Fan assembly

• US 9,822,778 B2
• Filed: 04/18/2013
• Issued: 11/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Dyson Technology Limited (Beeswax Holdings UK Limited)
• Original Assignee: Dyson Technology Limited (Beeswax Holdings UK Limited)
• Inventors: Park, Charles Edward, Crawford, Tom Vallance Hamilton
• Primary Examiner(s): Kramer, Devon
• Assistant Examiner(s): CASH, THOMAS R
• Application Number:
  US13/865,595
• Publication Number:
  US 20130280099A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,678 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 49/20 by changing the driving speed
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 25/08 the working fluid being air, e.g. for ventilation
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 27/004 by varying driving speed
• CPC Class Codes: F04F 5/16 displacing elastic fluids
• CPC Class Codes: F04F 5/48 Control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/77 by controlling the speed of ventilators
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 13/06 Outlets for directing or distributing air into rooms or spaces, e.g. ceiling air diffuser
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2221/34 Heater, e.g. gas burner, electric air heater
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 7/007 with forced flow using ducting systems F24F7/06
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 3/0417 portable or mobile
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 9/0063 in air channels
• CPC Class Codes: F24H 9/1827 Positive temperature coefficient [PTC] resistor
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 30/70 Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating

Abstract

A fan assembly comprising an air inlet, at least one air outlet, an impeller, a motor for rotating the impeller to draw air through the air inlet, at least one heater assembly, and a user interface for allowing a user to select a speed setting for the motor from a user selectable range of speed settings, and for allowing a user to select one of a first and second operational mode of the fan assembly. A rotational speed of the motor is set depending on the user selected speed setting, and is selected from a first range of values when the first operational mode of the fan assembly has been selected, and from at least one second range of values when the second operational mode of the fan assembly has been selected, with each value within each of the range of values being associated with a respective speed setting.

Claims

1. A fan assembly comprising:

an air inlet;

at least one air outlet;

an impeller and a motor for rotating the impeller to draw air through the air inlet;

at least one heater assembly;

a user interface for allowing a user to select a speed setting for the motor from a single, user selectable range of speed settings, and for allowing a user to select one of a first operational mode of the fan assembly and a second operational mode of the fan assembly, wherein the first operational mode of the fan assembly is a fan mode during which the at least one heater assembly is not actuated and the second operational mode of the fan assembly is a heater mode during which the at least one heater assembly is actuated;

a current detector configured to detect a magnitude of a current drawn by the at least one heater assembly; and

a controller for setting a rotational speed of the motor;

wherein the controller is configured to select the rotational speed of the motor from a first range of values in the first operational mode of the fan assembly, from at least one second range of values independently from the user selected speed setting depending on the magnitude of the current detected during a first operational period in the second operational mode of the fan assembly, and from at least one third range of values depending on at least the user selected speed setting during a second operational period in the second operational mode of the fan assembly, and wherein, within each of the first and third range of values, each value is associated with a respective one of the user selectable speed settings and the first range of values has a maximum value which is higher than the values of each of the at least one third range of values.

2. The fan assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the first and third range of values has a maximum value and a minimum value, and wherein each of the range of values has a different respective maximum value.

3. The fan assembly of claim 1, wherein the user interface is configured to display continuously the selected operational mode of the fan assembly.

4. The fan assembly of claim 1, wherein the maximum value of the first range of values is at least 1,000 rpm higher than the maximum value of each of the at least one third range of values.

5. The fan assembly of claim 1, wherein the number of user selectable speed settings is at least five.

6. The fan assembly of claim 1, wherein the minimum value of the first range of values is the same as the minimum value for the third range of values.

7. The fan assembly of claim 1, comprising a temperature detector for detecting a temperature which is indicative of the temperature of the environment in which the fan assembly is located, and wherein the user interface is configured to allow a user to select a temperature setting from a user selectable range of temperature settings, and wherein the controller is configured to, in the heater mode, actuate the at least one heater assembly depending on a difference between the detected temperature and the selected temperature.

8. The fan assembly of claim 2, wherein each of the first and third range of values has the same minimum value.

9. The fan assembly of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to, in the heater mode, vary the rotational speed of the motor away from the selected rotational speed depending on a state of the at least one heater assembly.

10. The fan assembly of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to select the rotational speed of the motor from the first range of values when the user has selected a minimum temperature setting from the user selectable range of temperature settings, and from at least one third range of values when the user has selected a temperature setting other than the minimum temperature setting from the user selectable range of temperature settings.

11. The fan assembly of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to, in the heater mode, reduce the rotational speed of the motor to a set value depending on a state of the at least one heater assembly.

12. The fan assembly of claim 11, wherein the set value is lower than each of the first and third range of values.