CN110249137B

CN110249137B - Fan blower

Info

Publication number: CN110249137B
Application number: CN201880008220.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 寄木谆也; 川崎宏昭
Original assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd
Current assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-01-31
Filing date: 2018-01-12
Publication date: 2021-06-18
Anticipated expiration: 2038-01-12
Also published as: JP6970878B2; JPWO2018142875A1; CN110249137A; WO2018142875A1

Abstract

This fan includes: an electric motor; an impeller fixed to a rotating shaft of the motor; a fan case for housing the motor and the impeller and having an air passage formed therein; a wire harness extending from an interior to an exterior of the blower housing; and a holding portion for holding the wire harness. The holding portion includes: a rib formed to protrude from a peripheral wall portion of the fan case; and two locking pieces formed on one end side and the other end side of the rib so as to protrude in opposite directions to each other in a direction intersecting the rib. The wire harness is locked to the locking piece on the one end side and the locking piece on the other end side by twisting the wire harness via the rib.

Description

Fan blower

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a fan, which comprises: an electric motor; an impeller fixed to a rotating shaft of the motor; a fan case for housing the motor and the impeller; and a holding portion for holding the wire harness extending from the blower case.

Background

A hybrid vehicle or the like is equipped with a battery that stores electric power supplied to a traveling motor, an inverter circuit that generates ac power from the battery and outputs the ac power to the traveling motor, and the like. In such a vehicle, a fan is mounted to send cooling air to a device that radiates heat at a high temperature.

In the case of a vehicle-mounted fan, it is necessary to compactly install not only a fan case but also a power supply and signal transmission harness connected to a motor of the fan and extending from the rear surface of the fan case, including the harness, in a predetermined installation space.

As disclosed in patent document 1, conventionally, there has been proposed a technique for preventing damage to an insulating coating layer due to interference of a wire harness with other members or thermal damage to the insulating coating layer due to contact of the wire harness with a high-temperature device. In order to prevent such a problem, in the conventional technique, a connector provided at the distal end of a wire harness is fixed to a connector mounting seat provided in a fan case via a connector holder. Then, a part of the wire harness is locked in a hook-shaped holding portion which is formed to protrude from the surface of the blower case and is bent in one direction. In the conventional technique, a part of the wire harness is locked in such a holding portion, and the wire harness is compactly fixed in the vicinity of the housing.

However, under a strong demand for standardizing parts for cost reduction or the like, it is difficult to adjust the length of the wire harness to an optimum length for each model. Therefore, when the standardized wire harness is applied to a small fan, an operation of suppressing the rattling of the remaining wire harness using another member such as a binding (japanese patent No. インシュロック) is required.

In the structure of the conventional art as shown in fig. 6, a holding portion 50 is provided in the fan case 2. The remaining portion of the wire harness 40 held by the holding portion 50 is fixed by the binding member 60. If another member such as the binding member 60 for fixing the wire harness 40 is used as in the conventional technique, not only the spare parts cost but also the assembly process increases, which causes a problem of an increase in the manufacturing cost against the standardized target.

In addition, with the structure of the conventional holding portion described above, only a part of the wire harness is caught by the holding portion provided on the outer periphery of the fan case. Therefore, the movement of the harness in the direction along the rotation shaft of the motor or in the circumferential direction of the fan case cannot be completely suppressed, and the harness may be displaced or detached from the holding portion. Such a problem is not limited to the fan for vehicle mounting, but is common when the fan needs to be installed in a limited installation space.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2013-104365

Disclosure of Invention

The fan of the present invention comprises: an electric motor; an impeller fixed to a rotating shaft of the motor; a fan case that houses the motor and the impeller and has an air passage formed therein for guiding the sucked outside air; a wire harness extending from an interior to an exterior of the blower housing; and a holding portion for holding the wire harness. The holding portion includes: a rib formed to protrude from a peripheral wall portion of the fan case; and a pair of locking pieces formed on one end side and the other end side of the rib so as to protrude in opposite directions to each other in a direction intersecting the rib. The wire harness is locked to the locking piece on the one end side and the locking piece on the other end side by twisting the wire harness via the rib.

In the blower fan, the wire harness has a connector at an end thereof, and a connector holder to which the connector is attached is provided on the blower fan case. Preferably, the locking piece on the other end side is formed so as to protrude in a direction opposite to the connector holder through a rib. Further, it is preferable that a claw portion bent toward the peripheral wall portion is formed at least on the distal end side of the other end side of the locking piece.

