GB2166294A

GB2166294A - Switch unit for ceiling fan

Info

Publication number: GB2166294A
Application number: GB08427042A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Yau Yung
Original assignee: Shell Electric Mfg Holdings Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shell Electric Mfg Holdings Co Ltd
Priority date: 1984-10-25
Filing date: 1984-10-25
Publication date: 1986-04-30
Also published as: IT8548718A0; GB8427042D0; IT1200138B; GB2166294B; DE3538074A1; CN85104460A; HK10689A

Abstract

The switch gear 23 of a ceiling fan is provided in a lower housing 22. Wiring means 24, which connect the switchgear to the motor and electrical power supply, terminates in an electrical connector such as a plug 25. The upper housing 21, which is securable to motor housing, has wiring means 26, also terminating in a plug 28, for connection to the motor and power supply. By this arrangement the switchgear can be readily inspected and maintained by disconnecting the plugs 25, 28 after separating the two housings 21, 22. Additionally the lower housing is provided with a ring of ventilating apertures 29 to prevent a build-up of heat in the housing. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Switch unit for ceiling fan This invention relates to a switch unit for a ceiling fan.

A known form of ceiling fan assembly is illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

It comprises a motor housing 1 which is suspended from the ceiling and carries the fan blades 2 (of which only one is shown), a switch unit 3 which contains switch-gear for controlling the operation of the motor, and a light fitting 4 which is usually provided as part of the ceiling fan assembly because such fans are often mounted in the place of an existing light fitting.

Referring particularly to Figures 2 and 3, the switch comprises an upper housing part in the form of a one-piece inverted cup-shaped body 5 containing switch-gear 6 from which a number of electric wires 7 extend upwardly through a hollow boss 8 located centrally of the integral roof of the housing body 5 for connection to the motor and to the electrical power supply. A bottom closure 9 of the switch unit 3 is detachably secured to the upper housing body 5 by means of at least one setscrew 10, to permit access to the interior of the unit when the switch-gear 6 needs servicing or when the light fitting is to be connected or disconnected to or from the unit 3.The electrical connections between the motor housing 1 and the switch unit 3 are made by the manufacturer in relatively permanent fashion, and the apparatus is then supplied to the retailer or user with the motor housing and the switch unit already secured together and thus not readily disconnectible because of the nature of the electrical connections therebetween.

The above apparatus has a number of disadvantages. Thus firstly, assuming that the apparatus is already mounted to a ceiling as shown in Figure 1, it is necessary for a person working on the parts inside the switch housing, having removed the bottom closure 9, to work on the interior of the housing whilst looking directly up into it, which is particularly tiring and inconvenient; an alternative would be of course to remove the entire apparatus from the ceiling (remembering that the motor housing and the switch unit are not designed to be readily disconnectible) but this is clearly undesirable.

A second disadvantage is that if a light fitting is to be added to or removed from an apparatus already secured to the ceiling this must again be done with the switch unit still secured to the motor housing, with the result that the person carrying out this task again has the above described problems in connecting or disconnecting the relevant electrical wiring, and furthermore, it is necessary for him to support the weight of the lighting fitting at the same time, which means that a second person is probably required to assist in the operation.

Thirdly the fact that the motor housing and switch unit are relatively permanently interconnected by the manufacturer has the disadvantages that the switch unit cannot be worked on individually on an assembly line at certain stages of its manufacture where this would in fact be desirably, and also that the nature of the over-all shape of the assembled motor housing and switch unit, wastes space in packing and storage, which adds considerably to the end cost of the product.

All of these problems have taxed the ingenuity of manufacturers of ceiling fans for many years, and it is a primary object of the present invention to over come or at least reduce them.

According to the present invention there is provided a switch unit for a ceiling fan, comprising a housing including an upper housing part securable to a motor housing and having, or being adapted to receive, first wiring means for connection to the said motor and to an electrical power supply, and a lower housing part which contains the switchgear for the motor and is readily removable from and connectible to the said upper housing part by a user, the said lower housing part having second wiring means for connecting the said switch-gear to the motor and the electrical power supply, said second wiring means being adapted to be readily connectible to and disconnectible from said first wiring means by a user.

Such a switch unit according to the invention overcomes or at least reduces all of the disadvantages of known units mentioned above.

