Patent ID: 7118333

Claim:
A cooling fan motor comprising: a cuplike rotor including a magnet and defining a rotational axis; impeller blades fixed to the circumferential surface of the rotor to form an impeller unit generating an axial airflow to which a rotational airflow component is imparted, whereby said impeller unit delivers a spiral airflow defining an airflow vector inclined at a predetermined angle to the rotational axis; a stator disposed facing the rotor magnet; a frame constituting an outer frame of the fan motor, for retaining the stator; and a guard plate covering an outer surface of the frame, disposed on the airflow downstream side of the impeller unit, and either fixed to or formed integrally with the frame, the guard plate composed of ribs each of which in transverse section has at least one side inclined at substantially the same angle as said airflow vector, the ribs being arranged in a plurality of intersecting groups to form a meshwork in which each rib group intersects at least one other rib group in intersection lines inclined at substantially the same angle as said airflow vector.