Patent Document

[0001]    This patent appreciation claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 60/910,011, which was filed on Apr. 4, 2007. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to air moving devices and, in particular, to blowers of the type which are used with furnaces for drawing air from outside of a building or mobile home into the furnace to support combustion and to push combustion exhaust products outside of the building or mobile home. More particularly, the present invention relates to an access cover of the blower housing and a motor and fan assembly removably mounted therein. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    In smaller furnaces used in buildings and in mobile homes, for example, standard air-draw effects are not sufficient to assure the required air flow through the furnace heat exchangers, and therefore, these furnaces utilize combustion air supply blowers to provide sufficient air flow through the furnace. In particular, the blowers boost fresh air into the furnace&#39;s burners to support combustion and to move flue gases through the furnace heat exchangers and ultimately push the flue gases outwardly through exhaust piping to the exterior of the building or mobile home. 
         [0006]    Existing blowers have blower housings which have motor and fan assemblies mounted thereto with separate brackets and/or motor and fan assemblies fixedly attached directly to a cover provided with the blower housing. These designs can potentially complicate maintenance and servicing of the motor and fan assembly. 
         [0007]    What is needed is an apparatus which is an improvement over the foregoing. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    The present invention provides a combustion air supply blower including a blower housing having a housing body and housing cover. The cover is removably attached to the housing body and generally provides access to a motor and fan assembly including a fan and a motor. The motor and fan assembly is removably mounted within the housing body and is captured within the housing body and the housing cover such that, upon removal of the housing cover, the motor and fan assembly is exposed and may then be lifted out of the housing body for easy maintenance, repair, and/or replacement of any portion of the motor and fan assembly. Alternatively, upon removal of the housing cover, the motor and fan assembly may be accessed while remaining within the housing body to complete any maintenance and/or repair of the motor and fan assembly. 
         [0009]    In one form thereof, the present invention provides a combustion air supply blower including a housing; a cover removably attached to the housing; and a motor and fan assembly, the motor and fan assembly mounted within the blower by capture of at least a portion of the motor and fan assembly between cooperating portions of the housing and the cover. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a blower housing in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is another perspective view of the blower housing of  FIG. 1 , viewed from an input end; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is another perspective view of the blower housing of  FIG. 1 , viewed from an exhaust end; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is another perspective view of the blower housing of  FIG. 1 , viewed from the exhaust end; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a partially exploded view of the blower housing of  FIG. 1 , showing the cover and the housing members exploded away from each other; 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is another partially exploded view of the blower housing of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  is another partially exploded view of the blower housing of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  is another partially exploded view of the blower housing of  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 9  is a partially exploded view of the blower housing of  FIG. 1 , further illustrating the motor and fan assembly exploded away from the blower housing. 
       
    
    
