1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an air mover, and more particularly to an air mover which comprises a motor being easily assembled in a housing and being securely retained in the casing to minimize any unwanted vibration of the motor.
2. Description of Related Arts
A conventional air mover, which is adapted for drying surface and moving musty air, comprises an outer casing, a motor received in the outer casing, and a fan blade powered by the motor, wherein the outer casing has two side openings defining as two air inlets respectively and an air exit provided at a bottom portion of the outer casing. Therefore, when the fan blade is driven to rotate to generate a suction effect within the outer casing, air is sucked into the outer casing through the air inlets and is blown out through the air outlet. Generally speaking, the conventional air mover has several drawbacks.
The outer casing is configured to have a one single integrated structure to receive the motor therein. The manufacturing cost of the outer casing will be relatively high to precisely fit the motor therein. However, the outer casing is hard to modify the air flow configuration in order to minimize the noise generated by the air suction effect. In other words, the uneven or rough inner surface of the outer casing will create an unavoidable noise and air resistance to reduce the efficiency of the air flow configuration of the fan blade.
The motor can be mounted within the outer casing by welding. However, the motor installation will be complicated and will highly increased the installation cost of the air mover. The overall weight of the air mover will be highly increased as well. In addition, heat will be generated by the motor to distort the shape of the outer casing. In other words, the center of mass of the motor will be shifted within the distorted outer casing after a period of continuous use of the motor. Once the center of mass of the motor is shifted, the motor will generate an uneven rotatable power to the fan blade so as to create the noise within the outer casing. Therefore, the air mover cannot be stably operated and the service life of the air mover will be substantially reduced. Furthermore, the motor is generally affixed between the top and bottom walls of the outer casing to enhance the stabilization of the motor. Therefore, the size of the outer casing must be large enough in order to hold the motor in position. Since there is no air filter provided at the air inlet, dust or other particles will be sucked into the outer casing. Therefore, dust will be accumulated at the motor to reduce the efficiency thereof and will be blown out at the air outlet as well to pollute the drying surface. In addition, the control panel is mounted at the outer casing to control the operation of the motor. Since the outer casing is a one single integrated body, the wiring configuration within the outer casing will be complicated to connect the motor with the control panel.
Alternatively, the motor can be mounted in the outer casing by screw structure. However, the motor cannot be securely mounted within the outer casing by such screw structure. Therefore, when the motor is operated, an unwanted vibration will be unavoidably generated. Since two sides of the outer casing forms the two air inlet, the motor must be mounted at the surrounding wall of the outer casing. A motor mount is incorporated with the motor in order to securely mount the motor in the outer casing at a position that the output shaft must be coaxially located at a longitudinal centerline of the outer casing. The motor stand generally comprises a mounting ring encirclingly mounted around the motor and a plurality mounting arms radially extended from the mounting ring to secure at the inner side of the surrounding wall of the outer casing via a plurality of screws. In other words, the motor is suspended and supported within the outer casing to retain the output shaft of the motor at the longitudinal centerline of the outer casing. However, once the motor is powered to generate a rotatable movement of the output shaft, the vibration of the motor will be concurrently generated, wherein the vibration will be transmitted to the outer casing through the mounting arms. Therefore, the screws will be loosened after a period of continuous use. In other words, the user must frequently check the mounting position of the motor and must re-tighten all the screws to secure the motor within the outer casing. Once the motor is unsecured in the outer casing, the output shaft will be misalign with the longitudinal centerline of the outer casing and the noise will be generated by the fan blade as well during operation.
The installation of the motor within the outer casing is relatively complicated. Since the motor must be installed within the outer casing, the technician is hard to reach the interior of the outer casing for securing the screws therewithin. Generally speaking, the outer casing comprises a first side casing and a second side casing asymmetrical to the first side casing, wherein the interior cavity of the first side casing is smaller than the interior cavity of the second side casing. In other words, a longitudinal length of the first side casing is shorter than a longitudinal length of the second side casing. Since the first side casing is smaller, the technician is able to easily reach the interior cavity of the first side casing to mount the motor therein. Therefore, the technician is able to secure the motor at the smaller casing first and then mount the larger casing to the smaller casing to enclose the motor within the outer casing. On the other hand, since the first side casing is smaller than the second side casing, the rigidity of the first side casing is weaker than that of the second side casing. Therefore, the first side casing cannot rigidly support the motor thereat especially when the motor is operating.
In addition, the control panel is mounted at the first side casing to operatively link to the motor. Therefore, the first side casing not only supports the motor but also retains the control panel in position, so as to further weaken the structure of the first side casing. In other words, all components of the air mover are leaned at the first side casing in an unbalanced manner.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds