Patent Description:
Inflator is one of the commonly used devices for inflating various different types of pneumatic tires. Most of the inflators include a casing, a motor and a core. During the use of the inflator, the motor drives the core to inflate the pneumatic tire. However, the heat generated by the operation of the motor cannot be timely dissipated to the outside of the casing due to the unreasonable structural design of the conventional inflator, and thus the motor may be overheated, burned or damaged easily by high temperature.

Chinese Patent Application <CIT> discloses a plastic air pump machine core comprising a plastic air cylinder, a plastic piston, a plastic output disc and a power mechanism. The air pump machine core comprises a plastic support fixing and supporting the motor, the plastic gear, the plastic rocker arm and the plastic air cylinder. The plastic output disc and the plastic air cylinder are fixedly connected through a rotation buckle. The plastic support is fixedly connected with the motor and the plastic air cylinder through rotation buckles.

European Patent Application <CIT> discloses a power tool, with a motor unit which includes a motor housing and a receiving unit for receiving at least one drive element. The electrical device has a motor sleeve via which the motor unit is coupled to the receiving unit.

European Patent Application <CIT> discloses an inflator with an air guiding sleeve, which includes a chassis, a core and a drive motor. The drive motor inflates an external object by driving the core. The chassis has air inlet and outlet holes, and the air guiding sleeve has a hole that allows air to pass through. The air guiding sleeve includes a positioning shell and an air guiding ring, which are formed as a single piece. The air guiding ring is positioned around the cooling fan, which is connected to the drive motor's shaft. The drive motor has a circular blind slot and an anti-rotation slot. A fixing ring with lugs is used to secure the drive motor to the chassis with the fixing ring fitting into the circular blind slot, thus ensuring that it does not obstruct airflow between the drive motor and the chassis.

In view of the aforementioned drawbacks and deficiencies of the prior art, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide an inflator with a motor fixing ring. During the use of the inflator, a cooling fan of the inflator is provided for flowing air along an air gap between an outer surface of the motor and an inner surface of a casing to dissipate the heat generated by the motor, so as to improve the cooling efficiency of the motor and the performance of the inflator.

To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, the present invention discloses an inflator with a motor fixing ring comprising: a casing, and a core and a motor installed in the casing, wherein the motor is provided for driving the core to inflate an external object, wherein the inflator further comprises the motor fixing ring sheathed on the motor and clamped between the motor and the casing, and an air gap is formed between an outer surface of the motor and an inner surface of the casing, wherein the motor has a circular blind slot concavely formed on an outer surface of the motor, the motor fixing ring is received in the circular blind slot, the motor has an anti-rotation notch communicating with the circular blind slot, and the motor fixing ring has an anti-rotation plate extending into the anti-rotation notch, wherein a sidewall of the circular blind slot is provided for blocking and stopping the ring body of the motor fixing ring to prevent the motor fixing ring from moving with respect to the motor, and wherein the ring body of the motor fixing ring is not protruded from the outer surface of the motor, wherein the casing further has a control module installed therein, and a display screen installed thereon for displaying the operating parameters of the inflator, and the motor and the display screen are electrically coupled to the control module.

Preferably, the motor fixing ring has a ring body and two lugs, and the two lugs are formed and protruded in opposite directions from both opposite sides of the ring body respectively and disposed on the casing, and the ring body is sheathed on the motor, and an air gap is formed between an outer surface of the ring body and an inner surface of the casing.

Preferably, one of the lugs has a limit bump, and the casing has a limit groove for receiving the limit bump.

Preferably, the motor fixing ring is made of soft plastic.

Preferably, the lug has a latching blind slot, and the casing has two latching blocks extending into the latching blind slots of the two lugs respectively.

The present invention has the following advantages. During the use of the inflator, the motor fixing ring is sheathed on the motor, and the motor communicating with the motor fixing ring is installed into the casing, so that the motor fixing ring is clamped between the motor and the casing. A cooling fan of the inflator is provided for flowing air along the air gap between the outer surface of the motor and the inner surface of the casing to dissipate the heat generated by the motor, so as to improve the cooling efficiency of the motor and the performance of the inflator.