       [0020]    Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The example set out herein illustrates one embodiment of the invention and such example is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a combustion air supply blower  20  for a furnace is shown, according to the present invention. Blower  20  generally includes blower housing  22  having housing members  22   a ,  22   b ,  22   c , and also includes cover  24 . Housing  22  and cover  24  may be formed of stamped or formed metal, or may be formed of plastic via an injection molding process, for example. Suitable plastics for housing  22  and cover  24  include polypropylene or other thermoplastics. Housing  22  includes a generally cylindrical outer wall  38  and an inner wall  36  which defines a substantially hollow interior throughbore  34 . Cover  24  includes a plurality of power cord apertures  25  for routing power cords (not shown) to motor and fan assembly  28  ( FIGS. 5-9 ). Cover  24  may include pressure static tap  29  and housing member  22   b  may include pressure static tap  31 . Pressure static taps  29 ,  31  are connected to a vacuum switch system (not shown) which prevents activation of a burner (not shown) of the furnace in the event that no airflow or insufficient airflow is present in housing  22 . 
         [0022]    Housing  22  and cover  24  additionally include a plurality of mounting lugs  58  integrally formed therewith, which are disposed radially outwardly of outer wall  38  and spaced along the longitudinal length of blower housing  22  and cover  24 . Mounting lugs  58  include threaded openings or passages  50  ( FIG. 5 ) therethrough for receipt of fasteners  60  to attach housing members  22   a ,  22   b ,  22   c  and cover  24  to each other, respectively. Fasteners  60  extend through mounting lugs  58   a ,  58   b  to attach respective portions of blower  20  together. Specifically, housing member  22   a  is attached to housing member  22   c  by aligning mounting lugs  58   a  of housing member  22   a  with mounting lugs  58   b  of housing member  22   c  and inserting fasteners  60  through openings  50  in mounting lugs  58   a ,  58   b ; housing member  22   b  is attached to housing member  22   c  by aligning mounting lugs  58   a  of housing member  22   b  with mounting lugs  58   b  of housing member  22   c  and inserting fasteners  60  through openings  50  in mounting lugs  58   a ,  58   b ; and cover  24  is attached to housing member  22   c  by aligning mounting lugs  58   a  of cover  24  with mounting lugs  58   b  of housing member  22   c  and inserting fasteners  60  through openings  50  in mounting lugs  58   a ,  58   b.    
         [0023]    Housing  22  includes input end  40  adapted to be operatively attached to an intake pipe (not shown) to communicate interior throughbore  34  of housing  22  with combustion air for a furnace. 
         [0024]    As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , housing  22  includes an integral exhaust end  43  which terminates in a circular exhaust outlet  44  defined by exhaust outlet edge  46  to which a tube or other duct structure (not shown) may be attached in a suitable manner, such as with clamps or other fasteners. 
         [0025]    As shown in  FIGS. 5-8 , blower  20  also includes motor and fan assembly  28  having fan motor  30  and fan  32  and a support structure  52 . In operation, rotation of fan  32  by motor  30  draws air from an intake tube (not shown) through input end  40  of housing  22  and exhausts the air through exhaust end  43  of housing  22 . 
         [0026]    Cover  24  is removably attached to housing member  22   c  via fasteners  60  and mounting lugs  58 , as described above, and generally provides a removable cover for motor and fan assembly  28 . Cover  24  includes semicircular grooves or recesses  57  ( FIG. 5 ) which are shaped to mate with protrusions or ridges  55  ( FIG. 5 ) on housing members  22   a ,  22   b , thereby effectively sealing the connection between cover  24  and housing members  22   a ,  22   b . Cover  24  includes pocket lugs  62   a  which define portions of pockets  56  and housing member  22   c  includes pocket lugs  62   b  which define portions of pockets  56 , such that when housing member  22   c  and cover  24  are assembled, pocket lugs  62   a ,  62   b  together define pockets  56 . 
         [0027]    Fan motor  30  includes extended bearing straps or support structures  52  extending laterally from motor  30  which have elastomeric boots  54  disposed thereon. Fan motor  30  is positioned in housing member  22   c  by positioning elastomeric boots  54  of straps  52  of fan motor  30  in pocket lugs  62   b . Pocket lugs  62   a  in cover  24  provide a complementary shape to securely and substantially enclose boots  54  in pockets  56  between housing member  22   c  and cover  24 . It can be seen in the drawing figures that with the support structure  52  extending into the pockets  56  of the pocket lugs  62  of the housing  22  and cover  24 , that portion  5  of the pocket lugs  62  engage against laterally opposite sides of the motor and fan assembly  28  and portions of the pocket lugs  62  engage against longitudinally opposite sides of the motor and fan assembly  28 . The positioning of the boots  54  and the opposite ends of the support structure  52  in the pockets  56  holds the fan and motor assembly  28  in a laterally fixed position and a longitudinally fixed position relative to the housing  22  and cover  24  of the blower  20 . 
         [0028]    Therefore, when cover  24  is attached to housing member  22   c , pockets  56  securely hold and capture boots  54  and straps  52  of fan motor  30 , thereby securing motor and fan assembly  28  in a laterally fixed and longitudinally fixed position within blower  20 . Advantageously, no additional fasteners or brackets, for example metal brackets, are required to attach motor and fan assembly  28  to either housing member  22   c  and/or cover  24 . Moreover, boots  54  advantageously dampen any vibration produced by motor and fan assembly  28  in operation to provide a quieter operation of blower  20 . 
         [0029]    In use and referring to  FIG. 9 , for maintenance and/or removal of motor and fan assembly  28 , cover  24  is removed from housing  22  via removal of at least fasteners  60  from engagement with mounting lugs  58   b  of housing member  22   c , a technician or other person may easily remove motor and fan assembly  28  from housing member  22   c  by lifting straps  52  out of engagement with pockets  56  and removing motor and fan assembly  28  from blower  20  with relative ease. No fasteners hold the motor and fan assembly  28  in the blower  20  and therefore it is not necessary to remove fasteners from the motor and fan assembly  28  before removing the assembly from the blower. Thus, maintenance, repair, and/or replacement of motor and fan assembly  28  are advantageously easily accomplished. Furthermore, the technician may also easily access motor and fan assembly  28  after removal of cover  24  without removing motor and fan assembly  28  from the remainder of blower  20 . In this manner, motor and fan assembly  28  may be repaired and/or maintained while still positioned within housing member  22   c , after which cover  24  may be reattached to housing member  22   c  to enclose motor and fan assembly  28 . 
         [0030]    To reattach cover  24  after repositioning and/or repair of a motor and fan assembly  28 , mounting lugs  58   a  of cover  24  are aligned with mounting lugs  58   b  of housing member  22   c  and fasteners  60  are inserted through openings  50  in mounting lugs  58   a ,  58   b . Motor and fan assembly  28  is captured between cover  24  and housing member  22   c . Motor and fan assembly  28  is not fixedly attached to either cover  24  or housing member  22   c  and no separate bracket or fastener is required to hold motor and fan assembly  28 , thereby enhancing operation of motor and fan assembly  28  and providing easy removal of motor and fan assembly  28 . Rather, motor and fan assembly  28  is sandwiched between cover  24  and housing member  22   c , thereby advantageously capturing motor and fan assembly  28  therebetween. Optionally, a gasket or other seal (not shown) formed of a suitable resilient material, such as Neoprene or EPDM rubber, for example, may be provided between cover  24  and housing members  22   a ,  22   b ,  22   c  to provide an air seal therebetween. 
         [0031]    Advantageously, blower  20  of the present invention is simple to build. Also, motor and fan assembly  28  requires no separate fasteners and/or brackets to attach motor  30  to blower  20 . The lack of any separate metal brackets to attach motor  30  advantageously affects the performance of motor  30 . Furthermore, motor and fan assembly  28  is easily removed for cleaning, repair, maintenance, and/or replacement. Moreover, no tools are required to remove motor and fan assembly  28  from blower  20  because a technician may simply lift motor and fan assembly  28  from blower  20 . 
         [0032]    While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.

Technology Category: f