Abstract:
A fan structure having horizontal convection is disclosed herein mainly comprising a casing and a centrifugal flow fan wheel. The casing includes an air inlet, an air outlet, and a horizontal channel directly connected therebetween. The centrifugal flow fan wheel is mounted in the horizontal channel and selectively aligned or misaligned with a center of the casing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention is related to a fan structure having horizontal convention and more particularly to a horizontal channel directly connecting an air inlet to an air outlet, and a centrifugal blower fan wheel mounted therein being adapted to drive a horizontal airflow to pass therethrough so as to enhance the amount of horizontal airflow in a limited thickness thereof.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    Most of traditional fan designs have an air inlet at the top, and an air outlet at the side, such that an air gap with appropriate height communicates with the air inlet for sucking ambient air at the top. However, the total thickness of the traditional fan cannot be effectively reduced and it is undesired for an electronic device with a specific thin thickness, notebook computer for example.  
           [0005]    Hence, there is a need for reducing the total thickness of fan which is capable of applying in a specific thin electronic device. To this end, Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 471660 (hereinafter referred to as the No. 471660 patent), published on Jan. 1, 2002, discloses a utility model “thin thickness type fan.” The thin thickness type fan is characterized in that a casing comprises an air inlet and an air outlet formed on a sidewall, and a high difference existed between the air inlet and the air outlet with relation to a common bottom plane.  
           [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the fan of the No. 471660 patent. FIG. 2 illustrates a partially sectional view of the fan of the No. 471660 patent. FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the fan of the No. 471660 patent applying in a notebook computer.  
           [0007]    Referring to FIG. 1, a casing  10  of a fan  1  comprises an air inlet  11  and an air outlet  12  defined on a sidewall respectively. A high difference exists between the air inlet  11  and the air outlet  12 . Consequently, the height of the air inlet  11  is higher than that of the air outlet  12 .  
           [0008]    Referring to FIG. 2, an axial propeller blade  13  is disposed between the air inlet  11  and the air outlet  12  for blowing airflow. The bottom plane must descend to the air outlet  12  due to the high difference between the air inlet  11  and the air outlet  12 . The bottom plate&#39;s thickness of the air outlet  12  is thinner than that of the air inlet  11  and thus the entire structure is sophisticated. Meanwhile, the air outlet  12  is horizontally misaligned with the air inlet  11  that obviously results in an obstruction of airflow therethrough and a reduced efficiency of air speed therebetween. Also, the high difference between the air inlet  11  and the air outlet  12  obviously increases total thickness of the fan  1 , and it fails to meet the current trend of thin-thickness design.  
           [0009]    Referring again to FIG. 2, an axial airflow driven by the axial propeller  13  is perpendicular to an orientation running between the air inlet  11  and the air outlet  12 . In the fan  1 , axial direction of the airflow driven by the axial propeller  13  has become indirect to both the air inlet  11  and the air outlet  12  located on the bottom plane that results in reduction of airflow efficiency therein.  
           [0010]    Referring to FIG. 3, the fan  1  is assembled to a corner of a notebook computer  2 . The air inlet  11  and air outlet  12  of the fan  1  is only abutted against an air inlet  21  and an air outlet  22  of the computer  2  respectively. Consequently, the fan  1  cannot simultaneously remove ambient heat from other electronic components in the computer  2 .  
           [0011]    The present invention intends to provide a fan having a horizontal channel directly connecting an air inlet to an air outlet with respect to a common plane, and a centrifugal blower fan wheel mounted therein being adapted to drive a horizontal airflow to pass therethrough in such a way to mitigate and overcome the above problem.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0012]    The primary objective of this invention is to provide a fan structure having horizontal convection which comprises a horizontal channel directly connecting an air inlet to an air outlet to reduce an airflow obstruction due to misalignment therebetween that enhances horizontal airflow to pass therethrough.  
           [0013]    The secondary objective of this invention is to provide the fan structure having horizontal convection which utilizes a centrifugal blower fan wheel in a limited thickness thereof so as to enhance airflow efficiency therein.  
           [0014]    The another objective of this invention is to provide the fan structure having horizontal convection which arranges the centrifugal blower fan wheel approximal to the air outlet thereof so as to effectively dissipate ambient heat therein.  
           [0015]    The present invention is the fan structure having horizontal convection. The fan mainly comprises a casing and a centrifugal flow fan wheel. The casing includes an air inlet, an air outlet, and a horizontal channel directly connected therebetween. The centrifugal flow fan wheel is mounted in the horizontal channel and selectively aligned or misaligned with a center of the casing.  
