TWI811666B - Impeller structure of heat dissipation fan and producing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An impeller structure of a heat dissipation fan including a hub and a plurality of blades disposed at an surrounding edge of the hub is provided. Orthogonal projections of any two adjacent blades onto a plane are overlapped partially, wherein a rotating axis of the impeller is orthogonal to the plane. A producing method of the impeller structure of the heat dissipation fan is also provided.

Description

Impeller structure of cooling fan and manufacturing method thereof

The present invention relates to an impeller structure of a fan, and in particular, to an impeller structure of a cooling fan and a manufacturing method thereof.

Generally speaking, in order to improve the cooling effect in a notebook computer, it is nothing more than reducing the thermal resistance of the system or improving the performance of the cooling fan. However, because laptops tend to be thinner in appearance and do not like too many heat dissipation holes, the thermal resistance of the system is large, which in turn reduces the air suction volume of the cooling fan, making it difficult for the air from the external environment to enter the system to generate heat dissipation. thermal convection.

Based on the above, how to improve the efficiency of the cooling fan has become one of the solutions. In this solution, the most important factor is the impeller design of the cooling fan. How to determine the outline of the impeller, including the blade shape, is a decisive factor in whether it can improve the operating efficiency of the cooling fan. However, since the design of the impeller requires consideration of relevant process factors, such as mold design, molding methods, and processing methods, etc., the design cannot be based solely on performance orientation. These process factors often result in the impeller being unable to achieve elasticity. And diversified designs.

The present invention provides an impeller structure of a cooling fan and a manufacturing method thereof, which can be used as a reference when designing the impeller structure to improve the flexibility and diversification of the impeller structure.

The impeller structure of the cooling fan of the present invention includes a hub and a plurality of blades. The blades are arranged on the periphery of the hub. The orthographic projections of any two adjacent blades on a plane partially overlap. The rotation axis of the impeller structure is orthogonal to the plane.

The manufacturing method of the impeller structure of the present invention is suitable for cooling fans, and includes: providing a first part of the hub; assembling a plurality of blades to the first part, and the orthographic projections of any two adjacent blades on the plane partially overlap, and the rotation of the impeller structure The axis is orthogonal to the plane, and each blade has a coupling end; and the second part of the hub is assembled to the first part, and the coupling ends are fixed between the first part and the second part, and the first part and the second part are arranged with the same rotation axis.

The manufacturing method of the impeller structure of the present invention is suitable for cooling fans, including: providing a mold; placing multiple blades on the mold, wherein the orthographic projections of any two adjacent blades on the plane partially overlap, and the rotation axis of the impeller structure is orthogonal to Plane, each blade has a coupling end; and the hub is injection molded through a mold to cover the coupling end of the blade.

Based on the above, the present invention provides an impeller structure in which adjacent blades partially overlap and a related manufacturing method corresponding thereto, which can effectively break through the limitations of the existing manufacturing process by first manufacturing the blades and then further separating them coaxially with each other through the hub. Different parts, so that these blades can be combined with the hub either by structural assembly or injection molding. Accordingly, the impeller structure and its manufacturing method of the present invention can avoid problems such as interference during assembly of the existing integrated impeller structure or the inability to use injection molding methods. At the same time, this move also makes the impeller structure no longer limited by the above-mentioned process factors, and has a more flexible and diversified design space.

1A is a schematic diagram of an impeller structure of a cooling fan according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1B is a partial top view of Figure 1A. Figure 2 is an exploded view of the impeller structure of Figure 1A. Figure 3 is a schematic assembly diagram of the impeller structure of Figure 1A. Please refer to FIGS. 1A to 3 at the same time. In this embodiment, the cooling fan is, for example, an axial flow fan, and its impeller structure 100 includes a hub 110 and a plurality of blades 120 . Here, the rotation axis L1 of the impeller structure 100 is used as a reference. The reference plane P1 is shown so that the rotation axis L1 becomes the normal line of the reference plane P1. When the blades 120 are arranged on the periphery of the hub 110, as shown in FIG. 1A, the orthographic projections of any two adjacent blades 120 on the reference plane P1 will partially overlap. This can effectively increase the wind pressure and flow rate when the cooling fan is operating, thereby effectively improving its cooling efficiency.

