Patent Publication Number: US-2007104573-A1

Title: Blower assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a blower assembly, and particularly to a blower assembly for dissipating heat from electronic devices.  
      2. Description of Related Art  
      Electronic devices such as central processing units (CPUs) frequently generate large amounts of heat during normal operation, which can destabilize operation of the electronic device and possibly cause damage. Oftentimes, a heat dissipation assembly is used to dissipate heat from the electronic device. The heat dissipation assembly frequently comprises a fan facilitating removal of heat from the electronic device.  
      As computer technology continues to advance, the electronic devices of computers are being made to provide faster operational speeds and greater functional capabilities, which cause more heat to be generated. Therefore, blowers are used to dissipate the generated heat instead of ordinary fans.  FIG. 1  shows a conventional blower  10 ′. The blower  10 ′ includes a housing, a fan blade unit  12 ′ disposed in the housing, an inlet  14 ′, and an outlet  16 ′. The inlet  14 ′ is defined in an end side wall of the housing, the outlet  16 ′ is defined in a peripheral surface of the housing. In operation, air is sucked into the fan blade unit  12 ′ through the inlet  14 ′, pressurized by fan blades, and expelled from the outlet  16 ′. The inlet  14 ′ is open and receives air from various directions. In most computer cases, air from certain directions is hot, which reduces heat dissipation efficiency. In addition, the conventional blower has an irregular shape, which causes limitations in assembly.  
      What is needed is a blower assembly which overcomes the above problems.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      An exemplary blower assembly includes a blower and a guiding device. The blower has an inlet, and an outlet perpendicular to the inlet. The blower expels air along a first plane from the outlet. The guiding device is arranged on the blower, and communicates with the blower at the inlet of the blower. The guiding device defines an inlet to guide air input along a second plane that is parallel with the first plane.  
      Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a conventional blower;  
       FIG. 2  is an exploded, isometric view of a blower assembly in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is an inverted view of  FIG. 2 ;  
       FIG. 4  is an assembled view of  FIG. 2 ;  
       FIG. 5  is an isometric view of a blower assembly in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 6  is an isometric view of a blower assembly in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 7  is an exploded, isometric view of a blower assembly in accordance with a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention, the blower assembly includes a blower and a guiding device;  
       FIG. 8  is an inverted view of the blower of  FIG. 7 ; and  
       FIG. 9  is an assembled view of  FIG. 7 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a blower assembly in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is provided for heat dissipation of an electronic device. The blower assembly includes a blower  10 , and a guiding device  20  physically separable from the blower  10 .  
      The blower  10  has a fan blade unit  12  rotatably installed therein. An end side wall of the blower  10  which is perpendicular to an axis of the fan blade unit  12  defines an inlet  14 . A peripheral side wall of the blower  10  which is parallel to the axis defines an outlet  16 . A first column  18  and a second column  19  protrude from the peripheral side wall of the blower  10 . The first column  18  defines a mounting hole  182  therein, and the second column  19  defines a mounting hole  192  therein.  
      The guiding device  20  includes a first side plate  21 , and a second side plate  23  opposite to the first side plate  21 . The first and second side plates  21 ,  23  are substantially rectangular except that a corner thereof is curved. Three side plates connect three edges of the first and second side plates  21 ,  23 , and an opening is defined between the fourth edges of the first and second side plates  21 ,  23  and acts as an inlet  22 . The second side plate  23  is stepped, and forms a curved surface  232  at the stepped place. The second side plate  23  at its lower side defines an outlet  24 , which has substantially a same configuration and a same size as the inlet  14  of the blower  10 . Therefore, the air input direction of the guiding device  20  is perpendicular to the air output direction of the guiding device  20 . A column  294  is formed on the curved corner of the first and second side plates  21 ,  23 , and a mounting hole  296  is defined in the column  294 . A recess  234  is defined in the curved surface  232 , and a mounting hole  236  is defined in the first and second side plates  21 ,  23  in alignment with the recess  234 .  
      Referring also to  FIG. 4 , in assembly, the blower  10  is placed on the second side plate  23  of the guiding device  20  with the second column  19  received in the recess  234  of the curved surface  232  and a curved portion of the peripheral side wall abutting against the curved surface  232 . The mounting holes  236 ,  296  are in alignment with the mounting holes  192 ,  182 , respectively. Screws  90  respectively extend through the mounting holes  236 ,  296 , and then engage in the mounting holes  192 ,  182 , thereby securing the blower  10  to the guiding device  20 . At this time, the inlet  14  of the blower  10  is in communication with the outlet  24  of the guiding device  20 .  
