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EP-4741667-A1 - LOUVER FAN

EP4741667A1EP 4741667 A1EP4741667 A1EP 4741667A1EP-4741667-A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a louvered fan comprising: a fan frame designed to be attached to a building opening; a multitude of louvers, which are pivotably arranged on the fan frame along a longitudinal direction via pivoting arms; and a drive mechanism designed to pivot the slats; wherein a louver pivot axis of a single louver is located in front of this louver with respect to the longitudinal direction of the fan frame, so that the louvers can pivot outside the fan frame and rest on a top side of the fan frame when closed; wherein the drive mechanism comprises a rack, a gear element and an actuator; wherein the rack is mounted so as to be slidable along the longitudinal direction of the fan frame; the actuator is designed to move the rack; wherein the gear element is assigned to a corresponding lamella and connected to it in such a way that the gear element engages with the rack and a displacement of the rack causes the corresponding lamella to pivot about the lamella's axis of rotation.

Inventors

  • SCHMIDT, CHRISTOF
  • Tippelt, Christian

Assignees

  • Lamilux Heinrich Strunz GmbH

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251111

Claims (11)

  1. Louvered fan (100) including: a fan frame (102) designed to be attached to a building opening; a plurality of louvers (106) which are pivotably arranged on the fan frame (102) along a longitudinal direction (LR) of the fan frame (102) via pivoting arms (118); and a drive mechanism (200) designed to pivot the slats (106); wherein a louver pivot axis (LD) of a single louver (106) is located in front of this louver (106) with respect to the longitudinal direction (LR) of the fan frame (102), so that the louvers (106) can pivot outside the fan frame (102) and rest on a top surface (116) of the fan frame (102) when closed; wherein the drive mechanism (200) comprises a rack (202), a gear element (210) and an actuator (208); wherein the rack (202) is slidably mounted on the fan frame (102) along its longitudinal direction (LR); wherein the actuator (208) is designed to move the rack (202); wherein the gear element (210) is assigned to a corresponding lamella (106) and is connected to it in such a way that the gear element (210) engages with the rack (202) and a displacement of the rack (202) causes the corresponding lamella (106) to pivot about the lamella rotation axis (LD).
  2. Louvered fan (100) according to claim 1, wherein the gear element (210) comprises a gear section (212) and a louver connecting section (214), wherein the gear section (212) is connected to the associated lamella (106) via the lamellar connecting section (214), so that a pivoting movement of the gear section (212) is transmitted to the associated lamella (106) via the lamellar connecting section (214).
  3. Louvered fan (100) according to claim 2, wherein the louver connecting section (214) is attached to a louver underside (122) of the associated louver (106).
  4. Louvered fan (100) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the gear section (212) is a gear section extending over an angle of about 30° to about 90°, preferably about 90°.
  5. Louvered fan (100) according to one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the gear section (212) has a pitch circle radius that is greater than about 40% of a width of a louver (106), preferably greater than about 60% of a width of a louver (106).
  6. Louvered fan (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the actuator (208) is a linear actuator, wherein one direction of movement of the linear actuator corresponds to the longitudinal direction (LR) of the fan frame (102).
  7. Louvered fan (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the rack (202) has rack teeth (206) on its upper rack surface (204) which engage with gear teeth (216) of the gear element (210), and has a rack guide (224) on its lower rack surface (222) which interacts with a guide rail (226) arranged on the fan frame (102) such that the rack (202) is guided along the longitudinal direction (LR) of the fan frame (102).
  8. Louvered fan (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the rack (202) has an actuator connection section (234) on its rack underside (222).
  9. Louvered fan (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the rack (202) has a plurality of identically designed rack modules (240), wherein a length of a rack module (240) corresponds to a multiple of a width of a louver (106).
  10. Louvered fan (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one louver (106) of the plurality of louvers does not have an associated gear element (210), wherein the lamella (106) without an associated gear element (210) is coupled via a coupling device (300) to the gear element (210) which is associated with an adjacent lamella (306), so that a pivoting of the adjacent lamella (306) causes a pivoting of the lamella (106) which is not associated with a gear element (210).
  11. Louvered fan (100) according to claim 10, wherein the louver (106) to which no gear element (210) is assigned is the foremost louver (140) of the louvered fan (100) with respect to the longitudinal direction (LR) of the fan frame (102).

