AUDIO EQUIPPED FAN

• US 20140360805A1
• Filed: 08/25/2014
• Published: 12/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Homewerks Worldwide LLC
• Original Assignee: Homewerks Worldwide LLC
• Inventors: Berkman, Peter D., Zhang, Ruilin, Pischke, Jeffrey Jon, Malaker, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 9,398,357 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 181/141
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 13/20 Casings or covers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/02 Casings; Cabinets ; Supports therefor; Mountings therein H04R1/28 takes precedence ; attachments for microphones H04R1/08; mounting of transducers in earpieces H04R1/1075
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/028 associated with devices performing functions other than acoustics, e.g. electric candles
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/021 Transducers or their casings adapted for mounting in or to a wall or ceiling

Abstract

An audio equipped fan is disclosed as having a housing, and a grille connected to the housing, and defining first openings through which air may flow while the fan is rotated, and second openings through which sound may travel. The fan also has an annular lighting array configured to selectively provide lighting in a high power or a low power configuration, and speakers connected to the grille and aligned on the interior side of the grille with the second openings of the grille so that sound may travel through the grille. Related methods are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A fan assembly comprising:

a housing having a motor coupled to an impeller;

a grille assembly, removably-coupled to an inlet of the housing, the grille assembly further comprising;

a plurality of openings, wherein a first area of the plurality of openings is configured to allow air to pass through to the impeller;

a pair of speakers, coupled to an interior side of the grille, and configured to output stereo sound through a second area of the plurality of openings; and

an annular lighting array, configured to selectively emit light in a low power configuration and a high power configuration.

2. The fan assembly of claim 1, wherein the low power configuration comprises a blue nightlight configuration.

3. The fan assembly of claim 1, wherein the high power configuration comprises emission of light with a color temperature ranging from 2000 to 4500 K.

4. The fan assembly of claim 1, wherein the annular lighting array further comprises a plurality of LED light sources.

5. The fan assembly of claim 1, wherein the pair of speakers further comprise a wireless connection to an external audio signal source.

6. The fan assembly of claim 1, further comprising a sensor device, configured to detect ambient noise.

7. The fan assembly of claim 1, further comprising a computer device, configured to control one or more of a fan speed and a lighting level based upon instructions received from an Internet connection.

8. The fan assembly of claim 1, wherein the first area of the plurality of openings is configured to reduce audible noise from the impeller.

9. A fan assembly supported on a ceiling, comprising:

a housing having an air inlet, an air outlet, and an interior positioned between the inlet and outlet;

a motor and a fan driven by the motor, the fan being supported in the interior of the housing and being operable to move air from a room;

a grille connected to the housing and extending across the air inlet of the housing, having an interior side and an exterior side and defining a plurality of first openings through which air may flow while the fan is on and a plurality of second openings through which sound may travel;

a pair of speakers in the interior of the housing and aligned with the second openings to output sound there through;

an annular lighting array, configured to selectively emit light in a low power configuration and a high power configuration; and

a remote control interface, configured to control operation of the motor, the pair of speakers, and the annular lighting array.

10. The fan assembly of claim 9, wherein the remote control interface further comprises a wired connection to the housing.

11. The fan assembly of claim 9, wherein the remote control interface comprises a wireless connection to the housing.

12. The fan assembly of claim 11, wherein the wireless connection is an infrared connection.

13. The fan assembly of claim 11, wherein the wireless connection is a radio frequency connection.

14. The fan assembly of claim 11, wherein the wireless connection is a Wi-Fi connection.

15. The fan assembly of claim 9, wherein the remote control interface comprises a waterproof construction.

16. The fan assembly of claim 9, further comprising a microphone sensor configured to adjust a volume of the pair of speakers based upon a detected ambient noise level.

17. The fan assembly of claim 9, wherein the low power configuration comprises blue light emitted by a plurality of LEDs.

18. A fan assembly, comprising:

a housing having an air inlet, an air outlet, and an interior positioned between the inlet and outlet;

a motor and a fan driven by the motor, the fan being supported in the interior of the housing and being operable to move air from a room;

a grille connected to the housing and extending across the air inlet of the housing, having an interior side and an exterior side and defining a plurality of first openings through which air may flow while the fan is on and a plurality of second openings through which sound may travel;

a pair of speakers in the interior of the housing;

an annular lighting array, selectively adjustable between a low power configuration and a high power configuration; and

a microphone sensor, configured to detect a fan noise in the housing, and further configured to output a destructively interfering sound wave from the pair of speakers configured to cancel at least a portion of the detected fan noise.

19. The fan assembly of claim 18, wherein the annular lighting array further comprises a plurality of color-changing LEDs.

20. The fan assembly of claim 19, wherein the low power configuration comprises a blue light emitted from a plurality of LEDs.