Patent Abstract:
A ceiling fan having a down rod assembly, a motor, fan blades, an upper body, a hub assembly, and a cage. The cage provides an open enclosure for protecting the motor. The hub includes a hub canister and a hub cover. A lighting kit includes a lighting fixture within the hub canister and a lighting cover that is interchangeable with the hub cover.

Full Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/476,637, filed Dec. 31, 1999, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/104,917, filed May 1, 1999 now issued as U.S. Pat. No. D 426,630. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to ceiling fans. 
     A typical ceiling fan will include a down rod assembly suspended from the ceiling, a motor having a motor shaft connected to a lower portion of the down rod assembly and a motor body which rotates about the motor shaft, a motor housing secured to either the motor shaft or the down rod assembly which is stationary and surrounds the motor, blade mounting arms which are connect to the motor body and extend out of an opening of the motor housing or below the motor housing, and a hub attached to the motor shaft below the fan blades and fan blade arms. 
     Because the motor housing of a typical ceiling fan encloses the motor, the motor housing must have various openings to allow the escape of heat from the motor. However, the openings in the motor housing complicate the design of the motor housing and may limit the escape of heat from the motor because of the limited availability of the apertures in the motor housing. Therefore, there is a need for a motor housing that will provide the motor with better heat transfer than a typical motor housing. 
     Many ceiling fans include lighting fixtures which are incorporated into the hub. However, end users may want the versatility of changing between the option of not having a lighting fixture, or the option of having a lighting fixture. Therefore, there is a need for a ceiling fan with the ability to quickly change between the option of having a lighting fixture, and the option of not having a lighting fixture. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one embodiment, the present invention comprises a ceiling fan having a motor connected to a plurality of fan blades, a cage surrounding the motor with a fan blade opening, wherein the fan blades extend outwardly through the fan blade opening and the fan blade opening provides clearance for the fan blades to rotate without contacting the cage. In a further embodiment, the cage is a wire cage. 
     In another embodiment, the present invention comprises a ceiling fan having a motor with a motor shaft, a hub canister containing a lighting fixture, and a detachable hub cover and a detachable light cover, wherein the detachable hub cover and light cover are interchangeable covers for the hub canister. In a further embodiment, the invention further includes hub light electrical leads with hub light electrical connectors, and the light fixture further includes fixture electrical leads with fixture electrical connectors that mate with the hub light electrical connectors. In another further embodiment, the hub canister further includes hub protrusions and the hub cover and the lighting cover further include channels to receive the hub protrusions, thereby securing the respective hub cover or light cover to the hub canister. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where: 
     FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention, illustrated as a ceiling fan; 
     FIG. 2 shows a top plan view of the ceiling fan from FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 shows a side elevational view of the ceiling fan from FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 shows a bottom plan view of the ceiling fan from FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 shows an enlarged partial bottom plan view of the ceiling fan from FIG. 1, with a hub cover removed to illustrate a portion of a lighting kit; and, 
     FIG. 6 shows a side elevational view of the ceiling fan from FIG. 1, illustrating the alternate embodiments with a hub cover or a lighting cover. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring now to the figures, there is shown an embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the ceiling fan  10 . The ceiling fan  10  generally includes a down rod assembly  100 , a motor  200 , fan blades  300 , an upper body  400 , a hub assembly  500 , and a cage  600 . 
     The down rod assembly  100  includes a down rod  110  secured at one end to the location that the ceiling fan  10  depends from, and secured at a second end to a down rod mounting flange  120 . The down rod mounting flange  120  is secured to the shaft (not shown) of the motor  200 . Electrical wires for powering and controlling the ceiling fan  10  pass through the down rod  110  to the motor  200 . 
     The upper body  400  is secured to the down rod mounting flange  120 . A direction switch  410  is disposed on the upper body  400 . The electrical powering and control of the ceiling fan  10  is well known in the art; therefore, in the interest of brevity, are not explained in detail here. 
     The fan blades  300  include a fan blade body  320  which is secured to a fan blade arm  310 . The fan blade arms  310  are secured to a motor body  210  of the motor  200 . In the embodiment illustrated, there are three fan blades  300 . However, it is to be understood that any number of fan blades  300  could be used in the ceiling fan  10 . 
     A hub body  510  or cannister of the hub assembly  500  is secured to the lower half of the shaft (not shown) of the motor  200 , the down rod mounting flange  120 , or both. The hub body  510  includes cover mounting protrusions  512  extending inwardly from the hub body  510 . The hub cover  520  includes hub cover mounting passages  522  in the sides of the hub cover  520  for engaging the cover mounting protrusions  512  in the hub body  510 , thereby securing the hub cover  520  to the hub body  510  in a detachable manner. 
     The cage  600  includes an upper cage section  610  and a lower cage section  620 . The upper cage section  610  is secured to the upper body  400  and depends downwardly therefrom. The lower cage section  620  is secured to the hub body  510  and extends upwardly therefrom. A cage fan blade opening  630  exists between the upper cage section  610  and the lower cage section  620  for the fan blades  300  to extend outwardly through. As illustrated, the upper cage section  610  and the lower cage section  620  are formed of a wire material to maximizing the openness of the cage  600  while maintaining protection of the motor  200 . In this manner, the cage  600  protects the motor  200  without placing restrictions on the fan blades or inhibiting the transfer of heat from the motor  200  via radiation and convection. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the ceiling fan  10  includes a lighting kit  700 . The lighting kit  700  has a lighting fixture  710  and a light cover  720 . The lighting fixture  710  includes a lighting socket  711  which is mounted inside the hub body  510  by a socket bracket  712 . Fixture electrical socket leads  713  from the light socket  711  have fixture electrical connectors  714  for connection of the lighting kit. Hub light electrical leads  530  extend through an electrical lead opening  514  in the hub body  510 , and have hub light electrical connectors  534  for connection with the fixture electrical connectors  714 . A light bulb  715  is disposed in the light socket  711 . A light cover  720  is either transparent or translucent is used in place of the hub cover  520  for the lighting kit  700 . The electrical leads for supplying the lighting fixture  710  pass through the down rod  110  and the motor shaft (not shown) in a manner that is commonly known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Light cover mounting passages  722  in the sidewalls of the light cover  720  engage the cover mounting protrusions  512  in the hub body  510  for securing the light cover  720  to the hub body  510  in a detachable manner. By supplying the ceiling fan  10  with the lighting kit  700 , a user can decide between a non-lighted fixture and a lighted fixture by deciding on using the hub cover  520 , or connecting the socket electrical connectors  714  to the hub light electrical connectors  534  and using the light cover  720  in place of the hub cover  520 . 
     It is thus believed that the operation and construction of the present invention will be apparent from the foregoing description of a preferred embodiment. While the device and method shown are described as being preferred, it will be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments contained herein.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5