However, as mentioned above, whether the blades 120 in the overlapping state shown above are manufactured by existing NC (Numerical Control) processing, integrated metal stamping molding, or injection molding, there are difficulties and process obstacles. Therefore, the designer cannot design in the direction in which the blades 120 overlap after considering the manufacturing process factors. Accordingly, the composition of the impeller structure 100 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the present invention can effectively overcome the above problems.

In detail, the hub 110 of this embodiment includes a first part 111 and a second part 112 disposed coaxially with the rotation axis L1, and each blade 120 has a coupling end E1 and an end E2 that are opposite to each other, and a convex portion 121 located at the coupling end E1 . According to this, it can be clearly seen from the assembly line shown in Figure 2 that first, the blade 120 is locked with the first part 111 of the hub 110 with its convex portion 121 located at the coupling end E1, and then, the third part of the hub 110 is interlocked. The two parts 112 and the first part 111 are combined with each other, that is, the combination end E1 of the blade 120 can be combined between the first part 111 and the second part 112, thereby completing the assembly process of the blade 120 and the hub 110.

Furthermore, the first part 111 of this embodiment includes a first ring tooth structure 111a, an inner ring structure 111b and a locking part 111c, while the second part 112 includes a second ring tooth structure 112a, wherein the first ring tooth structure 111a and The second ring tooth structures 112a are structurally complementary to each other. Furthermore, the first ring tooth structure 111a substantially surrounds the inner ring structure 111b, so that the first ring tooth structure 111a and the inner ring structure 111b are disposed with the rotation axis L1 as the center and between them (also That is, the slot G1 is formed in the radial direction with the rotation axis L1 as the reference.

Correspondingly, the convex portion 121 of the connecting end E1 of the blade 120 is, for example, a bend formed by metal stamping or plastic injection molding at the same time as the body of the blade 120. Therefore, it can be adapted and inserted into the aforementioned card. The groove G1 completes the combination of the blade 120 and the first part 111. Then, after the second part 112 and the first part 111 are assembled, the coupling end E1 of the blade 120 is equivalent to being clamped between the second ring tooth structure 112a and the first ring tooth structure 111a. For the blade 120, in the radial direction relative to the rotation axis L1, its coupling end E1 and end E2 are on opposite sides of the clamping point between the first ring tooth structure 111a and the second ring tooth structure 112a.

In addition, the hub 110 also includes a plurality of locking parts 113, and the aforementioned locking parts 111c are adjacent between any two adjacent tooth units of the first ring tooth structure 111a, which is equivalent to being located between the first ring tooth structure 111a. at the depression (bottom), and the second part 112 also has a keyhole 112b at the end (tip) of the second ring tooth structure 112a, which after the first part 111 and the second part 112 are combined, the end (tip) The locking hole 112b at will directly correspond to the locking portion 111c at the recess (valley bottom), so the fixing process of the first part 111 and the second part 112 can be completed by the locking part 113, the locking part 111c and the locking hole 112b. In other words, when the blade 120 is assembled to the first part 111 and the second part 112 is assembled to the first part 111, the first part 111 and the second part 112 are fixed together by the locking member 113, and the blade 120 is also raised The strength of its combination with the hub 110.

Please refer to Figure 3, where the coordinate relationship is provided at the same time, such as the rotation axis L1 as shown in the figure and the radial direction D2 relative to the rotation axis L1, to facilitate subsequent explanation. In the above-mentioned process of assembling the blades 120 to the first part 111, since the blades 120 are partially overlapped with each other along the axis of the parallel rotation axis L1, the step of assembling the blades 120 to the first part 111 also includes: The blades 120 are assembled into the first part 111 sequentially, where the blades 120 before the last blade 120 are assembled to the first part 111 along the first path T1, and the last blade 120 is assembled to the first part 111 along the second path T2. Here, the first path T1 is parallel to the rotation axis L1 of the impeller structure 100 (marked in FIGS. 1A and 2 ), and the second path T2 includes a first sub-path T21 parallel to the rotation axis L1 and a first sub-path T21 parallel to the radial direction D2 The second sub-path T22, where the radial direction D2 is relative to the rotation axis L1. Here, blades 120 are provided with serializations A1 to A11, and these blades 120 are assembled to the first part 111 according to the serialization. Therefore, the blades 120 with serializations A1 to A10 can be assembled to the first part 111 through the first path T1, and the blades 120 are assembled to the first part 111 according to the serialization. In order to avoid interference with other blades 120, the blades 120 of A11 need to be assembled through the second path T2, that is, first move along the second sub-path T22 to between the blades 120 of the sequence A1 and A10, and then move along the first sub-path T22. The sub-path T21 allows the protruding portion 121 to be inserted into the slot G1 to complete the assembly operation of the blade 120 of the sequence A11. Of course, in other embodiments, all blades 120 can also be assembled using the second path T2.