Description

The present invention relates to a louvered fan for installation in buildings. Louvered ventilators are commonly used in industrial buildings and residential and commercial buildings to provide natural fire ventilation and/or general ventilation. Installing a louvered ventilator in a building ensures both natural ventilation and, in case of fire, forced ventilation by opening the ventilator. Louvered ventilators with transparent louvers can also allow for the use of daylight. The individual louvers of a louvered fan can be pivoted between a closed position and an open position. In the prior art, an actuator is typically used to drive the louvers so that they can pivot between these positions. Figure 1 Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a prior art louvered fan 1, which has a rectangular fan frame 3 designed to be attached to a building opening. A plurality of louvers 5 are arranged parallel to one another along a longitudinal direction LR of the fan frame 3. When the louvers 5 are closed, they partially overlap each other. To attach the individual louvers 5 to the fan frame 3, pivoting arms or plates 7 extend downwards at opposite ends of the louvers 5 ( Figure 2 The pivoting arms 7 are rigidly connected with the corresponding The louvers 5 are connected. Furthermore, the pivot arms 7 are connected via corresponding pivot arm joint connections 9 to a control rod 11, which can be displaced by an actuator 13 along the longitudinal direction LR of the fan frame 2. By transmitting the movement of the driven control rod 11 via the pivot arm joint connections 9 to the pivot arms 7, the louvers 5 perform a rotational movement about their respective fixed louver rotation axis LD. Typically, the louvers 5 are attached to the fan frame 3 in such a way that the louvers 5 are arranged inside the fan frame 3, particularly when closed. The lamella rotation axis LD, which extends along a longitudinal direction LL of lamella 5, is usually located approximately in the middle under lamella 5. This means that the lamella rotation axis LD is always close to the center of gravity SPL (see Figure 2 ) of the lamella 5 arranged so that a small load lever arm between the weight force acting at the center of gravity SPL of the lamella 5 directed towards the earth surface and the lamella rotation axis LD generates only a small load moment. Due to the shearing motion caused by the rotation between the transverse edges of the louvers 5 and the fan frame 3, a gap is necessary between the transverse edges of the louvers 5 and the fan frame 3, which results in a certain degree of leakage, particularly with regard to standing water in the case of horizontal installation. The transverse edges of the louvers are defined as the edges of the louvers that, in the assembled state, extend parallel to the longitudinal direction LR of the fan frame 3 and/or perpendicular to the louver rotation axis LD. This disadvantage can be remedied by not positioning the slats 5 as in the Figure 1 and 2 The fins 5 are not arranged within the fan frame 3, but rather outside the fan frame 3 and extend beyond it. The edge areas of the fins 5 can thus rest on a top surface 15 of the fan frame 3 when closed. However, a disadvantage here is that the lamella rotation axes LD of the individual lamellae 5 are located in front of their leading edge 17 (see Figure 3 ) must be arranged, thereby increasing the load lever arm 33a between the center of gravity SPL of the louver 5 and the louver rotation axis LD, which in turn leads to an increased load moment 33b about the louver rotation axis LD during pivoting. The louvers 5 are located above the ventilation frame 3 at all times. Figure 3 The figure schematically shows the force relationships for installing the louvered fan 1 in a 0° installation position (horizontal installation) both in the closed state and in the open state of the louvers 5. The load moment 33b is positively counteracted by the drive torque 34a, which is composed of the applied force in the pivoting arm joint 9 and the vertical drive lever arm 34b from the force line at the point of force application 35 to the stationary lamella rotation axis LD. The control rod 11 performs a pivoting movement in the plane parallel to the longitudinal direction LR of the fan frame 3, the path of which 36 corresponds to the fixed radial distance of the pivoting arm joint 9 to the lamella rotation axis LD of the respective lamella 5. For this purpose, the actuator 13, which itself performs a linear stroke movement 38, is pivotably mounted. The drive mechanism used in the prior art for louvered fans 1 with pivoting control rods 11 and off-center louver rotation axis LD results in the drive lever arm 34b, i.e. the drive torque 34a, decreasing during the opening process of the louver 5 and reaching its minimum at the maximum opening angle of the louver 5. This is particularly noticeable when the louvered fan 1 is installed at an angle, up to and including wall mounting (se