Patent Publication Number: US-9903377-B2

Title: Ventilating device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of Chinese patent application No. 201320384615.X, filed on Jun. 27, 2013 with State Intellectual Property Office of China, and the inventions of which are incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a ventilating device. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     A ventilating device existing in prior art has a structure as following: it comprises a body shell having an indoor air intake inlet provided at an bottom thereof and an indoor air discharging outlet provided at side faces or a top thereof, a blower disposed in the body shell and a louver mounted on the air intake inlet of the body shell, the louver being provided with a human body sensor (such as, seen from Japanese patent publication No. JP6-300341). 
     The existing ventilating device, due to the mounted human body sensor therein, may not perform additions and alternations in terms of functions after having been sold. If the user tends to add or change the function of the used ventilating device, he has to buy another one with the function he wants to add or change. 
     Further, if various functional units are mounted on the ventilating device, a lead wire coupled between each functional unit and a circuit board for driving a motor would be provided in longer length in order to keep away from the air inlet, thereby increasing the cost. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been made to overcome or alleviate at least one aspect of the above mentioned disadvantages existing in the conventional technical solutions. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a ventilating device, which achieves additions and/or alterations of function(s) as required. 
     In order to achieve the above objects, a ventilating device is provided as follows. The ventilating device comprises: a rectangular frame provided with an opening at a bottom thereof, a louver covering the bottom of the frame, an adapter communicating with outdoor at one side of the frame, a helix shell configured to house fan blades and a motor therein, and a circuit board box. The helix shell is provided with an air inlet for communicating with indoor and an air outlet for communicating with the adapter, and the circuit board box has a main circuit board for driving the motor therein. A mounting base for installation of a plurality of functional units thereon is disposed at lower side of the helix shell, wherein the mounting base is provided with a base circuit board for collecting a signal from the functional units, the circuit board box is coupled to the mounting base by a lead wire, and, the mounting base is located at a bottom surface of the helix shell, and wherein, a hole, through which the lead wire passes, in the circuit board box and a hole, through which the lead wire passes, in the mounting base are arranged in a linear manner in an up-down direction at the side towards the air outlet, and the plurality of functional units are configured to be freely assembled or disassembled individually to or from the mounting base. 
     The circuit board box is disposed on a top surface of the helix shell close to the air outlet, and horizontally placed between the top surface of the frame and the top surface of the helix shell. 
     The circuit board box is disposed on the side of the frame facing the air outlet of the helix shell, and vertically placed in a gap between the side of the frame provided with an adapter and the helix shell and close to the air outlet. 
     The functional units are respectively mounted in the functional unit boxes, and, on an outer wall of each of opposite sides of any of sets functional unit boxes, there is an integrally formed projection sheet, of which a first snap-fit sheet is configured to continue from the projection sheet at a lower side thereof and project in a direction opposite to the projection sheet, and a second snap-fit sheet is configured to continue from the projection sheet at an upper side thereof and project in a direction opposite to the projection sheet, wherein, at the upper end of the second snap-fit sheet of the projection sheet, a hook portion is provided to protrude towards the functional unit box, a pair of downwardly protruding fixing portions is provided with on the bottom surface of the mounting base, and, each fixing sheet is formed with a snap-fit hole to be snap-fitted by the hook portion. 
     The functional unit box is provided with guide ribs at both sides above the second snap-fit sheet, and each of the guide ribs includes a sloped portion widening outwardly in an upward direction and a vertical portion arranged along an end side of the fixing sheet in a downward direction. 
     The hook portion is formed with a slope guide portion at its upper side, sloping towards the outer wall from up to down, and a connection portion at its lower side, extending towards the snap-fitted hole and configured to be parallel to the top face of the helix shell. 
     The present invention has advantages of convenient additions and/or alterations of function(s) for the ventilating device as required, convenient wiring and low cost. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
         FIG. 1A  is a schematic view of a ventilating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 1B  is a schematic view of a ventilating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, with a frame being not mounted; 
         FIG. 2A  is a schematic view of a ventilating device according to the second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2B  is a schematic view of a ventilating device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, with a frame being not mounted; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a mounting base when disassembled; 
         FIG. 4A and 4B  are schematic views of installations of a mounting base and a functional unit box, seen from different angle of view; and 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view of a functional unit box. 
     
    
    
     The scope of the present invention will in no way be limited to the simply schematic views of the drawings, the number of constituting components, the materials thereof, the shapes thereof, the relative arrangement thereof, etc., and are disclosed simply as an example of an embodiment. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein the like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present invention will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. 
       FIG. 1A  is a schematic view of a ventilating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention;  FIG. 1B  is a schematic view of the ventilating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention with a frame being not mounted; and,  FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a mounting base when disassembled. 