Thus firstly the lower housing part containing the switch-gear may readily be removed from the upper housing part, for example by first undoing a single set-screw and then readily disconecting the said first and second wiring means, so as to enable the switch-gear in the lower housing part to be serviced at ground level, e.g. on a table. Secondly, with the lower housing unit so disconnected, a light fitting may readily be connected to or disconnected therefrom.Thirdly, as the upper and lower housing parts of the switch unit are readily interconnectible and disconnectible by a user, the lower housing part containing the switch-gear may be worked upon individually by the manufacturer at a later stage in production than has hitherto been possible, and then packed in a rectangular carton together with but separated from the already interconnected motor housing and upper housing part in a side by side relationship, with the lower housing part occupying a corner region of the carton which would otherwise be wasted space, and the necessary height of the carton thereby reduced so as to save on storage space and transportation cost.

Preferably the said first and second wiring means terminate in respective unitary electrical connectors, preferably in the form of a plug and socket respectively for ready interconnection and disconnection.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a conventional ceiling fan as already described herein; Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of the switch unit of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows the switch unit of Figure 2 with its upper and lower housing parts separated and with parts broken away to show the interior; Figure 4 is a view in side elevation of the lower housing part of a switch unit according to the invention; and Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the switch unit according to the invention, of which the lower housing part is illustrated in Figure 4.

The known ceiling fan of Figures 1 to 3 has already been described herein and will not be described again.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, the illustrated switch unit 20 according to the present invention comprises upper and lower housing parts 21 and 22 which are connectible to a motor housing 1 and light fitting 4 in the same manner as in the apparatus of Figures 1 to 3, by employing a set-screw 10 in the case of the connection between upper housing part 20 and the motor housing and other conventional connecting means (not illustrated) for the connection between the lower housing part 22 and the light fitting. The manner in which switch-gear 23 of the switch unit is connected to the motor and the electrical power supply is however quite different, as will now be described.

The switch gear 23 is mounted in the lower housing 22, which is substantially cup-shaped, and wiring means 24 for connecting the switch-gear to the motor and to the electrical power supply terminate in an unitary electrical plug 25. The upper housing part 21, which takes the form of a lid for the cup-shaped lower housing part 22, has wiring means 26 for connection to the motor and power supply extending through a central hollow boss 27 thereof and terminating in a unitary electrical socket 28. The plug 25 and socket 28 are of course readily connectible and disconnectible, as are the upper and lower housing parts 21 and 22, with the advantages already explained herein.

The lower housing part 22 is formed with a ring of radially extending stamped recesses 29, defining ventilating slots 30 at their radial sides, for the flow of cooling air at their radial sides, for the flow of cooling air up through the switch unit to exit through another ring of apertures (not shown) in the top wall of the upper housing part 21. As the top surface of the upper housing part 21 is never seen by a user, it is not necessary for it to be plated; it can simply be painted for protection against corrosion, which is of course much cheaper than plating.

Claims

1. A switch unit for a ceiling fan, comprising a housing including an upper housing part securable to a motor housing and having, or being adapted to receive, first wiring means for connection to the said motor and to an electrical power supply, and a lower housing part which contains the switch gear for the motor and is readily removable from and connectible to the said upper housing part by a user, the said lower housing part having second wiring means for connecting the said switch-gear to the motor and the electrical power supply, said second wiring means being adapted to be readily connectible to and disconnectible from said first wiring means by a user.

2. A switch unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said second wiring means terminates in a first unitary electrical connector.

3. A switch unit as claimed in claim 2 wherein the said upper housing part includes the said first wiring means, which said wiring means terminates in a second unitary electrical connector readily connectible to and disconnectible from said first unitary electrical connector.

4. A switch unit as claimed in claim 3, wherein said first and second electrical connectors comprise a plug and a socket.

5. A switch unit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said lower housing part has at least one ventilating aperture in a base portion thereof for cooling air to flow upwardly into the unit.

6. A switch unit as claimed in claim 5, wherein a ring of said ventilating apertures is provided.

7. A switch unit as claimed in claim 6 wherein each of said ventilating apertures comprises a slit arranged at one side of a recess stamped in the said base portion so as not be readily visible from below the unit.

8. A switch unit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the said upper and lower housing parts are both substantially circular in plan and are formed with respective substantially circular interengaging surfaces.

9. A switch unit as claimed in claim 8, wherein the said lower housing part is substantially cupshaped and the said upper housing comprises a substantially flat iid formed with a central hollow boss for the passage of said first wiring means.

10. A switch unit for a ceiling fan, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A ceiling fan including a switch unit as claimed in any of claims 1 to 10.