In the blower fan, the fan case and the holding portion are preferably integrally molded from resin, and more preferably, the fan case is formed in two halves in a circumferential wall portion of the fan case along an axial direction of the rotary shaft, and the rib is formed parallel to the rotary shaft.

Further, in the blower, the wire harness is preferably covered with a protective pipe.

Thus, the present invention can provide a fan in which the harness can be reliably fixed to the vicinity of the fan case without using a separate member even if the harness is standardized.

Drawings

Fig. 1A is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a fan according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is viewed from a front side of the fan according to the embodiment of the present invention

Fig. 1B is a perspective view showing the entire structure of the fan as viewed from the rear surface side of the fan.

Fig. 2A is a front view of the blower.

Fig. 2B is a rear view of the blower.

Fig. 3A is a left side view of the blower.

Fig. 3B is a plan view of the fan.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the blower.

Fig. 5A is an enlarged view of a main portion of a holding portion provided in the blower fan.

Fig. 5B is an explanatory view of the holding portion.

Fig. 5C is an explanatory view of the holding portion viewed from another direction.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional blower.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a fan according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(embodiment mode)

Fig. 1A is a perspective view showing the overall structure of the fan 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front side of the fan 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 1B is a perspective view showing the overall structure of the fan 1 as viewed from the back side of the fan 1. Fig. 2A is a front view of the fan 1, and fig. 2B is a rear view of the fan 1. Fig. 3A is a left side view of the fan 1, and fig. 3B is a top view of the fan 1. The external appearance of the fan 1 is shown by these drawings, and a sectional configuration of the fan 1 is shown in fig. 4.

As described above, a hybrid vehicle or the like is equipped with an in-vehicle battery unit that stores electric power for supply to the electric motor for running, for example. In the present embodiment, an example of a fan for cooling such an in-vehicle battery unit is described. The blower 1 is attached to a battery cover as a base housing an in-vehicle battery unit, for example. The sucked outside air is blown as cooling air to the plurality of batteries housed in the battery cover. The blower 1 cools the in-vehicle battery unit in this manner.

The fan 1 is a so-called centrifugal fan, and includes a fan case 2 as shown in fig. 1A and 1B, an impeller 20 housed inside the fan case 2 as shown in fig. 4, a motor 10 for rotating the impeller 20, and the like.

The fan case 2 is formed by separately molding an upper fan case 2a and a lower fan case 2b using a resin such as polypropylene. The upper fan case 2a and the lower fan case 2b are configured to be connectable to each other via a hook mechanism 7.

A pair of mounting legs 30 is formed on a substantially cylindrical peripheral wall of the lower fan case 2b so as to extend in a direction along the rotation axis P of the motor. Hereinafter, a direction along the rotation axis P of the motor is referred to as an axial direction, a direction diverging from the rotation axis P in a plane orthogonal to the axial direction is referred to as a radial direction, and a direction rotating around the rotation axis P is referred to as a circumferential direction, as appropriate, whereby the description will be given.

As shown in fig. 2A, the impeller 20 includes: a wheel disc 22 having a circular shape in plan view; a plurality of blades 21 formed on the outer periphery of the disk 22 so as to stand concentrically; and a mounting recess 23 protrudingly formed in the center of the wheel disc 22.

As shown in fig. 4, the tip end of the rotary shaft 12 of the motor 10 is fitted into and fixed to the mounting recess 23. The disk 22 is formed in a substantially conical shape so as to gradually incline downward from the attachment recess 23 located at the center toward the peripheral portion. The blades 21 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral portion of the disk 22 so that the blades 21 are arranged around the circular opening 2f formed in the upper fan case 2 a. The gap between the periphery of the opening 2f and the disk 22 serves as the intake port 3.

Outside air is sucked from the air intake hole 3 formed in the upper fan case 2a by the impeller 20 that is driven to rotate by the motor 10. Further, an air passage 4 is formed inside the fan case 2 along the outer periphery of the impeller 20. The outside air sucked from the air intake hole 3 is discharged as cooling air from the air discharge port 5 shown in fig. 1A and the like through the air passage 4. That is, the outside air drawn into the fan case 2 from the direction along the rotation axis P of the impeller 20 is discharged in the direction perpendicular to the rotation axis P.

The cooling air discharged from the air outlet 5 is blown into the battery cover through an air passage provided as needed or directly, thereby cooling the battery cells in the battery cover.

