US2934164A - Blower system - Google Patents

Description

April 26, 1960 E. V. ANDERSON ET AL BLOWER SYSTEM Filed Sept. 11, 1957 APril 26 1950 E. v. ANDERSON ETAL 2,934,164

BLOWER SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 11, 1957 BLOWER SYSTEM Edwin V. Anderson, Joseph A. Mack, and Arthur N.

Friberg, Glenview, Ill., assgnors to Amco Engineering Co.

Application September 11, 1957, Serial No. 683,406

2 Ciaims. (Cl. 18E-37) This invention relates to a blower system, and more particularly to a blower system enclosed in a recessed housing.

Forced circulation of air is one of the most effective ways of moderating excessive temperatures, and is used extensively to cool electrical equipment. Electrical circuits such as used for control, radio, various electronic purposes and a multitude of other uses, are normally mounted in enclosures of one type or another for convenience, protection against damage and to prevent the accumulation of dirt or other foreign matter on the comv ponents.

Forced air can be used to eliminate the heat built up in such electrical equipment by utilizing an air blower, which for most eicient use should be mounted in the bottom of the enclosure to take advantage of the cooler intake air and to take advantage of, rather than work against, natural upward convection of warm air. In order to obtain intake air, an opening of some type is required at the bottom of the enclosure thereby reducing the area usable for the primary purpose of housing electrical equipment. Therefore, the most desirable blower system would be one which utilizes only a small panel area but is capable of producing the necessary circulation of air, and of course, the cost of the unit is always an important consideration.

We have devised a blower system which by utilizing a recessed concept, makes use of heretofore unavailable space in the bottom of an enclosure so as to reduce the overall panel height required. Because of this recessed concept, a large blower can be used, thereby eiiiciently making use of heretofore wasted space. Further, our blower has been devised so as to be of an inexpensive construction which utilizes standard components and requires only a specially designed housing.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a new and improved blower system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved blower system enclosed within a recessed housing.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved blower system according to the above paragraphs, having an inclined lilter mounting for more efficient filtering of intake air.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved blower system having a minimum height, while producing a maximum air circulation.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved blower system as described in the preceding paragraphs, which discharges air in an upward direction for passage through the equipment mounted above the blower system.

Other and further objects and features of the present invention will be described in the following specification and drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a blower system embodying the features of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the blower system Patented Apr. Z6, 19559 or, v 1C 2 ofFigure 1, shown mounted for operation in` a particular enclosure construction; t

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View taken along the line 3-3 of Figure l; and

Figure 4 is a bottom plan View of the blower system of Figure l, with the front grill, filter, base and back cover removed.

While this invention is susceptiblev of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail one embodiment, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplication of the principles of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to Figures l and 2, it is seen that the blower system of this invention is mounted in an outer housing 1i) enclosing all of the other elements which will be described below. This housing 10 is composed of a base 11, side panels 12, a back cover 14, a front grill 15, and a -top shelf 16. The base 11, side panels' 12 and back 14 are all joined together as by spot welding, the top shelf 16 is screwed to flanges 13 on the sides and back and the grill 15 is screwed to front anges 33 on the sides 12 to properly enclose the blower system so that the air will be confined as desired. The top shelf 16 has a front depending flange 43 which abuts and strengthens the front grill 1S and a rear depending ange 47 which increases the rigidity of the shelf.

The housing lll may be mounted within an enclosure, such as an enclosure for electrical equipment or the like. As seen in Figure 2, a particular type of enclosure 1'8 is shown for purposes of exempliiication. This particular enclosure 18 is of the type designed and constructed by Amco Engineering Comp-any of Chicago. The enclosures are modular, that is they maybe combined with other identical enclosures to form larger' enclosures of a'ny dimension which is a multiple of the dimension of the individual enclosures. Figure 2 shows two of these enclosures combined. Each enclosure consists of a frame 19 having vertical corner channels 20 extending through the entire height of the enclosure. These channels 20 are provided with a multitude of vertically aligned holes' 21 so that shelving or chassis may be mounted at any particular level. A base 22 joins the vertical channels' 20 to form the proper foundation for the enclosure. Triangular castor mounting plates 24 are positioned at each corner of the base 22, extending between adjacent sides 25 of the base. These castor mounting plates 24 are provided so that the entire enclosure 18 may be 'supported on castors to facilitate movement ofthe enclosure when desired. In order to accommodate the castor mounting plates 24 and permit the housing 10 to extend rearwardly adjacent the rear of the enclosure 18, the side panels 12 have inwardly tapered rear por-tions 37.

