Winglet-enhanced fan

[0002] This application is a continuation-in-part of commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/867,194, filed May 29, 2001, entitled “ENHANCED PERFORMANCE FAN WITH THE USE OF WINGLETS, ” subsequently issued Feb. 11, 2003, as U.S. Pat. No. 6,517,315, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

[0003] This application relates to systems and methods for aerodynamic flow, and more particularly to an enhanced performance fan with the use of winglets.

[0004] An item of electronic equipment that dissipates more power than can easily be cooled with heat sinks alone generally uses fans to supplement natural convection. This works well enough, but as anyone who has labored in a room full of fan cooled equipment can attest, the noise from the fans themselves can be rather annoying. This is especially so in an office setting, where there arise issues of decorum, in addition to the more pragmatic issues of productivity reduction owing to distractions caused by noise.

[0005] A significant amount of fan noise appears to originate with the production of turbulent vortices of air at the tips of the fan blades as they rotate about the fan axis. The tips slice sideways, as it were, through low pressure air on the inlet side of the blades and the high pressure air on the outlet side of the blades. As the blades rotate, high pressure air spills over the tips of the blades and imparts an off-axis spinning motion in the low pressure air creating vortices whose behavior results in the production of acoustic energy (noise), particularly when the blades pass the struts of the fan. In addition, the aerodynamic performance of the fan does not reach its full potential capacity due to parasitic energy losses at the blade tips.

[0006] Most commercially available fans do nothing to eliminate the noise resulting from the blade vortices. Instead, noise is managed by decreasing fan speed or blade pitch, both of which compromise the aerodynamic performance of the fan.

[0007] Accordingly, it would be desirable if fan noise could be reduced without sacrificing the air flow that fan is intended to supply

[0008] The present invention is directed to a system and method which minimize blade tip vortices of a fan and thus reduce a noise source, resulting in a quieter higher performance fan. Small winglets (similar to those observed on aircraft wings) placed at the end of each fan blade substantially eliminate the vortices created in conventional fans by the pressure differential between the top side (low pressure) and the bottom side (high pressure) of the blade. The winglet acts as a barrier between the low pressure and high pressure sides of a blade, which prevents leakage around the tip, thus suppressing vortices. The winglet can be placed at the end of the blade opposite the hub on either top, bottom, or both top and bottom of the blade.

[0009] Technical advantages of embodiments of this invention include noise reduction, because there are no shedding vortices to create noise as the blades pass the struts; increased aerodynamic efficiency of the fan, providing higher air flow and/or static pressure for the same fan speed, size, and power, because energy is not lost in vortices; and minimal cost impacts, because housings currently used for fans can still be used with standard finger guards and because the blades are typically plastic injection molded.

[0010] FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C are respectively a top view, a cross sectional side view, and a schematic partial perspective view depicting a fan constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0011] FIG. 2 is a schematic partial perspective view depicting the structure of a conventional prior art fan; and

[0012] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross section view illustrating the structure of a prior art Lamont fan.

[0013] FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C are respectively a top view, a cross sectional side view, and a schematic partial perspective view depicting a fan 1 constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular a hub 2 is rotatably mounted on a base 5 that includes an open interior region spanned by struts 6. Struts 6 support a central location 7 within base 5, onto which hub 2 is rotatably mounted. A plurality of blades 3 are attached to hub 2, and a small motor (not shown) attached to hub 2 causes hub 2 and attached blades 3 to rotate in a direction indicated by arrow 11, creating air flow in a direction indicated by arrow 8. Fan 1 can also be designed to work such that flow is in the opposite direction. Base 5 optionally includes a stationary venturi 4 having an inner surface 10 that, in a known manner, typically resembles an airfoil rotationally symmetric about hub 2, which is closely spaced radially beyond the distal ends of rotating blades 3. Optional venturi 4 has an outer surface 9 that is not critical to the performance of fan 1 and can optionally be designed as an integral portion of a housing of fan 1. Embodiments of the present invention include fans without venturi and fans with venturis having a variety of forms known to those with skill in the art. For example, a fan according to embodiments of the present invention can include a venturi similar to fan housings described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,116 entitled “Fan Assisted Heat Sink Device,” issued Jul. 28, 1998.