As shown in fig. 4, a flange portion 2c protruding along the opening is formed in the opening of the upper fan case 2a, and a recessed edge portion 2d having a groove matching with the flange portion 2c is formed in the opening of the lower fan case 2 b. A plurality of engaging portions 7a are formed along the flange portion 2c of the upper fan case 2a, and a plurality of claw portions 7b are formed along the recessed edge portion 2d of the lower fan case 2 b. The protruding flange portion 2c is inserted into the groove of the flange portion 2d, and the plurality of engagement portions 7a and the plurality of claw portions 7b are engaged with each other. Thus, the upper fan case 2a and the lower fan case 2b are integrally coupled to form the fan case 2. That is, the locking portion 7a and the claw portion 7b function as a hook mechanism 7 for coupling the upper and

lower fan cases

2a and 2 b.

Next, as shown in fig. 4, the motor 10 includes: a motor case 11 made of a light metal such as galvanized aluminum; a rotary shaft 12 extending in the axial direction; a rotor 14 that drives the rotary shaft 12; a stator 16; and a circuit board 18.

The motor case 11 includes a motor case main body 11a and a motor case cover 11 b. The motor case body 11a is formed in a cylindrical shape having a top surface and a side wall formed to have a diameter enlarged in a stepwise manner. The motor case cover 11b closes the motor case main body 11 a. The rotary shaft 12 is disposed so as to protrude upward from an opening formed in the top surface of the motor housing main body 11a toward the top side. The disk 22 of the impeller 20 is attached to the tip end side of the rotary shaft 12 via an attachment recess 23.

The rotating shaft 12 is supported by a bearing shaft provided in the motor case 11, and is rotatably supported by a thrust plate 19 disposed in the center of the motor case lid 11 b.

The rotor 14 is fixed to the rotary shaft 12 so as to be rotatable integrally with the rotary shaft 12. The stator 16 is fixed to the motor housing main body 11a so as to surround the rotor 14. That is, in the present embodiment, an inner rotor type brushless motor in which the rotor 14 is rotatably disposed on the inner peripheral side of the stator 16 is used as the motor 10. The motor incorporated in the fan 1 is not limited to a brushless motor, and may be a dc motor or an ac motor of another type.

The rotor 14 includes a hollow rotor frame fixed to the rotating shaft 12 and a cylindrical permanent magnet disposed on the outer periphery of the rotor frame. In the permanent magnet, the magnets are magnetized to have S-poles and N-poles at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The rotor 14 may have a configuration in which a plurality of permanent magnets are arranged along the circumferential direction.

On the other hand, the stator 16 includes a stator core formed of laminated silicon steel plates and a winding wound around the stator core. The motor 10 is configured such that the distal end surfaces of the salient poles of the stator core face the permanent magnets.

A drive circuit and a control circuit for driving and controlling the motor 10 are mounted on the circuit board 18, and the drive current supplied to each winding is controlled by the drive circuit.

A wire harness 40 is connected to the circuit board 18. The control signal and the power supply voltage are supplied from the outside to the circuit board 18 via the harness 40. Based on the control signal and the power supply, a driving current is supplied to the winding, and an alternating magnetic field of a predetermined frequency is generated from the stator core.

The alternating magnetic field from the stator core and the magnetic field of the permanent magnet provided in the rotor 14 are used to generate an attractive force and a repulsive force, by which the rotary shaft 12 and the rotor 14 are rotated together.

As shown in fig. 1B and 2B, an opening 2g exposing the bottom of the motor 10 is formed in an end surface of the lower fan case 2B. Further, mounting holes 2h are formed at three positions around the opening 2 g. The motor 10 is fastened and fixed by the mounting holes 2h with screws 32.

The power supply line and the signal line extending from the motor 10 are bundled by a protective tube 40a as a wire harness 40. In the present embodiment, such a harness 40 extends from the inside to the outside of the lower fan case 2 b. Specifically, as shown in fig. 1B and 2B, the harness 40 is led out from the end surface of the lower fan case 2B to the outside and held by the holding portion 50. The mounting leg portion 30 integrally formed with the lower fan case 2B is provided with a connector mounting seat 34 as shown in fig. 1B. A connector holder 36 is attached to the connector mount 34. A connector 41 provided at the distal end of the wire harness 40 is fixed to the connector holder 36.

As shown in fig. 1A, 1B, 3A, and 3B, a holding portion 50 for holding the harness 40 is provided on the peripheral wall portion of the lower fan case 2B.