To provide a toe space and for reasons of economy the base 22 does not extend as far forward as do Athe vertical channels 20. Normally, abase Cowling 26 is mounted between the front vertical channels 2t) and has a bottomflange which extends rearwardly to the base across the bottom of the channels that project from the base. Enclosure panels 28 are attached to front and/or back of the enclosure, or a specially designed instrument mounting may be attached to the front as desired. Also, side panels can be attached to the side of individual frames or the ends of combinations of frames.

From the above description it is seenthat the enclo sures have a space surrounded by the base which is nor mally unusable for the purpose of mounting electrical equipment. By our invention this heretofore unusable space is being put to eflicient use to contain a portion of the housing 10.

Y 3 The present invention provides a blower system in which the housing 10 occupies a maximum space within the base, thereby reducing the necessary panel height of the housing; and also, the elements within the housing are so arranged that most of the space occupied lis functional. Thus, referring to Figures 3 and 4, it is seen that the base 11 of the housing is recessed so as to extend down into the base 22 of the enclosure. This is accomplished by the base being formed with a front portion 52 spaced fa relatively short distance from the topshelf 16 and a rear portion 53 spaced a greater distance from ythe top shelf 16. This results in the housing 10 having a shallow front section 54 and a deep rear section 59. This recessed deep section59 contains the lower part of centrifugal blowers 30. It is the height of these'blowers that is critical in that they are the largest elements within the housing, and thus the height of the housing is dependent upon the size blower enclosed. Therefore, with the recessed construction of our housing, it is possible to use a large size centrifugal blower without increasing the panel height.

The blowers 30 are mounted on side plates 32 ailxed to the ends of the blowers. The side plates have intake openings 38 to permit intake air -to pass into the blowers and are secured to the top shelf 16 of the housing so as to mount the blowers within the housing. Each blower is surrounded by a duct 34 having a discharge end 35 through which air is forced. These discharge ends 3S are mounted in openings 36 in the top shelf 16, and the air is discharged vertically so as to pass most efliciently through the enclosure without changing direction. Intake air passes through the front grill 15 of the housing, and through a filter 39 mounted in a particular manner as will be described. Thus, the front portion of the housing l serves as an intake duct to draw air in from the outside; and since the housing is normally located at the bottom of an enclosure, this intake airis the coolest available.

The filter 39 referred to above may be of any type as long as it serves the function of removing foreign matter from the intake air. Since the housing is of relatively low panel height a special filter would normally be required to properly filter the air. By our invention, We have developed a new type of mounting for a standard filter so that a single standard filter can properly cleanse the intake air. We have done this by providing an inclined mounting 40 on'which a filter of standard height greater than the height of the intake passage S7 may be utilized. This inclination increases the effective thickness ,of the filter because of the diagonal travel of air therethrough.

. The inclined mounting 40 consists of a top angle 41 extending across the top shelf, and having one leg 42 secured to the top shelf and the other leg 44 extending forwardly and downwardly into the intake passage 57. Side angles 45 are attached to the side panels 12, and have legs 46 extending into the intake passage to form' a continuation of the leg 44 of the top angle 41. Thus, the filter 39 can be seated on the angles 41 and 45 to fully intersect the intake passage. The filter is prevented from slid- 'ing forward away from the angles by an` upstanding flange 48 formed at the front end of the base 11 of the cabinet and sealing materialmay be placed around the filter so that all intake air will pass through the filter.

The front grill is formed with horizontal slots 49 to permit the passage of air therethrough and hasside flanges 50 and a top flange 51. These ilanges 50 and 51 engage the vertical channels 20 so as to space the grill 4 housing extends entirely across the enclosure 1f) between the vertical channels Ztl and is provided with upwardly Aextending side flanges 58. These side flanges have mounting holes positioned adjacent the holes 21 in the vertical corner channels 20 so that the housing can be rigidly attached to the enclosure. Further, by being attached to all channels, a rigid attachment is accomplished as distinguished from other available blower systems which do not attach at all four corners of the enclosure, and therefore tend to move within the enclosure in shipment resulting in possible damage to the housing or elements therein.

