TWI626381B - Optical fan device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a light guiding fan device, comprising a base, a bracket disposed above the base, a fan disposed on the base, a light source disposed on the bracket, and a light guiding component. The light guiding element has a receiving section and an extending section. The receiving section is fixed to a surface of a hub of the fan and has a receiving surface for receiving light of the light source. The extension extends over the receiving section and is located outside of the hub and extends a length in the radial direction. A side surface of the extension portion further has a light-emitting surface facing one of the blades of the fan, and the light received by the receiving portion is led to the one of the blades through the light-emitting surface. When the fan rotates, the light guided by the light guiding member to one of the blades will produce a light-emitting effect on the human eye.

Description

Light guide fan device

The present invention relates to the structure of a light-emitting fan device, and more particularly to a light-guiding fan device that conducts light using a light guiding element (for example, an optical fiber).

The existing illuminating fan device, in particular, the illuminating fan device integrated in the heat dissipating module, has various structures. The basic structure of the illuminating fan device includes a frame, a fan disposed on the frame, and at least one illuminating diode. The light-emitting diode can be selectively disposed on the frame or the fan, and can generate a predetermined light-emitting effect, such as a halo effect, under the control of a control circuit. Such a luminescent fan device can be found in Taiwan Bulletin 566835, M290267, M241948 and M312188.

Recently, there has been a light guide type fan device, such as Taiwan Publication No. I464326, which uses a light guide member to guide the light of a light-emitting element to a movable guide member (sphere). In addition, there is also Taiwan Announcement I472686, which uses a light guide to guide the light of a light-emitting element to one of the blades of a fan, however, the light system of the light-emitting element is led out from the end of the light guide, and along A small portion of one of the blades is cut radially.

Furthermore, in the light guiding member of the light guiding type fan device, a front end of the light guiding member is formed with a slanting slit to introduce a large amount of light, and then the diameter of the end is small, so that it is actually guided to the light guiding member. The light of the guide or one of the blades is rather limited, so that the resulting illuminating effect is not sufficiently conspicuous.

In addition, although the light of the light-emitting element can change color with the working temperature, the actual working temperature may be constant or change little, so the color change exhibited is actually quite limited, so that the generated light-emitting effect is light. There is still a lack of color change.

In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings of the conventional light-guiding fan device, the present invention provides a new light-guiding fan device including a base, a bracket disposed above the base, and being rotatably disposed between the base and the bracket a fan disposed on the base, a light source disposed on the bracket and having a light emitting direction toward the hub, and a light guiding element. The fan includes a hub and a plurality of blades disposed along a circumference of a surface of the hub. The light guiding element has a receiving section and an extending section. The receiving section is fixedly disposed on a surface of the hub and has a receiving surface for receiving light of the light source. The extension extends over the receiving section and is located outside of the hub and extends a length in the radial direction. A side surface of the extension portion further has a light-emitting surface facing one of the blades of the fan, and the light received by the receiving portion is led to the one of the blades through the light-emitting surface. With the above structure, the light of the light source can be introduced from the receiving surface, and is led out from the side of the light guiding element to the one of the blades, not from the cross section of the end of the light guiding element opposite to the receiving surface. Therefore, the light that can be derived can be determined by the length of the light exit surface, and is not limited by the cross-sectional size of the end.

Preferably, the light guiding element of the present invention can be fabricated by using an optical fiber. The light-emitting surface of the light guiding element is preferably a section larger than the end. In addition, the length of the light exit surface may be (fan diameter - hub diameter) / 2. Further, the light-emitting surface of the light guiding member of the present invention may be selected to face an edge of one of the blades, such as a trailing edge or a front edge or an outer edge, for guiding the received light to the edge of one of the blades. More preferably, the light guiding element may also be curved into an arc and its extension is along the curvature of the trailing edge or leading edge of one of the blades.

Preferably, in order to stably fix the light guiding element, the light guiding fan device of the present invention further includes a fixing piece coupled to the hub of the fan and having a hole and an arc connecting the hole. The receiving slot of the light guiding element is correspondingly embedded in the arcuate slot, and the receiving surface of the receiving section is located in the hole and faces the light source. More preferably, the receiving surface of the receiving section of the light guiding element may be a chamfered surface to increase the received light, and the radially extending ends of the light exiting surface of the extending section are formed as a chamfered corner.

Preferably, the light guiding member of the present invention further has a light blocking member for preventing the received light from leaking out from the end, so that the received light is as far as possible from the light emitting surface of the light guiding member. Export.