The technical characteristics of the present invention will become apparent with the detailed description of preferred embodiments accompanied with the illustration of related drawings. It is intended that the embodiments and drawings disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.

With reference to <FIG> for an inflator with a motor fixing ring of the present invention, the inflator comprises a casing <NUM>, and a core <NUM> and a motor <NUM> installed in the casing <NUM>, and the motor <NUM> is provided for driving the core <NUM> to inflate an external object (such as a pneumatic tire, balloon, etc.) and the inflator further comprises a motor fixing ring <NUM> in a substantially circular shape and the motor fixing ring <NUM> is sheathed on the motor <NUM> and clamped between the motor <NUM> and the casing <NUM>, and an air gap is formed between an outer surface of the motor <NUM> and an inner surface of the casing <NUM>.

In the manufacturing process of the inflator, the motor fixing ring <NUM> is sheathed on the motor <NUM>, and then the motor <NUM> together with the motor fixing ring <NUM> are installed into the casing <NUM>, so that the motor fixing ring <NUM> is clamped between the motor <NUM> and the casing <NUM>. During the use of the inflator, a cooling fan of the inflator is provided for flowing air along the air gap between the outer surface of the motor <NUM> and the inner surface of the casing <NUM> to dissipate the heat generated by the motor <NUM>, so as to improve the cooling efficiency of the motor <NUM> and the performance of the inflator.

The motor fixing ring <NUM> has a ring body (not labeled in the figure) and two lugs <NUM>, and the two lugs <NUM> are formed and protruded in opposite directions from two opposites sides of the ring body respectively, and the ring body is sheathed on the motor <NUM>, and an air gap is formed between the outer surface of the ring body and the inner surface of the casing <NUM>. The two lugs <NUM> are fixed onto the casing <NUM>. During the use of the inflator, the cooling fan drives air to flow along the air gap between the motor <NUM> and the casing <NUM> and the air gap between the ring body and the casing <NUM>, so as to further improve the cooling effect of the motor.

The motor fixing ring <NUM> is an integral structure. In other words, the ring body and the two lugs <NUM> are integrally formed as a whole, and both of the two lugs <NUM> have a latching blind slot <NUM>, and the motor fixing ring <NUM> is made of plastic, and the latching blind slot <NUM> is provided for reducing the thickness of the lug <NUM>. Compared with the conventional lug <NUM> with a solid configuration, the arrangement of this invention can avoid a thick lug <NUM> that may cause defectives due to plastic shrinkage. Preferably, the casing <NUM> has two latching blocks (not shown in the figure) extending into the two latching blind slots <NUM> respectively. Now, the latching block of the casing <NUM> extends into the latching blind slot <NUM>, and the sidewall of the latching blind slot <NUM> blocks and stops the latching block to achieve the effect of limiting the motor fixing ring <NUM> by using the casing <NUM>. After the inflator is assembled, the invention can effectively prevent the motor fixing ring <NUM> from moving with respect to the casing <NUM>.

In this embodiment, one of the lugs <NUM> has a limit bump <NUM>, and the casing <NUM> has a limit groove (not shown in the figure) for receiving the limit bump <NUM>. During the installation process of the motor fixing ring <NUM> and the casing <NUM>, the limit bump <NUM> is aligned precisely with the limit groove first, and then the casing <NUM> and the motor fixing ring <NUM> are assembled, so that the limit bump <NUM> can be plugged into the limit groove to achieve a precise alignment of the motor fixing ring <NUM> with the casing <NUM>, so as to prevent a poor assembly of the inflator due to a wrong installation position of the motor fixing ring <NUM>.

The motor <NUM> has a circular blind slot <NUM> concavely formed on an outer surface of the motor <NUM>, and a ring body of the motor fixing ring <NUM> is received into the circular blind slot <NUM>, and the sidewall of the circular blind slot <NUM> is provided for blocking and stopping the ring body of the motor fixing ring <NUM> to prevent the motor fixing ring <NUM> from moving with respect to the motor <NUM>, and the ring body of the motor fixing ring <NUM> is not protruded from the outer surface of the motor <NUM>. In other words, the ring body of the motor fixing ring <NUM> is not completely plugged into the circular blind slot <NUM>, so that when the cooling fan drives air to flow along the air gap between the motor <NUM> and the casing <NUM>, the ring body will not hinder the air flowing in the air gap, and this invention ensures that the air flowing in the air gap can quickly dissipate the heat generated by the motor to the outside of the casing <NUM>.