The motor 31 may be of any type such as the electric motor shown, which is mounted between the blowers and has lead wires mounted on a terminal block plate 55. This plate 55 extends downwardly from the top shelf 16, and also supports a fuse holder 56 which is electrically connected to the motor circuit. This fuse holder extends through a hole 17 in the back cover 14 of thehousing 10 so that fuses may be changed without dismantling theventire housing. Similarly a slot 23 is provided in 'the back cover 14 to accommodate wires leading from a source of electricity to the terminal block 55.

In one particular embodiment of the structure illustrated, the blower system is constructed with a 51/2 high grill 15 which, because it replaces the normal 2 base cowling 26, results in an effective additional panel height of only 3%. Although requiring only 31/2" of' additional panel space, the unit is capable of delivering 350 cubic feet of air per minute with a volt, 60 cycle motor running at 1,550 r.p.m. Further, although only 3%. of panel height are needed, a 6% filter of any standard construction can be used to provide adequate cleaning of the intake air.

Therefore, it is obvious that the present invention provides a blower system which occupies a minimum of space while providing a maximum of air circulation; and further, the system requires no special parts except for the housing itself, but rather utilizes standard motors, blowers and filters resulting in a relatively inexpensive unit.

We claim as our invention:

1. A blower assembly, comprising: a housing having a top plate, a bottom plate, a back cover, a front cover, and sidewalls joined together to form an enclosed interior, said bottom plate having a front portion spaced a relatively short distance from and parallel with the top plate and a rear portion spaced a greater distance from the top plate and parallel therewith to form the housing Vwith a relatively shallow front section and a deep rear section, said front cover having intake openings therein to permit the passage of air through said shallow front section; a motor having a horizontal drive shaft extend- .ing from each end thereof` mounted in said deep rear section of the housing, a pair of centrifugal air blowers mounted* in said deep rear section of the housing adjacent each end of the motor and driven thereby; a pair of air ducts extending through said top plate and connected to the discharge portion of said blowers to direct the dis- .charge of air upwardly from the housing, and longitudinal side flanges along the top plate having spaced holes therein wherebyV the entire blower assembly can be mounted within an instrument enclosure unit of the Vtype having a four corner post and base cowl construction-by attaching the flanges to the posts whereby the top hollow interior, vertical members extending upwardly at the corners of said base, said blower system comprising: a yhousing having a top plate, a bottom plate, sidewalls, a back cover, and a front cover jointed together to form an enclosed interior, said housing being mounted in the lower portion of said enclosure, said bottom plate having a front portion spaced a relatively short distance from the top plate to form the housing with a relatively shallow front section and a deep rear section extending into the hollow interior of the base of said enclosure, said front cover having an intake opening therein for intake of air into said housing and through said shallow front section; an inclined filter mount, said filter mount including a depending forwardly disposed member secured to the underside of the top plate parallel with the front opening and forward of the deep rear section of the base, a pair of angled shelves disposed in mirror image relationship on the inside of the side walls extending along a line from the depending forwardly disposed member to the front edge of the bottom plate, an upwardly extending lateral ange along the front edge of the bottom plate; a rectangular filter proportioned to be mounted on said filter mounting by placing its lateral edges on the shelves, its top along the depending member, and the bottom against lateral ange whereby the filter is gravity secured and dynamically seated; an air blower in said deep rear sec,- tion; and an air duct mounted in said housing and having an end extending through said housing, said duct co-operating with said blower to discharge air from said blower system through the upper portions of said enclosure.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 902,533 Hubbard Oct. 27, 1908 1,296,394 Hubbard Mar. 4, 1919 2,025,802 Child Dec. 31, 1935 2,043,278 Ackerman June 9, 1936 2,081,105 Reynolds May 18, 1937 2,250,352 Bolcom July 22, 1941 2,265,317 Schlirf Dec. 9, 1941 2,369,375 Sonntag Feb. 13, 1945 2,430,448 Breckheimer Nov. 11, 1947 2,582,356 Rauhut Jan. 15, 1952 2,621,755 Gray Dec. 16, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 880,548 France Ian. 4, 1943 575,551 Great Britain Feb. 22, 1946

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