           [0016]    Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings herein:  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional fan in accordance with Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 471660;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the conventional fan having a portion of the corner cut away in accordance with Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 471660;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial schematic view of the conventional fan assembled in a notebook computer in accordance with Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 471660;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a fan structure having horizontal convection in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the fan structure having a portion of the corner cut away in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial schematic view of the fan structure assembled in a notebook computer in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a fan structure having horizontal convection in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the fan structure having a portion of the corner cut away in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 9 is an enlarged partial schematic view of the fan structure assembled in a notebook computer in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0027]    Referring now to the drawings, there are two embodiments of the present invention shown therein, all of which include generally a primary casing member and a secondary centrifugal blower fan wheel member.  
         [0028]    Referring initially to FIGS. 4 through 6, a fan designated as numeral  3  having horizontal convection in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention generally includes a casing designated as numeral  30 , a centrifugal blower fan wheel designated as numeral  35 , and a motor (not labeled). The centrifugal blower fan wheel  35  and the motor are axially nested in the casing  30 .  
         [0029]    Construction of the casing  30  shall be described in detail, referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5. The casing is made of heat conductive material, which is attached to heat sources such as CPU or electronic component for heat dissipation purpose. The casing  30  is substantially comprised of a bottom plane, and a sidewall on which two air inlets  31  and two air outlets  32  are formed and they are uniformly spaced in series with respect to a center  33  of the casing  30 . A horizontal channel  34  directly connects the air inlet  31  to the air outlet  32  with respect to the common bottom plane. The centrifugal blower fan wheel  35  is rotatably disposed in the air channel  34  and a center of the fan wheel  35  is axially aligned with the center  33  with respect to a reference axis. In addition, the fan  3  can be selectively comprised of a lid (not labeled) being adapted to cover the top portion of the casing  30 . Similarly, a casing of computer is being adapted to use like the lid.  
         [0030]    Assembling the fan  3  in a notebook computer shall now be described with reference to FIG. 6. As the fan  3  is mounted in a limited thickness of a casing  40  of a notebook computer  4 , the two air inlets  31  are aligned with an interior of the computer  4  while the two air outlets  32  aligned with two air outlet  41  of the computer  4 . Hence, ambient heat from interior electronic components can be dissipated via the air outlet  41  of the casing  40 .  
         [0031]    Referring back to FIGS. 4 through 6, when the motor initially rotates the centrifugal blower fan wheel  35 , some airflow may be formed outflow from the air outlets  32  and  41  beyond the casing  40  of the computer  4 . Subsequently, the motor successively rotates the centrifugal blower fan wheel  35  for a while, so as to form air pressure between the air inlet  31  and the air outlet  32 . Airflow of horizontal convection is forced between the air inlet  31  and the air outlet  32  and guided by the horizontal channel  34 . Consequently, ambient heat from other interior electronic components can be simultaneously dissipated via the air outlet  41  of the casing  40 .  
         [0032]    Referring to FIGS. 7 through 9, reference numerals of a second embodiment have applied the identical numerals of the first embodiment. The casing  30 , the centrifugal blower fan wheel  35 , and the motor of the second embodiment has the similar configuration and same function as the first embodiment and the detailed descriptions are omitted. The centrifugal blower fan wheel  35  is rotatably disposed in the air channel  34 . The center of the fan wheel  35  is misaligned with the center  33  of the casing  30  so that it is positioned approximal a predetermined distance to the air outlets  32 .  
         [0033]    Referring again to FIGS. 7 through 9, when the motor initially rotates the centrifugal blower fan wheel  35 , some airflow may be rapidly formed outflow from the air outlets  32  beyond the casing  40  of the computer  4 . Consequently, ambient heat from other interior electronic components can be simultaneously dissipated via the air outlet  41  of the casing  40 .  
         [0034]    Referring back to FIGS. 1, 4, and  7 , the casing  10  of the conventional fan  1  is designed a high difference between the air inlet  11  and the air outlet  12 , and the structure thereof is sophisticated. The conventional fan  1  also adopts an axial propeller  13  that results in lower airflow efficiency. However, the casing  30  of the fan  3  of the present invention comprises the horizontal channel  34  directly connecting the air inlets  31  to the air outlets  32 , so as to enhance airflow efficiency. Also, the casing  30  of the fan  3  of the present invention comprises the centrifugal blower fan wheel so that air speed of heat dissipation is increased.  
         [0035]    Referring back to FIGS. 3, 6, and  9 , the air inlet  11  and the air outlet  12  of the conventional fan  1  are aligned with the air inlet  21  and the air outlet  22  of the casing  10  respectively. It is incapable of dissipating ambient heat from other electronic components in the casing  20 . However, the air inlets  31  are aligned with the interior of the casing  40  while the air outlets  32  aligned with the air outlets of the casing  40 . Consequently, ambient heat from other interior electronic components can be simultaneously dissipated via the air outlet  41  of the casing  40 .  
         [0036]    Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to its presently preferred embodiment, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.