Abstract:
A vertical tower fan includes a frame structure defining multiple vertically spaced fan spaces, a fan module controllable to rotate vertically spaced fan blades, and multiple housing members mounted on the frame structure at different elevations and respectively surrounding the fan blades and respectively rotatable to adjust the direction of one respective air outlet.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    (a) Technical Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an electric fan and more particularly, to an adjustable multi-outlet vertical tower fan that has multiple air outlets arranged at different elevations and that allows a user to adjust the direction of each air outlet individually. 
         [0003]    (b) Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    A conventional fan generally comprises a base and a fan body supported on the base and horizontally rotatable relative to the base within a limited range. There is another design of fan that has a rotating grill provided over the front side of the fan blade for continuously regulating the direction of output air streams. 
         [0005]    Further, many vertical tower fans have been created for the purpose of space saving. A typical vertical tower fan comprises a housing supported on a base. The housing has at least one air inlet and at least one air outlet. Each air outlet is provided with an outlet grill. When in use, the housing can be controlled to oscillate relative to the base within a predetermined angle. 
         [0006]    According to the aforesaid various different types of fans, the direction of each air outlet in the housing is not adjustable. Further, due to the drawback of limited air blowing angle, the cover range of a conventional fan is limited. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a vertical tower fan, which includes multiple air outlets arranged at different elevations for output air streams in different directions. It is another object of the present invention to provide a vertical tower fan, which allows adjustment of the direction of each air outlet individually. 
         [0008]    To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, the vertical tower fan comprises a frame structure, a fan module, and multiple housing members. The frame structure comprises a plurality of posts, and a plurality of partition plates fixedly fastened to the posts at different elevations and defining a plurality of vertically spaced fan spaces. The fan module comprises a fan motor, a fan shaft vertically inserted through the partition plates and rotatable by the fan motor, and a plurality of fan blades respectively suspending in the fan spaces and affixed to the fan shaft for rotation with the fan shaft. The housing members are respectively sleeved onto the posts of the frame structure and surrounding the fan spaces and the fan blades of the fan module and individually rotatable relative to the frame structure. Each housing member comprises an air inlet, an air outlet, and a grill provided over the air outlet. 
         [0009]    The vertical tower fan comprises further includes a base that supports the frame structure. The frame structure is rotatable relative to the base. Further, each housing member comprises a wind baffle disposed at one side of the respective air outlet for guiding generated air stream out of the air outlet. The grill of each housing member is comprised of a plurality of inclination angle-adjustable louvers. 
         [0010]    Further, each partition plate comprises a series of teeth arranged on the bottom wall thereof, and each housing member comprises a springy protrusion engageable with the teeth of one housing member. 
         [0011]    The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts. 
         [0012]    Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  illustrates the outer appearance of an adjustable multi-outlet vertical tower fan in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the adjustable multi-outlet vertical tower fan in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is an elevational view of the present invention, showing the frame structure of the adjustable multi-outlet vertical tower fan. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is an elevational view of a part of the present invention, showing the structure of the fan motor. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a sectional plain view of a part of the present invention, showing an engagement status between the top protrusion of one housing member and the associated partition plate. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0018]    The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an adjustable multi-outlet fan  1  in accordance with the present invention is a vertical tower fan comprising a plurality of housing members  2  rotatably arranged at different elevations. Each housing member  2  has an air inlet  23  and an air outlet  21 . Air inlet and output grills  22  are respectively provided over the air inlet  23  and the air outlet  21 . Each grill  22  is comprised of a plurality of inclination angle-adjustable louvers. The user can manually rotate each housing member  2  to adjust the direction of the air inlet  23  and air outlet  21  of the respective housing member  2 . The adjustable multi-outlet fan  1  further comprises a base  14  disposed at a bottom side for positioning on a flat floor surface stably, an operation panel  12  disposed at a top side for operation by a person directly by hand to control the operation of the internal fan module (not shown), and a remote control sensor  13  for receiving control signals from an external remote controller and driving the internal fan module to operate subject to the control of the external remote controller. Further, a person can control a driving mechanism (not shown) in the adjustable multi-outlet fan  1  to rotate the body of the adjustable multi-outlet fan  1  on the base  14  alternatively back and forth within a predetermined angle by means of the operation panel  12  or the remote controller. 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIGS. 2˜4 , the adjustable multi-outlet fan  1  further includes a frame structure formed of multiple posts  11  and circular partition plates  15 , and a fan module  3 . The partition plates  15  are horizontally fixedly fastened to the posts  11  at different elevations. The fan module  3  comprises a fan motor  31  fixedly mounted on the base  14 , a fan shaft  32  vertically inserted through (the center opening of each of) the partition plates  15  fixedly connected to the rotor of the fan motor  31 , and a plurality of fan blades  33  affixed to the fan shaft  32  at different elevations corresponding to the space defined between each two adjacent partition plates  15 . 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 2  again, the housing members  2  are sleeved onto the posts  11  and respectively rotatably supported on the partition plates  15 . Each partition plate  15  has a series of teeth  16  protruded from the bottom wall and arranged along the border. Each housing member  2  has a springy top protrusion  25  engaged with the teeth  16  of one associating partition plate  15 , and a wind baffle  24  disposed at one side of the air outlet  21  for guiding generated air stream out of the air outlet  21 . When rotating one housing member  2  relative to the posts  11 , the top protrusion  25  is forced to deform temporarily and moved over the teeth  16  of the associating partition plate  15 . When the user released the hand, the top protrusion  25  immediately returns to its former shape and is kept in engagement with the teeth  16  of the associating partition plate  15  again. Therefore, the user can directly rotate each housing member  2  to adjust the direction of the respective air outlet  21 . 
         [0022]    It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above. 
         [0023]    While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.