud  12  is positioned around the cage  16  of the fan  18 . The hole  40  has a bounding edge  44  and the bounding edge  44  has a plurality of intersecting sides  46  such that the hole  40  has a rectangular shape. 
     The shroud  12  has a cut  48  extending through the shroud  12  and the cut  48  facilitates the shroud  12  to be positioned around the cage  16  of the fan  18 . The cut  48  extends between the hole  40  and the second edge  32  of the mesh portion  28  of the shroud  12 . The mesh portion  28  has a lip  50  extending away from the second edge  32 . Moreover, the lip  50  is comprised of an elastomeric material to retain the mesh portion  28  of the forward side  36  of the cage  16  of the fan  18  when the shroud  12  is positioned around the cage  16 . 
     A border  52  is coupled to the filtering portion  20  of the shroud  12 . The border  52  extends around the bounding edge  44  of the hole  40  in the filtering portion  20 . In this way the border  52  extends around the motor housing  42  of the fan  18  when the shroud  12  is positioned around the cage  16  of the fan  18 . A first mating member  54  is coupled to the shroud  12  and the first mating member  54  extends along a full length of the cut  48 . The first mating member  54  extends along the front surface  22  of the filtering portion  20  and a front surface  22  of the mesh portion  28 . 
     A second mating member  56  is coupled to the shroud  12  and the second mating member  56  extends along a full length of the cut  48 . The second mating member  56  is positioned on an opposite side of the cut  48  with respect to the first mating member  54 . Furthermore, the second mating member  56  extends along the front surface  22  of the filtering portion  20  and a front surface  22  of the mesh portion  28 . The second mating member  56  is releasably matable to the first mating member  54  for closing the cut  48  when the shroud  12  is positioned around the cage  16  of the fan  18 . Each of the first mating member  54  and the second mating member  56  may comprise complementary portions of a hook and loop fastener or the like. 
     In use, the shroud  12  is positioned around the cage  16  of the fan  18  such that the filtering portion  20  covers the rear side  38  of the cage  16  and the mesh portion  28  lies against the forward side  36  of the cage  16 . The hole  40  is positioned around the motor housing  42  of the fan  18  and the first mating member  54  is mated to the second mating member  56 . In this way the filtering portion  20  filters the air that is drawn through the rear side  38  of the cage  16  when the fan  18  is turned on. Additionally, the mesh portion  28  and the opening  34  defined by the mesh portion  28  facilitate air the pass unimpeded through the forward side  36  of the cage  16  of the fan  18 . Thus, the air in the room in which the fan  18  is positioned is filtered while the fan  18  is turned on. In this way allergens in the room are reduced in order to reduce allergic reactions of occupants of the room. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.