The holding portion 50 includes a rib 52, a pair of locking

pieces

54, 56, and a claw portion 57. The rib 52 is formed to protrude from the peripheral wall of the lower fan case 2 b. The locking

pieces

54, 56 are formed on one end side and the other end side of the rib 52 so as to project in opposite directions to each other in a direction intersecting the rib 52. In the present embodiment, the rib 52 is formed to rise vertically from the substantially cylindrical peripheral wall portion of the lower fan case 2b and to project in a direction along the rotation axis P of the motor 10.

A claw portion 57 bent toward the peripheral wall portion side of the lower fan case 2b is formed at the upper end portion of the locking piece 56. The gap between the tip of the claw 57 and the peripheral wall of the lower fan case 2b is set to a value slightly smaller than the diameter of the harness 40, and the harness 40 can be inserted so as to be slightly crushed.

Fig. 5A is an enlarged view of a main portion of the holding portion 50 provided in the fan 1, and fig. 5B and 5C are views for explaining the holding portion 50. As shown in fig. 5A, 5B, and 5C, the rib 52 is formed in a plate shape that protrudes radially from the surface of the peripheral wall portion of the lower fan case 2B and is long in the axial direction. The locking piece 54 extends downward from the rib 52 toward the mounting leg portion 30 and the connector holder 36, and the locking piece 56 extends upward in the direction opposite to the direction in which the locking piece 54 extends.

In the structure of the holding portion 50, the harness 40 extending from the end surface of the lower fan case 2b where the opening 2g is formed is bent in the axial direction along the peripheral wall portion at the boundary between the end surface and the peripheral wall portion. Then, the wire harness 40 is bent in this way, and then, a gap between the locking piece 54 extending downward from the rib 52 and the peripheral wall portion is interposed. The wire harness 40 is further twisted upward around the rib 52, and then sandwiched between the locking piece 56 extending upward from the rib 52 and the peripheral wall portion. This state is maintained by the claw portion 57, and therefore the wire harness 40 does not easily come off upward.

The wire harness 40 held by the holding portion 50 is turned in the opposite direction along the rotation axis P, and the connector 41 provided at the end thereof is fixed to the connector holder 36.

That is, the wire harness 40 is locked to the locking piece 54 on one end side and then locked to the locking piece 56 on the other end side while being twisted via the rib 52. Therefore, the fan case 2 is firmly fixed in both the circumferential direction and the radial direction. Further, the movable member cannot be easily moved and is stably fixed in the axial direction along the rotation axis P of the motor 10.

Therefore, even a wire harness 40 that is much longer than the distance from the point at which the wire harness 40 on the end surface of the lower fan case 2b extends to the connector attachment seat 34 can be reliably held by the holding portion 50. Therefore, even when the standardized wire harness 40 is used for a relatively small-sized blower, it is not necessary to attach a separate fixing member such as a binding member. Further, not only the component cost but also the assembly cost can be suppressed to be low. Thus, according to the present embodiment, since the harness 40 can be reliably fixed in the vicinity of the fan case 2, it is possible to avoid an unexpected situation in which the harness 40 interferes with and is damaged by surrounding equipment or facilities.

Preferably, the holding portion 50 is integrally molded from the same resin material as the fan case, so that the number of assembly processes is reduced and separate parts management is not required.

For example, in the case where both surfaces of the rib 52 are formed of flat surfaces and both surfaces of the locking

pieces

54 and 56 are formed of flat surfaces, the fan case and the holding portion can be integrally molded by only the upper and lower molds of the cavity and the core without using a special slip mold for the mold. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be kept low.

Next, another embodiment of the fan of the present invention will be described.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given of the example in which the connector clip 36 is provided on the mounting leg portion 30 integrated with the lower fan case 2b, but the connector clip 36 may be provided at any position of the fan case 2. In this case, it is preferable that the locking piece 56 formed on the other end side of the rib 52 is formed so as to protrude in the direction opposite to the connector holder 36 through the rib 52. This is because the harness 40 sandwiched between the locked piece 56 and the peripheral wall portion of the fan case 2 is bent to the opposite side via the rib 52 and is hard to be detached.

In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the claw portion 57 bent toward the peripheral wall portion of the fan case 2 is formed on the distal end side of the locking piece 56 on the other end side of the rib 52 has been described, but a claw portion bent toward the peripheral wall portion of the fan case 2 may be provided on the distal end side of the locking piece 54 on the one end side of the rib 52.