[0014] A winglet 12 is attached to the end of each blade 3 distal from hub 2 on either top, bottom, or both top and bottom of the blade. Winglet 12 extends substantially circumferentially relative to the rotation axis of hub 2 and essentially perpendicular to the plane of blade 3, and is typically but not necessarily shaped as an airfoil, for example as depicted in FIG. 1C, which for simplicity shows only one blade 3 with one attached winglet 12. In some embodiments, winglet 12 extends a distance in the circumferential direction substantially equal to the circumferential width of the tip of blade 3. In some embodiments, winglet 12 is formed as an integral part of blade 3, whereas in other embodiments winglet 12 and blade 3 are formed separately and are joined together. Winglet 12 and blade 3 can be formed of a variety of structural materials, including by way of example and not by way of restriction metals, insulators, polymers, elastomers, concretes, and composites. Particularly, winglet 12 and blade 3 can be integrally formed of injection molded plastic.

[0015] In operation, winglets 12 (similar to structures observed on aircraft wings) placed at the distal end of fan blades 3 act as a barrier to air flow around the blade tips between the top side (low pressure) and the bottom side (high pressure) of a blade 3 as illustrated in FIG. 1B, thus reducing leakage around the blade tips and consequently suppressing the shedding vortices caused by that leakage in a conventional fan.

[0016] It is noted that, in accordance with aerodynamic principles, if the rotation direction indicated by arrow 11 of fan 1 is reversed, then the air flow direction indicated by arrow 8 is consequently reversed, i.e., air flows over struts 6 and then over blades 3. This reversal of air flow direction in turn reverses the respective locations of high and low pressure sides of the fan relative to blades 3, such that in FIG. 1B the high pressure side would be at the top in the diagram and the low pressure side would be at the bottom in the diagram. Although fan 1 with attached winglets 12 operates in principle under these reverse-flow conditions, performance is not optimized, because any airfoil surfaces of fan 1 are specifically shaped to optimize performance for the original respective rotation and flow directions. It is further noted that struts 6 can be either upstream or downstream of blades 3 for optimum performance in either rotation direction of blades 3.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a schematic partial perspective view depicting the structure of a conventional fan 21. A plurality of blades, represented for simplicity by single blade 23, are attached radially to a hub 22, which is mounted rotatably on a base (not shown in FIG. 2). Hub 22 and attached blades 23 rotate in a direction indicated by arrow 11, creating primary air flow in a direction indicated by arrow 8. The primary air flow in direction 8 creates an air pressure gradient between the top or low pressure intake side and the bottom or high pressure outlet side of blades 23. This pressure gradient in turn drives a leakage flow around the tips of blades 23. Because there is no barrier to this leakage flow, it persists and leads to shedding vortices 24 in the wake of spinning blade 23, which create noise and reduce aerodynamic efficiency as blades 23 rotate.

[0018] Technical advantages of embodiments of the present invention include noise reduction, because shedding vortices that create noise are minimized; increased aerodynamic efficiency of the fan, providing higher air flow and/or static pressure for the same fan speed, size, and power, because energy is not lost in vortices; and minimal cost impacts, because housings currently used for fans can still be used with standard finger guards. The above technical advantages distinguish embodiments of the present invention over prior art approaches including: the Lamont Fan, which allows air leakage through the venturi. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross section view illustrating the structure of a Lamont fan 31, which has blades 33 attached to a rotating hub 32 mounted to a base 35 having struts 36 to create an air flow indicated by arrow 8. Venturi 34 is segmented to provide a bypass 38 to leakage flow 39, which weakens shedding vortices 24. However, this can reduce the aerodynamic performance of the fan, shedding vortices still develop, and the venturi is broken up; another prior art approach incorporates blades with serrated edges on the trailing edge, currently used by only one manufacturer (see for example Rotron Models Whisper® XLAC and Muffin® XLAC, http//www.comairrotron/acfans.htm), with no apparent practical advantage over conventional technology.

[0019] In the Integral Rotating Venturi fan, according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,944, issued Jul. 27, 1999, the gap between the blade tip and venturi is eliminated by attaching the venturi to the blade, so that the venturi spin with the blade. Although this technique is effective in eliminating shedding vortices, disadvantages include rotating venturi, which can be a safety concern. Additionally, the mass of rotating blade/venturi is higher than in typical fan design, increasing energy consumption and adversely affecting bearing reliability and rotor balancing. Also, tolerances associated with the clearance between the rotating venturi and the stationary housing can be difficult to maintain.