In addition, the light guiding fan device of the present invention may further include a control circuit for controlling the light source to change the color of the light at intervals, thereby providing a light ring illuminating effect of changing the color of the light over time.

Compared with the prior art, the light guiding element of the light guiding fan device of the present invention can guide the light of the light source from one side of the light guiding element to one of the blades, and can help produce a relatively conspicuous luminous effect. And under the control of the above control circuit, the light energy of the light source is changed in color with time, thereby providing a relatively rich light-emitting effect of the light color change, thereby solving various shortcomings of the conventional light-guiding fan device.

1 and 2 show a preferred embodiment of the light guide fan device 100 of the present invention, comprising a frame 1 , a fan 2 disposed on the frame 1 , and a frame 2 disposed on the frame 1 The light source 3 and a light guiding element 4 disposed on the fan 2. The frame 1 has a base 10 that extends toward the center of the interior. The fan 2 is rotatably disposed on the base 10. The fan 2 can be selected from conventional fans commonly used in computer heat sinks, and includes at least one hub 21 and a plurality of blades 22 disposed along the circumference of the hub 21. The light source 3 is disposed on a bracket 11 at the top of the frame 1 and faces the hub 21 of the fan 2 such that the emitted light is emitted toward the hub 21. Preferably, the light source 3 is a color light-emitting diode that can change its color of light. The light-guiding element 4 is preferably made of an optical fiber. In this embodiment, the base 10 and the bracket 11 are integrally formed by, for example, injection molding. For example, the base 10 and the bracket 11 may be fixedly connected by, for example, welding, bolting, or the like. .

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 , the light guiding element 4 is fixed to the hub 21 of the fan 1 and has a receiving section 41 and an extending section 42 . In the preferred embodiment, the light guiding member 4 is fixed to the top surface of the hub 21 by a fixing piece 5, and the fixing piece 5 is bonded to the hub 21 in an adhesive manner, but not limited thereto, for example. It is also possible to use a screwing or snapping method. The fixing piece 5 has a hole 51 at the center and an arcuate groove 52 communicating with the hole 51. The light guiding element 4 is curved in an arc shape, and the receiving section 41 is correspondingly embedded in the curved groove 51, and the extending section 41 is along the curvature of the rear edge or the front edge of the one of the blades 22, and the extending section 41 The length is approximately equivalent to the trailing edge or front edge.

The front end of the receiving portion 41 of the light guiding member 4 is located in the hole 51 of the fixing piece 5 and is cut into a receiving surface 410. The receiving surface 410 faces the light source 3 for The light of the light source 3 is received. A side surface of the extending portion 41 of the light guiding member 4 is formed along a longitudinal direction to form a light emitting surface 420. The radially extending ends of the light emitting surface 420 form a chamfer to guide light, and the light emitting surface 420 faces the fan. One of the blades 22 of the second surface 22 is used to uniformly guide the light received by the receiving surface 410 to the one of the blades 22 via the light exiting surface 420. In the preferred embodiment, the light-emitting surface 420 is oriented toward an edge of one of the blades 22, such as a rear edge, a front edge or an outer edge, preferably facing the rear edge of the one of the blades 22, As shown in Figure 5. In addition, the light guiding element 4 may be attached with a sticker or a light shielding material in whole or in part except for the receiving surface 410 and the light emitting surface 420. The length of the light exit surface 420, the length of the extension 42 and the like may vary depending on the lighting requirements.

Since the receiving surface 410 of the light guiding element 4 is located at a center point of the fan 2, during the rotation of the light guiding element 4 with the fan 2, the receiving surface 410 will always be at the center point and receive from the center. Light of the light source 3, so that the light can still enter the light guiding member 4 via the receiving surface 410 during the rotation of the fan 2, and then advance along the receiving portion 41 and the inside of the extending portion 42, and then by the extending portion 41 The light exit surface 420 is led out and projected onto one of the blades 22. During the operation of the fan 2, due to the rotation of the fan 2 and the persistence of the human eye, the light guided by the light guiding element 4 to one of the blades 22 will produce a light-emitting illumination to the human eye. effect.

More importantly, since the extending portion 42 of the light guiding member 4 extends radially outward from a side of the hub 21 of the fan 2 for a length, and the light emitting surface 420 is located at a side of the light guiding member 4, Therefore, the light of the light source 3 is led out from the side of the light guiding element 4 to the one of the blades 22 instead of being led out from the end of the light guiding element 4 opposite the receiving surface 410.