The direction D1 shown in this embodiment is a clockwise direction, but it is not limited to this. Assembling the blades 120 to the first part 111 of the hub 110 in a counterclockwise direction can also prevent the blades 120 from interfering with each other. At the same time, this does not limit which sequence of blades 120 needs to be used as the first blade 120 to be assembled.

It should be noted that the blade 120 of this embodiment can be made of plastic material by injection molding, or can be made of metal material by stamping molding. In other words, based on the above characteristics of the impeller structure 100 , the blades 120 , the first part 111 of the hub 110 and the second part 112 of the hub 110 can be manufactured individually first, and then the blades 120 , the first part 111 of the hub 110 and the second part 112 of the hub 110 can be manufactured separately, and then the blades 120 can be manufactured from the semi-finished products. Select and assemble to complete the impeller structure 100 of this embodiment. What's more, the number of blades 120 arranged on the hub 110 can also be changed according to the degree of overlap of the blades 120. That is to say, the same blades 120 can be matched with different types of hubs, and the same hub 110 can also be matched with different types of hubs. Shape of the blades.

Based on the structural characteristics, configuration and manufacturing process of the hub 110 and the blades 120, the impeller structure 100 can easily achieve the effect of overlapping the blades 120, thereby overcoming the above obstacles due to manufacturing problems, and providing a solution that is different from the existing technology. The design idea further improves the margin and diversified nature of the design and production of the impeller structure 100 of the cooling fan.

Figure 4 is an exploded view of an impeller structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to Figure 4. The impeller structure 300 of this embodiment includes a hub 310 and a plurality of blades 320. The hub 310 includes a first part 311 and a second part 312. In order to facilitate component identification, the second part 312 also provides another perspective. schematic diagram. In this embodiment, the first part 311 has a first ring tooth structure 311a and a protrusion 311b provided on the first ring tooth structure 311a, and the second part 312 has a second ring tooth structure 312a and a protrusion 311b located on the second ring tooth structure 312a. The recess 312b is formed on the first ring tooth structure 311a and the second ring tooth structure 312a are structurally complementary to each other. Furthermore, the blade 320 has a coupling end E5 and an end E6 that are opposite to each other, and a locking groove 321 located at the coupling end E5.

Accordingly, it can be known from the assembly line shown in FIG. 4 that the blade 320 is successfully assembled to the first part 311 of the hub 310 through the mutual adaptation of the slot 321 and the convex portion 311b. The fitting of the second ring tooth structure 312a and the first ring tooth structure 311a, and the fitting of the recess 312b and the protruding part 311b, and assembling the second part 312 to the first part 311 is equivalent to letting the protruding part 311b pass through the slot 321 The recess 312b is embedded, and the coupling end E5 of the blade 320 is clamped between the first ring tooth structure 311a of the first part 311 and the second ring tooth structure 312a of the second part 312, and the coupling end E5 is also substantially connected to the recess 312b. The end E6 positions are on opposite sides of the clamp. At this point, the assembly of the hub 310 and the blade 320 is completed, and the blade 320 and the hub 310 are fixed together by utilizing the interference relationship between the components.