      In operation, when the fan blade unit  12  rotates, air is sucked into the blower  10  through the inlet  22  of the guiding device  20 . After being pressurized by the fan blade unit  12 , the air is expelled out of the blower  10  through the outlet  16  of the blower  10 . That is, the air is sucked in and directed along a plane parallel with a plane along which the air is expelled. The air input direction can be at any angle except certain angles from which air is hot with the air output direction. Preferrably, the angle is greater than 90 degrees. In this embodiment, the angle is 180 degrees.  
      Because the size of the inlet  22  of the guiding device  20  determines the volume of air intake, the size of the inlet  22  can be changed according to need.  
      Referring to  FIG. 5 , a blower assembly in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a blower  30 , and a guiding device  40  integrally formed at an end side wall of the blower  30 .  
      The blower  30  includes a fan blade unit  32  rotatably installed therein. An end side wall of the blower  30 , which is perpendicular to an axis of the fan blade unit  32  defines an inlet  34 . A peripheral side wall of the blower  30  which is parallel to the axis defines an outlet  36 . The guiding device  40  integrally extends from the end side wall of the blower  30  around the inlet  34 , and further extends out of the peripheral side wall of the blower  30  to form an inlet  42 . The air is sucked in and directed along a plane parallel with a plane along which the air is expelled. A pair of columns  38  protrudes from the peripheral side wall of the blower  30 . A mounting hole  382  is defined in each column  38  for screws extending therethrough to secure the blower assembly to an electronic device or a support platform.  
      Referring to  FIG. 6 , a blower assembly in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. The blower assembly includes a generally box-shaped housing  50 , which has four side walls, a top wall, and a bottom wall. The housing  50  is divided into two sections by a dividing board. A fan blade unit  52  is positioned in a lower section of the housing  50 . An outlet  54  protrudes from a lower portion of one of the side walls of the housing  50 , corresponding to the fan blade unit  52 . The division board defines a circular opening for communicating the lower section and an upper section of the housing  50 . An inlet  56  defined in an upper portion of an opposite side wall communicates with the outside. The four side walls and the top and bottom walls of the housing  50  each form a mounting portion. In this embodiment, the mounting portion includes two mounting holes  58  for screws engaging thereinto, thereby securing the blower assembly.  
      The four side walls and the top and bottom walls are generally flat planes and each provided with the mounting portion, thereby facilitating users to choose a suitable wall as a mounting wall according to need. In addition, although the inlet  56  is preferably defined in an upright side wall opposite to an upright side wall in which the outlet  54  is defined, the inlet  56  can be defined in any of four upright side walls of the housing  50  according to need.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , a blower assembly in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown. The blower assembly includes a blower  60 , and a guiding device  70  physically separable from the blower  60 . The blower  60  is generally box-shaped, and includes a top wall, a bottom wall, and four side walls. A fan blade unit  62  is installed in the blower  60 , an inlet  64  is defined in the bottom wall, and an outlet  66  protrudes from one of the side walls. A plurality of mounting holes  68  is defined in each of the top and bottom walls and the side walls of the blower  60 .  
      The guiding device  70  is generally box-shaped. A top wall of the guiding device  70  defines an outlet  74 . An upright side wall of the guiding device  60  defines an inlet  72 . A plurality of mounting holes  76  is defined in the top wall of the guiding device  70  corresponding to the mounting holes  68  of the bottom wall of the blower  60  for engagement with the blower  60  via screws  90 .  
      Referring also to  FIG. 9 , in assembly, the guiding device  70  is mounted to the blower  60  via the screws  90 . The outlet  74  of the guiding device  70  is in communication with the inlet  64  of the blower  60 . The air is sucked in and directed along a plane parallel with a plane along which the air is expelled. The guiding device  70  can be selectively mounted to the blower  60  at any direction, whereby the air input direction of the guiding device  70  can be at any angle with the air output direction of the blower  60  according to need. In addition, the guiding device  70  and the blower  60  are box-shaped, thereby facilitating users to choose a suitable wall as a mounting wall according to need.  
      The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiment of the invention has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application so as to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and the exemplary embodiment described therein.