CN-116696841-B - Blade for a ceiling fan and method of forming a blade for a ceiling fan

Abstract

A ceiling fan or similar air moving device may include a motor for rotating one or more blades to drive a volume of air around a space. The blade may include a body having an outer surface and a side edge, the outer surface being a planar top surface and a planar bottom surface. Performance features may be included in the body to improve efficiency. Due to manufacturing variations, there may be a deviation between the performance feature and other portions of the body. A transition may be formed at the offset to remedy the inefficiency caused by these deformations.

Inventors

• Bobby Neil Norwood
• Charles William Botkin

Assignees

• 亨特风扇公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20230228

Priority Date

20220301

Claims (20)

1. 1. A blade for a ceiling fan having a motor for rotating the blade, the blade comprising: a body extending between the root and the tip to define a spanwise direction and between the first side edge and the second side edge to define a chordwise direction; a planar upper surface defined by the body; A performance feature disposed between the first side edge and the planar upper surface, and defining a curved surface having an elliptical profile extending between the first side edge and the planar upper surface, an A planar transition portion is disposed between an upper surface of the planar surface and the performance feature.
2. 2. The blade of claim 1, further comprising a shaped joint between the transition portion and the performance feature.
3. 3. A blade according to claim 1, wherein the transition portion is arranged at an angle relative to the upper surface of the plane.
4. 4. A blade according to claim 3, wherein the angle is 179 to 135 degrees.
5. 5. The blade of claim 4, wherein the transition portion is disposed at a second angle relative to the performance feature.
6. 6. The blade of claim 5, wherein the second angle is 179 degrees to 135 degrees.
7. 7. The blade of claim 1, wherein the transition is formed as a first transition between the performance feature and the first side edge and a second transition between the performance feature and the planar upper surface.
8. 8. The blade of claim 7, wherein the first transition portion and the second transition portion are formed along both the first side edge and the second side edge.
9. 9. The blade of claim 1, wherein the performance feature extends entirely between the root and the tip.
10. 10. The blade of claim 9, wherein the transition portion extends along and is complementary to the performance feature.
11. 11. The blade of claim 6, further comprising a second transition portion between the performance feature and the first side edge, wherein the second transition portion is planar.
12. 12. The blade of claim 11 wherein the first side edge is planar.
13. 13. The blade of claim 1, further comprising a second performance feature between the planar upper surface and the second side edge, wherein the second performance feature defines a surface different from the curved surface.
14. 14. The blade of claim 13, wherein the surface of the second performance feature is curved.
15. 15. The blade of claim 14, wherein the curved surface of the second performance feature defines at least one of a parabolic profile and a hyperbolic profile.
16. 16. The blade of claim 13, wherein the surface of the second performance feature is planar.
17. 17. The blade of claim 16 wherein the second side edge is planar.
18. 18. A method of forming a blade for a ceiling fan, the method comprising: A transition is formed on the blade between a performance feature of the blade and a planar upper surface, wherein the performance feature defines a curved surface having an elliptical profile, and a planar transition is provided between the performance feature and the planar upper surface.
19. 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising forming the performance feature prior to forming the transition portion.
20. 20. The method of claim 18, further comprising shaping the blade at a junction between the transition portion and at least one of the performance feature and the surface of the blade.

Description

Blade for a ceiling fan and method of forming a blade for a ceiling fan Technical Field The present application relates to ceiling fans and devices for moving an airflow around a space, such as a room, and more particularly to a blade for a ceiling fan. Background Ceiling fans are machines that are traditionally suspended from a structure for moving large volumes of air around an area. The ceiling fan includes a motor having a rotor and a stator suspended from and electrically coupled to the structure. A set of blades is mounted to the rotor such that the blades are rotatably driven by the rotor and may be disposed in an angular orientation to move a volume of air around the area. As energy costs become more and more important, there is a need to increase the efficiency of ceiling fan operation. Disclosure of Invention In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a blade for a ceiling fan having a motor for rotating the blade, the blade including a body extending between a root and a tip to define a spanwise direction and extending between a first side edge and a second side edge to define a chordwise direction, an upper surface disposed on the body, a performance feature disposed between the first side edge and the upper surface, and a transition portion disposed between the performance feature and at least one of the first side edge and the upper surface. In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a blade for a ceiling fan that includes a body including an upper surface and a lower surface, a side edge separating the upper surface from the lower surface, a performance feature formed in one of the upper surface and the lower surface and extending along the side edge, and a transition portion disposed to transition between the performance feature and the side edge along the performance feature. In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a method of forming a blade for a ceiling fan, the method comprising forming a transition portion on the blade between a performance feature and a surface of the blade. Drawings In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a structure having a ceiling fan suspended from the structure and including a set of blades. Fig. 2 is a top view of a blade from the set of blades or one of the blades of fig. 1, the blade having a curved surface that transitions to the edge of the blade. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the blade of FIG. 2, showing curved transitions to the edge of the blade on the top and bottom surfaces. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of one edge of the blade of FIG. 3, showing an elliptical curved surface of the blade. FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of forming a blade. Detailed Description The present disclosure relates to ceiling fans and ceiling fan blades that may be used, for example, in residential and commercial applications. These applications may be indoor, outdoor, or both. Although the present description is primarily directed to a residential ceiling fan, it is also applicable to any environment that utilizes fans or is used to cool an area using air movement, such as in an industrial, commercial, residential or agricultural environment. The term "set" or "group" of elements as used herein may be any number of elements, including the case of only one element. All directional references (e.g., radial, axial, proximal, distal, upper, lower, upward, downward, left, right, lateral, front, rear, top, bottom, above, below, vertical, horizontal, clockwise, counterclockwise, upstream, downstream, forward, rearward, etc.) are used for identification purposes only to aid the reader's understanding of the present disclosure, and do not limit, in particular, the position, orientation, or use of the aspects of the disclosure described herein. Unless otherwise indicated, connection identifiers (e.g., attached, coupled, connected, and combined) should be construed broadly and may include intermediate members between a collection of elements and relative movement between such elements. Thus, a connection identifier does not necessarily mean that two elements are directly connected and connected to each other in a fixed manner. The exemplary drawings are for illustrative purposes only, and the dimensions, positions, sequences, and relative sizes shown in the accompanying drawings may vary. Referring now to FIG. 1, a ceiling fan 10 is suspended from a structure 12. In a non-limiting example, the ceiling fan 10 may include one or more ceiling fan components including a hanger bracket 14, a top cover 16, a lower pole 18, a motor adapter 20, a motor housing 22 at least partially enclosing a motor 24 having a rotor 26 and a stator 28, a light kit 30, and a set of blade irons 32. In other non-limiting examples, the ceiling fan 10 may include one or more of a controller, a wireless receiver, a ball rack, a hanger ball, a light glass, a light cage, a spindle, a tip trim, a switch housing, a blade fork, a blade tip o