Based on the above embodiments, it can be seen that the protrusion and the slot do not limit the position of the blade when they can be adapted to each other so that the blade can be successfully assembled to the hub. In addition, although the above-mentioned embodiment uses locking and interference to complete the fixed relationship between the components, the present invention is not limited thereto. The existing technology can provide the combined fixing effect, such as joining, snapping or welding, etc. All are applicable to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial exploded view of an impeller structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. One blade 220 is removed from the hub 210 only to identify the structure of the blade 220 and does not represent its assembly or combination. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the manufacturing process of the impeller structure of FIG. 5 , in which two blades 220 are removed from the mold 700 as an example of placement, while the remaining blades 220 are placed into the mold 700 . FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the mold of FIG. 6 , in which the components of FIG. 7 are turned over at an angle to facilitate component identification. Please refer to FIGS. 5 to 7 at the same time. In this embodiment, the impeller structure 200 includes a hub 210 and a plurality of blades 220 , wherein the blades 220 have a coupling end E3 and an end E4 that are opposite to each other, and a convex portion 221 located at the coupling end E3 , for example, a sheet-like structure approximately parallel to the rotation axis L1. Accordingly, the hub 210 uses injection molding to partially cover and combine the blades 220 . Furthermore, in this embodiment, the manufacturing process of the blade 220 is still completed first. That is, as mentioned above, the blade 220 can be manufactured first by injection molding or stamping molding. Next, a mold 700 is provided, and the required blades 220 are placed into the mold 700. Finally, the hub 210 is produced by injection molding through the mold 700, so that the convex portion 221 of the blade 220 at its coupling end E3 is embedded in the hub 210 and connected with the hub 210. The hub 210 forms an integrated structure to complete the production of the impeller structure 200 .

In detail, please refer to Figures 6 and 7 again. The mold 700 of this embodiment includes a base 720 and an upper cover 710. The base 720 includes a cylindrical base 721, an annular base 722, and is located on the cylindrical base 721. The first ring tooth structure 724 and a plurality of inclined depressions 723 provided on the inner wall of the annular base 722, and the two adjacent inclined depressions 723 are not overlapping. Correspondingly, the upper cover 710 has a second ring tooth structure 711, and it and the first ring tooth structure 724 are structurally complementary to each other. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6 , after placing the plurality of blades 220 into the inclined recesses 723 respectively, parts of the blades 220 will protrude from the inclined recesses 723 , and the protruding parts will be substantially located above the adjacent blades 220 , so that the blades 220 are positioned above the adjacent blades 220 . After the fabrication is completed, a partially overlapping state is formed as shown in Figure 1A and Figure 1B . Furthermore, the first ring tooth structure 724 will form a locking groove G2 with the central cylinder 721a of the cylindrical base 721. Therefore, when the blade 220 is placed in the inclined recess 723, the convex portion 221 of the blade 220 will be further inserted into the locking groove G2. Groove G2, and when the upper cover 710 is assembled to the cylindrical base 721 and covers the inclined recess 723 of the annular base 722, the coupling end E3 of the blade 220 will be clamped between the first ring tooth structure 724 and the second ring tooth. between the structures 711, and the coupling end E3 and the end E4 of the blade 220 are substantially located on opposite sides of the clamping point.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the manufacturing process of an impeller structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 8 . It should be noted that this embodiment can be regarded as a combination of the aforementioned embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 . That is to say, the blades 320 of the impeller structure in this embodiment are the same as the blades 320 shown in FIG. 4 , having a coupling end E5 , an end E6 and a latching groove 321 . However, unlike the aforementioned method, the impeller structure is manufactured in an assembly manner. The embodiment adopts a mold 700 similar to that shown in FIG. 6 . Accordingly, the mold 800 of this embodiment includes an upper cover 810 and a base 820, where the base 820 includes a cylindrical base 821, an annular base 822, a first ring tooth structure 824 located on the cylindrical base 821 and a A plurality of inclined recesses 823 on the inner wall of the annular base 822, and the cylindrical base 821 has a first annular tooth structure 824, the upper cover 810 has a second annular tooth structure 811, and the first annular tooth structure 824 and the second annular tooth structure 811 are structurally complementary to each other. Accordingly, the process steps of this embodiment are also as described in the embodiments of FIGS. 5 to 7 . First, multiple blades 320 are placed into the inclined recesses 823 respectively, so that the connecting ends E5 of the blades 320 are connected to the cylindrical base. 821 to maintain the gap G3; then, the upper cover 810 is assembled to the cylindrical base 821 so that the blade 320 is clamped between the first ring tooth structure 824 and the second ring tooth structure 811, that is, the clamping portion shown in the figure 322, and furthermore, in the radial direction relative to the rotation axis L1, the coupling end E5 and the end E6 of the blade 320 are substantially located on opposite sides of the aforementioned clamping portion 322. Finally, the mold 800 is used for injection molding to form the wheel hub, so that the coupling end E5 of the blade 320 is embedded in the wheel hub (covered by the wheel hub), and part of the wheel hub will actually pass through the slot 321 to improve the connection between the two. Bonding strength.

