Patent ID: 8267673

Claim:
A brushless cooling fan assembly for application in a vehicle cooling system, the assembly comprising: an axial fan impeller having a center ring, an outer rim and a plurality of blades fully extending radially from the center ring to the outer rim; a shroud for mounting the fan assembly in the vehicle cooling system, the shroud having a center hub with a hollow core and an outer wall with a base plate mounted outside the outer wall, the shroud having an air duct exiting to the blades; a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor with a center bore and a periphery fused to the center ring of the impeller, the hollow core of the shroud inserted through the center bore of the motor to operably couple the motor, the shroud and the impeller as one functional unit, the BLDC motor powering the impeller and thereby creating heat, the impeller rotating with respect to the shroud and the motor and thereby creating static pressure; and an electronic controller module having a housing, the housing having an electronic controller electrically connected to the BLDC motor, the controller controlling the BLDC motor, the controller generating heat during operation, the electronic controller module mounted on the base plate on the outer wall to separate the controller from the BLDC motor in order to protect the electronic controller from heat created by the BLDC motor, the unit including the controller, wherein the module having a heat sink disposed on the housing, the sink mated to the controller to dissipate heat away from the controller, the sink in fluid communication with the duct, wherein the pressure facilitates air flow from the sink through the duct to the blades and thereby cooling the module.