Cross-flow fan and an air-conditioner using it

• US 6,158,954 A
• Filed: 03/26/1999
• Issued: 12/12/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ishigaki, Shigeya, Takada, Tomohito, Koyama, Kiyoshi, Nabeshima, Noriyuki, Toya, Yoshinori, Kurokawa, Michihiro, Koizumi, Tomohito
• Primary Examiner(s): VERDIER, CHRISTOPHER M
• Application Number:
  US09/276,791
• Time in Patent Office: 627 Days
• Field of Search: 415/53.1, 415/53.2, 415/53.3, 415/119, 416/203, 416/175, 416/178, 416/187, 165/121, 165/122, 165/DIG. 309, 165/DIG. 314, 165/DIG. 315
• US Class Current: 415/53.1
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 17/04 of transverse-flow type
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 29/283 rotors of the squirrel-cage type
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 29/666 by means of rotor construction or layout, e.g. unequal distribution of blades or vanes

Abstract

A number of vanes 12 are disposed in a peripheral direction of a plurality of supporting disks disposed along a rotary shaft 14 at given intervals. Each vane 12 is disposed at an angular interval as determined by a logistic representation. Thereby the intensity and variations of noise levels at around 8N on the low-frequency side, as well as the noise level caused by rotary first-order sounds, can be reduced.

Claims

1. A cross-flow fan comprising:

a multiplicity of disks for supporting on the circumferences thereof a multiplicity of vanes,

wherein the multiplicity of vanes are disposed along said circumferences of said disks at intervals which are determined based on the following logistic formula;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">X(n+1)=A*(1-X(n))*X(n)

where

n is an integer;

A is a constant;

X(1) is equal to 0.1.

2. The cross-flow fan as set forth in claim 1, wherein

said multiplicity of vanes are angularly spaced apart such that the angle between the n-th and (n+1)th vanes with respect to the axis of the shaft of said fan is determined by the following formula:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">P(n)=a+b * X(n)

where a and b are constants.

3. A cross-flow fan of claim 2, wherein the angular interval P(n) of any arbitrarily chosen vane is adjusted so that the total of angular intervals P(1)-P(B) of all the vanes becomes 360 degrees, wherein B is the maximum number of vanes.

4. A cross-flow fan of claim 3, wherein the angular interval P(B) of the Bth vane is adjusted.

5. A cross-flow fan of claim 2, wherein each of the angular intervals P(n) is respectively adjusted to obtain the counterpart angular interval from P'"'"'(n) determined by the following equation 5:

##EQU3##

6. A cross-flow fan of any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein said number of vanes are sequentially disposed in the rotary direction of the cross-flow fan at angular intervals as determined by the logistic representation.

7. A cross-flow fan of any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein manufacturing errors δ

P(n) in manufacturing the angular interval P(n) of the nth vane are formed so as to meet the following equation 4;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">-1.0≦

δ

P(n)≦

1.0 (4).

8. An air-conditioner according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein an air inlet, a heat exchanger, said cross-flow fan, and an outlet are disposed sequentially starting from a windward side, and wherein said cross-flow fan circulates via the heat exchanger, air in a room to be air-conditioned so as to air-condition the room by heat exchanging a heat medium flowing through the heat exchanger with the air.

9. An air-conditioner of claim 8, wherein said cross-flow fan is sandwiched between a rear-guider and a stabilizer, and wherein said rear-guider, outlet, and stabilizer are sequentially disposed in the same direction as the rotary direction of said cross-flow fan.

10. An air-conditioner of claim 8, wherein said cross-flow fan is disposed so that the lowest point thereof is positioned higher than the lowest point of said heat exchanger.

11. An air conditioner of claim 9, wherein said cross-flow fan is disposed so that the lowest point thereof is positioned higher than the lowest point of said heat exchanger.

12. The cross-flow fan as set forth in claim 2, wherein

a is a number in the range from 297/B to 333/B inclusive, with B being the total number of vanes;

n is an integer in the range from 1 to B inclusive;

b is a constant in the range from 2.0 to 3.0 inclusive;

P(B) is the angle between the B-th and the first vanes.