The motor <NUM> has an anti-rotation notch <NUM> communicating with the circular blind slot <NUM> and concavely formed on the sidewall of the circular blind slot <NUM>, and the motor fixing ring <NUM> has an anti-rotation plate <NUM>, so that after the motor fixing ring <NUM> is sheathed on the motor <NUM>, the anti-rotation plate <NUM> extends into the anti-rotation notch <NUM>, and the sidewall of the anti-rotation notch <NUM> abuts the anti-rotation plate <NUM> to prevent the motor fixing ring <NUM> from rotating with respect to the motor <NUM>. In this embodiment, the lug <NUM> is coupled to the motor fixing ring <NUM> and the anti-rotation plate <NUM> at the same time to extend the length of the lug <NUM> and assist extending the length of the latching blind slot <NUM>, so as to improve the engagement effect between the latching block and the lug <NUM>.

In this embodiment, the motor fixing ring <NUM> is made of soft plastic such as silicone, because the soft plastic can absorb the impact on the casing while the motor <NUM> is running.

The casing <NUM> further has a control module <NUM> installed therein, and a display screen installed thereon for displaying the operating parameters of the inflator and the motor <NUM> and the display screen <NUM> are electrically coupled to the control module <NUM>. The display screen <NUM> has an inflation progress indicator formed by a plurality of display bars which are parallelly separated from each other, and the inflation progress indicator is used for the countdown of the time required for filling up the air into the external object, and the quantity of the display bars of the control module <NUM> is determined by the difference between the target inflation pressure and the actual pressure divided by the amount of airflow of the inflator.

The casing <NUM> has a grip handle <NUM> with both ends coupled to the casing <NUM>, and a yield hole (not labeled in the figure) is formed between the grip handle <NUM> and the casing <NUM>. In actual use, a user inserts his/her hand into the yield hole and then holds the grip handle <NUM> by the hand, so that the casing <NUM> can move the inflator conveniently to improve customer experience. Preferably, the grip handle <NUM> further has a frictional projection (not shown in the figure) formed thereon and provided for pressing and touching the user's hand.

Claim 1:
An inflator with a motor fixing ring comprising: a casing (<NUM>), and a core (<NUM>) and a motor (<NUM>) installed in the casing (<NUM>), and the motor (<NUM>) being provided for driving the core (<NUM>) to inflate an external object, wherein the inflator further comprises the motor fixing ring (<NUM>) sheathed on the motor (<NUM>) and clamped between the motor (<NUM>) and the casing (<NUM>), and an air gap is formed between an outer surface of the motor (<NUM>) and an inner surface of the casing (<NUM>), characterized in that the motor (<NUM>) has a circular blind slot (<NUM>) concavely formed on an outer surface of the motor (<NUM>), the motor fixing ring ( <NUM>) is received in the circular blind slot (<NUM>), the motor has an anti-rotation notch (<NUM>) communicating with the circular blind slot (<NUM>), and the motor fixing ring (<NUM>) has an anti-rotation plate (<NUM>) extending into the anti-rotation notch (<NUM>) ,
wherein a sidewall of the circular blind slot (<NUM>) is provided for blocking and stopping the ring body of the motor fixing ring (<NUM>) to prevent the motor fixing ring (<NUM>) from moving with respect to the motor (<NUM>), and
wherein the ring body of the motor fixing ring (<NUM>) is not protruded from the outer surface of the motor (<NUM>) ,
wherein the casing (<NUM>) further has a control module (<NUM>) installed therein, and a display screen installed thereon for displaying the operating parameters of the inflator and the motor (<NUM>) and the display screen (<NUM>) are electrically coupled to the control module (<NUM>).