     As shown in Figures, the present invention provides a ventilating device  10 . The ventilating device  10  comprises: a rectangular frame  11  provided with an opening  15  at a bottom thereof, a louver (not shown) covering the bottom of the frame  11 , an adapter  12  communicated with outdoor at a side of the frame  11 , a helix shell  16  configured to house fan blades  13  and a motor  14  therein, and a circuit board box  19  provided on a top surface of the helix shell  16 . An air inlet  17  is provided at a bottom surface of the helix shell  16  and is for communicating with the indoor, and an air outlet  18  is provided at a side surface of the helix shell  16  and is for communicating with the adapter  12 . A main circuit board (not shown) is provided within the circuit board box  19  and is for driving the motor  14 . 
     A mounting base  30  is disposed at the bottom, i.e., at the side with the air inlet  17 , of the helix shell  16  and is for mounting a plurality of functional units  31  thereon. The mounting base  30  is provided with a base circuit board  21  for collecting signal from the functional units  31 . The circuit board box  19  is coupled to the mounting base  30  via a lead wire  40 . The mounting base  30  is located at a bottom surface of the helix shell  16 . A hole  191 , through which the lead wire  40  passes, in the circuit board box  19 , and a hole  401 , through which the lead wire  40  passes, in the mounting base  30 , are arranged in a linear manner in an up-down direction at the side towards the air outlet  18 . The plurality of functional units  31  are configured to be freely assembled or disassembled individually to or from the side of the mounting base  30  adjacent to the air inlet  17 . 
     The functional units  31  may include a humidity inductor, a carbon monoxide (CO) inductor, a night-light and a wind quantity adjustor, etc. 
     Since the functional units  31  are freely assembled/disassembled to/from the mounting base  30 , the base circuit board  21  within the mounting base  30  may transmit a signal to the main circuit board via the lead wire  40  connected between the base circuit board  21  and the main circuit board after collecting a signal from the functional units  31 . Due to the linear arrangement in the up-down direction of the hole  191 , through which the lead wire  40  passes, in the circuit board box  19  and the hole  401 , through which the lead wire  40  passes, in the mounting base  30 , the lead wire  40  may be configured in a shorter length, thereby resulting in cost reduction of the lead wire  40 . Furthermore, as the lead wire  40  is located at the side towards the air outlet  18 , it does not interrupt air intake of the air inlet  17  and air discharge of the air outlet  18 , preventing poor performance of the device. In addition, as the main circuit board is configured to drive the motor  14  to operate or not to operate according to the received signal, the user only need to mount an added functional unit  31  to be needed directly onto the mounting base  30 , or to remove the unneeded functional unit  31  and remount other functional unit(s) onto the mounting base  30 , when it is required to add or change the functional unit(s) of the ventilating device, thereby conveniently achieving additions and alternations of the functions of the ventilating device  10 . 
     Also, since the functional unit  31  is connected to the main circuit board via the base circuit board  21 , there is no need to provide respective lead wire  40  for each functional unit  31  in order to couple to the main circuit board. From this, installations of the functional units  31  become easy. 
     Since the mounting base  30  is fixed to a linear portion of the helix shell connecting the air inlet  17  and the air outlet  18 , by bolts or a snap-fit structure, etc., the mounting base  30  and the functional units  31  mounted thereon will not interrupt air intake of the air inlet  17 . 
     Return to  FIG. 1B , the circuit board box  19  is placed on a top surface  161  of the helix shell  16  close to the air outlet  18 , that is, the circuit board box  19  is horizontally placed between the top surface of the frame  11  and the top surface  161  of the helix shell  16 . 
     The lead wire  40  connecting the base circuit board  21  with the main circuit board is led from the hole  401  in the mounting base  30 , and then, extends upwardly to the circuit board box  19  on the top surface  161  of the helix shell  16  through the outside of the linear portion of the helix shell  16 , i.e., an outside wall of a longitudinal direction with the linear shape in the up-down direction, instead of through the bottom surface  162  of the helix shell  16  at the side facing a user. By this way, the lead wire  40  is invisible when a user views through air gaps in the louver, and thus the ventilating device has a nice appearance with the lead wire  40  in a shorter length. 
       FIG. 2A  is a schematic view of the ventilating device according to the second embodiment of the present invention;  FIG. 2B  is a schematic view of the ventilating device according to the second embodiment of the present invention with the frame disassembled. 
     As shown in Figures, different from the first embodiment, the circuit board box  19  according to the second embodiment is located on the side  163  of the frame  11  facing the air outlet  18  of the helix shell  16 , that is, the circuit board box  19  is vertically placed in a gap  164  that is close to the air outlet  18  and between the side  163  of the frame  11  provided with an adapter  12  and the helix shell  16 . 
