Patent ID: 6929448

Claim:
A blower assembly for use in expelling exhaust gases from a furnace through an exhaust pipe, comprising: a blower motor having a motor shaft; a blower housing having an impeller cavity defined by an outer sidewall, a top wall, and a bottom wall, the bottom wall including an inlet opening for communicating the exhaust gases from the furnace into the impeller cavity; a housing exhaust opening formed in the sidewall of the blower housing and in communication with the impeller cavity; an impeller mounted to the motor shaft and contained within the impeller cavity, wherein rotation of the impeller creates a flow of exhaust gases into the impeller cavity through the inlet opening and out of the impeller cavity through the housing exhaust opening; an exhaust transition section extending from the housing exhaust opening to an exhaust outlet, the exhaust outlet being configured to receive the exhaust pipe; and an exhaust restrictor extending into the exhaust transition section from the housing exhaust opening and operable to restrict the flow of exhaust gases from the housing exhaust opening to the exhaust outlet of the exhaust transition section, the exhaust restrictor including a back wall extending from an inner end to an outer end, wherein the back wall is positioned at an angle relative to a first plane extending through the exhaust opening, wherein the back wall is curved at the outer end.