US20070280818A1

US20070280818A1 - Heat-Dissipating Fan

Info

Publication number: US20070280818A1
Application number: US11/421,559
Authority: US
Inventors: Chih-Heng Yang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-06-01
Filing date: 2006-06-01
Publication date: 2007-12-06

Abstract

A heat-dissipating fan has two intakes and can be used for mounting on a heat-generating element. The heat-dissipating fan mainly includes a base, a blade assembly, an outer casing and a cover. The base has an accommodating trough for accommodating the blade assembly. The bottom of the accommodating trough is provided with a plurality of first intakes. Further, the outer casing is provided above the base and correspondingly combined with the base. The center of the outer casing is provided with a second intake. Finally, the cover is provided under the base and correspondingly connected to the bottom of the base. With the above arrangement, when two adjacent heat-dissipating fans operate at the same time, with the closing action of the cover, the interference in the air-extracting action between the facing intakes of the two adjacent heat-dissipating fans can be reduced to keep the heat-dissipating effect of the fan.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat-dissipating device, and in particular to a heat-dissipating fan for mounting on a heat-generating element.
2. Description of Prior Art
Owing to the tendency to pursue a small-sized and light device, the heat generated by the device is inevitably increased to a great extent. In order not to influence the operation of the electronic element by the increasing temperature resulted from the heat source, the heat-dissipating effect should be increased accordingly. Therefore, a technical measure that is most widely used is to directly mount the heat-dissipating device on the heat-generating element, thereby to improve the heat-dissipating performance with respect to the heat-generating element.
With the increase in the functions of a modern computer, the number of the electronic elements provided within the computer is increasing accordingly. For example, interface cards having various functions (such as display card or graphic card) are inserted on a main board to improve the original functions of the computer. However, according to the above, with the increasing precision of the electronic technique, the operation of the electronic elements will inevitably generate more and more heat. In order to let the electronic elements having different functions operate under respectively suitable temperature, conventionally, a dedicated centrifugal structure of a heat-dissipating fan is directly mounted on the electronic elements such as an interface card. With the airflow generated by the fan, the airflow is directly introduced to the periphery of the interface via a designed airflow path. As a result, the heat generated by the operation of the interface card can be rapidly carried away by the airflow, thereby to achieve a desired heat-dissipating effect.
Although the air-cooling action of the heat-dissipating fan can achieve the heat dissipation of the interface card, the heat-dissipating efficiency of the heat-dissipating fan depends on the amount of the airflow. Therefore, in order to improve the heat-dissipating effect of the fan, a centrifugal fan having two intakes is subsequently developed. With such design, the amount of the air generated by the heat-dissipating fan can be increased to satisfy a desired heat-dissipating efficiency.
However, since the electronic elements such as interface card are juxtaposed on the man board, when the heat-dissipating fan having two intakes is respectively disposed on the juxtaposed electronic elements, the space between two adjacent heat-dissipating fans is so limited. Further, since the heat-dissipating fan has two intakes, the intakes of the two adjacent heat-dissipating fans will operate face to face, which interferes the air-extracting action with each other and adversely reduces the amount of air generated by each fan. As a result, the air-cooling action of the heat-dissipating fan is greatly reduced, which becomes a drawback of such conventional device.
In view of the above, the inventor proposes the present invention to overcome the above problems based on his expert experiences and deliberate researches.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above drawback, the present invention is to provide a heat-dissipating fan. When two adjacent heat-dissipating fans operate at the same time, a cover is used to close the intake of one fan facing to the intake of the other fan. In this way, the interference in the air-extracting action between the facing intakes of two adjacent fans can be avoided, thereby to keep the heat-dissipating performance of the heat-dissipating fans.
The present invention provides a heat-dissipating fan comprising a base, a blade assembly, an outer casing and a cover. The base further comprises an accommodating trough and an opening. The accommodating trough is used to accommodate the blade assembly. The bottom of the accommodating trough is provided with a plurality of first intakes. The opening is used to guide the airflow generated by the fan to the outside. Further, the outer casing is provided above the base and correspondingly combined with the base. The center of the outer casing is provided with a second intake. Finally, the cover is provided under the accommodating trough of the base and correspondingly connected to the bottom of the base. With the above arrangement, when two adjacent heat-dissipating fans operate at the same time, with the closing action of the cover, the interference in the air-extracting action of the facing intakes of the two adjacent heat-dissipating fans can be reduced, thereby to keep the heat-dissipating effect of the fan.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the invention believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself however may be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, which describes certain exemplary embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are partially enlarged views showing the assembled cover of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the operation of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the direction of the airflow generated by the heat-dissipating fan of the present invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIG. 1, it is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the present invention. It can be seen from the drawing that the heat-dissipating fan of the present invention mainly comprises a base 1, a blade assembly 3, an outer casing 5 and a cover 7. The base 1 is provided with an accommodating trough 12 for mounting the blade assembly 3. The periphery of the base 1 is formed into a curved shape. The front end of the base 1 is provided with an opening 13. The periphery of the base 1 is provided with a plurality of connecting holes 14. The bottom of the base 1 has a bottom plate 15. The center of the bottom plate 15 is provided with a positioning pillar 16 for connecting to the blade assembly 3. Leads are provided in the positioning pillar and electrically connected to the blade assembly 3, which is conventional and thus the description thereof is omitted. The surface of the bottom plate 15 is circumferentially provided with annular first intakes 151 (three shown in the drawing) surrounding the positioning pillar 16. The side of each first intake 151 is provided with at least one engaging end 152 (three shown in the drawing). The engaging end 152 comprises a notch 601 and a slice body 602. The slice body 602 is further provided with at least one protruding block 603 thereon, as shown in the partially enlarged view of FIG. 2A. With reference to FIG. 1 again, the blade assembly 3 is constituted of a plurality of blades 31. The center of the blade assembly 3 has an accommodating hole 32 with coils provided therein for the blade assembly 3. Also, the accommodating hole is connected to the positioning pillar 16, which is also conventional and thus the description thereof is omitted. Also, the outer casing 5 is provided above the base 1. The shape of the outer casing 5 corresponds to that of the base 1. Further, the periphery of the outer casing 5 is provided with a plurality of locking holes 51 corresponding to the connecting holes 14 of the base 1. With fastening elements (such as screws shown in the drawing) are used to fix the connecting holes and the corresponding locking holes. Therefore, when the outer casing 1 is connected with the base 1, the blade assembly 3 can be enclosed within the base 1. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the opening 13 of the base 1 also forms an essential air-guiding port. Further, the center of the outer casing 5 is provided with a circular second intake 52. Finally, the cover 7 is formed into a circular shape. The center of the cover has a through hole 71. The cover is provided under the base 1 and connected to the bottom plate 15 of the base 1, thereby to close the first intake 151. On the cover 7, at least one locking piece 72 (three sets shown in the drawing) is provided to correspond to the positions of the engaging end 152. The locking piece 72 is formed into an inverted-L shape for locking with the engaging end 152. Further, on the cover 7, a plurality of protruding strips 73 are provided to correspond to the inside and outside of the first intake 151. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, after the cover 7 is disposed under the base 1, the protruding strips 73 are disposed at proper positions corresponding to the cover 7 and the locking pieces 72 penetrate into the notch 601 of the engaging ends 152. With the rotation of the protruding strip along the inside and outside of the first intake 151, the locking piece 72 and the slice body 602 are engaged with each other. With the upwardly pushing force of the protruding block 603 of the slice body, the position of the cover can be fixed.
With reference to FIG. 4, it is a schematic view showing the operation of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, when two interface cards 9 a and 9 b are juxtaposed and inserted onto the main board 10, a heat-dissipating fan is mounted on the respective interface card. The opening 13 of the base 1 is connected with an elongated air covering 20 a, 20 b. The fastening elements 8 are used to combine the board body of the interface card 9 a, 9 b with the air covering 20 a, 20 b, so that the electronic elements on each interface card 9 a, 9 b can be all covered in the air covering 20 a, 20 b. Further, on the first intake 151 a, 151 b (not shown) under the accommodating trough 12 a, 12 b of the heat-dissipating fan, the cover 7 a, 7 b is connected to the base by locking the locking piece 72 a, 72 b with the engaging end 152 a, 152 b to close the first intake 151 a, 151 b. Therefore, during the operation of the heat-dissipating fan, each blade assembly 3 a, 3 b extracts air via the second intake 52 a, 52 b, as shown in FIG. 5. Also, with the rotation of each blade assembly 3 a, 3 b, the airflow can be guided out via the opening 13 and flow into the elongated air covering 20 a, 20 b. The airflow can heat-exchange with the heat generated by the operation of the electronic elements. Finally, the airflow is guided out via the opening on the other end of the air covering 20 a, 20 b. In this way, the first intake 151 b of two adjacent heat-dissipating fans can be closed by the cover 7 b. Therefore, in prior art, two adjacent heat-dissipating fans use the adjacent first intake 151 b and second intake 52 a to extract air, which causes the interference in the air-extracting action and reduces the amount of airflow. Such problem is eliminated by the present invention. As a result, in the present invention, the air can be extracted into the heat-dissipating fan via the other intake, thereby to keep the heat-dissipating effect of the heat-dissipating fan.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the foregoing preferred embodiment, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various equivalent variations and modifications can still be occurred to those skilled in this art in view of the teachings of the present invention. Thus, all such variations and equivalent modifications are also embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A heat-dissipating fan for mounting on a heat-generating element, comprising:

a base having an accommodating trough, a bottom of the accommodating trough having a first intake;

a blade assembly including a plurality of blades and disposed in the accommodating trough of the base;

an outer casing provided above the base and connected thereto, the outer casing having a second intake thereon; and

a cover provided under the base for closing the first intake.

2. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 1, wherein the base further has an opening.

3. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 2, wherein the opening is further connected to an air covering.

4. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 1, wherein the accommodating trough is further provided with a positioning pillar therein.

5. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 4, wherein the positioning pillar is surrounded by the first intake.

6. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 1, wherein the side of the first intake is provided with at least one engaging end.

7. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 6, wherein the engaging end further comprises a notch and a slice body.

8. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 7, wherein the slice body is provided with a protruding block thereon.

9. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 1, wherein the periphery of the base is further provided with a plurality of connecting holes.

10. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 1, wherein the center of the blade assembly is further provided with an accommodating hole.

11. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 10, wherein the accommodating hole is combined with the positioning pillar.

12. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 1, wherein the periphery of the outer casing is further provided with a plurality of locking holes.

13. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 12, wherein the locking holes are connected correspondingly to the connecting holes.

14. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 13, wherein the locking holes are fixedly connected to the connecting holes via fastening elements.

15. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 1, wherein the cover is further provided with at least one locking piece.

16. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 15, wherein the locking piece is formed into an inverted-L shape.

17. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 15, wherein the locking piece is locked with the slice body of the engaging end.

18. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 1, wherein the cover is further provided with a plurality of protruding strips.

19. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 18, wherein the plurality of protruding strips each corresponds to the inside and outside of the first intake.

20. The heat-dissipating fan according to claim 1, wherein the cover is further provided with a through hole thereon.