     The lead wire  40  connected between the base circuit board  21  and the main circuit board is led from the hole  401 ′ in the mounting base  30 , passed through the bottom surface  162  of the side of the helix shell  16  facing the user, and extended upwardly to the circuit board box  19  on the side surface  163  of the frame  11  through the linear portion of the helix shell  16 , i.e., an outside wall in a longitudinal direction with the linear shape in the up-down direction. Due to vertical arrangement of the circuit board box  19 , compared with the case that the circuit board box  19  is horizontally disposed on the top surface  161  of the helix shell  16 , the hole  191 ′ in the circuit board box  19  is located closer the hole  401 ′ in the mounting base  30 . By this way, the lead wire may have a shorter length and bring no interruption on air intake of the air inlet in the helix shell. 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a mounting base when disassembled;  FIG. 4A and 4B  are schematic views of installations of a mounting base and a functional unit box, seen from different angle of view;  FIG. 5  is a schematic view of a functional unit box. 
     As shown from Figures, the functional units  31  are respectively mounted in the functional unit boxes  50 . On an outer wall  510  of each of opposite sides of any of sets functional unit boxes  50 , there is an integrally formed projection sheet  513 . A first snap-fit sheet  511  is configured to continue from the projection sheet  513  at its lower side and project in a direction opposite to the projection sheet  513  (i.e., away from the projection sheet  513 ), and a second snap-fit sheet  512  is configured to continue from the projection sheet  513  at its upper side and project in a direction opposite to the projection sheet  513  (i.e., away from the projection sheet  513 ). At the upper end of the second snap-fit sheet  512  of the projection sheet  513 , a hook portion  52  is provided to protrude towards the functional unit box  50 . Meanwhile, a pair of downwardly protruding fixing sheets  33  are provided on the bottom surface  32  of the mounting base  30 , and each of the fixing sheets  33  is formed with snap-fitted holes  34  to be snap-fitted by the hook portion  52 . 
     After the ventilating device  10  has been mounted on the ceiling and the functional unit box  50  has been mounted on the ventilating device  10 , the first snap-fit sheet  511  is located closer to a side towards a user than the second snap-fit sheet  512 . Specifically, in order to mount a functional unit box  50 , a user only needs to simply push the functional unit box  50  upwardly while pressing the first snap-fit sheet  511  at the lower side of the projection sheet  513  inwardly, i.e., towards the side wall of the functional unit box  50 , making the second snap-fit sheet  512  at upper side of the projection sheet  513  move in the opposite direction with relative to movement direction of the first snap-fit sheet  511 , i.e., in an opposite direction relative to the direction inwards the side wall, and thus, splay out. When the functional unit box  50  has been pushed upwardly such that the top surface  54  thereof abuts against the bottom surface  32  of the mounting base  30 , the user may stop pressing the first snap-fit sheet  511  such that the second snap-fit sheet  512  subsequently is reverted to its initial state and the hook portion  52  on the upper end of the second snap-fit sheet  512  is snap-fitted into the snap-fitted hole  34 , thereby achieving installation of the functional unit box  50 . 
     The disassembly of the functional unit box will be proceeded in reverse as the above assembly process, and will be not described in detail. 
     In addition, the hook portion  52  is formed with a slope guide portion  1000  at upper side, sloping towards the outer wall  510  from up to down, and a connection portion  1001  at lower side, extending towards the snap-fitted hole  34  and configured to be parallel to the top surface  161  of the helix shell  16  (see  FIG. 1B ). With the above configuration, the functional unit box  50  may be installed by directly pushing it upwardly without pressing the first snap-fit sheet  511 . Specifically, when pushing the functional unit box  50  upwardly, the slope guide portion  1000  is in contact with the fixing sheet  33  while the second snap-fit sheet  512  is splaying out away from the side wall of the functional unit box  50  and moving upwardly. When the hook portion  52  is snap-fitted into the snap-fitted hole  34 , the connection portion  1001  is in contact with and engaged to the snap-fitted hole  34 , thereby completing installation of the functional unit box  50 . 
     It can be seen from the above description that the functional unit box  50  has advantages of convenient additions and/or alterations of function(s) for the ventilating device as required, easy installation, convenient wiring and low cost. 
     Return to  FIG. 4B , the functional unit box  50  is provided with guide ribs  55  at both sides above the second snap-fit sheet  512 , and each of the guide ribs  55  includes a sloped portion  56  widening outwardly in an upward direction and a vertical portion  57  arranged along an end side of the fixing sheet  33  in a downward direction. 
     When a functional unit box  50  is pushed upwardly by a user to bring it to be in contact with the mounting base  30  so as to install the functional unit box  50  onto the mounting base  30 , the fixing sheet  33  is contacted with and is guided by the sloped portions  56  of the guide ribs  55  and the vertical portions  57  are attached to both sides  332  of the fixing sheet  33 , from its lower side  331 , of the mounting base  30 , while installation position of the functional unit box  50  is defined by the fixing sheet  33 . Continuously pushing the functional unit box  50  towards the mounting base  30 , the hook portion  52  of the second snap-fit sheet  513  will be simply and precisely aligned with the snap-fit hole  34  in the fixing sheet  33 , thereby achieving a more convenient installation of the functional unit box  50 . 
     Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.