In the above-described embodiment, the rib 52 is formed to rise vertically from the peripheral wall portion of the lower fan case 2b and to project axially, but the rib 52 need not necessarily rise vertically from the peripheral wall portion, and may be formed so as not to project axially. For example, the installation posture and installation position of the holding portion 50 may be determined based on the positional relationship with the connector clip 36 so that the remaining length of the harness 40 extending from the end surface of the lower fan case 2b can be absorbed by the holding portion 50.

In the above embodiment, the description has been given of the form in which the harness 40 is bundled by the protective pipe 40a, but the harness 40 may be bundled by a binding material or the like instead of the protective pipe 40 a.

In the above-described embodiment, a description has been given of a fan including a single holding portion including a rib formed to protrude from a peripheral wall portion of a fan case and locking pieces formed to protrude from one end side and the other end side of the rib.

In the above-described embodiment, the holding portion including the single rib and the engaging pieces formed to protrude from the one end side and the other end side of the rib has been described, but a plurality of ribs may be formed separately. That is, the first locking piece may be formed on the one rib so as to project in a direction intersecting the one rib, and the first locking piece may be formed on the other rib so as to project in a direction opposite to the first rib in the direction intersecting the other rib. Further, the plurality of locking pieces may be formed on one rib so as to project in opposite directions to each other in a direction intersecting the one rib.

In any of the embodiments, the holding portion of the present invention can fix the wire harness while suppressing the movement of the wire harness in the axial direction and the radial direction of the rotating shaft of the motor. Further, the operation of attaching and detaching the wire harness to and from the holding portion is easy, and the replacement of parts is not required even at the time of reassembly.

Industrial applicability

The fan according to the present invention can fix the wire harness by the holding portion provided in the fan case, can effectively prevent damage due to contact with peripheral components, and can be sufficiently used for an in-vehicle fan or the like whose mounting space is limited.

Description of the reference numerals

1. A fan; 2. a fan housing; 2a, an upper fan shell; 2b, a lower fan shell; 2c, a flange portion; 2d, a recessed edge portion; 2f, an opening; 2g, opening; 2h, mounting holes; 3. an air inlet; 4. an air passage; 5. an exhaust port; 7. a hook mechanism; 7a, a locking part; 7b, a claw portion; 10. an electric motor; 11. a motor case; 11a, a motor case main body; 11b, a motor case cover; 12. a rotating shaft; 14. a rotor; 16. a stator; 18. a circuit board; 19. a thrust plate; 20. an impeller; 21. a blade; 22. a wheel disc; 23. a mounting recess; 30. mounting a leg part; 32. a screw; 34. a connector mount; 36. a connector holder; 40. a wire harness; 40a, a protective tube; 41. a connector; 50. a holding section; 52. a rib; 54. 56, clamping and fixing the sheet; 57. a claw portion.

Claims

1. A blower, comprising:

an electric motor;

an impeller fixed to a rotating shaft of the motor;

a fan case that houses the motor and the impeller and has an air passage formed therein for guiding the sucked outside air;

a harness extending from an interior to an exterior of the fan case; and

a holding portion for holding the wire harness,

wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the holding portion includes: a rib formed to protrude from a peripheral wall portion of the fan case and extending along the peripheral wall portion; and a pair of locking pieces which are formed on one end side and the other end side in the extending direction of the rib so as to protrude in the opposite directions to each other in the direction intersecting the rib, and which face the peripheral wall portion with a gap therebetween in the protruding direction of the rib,

the wire harness is twisted in the extending direction of the other-end-side locking piece via an end portion in the protruding direction of the rib while sandwiching a gap between the other-end-side locking piece and the peripheral wall portion.

2. The blower of claim 1,

the wire harness has a connector at one end portion,

the fan shell is provided with a connector clamping piece for installing the connector,

the locking piece on the other end side is formed so as to protrude in a direction opposite to the connector holder with the rib interposed therebetween.

3. The blower of claim 1,

at least a tip end side of the locking piece on the other end side is formed with a claw portion bent toward the peripheral wall portion.

4. The blower of claim 1,

the fan case and the holding portion are integrally molded from resin.

5. The blower of claim 1,

the fan case is formed by resin in two parts along the axial direction of the rotary shaft in the peripheral wall portion, and the rib is formed in parallel with the rotary shaft.

6. The blower of claim 1,

the wire harness is covered with a protective tube.