Furthermore, it is also possible to increase the amount of light to be derived by increasing the length of the light-emitting surface 420, without being limited by the cross-sectional size of the end of the light guiding element 4. In the preferred embodiment, since the length of the light-emitting surface 420 has a considerable length, for example, (fan diameter - hub diameter) / 2 (for example, 2.25 cm), so that the area thereof is larger or larger than the light guiding element. The cross section of the end of 4, so that a considerable amount of light can be extracted onto one of the blades 22, thereby producing a rather conspicuous halo illuminating effect. In addition, a reflective means may be further applied to the corresponding surface of the blade 22 to which the light is irradiated, for example, a retroreflective sheeting is applied to make the generated light ring emitting effect more obvious.

Preferably, the end of the light guiding element 4 further has a light blocking member (not shown), and the light blocking member may be a light shielding layer applied to the end, a hood disposed at the end, or A total reflection surface is provided to prevent the received light from leaking out of the end such that the received light is directed from the light exit surface 420 as much as possible.

In addition, the light guiding fan device 100 of the present invention may further include a control circuit (not shown) connected to the light source 3 for controlling the operation of the light source 3. Preferably, the control circuit controls the light source 3 to change the color of the light at intervals, thereby providing a halo illuminating effect that changes the color of the light over time.

Please also refer to FIG. 6 , which shows a computer heat sink 6 using the above-mentioned light guiding fan device 100 of the present invention. The heat sink 6 includes two light guiding fan devices 100 and a heat sink 60, so that it not only It has a heat-dissipating function and also has the above-mentioned halo lighting effect.

As described above, the light guiding element 4 of the light guiding fan device 100 of the present invention can derive the light of the light source 3 from one side of the light source 3 to one of the blades 22, and can assist in generating a conspicuous light ring illuminating effect, and Under the control of the above control circuit, a halo illuminating effect that changes color over time is provided.

100‧‧‧Lighting fan unit

1‧‧‧ frame

10‧‧‧Base

11‧‧‧ bracket

2‧‧‧fan

21‧‧·wheels

22‧‧‧ fan leaves

3‧‧‧Light source

4‧‧‧Light guiding elements

41‧‧‧ Receiving section

42‧‧‧Extension

410‧‧‧ receiving surface

420‧‧‧Glossy surface

5‧‧‧Fixed tablets

51‧‧‧ hole

52‧‧‧ arc slot

6‧‧‧Computer heat sink

60‧‧‧heating film

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a light guiding fan device of the present invention. Figure 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a partial plan view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of Figure 3. Fig. 6 is a view showing the case where the preferred embodiment of the present invention is applied to a heat sink for a computer.

Claims (9)

A light-guiding fan device includes: a base; a bracket disposed above the base; a fan disposed between the base and the bracket and rotatably disposed on the base, the fan including a hub And a plurality of blades disposed along a circumference of the surface of the hub; a light source disposed on the bracket and emitting light toward the hub; and a light guiding member having a receiving portion and an extending portion, the receiving portion being fixedly disposed On the surface of the hub, and having a receiving surface for receiving light of the light source, the extending portion extends from the receiving portion and is located outside the hub and extends in a radial direction for a length, wherein the extending portion One side has a light-emitting surface facing one of the blades of the fan, for guiding the light received by the receiving section to the one of the blades through the light-emitting surface, and the light-emitting surface is larger than the light-emitting element and the receiving The cross section of the end opposite the face. The light-guiding fan device of claim 1, wherein the light-emitting surface of the light guiding element faces a rear edge or a front edge or an outer edge of the one of the blades for receiving The light is directed to the rear edge or the front edge or the outer edge of one of the leaves. The light-guiding fan device of claim 2, wherein the light guiding member is curved in an arc shape, and the extension portion is curved along a curvature of the rear edge or the front edge of the one of the blades. The light guide type fan device of claim 1, comprising a fixing piece coupled to the surface of the hub and having a hole and an arcuate groove communicating with the hole, the light guiding element The receiving section is correspondingly embedded in the arcuate slot, and the receiving surface of the receiving section is located in the hole and faces the light source. The light-guiding fan device of claim 4, wherein the receiving surface of the receiving section is a chamfered surface; the radially extending ends of the light-emitting surface of the extending section are formed as a chamfered corner. The light-guiding fan device of claim 1, wherein the end of the light guiding element opposite the receiving surface further has a light blocking member to prevent the received light from leaking out of the end. The light guiding fan device of claim 1, comprising a control circuit for controlling the light source to change the color of the light at intervals. The light-guiding fan device of claim 1, wherein the length of the light-emitting surface of the light guiding element is (fan diameter-hub diameter)/2. The light guide type fan device of claim 1, wherein the light guiding element is an optical fiber.