To sum up, in the above embodiments of the present invention, since the impeller structure has blades that partially overlap each other in the axial direction of the rotating shaft, in order to overcome the existing processing and molding technology, the impeller structures are composed and manufactured with different structures. This method can smoothly produce an impeller structure with overlapping blades.

In one embodiment, the blades are made first, and then the hub is further divided into different parts coaxially arranged with each other, so that the blades are combined with the hub either by structural assembly or injection molding.

In one embodiment, the blades are made first, and then the mold is disassembled along the axial direction (the axial direction is parallel to the rotation axis of the impeller structure), so that the blades are placed in the mold and then injection molded to produce the mold. The blades are joined together by the hub.

Regardless of the above embodiments, the impeller structure and its manufacturing method of the present invention can effectively overcome the problems caused by interference during assembly of the existing integrated impeller structure or the inability to use injection molding. At the same time, this move also makes the impeller structure no longer limited by the above-mentioned process factors, and has a more flexible and diversified design space.

100, 200, 300: impeller structure 110, 210, 310: hub 111, 311: Part One 111a, 311a, 724, 824: first ring tooth structure 111b: Inner ring structure 111c:Lock part 112, 312: Part 2 112a, 312a, 711, 811: Second ring tooth structure 112b:Keyhole 113:Lock accessories 120, 220, 320: Blades 121, 221, 311b: convex part 312b: depression 322: Clamping part 700, 800: Mold 710, 810: Upper cover 720, 820: base 721, 821: Cylindrical base 721a:Center cylinder 722, 822: Ring base 723, 823: inclined depression A1～A11: Sequence D1: direction D2: Radial E1, E3, E5: binding end E2, E4, E6: end 321, G1, G2: card slot G3: Gap L1:Rotation axis P1: datum plane T1: first path T2: Second path T21: first sub-path T22: Second sub-path

1A is a schematic diagram of an impeller structure of a cooling fan according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1B is a partial top view of Figure 1A. Figure 2 is an exploded view of the impeller structure of Figure 1A. Figure 3 is a schematic assembly diagram of the impeller structure of Figure 1A. Figure 4 is an exploded view of an impeller structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a partial exploded view of an impeller structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the manufacturing process of the impeller structure of FIG. 5 . FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the mold of FIG. 6 . FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the manufacturing process of an impeller structure according to another embodiment of the present invention.

100: Impeller structure

110:wheel hub

111:Part One

111a: First ring tooth structure

111b: Inner ring structure

111c:Lock part

112:Part 2

112a: Second ring tooth structure

112b:Keyhole

113:Lock accessories

120: blade

121:convex part

E1: binding end

E2: end

Claims (4)

A method of manufacturing an impeller structure, suitable for cooling fans. The manufacturing method includes: providing a mold; placing a plurality of blades on the mold, wherein the orthographic projections of any two adjacent blades on a plane partially overlap. The impeller structure A rotation axis is orthogonal to the plane, each blade has a coupling end; and a hub is injection molded through the mold to cover the coupling ends of the blades, wherein the mold includes: a cylindrical base ; An annular base, set on the cylindrical base, the annular base has a plurality of inclined depressions, arranged around the rotation axis, the blades are respectively placed in the inclined depressions, and two adjacent inclined depressions The orthographic projections on the plane partially overlap; and an upper cover is assembled to the cylindrical base to cover the inclined depressions. The method for manufacturing an impeller structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cylindrical base has a first ring tooth structure forming a slot with a central cylinder of the cylindrical base, and each blade also has a first ring tooth structure located on the Combining a convex part at the end, placing the plurality of blades in the mold also includes: when placing the blades to the corresponding inclined recess, the convex part is inserted into the slot. The manufacturing method of an impeller structure as described in claim 2, wherein the upper cover also has a second ring tooth structure, the structure is complementary to the first ring tooth structure, and the coupling end is clamped between the first ring tooth structure and the third ring tooth structure. Between the two ring tooth structures. The method for manufacturing an impeller structure as described in claim 3, wherein each blade also has an end relative to the coupling end, and the end and the coupling end are located when the blade is separated by the first ring tooth structure and the second ring. Opposite sides of the tooth structure clamp.

Images