Mount bracket for fan

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11719259-B2
Application number	US-202117345375-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 11, 2021
Priority date	Jul 1, 2020
Publication date	Aug 8, 2023
Grant date	Aug 8, 2023

Abstract

A fan can include a motor for driving a set of blades to move a volume of air about a space. A cage can be provided to encase the set of blades to protect the fan, as well as permit a volume of air to move through the cage. A mount bracket couples to the cage, and can include a first portion including a first pair of hooks connecting the first portion to the cage, with the first portion including a pair of apertures and an attachment feature, and a second portion including a second pair of hooks connecting the first portion to the cage, with the second portion including a pair of extensions configured to secure to the first portion at the pair of apertures. The attachment feature is configured to couple an accessory to the cage via the mount bracket.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mount bracket for mounting an accessory to a fan having a cage, the mount bracket comprising:
a first portion including at least one aperture and a first connector connecting the first portion to the cage to form a first pivot about which the first portion is pivoted relative to the cage;
a second portion including a second connector for connecting the second portion to the cage to form a second pivot about which the second portion is pivoted relative to the cage, and including at least one extension complementary to the at least one aperture; and
an accessory attachment feature provided on one of the first portion and the second portion;
wherein the first portion is pivoted about the first pivot and the second portion is pivoted about the second pivot such that the first portion and second portion at least partially overlap and the extension is received through the aperture to couple the first portion and the second portion.

2. The mount bracket of claim 1 , wherein the first connector comprises a pair of hooks and the second connector comprises a second pair of hooks.

3. The mount bracket of claim 2 , wherein the pair of hooks and the second pair of hooks are configured to secure the mount bracket to the cage when first portion couples to the second portion.

4. The mount bracket of claim 1 , wherein the accessory attachment feature is threaded, and extends from the first portion opposite away from the cage when the first portion couples to the cage.

5. The mount bracket of claim 4 , further comprising a nut thread onto the accessory attachment feature to secure the accessory to the attachment feature.

6. The mount bracket of claim 1 , wherein the accessory attachment feature is female threaded.

7. The mount bracket of claim 1 , wherein the first portion includes a pair of fixing extensions configured to position on the cage.

8. The mount bracket of claim 7 , wherein the pair of fixing extensions are spaced to position on opposite sides of a rib or a bar forming a portion of the cage.

9. The mount bracket of claim 1 , wherein the first portion is separated into a first section, a second section, and a third section.

10. The mount bracket of claim 9 , wherein the at least one aperture is provided on the first section.

11. The mount bracket of claim 10 , wherein a pair of extensions are provided on the second section.

12. The mount bracket of claim 11 , wherein the first connector extends from the third section, and the accessory attachment feature is provided on the third section.

13. The mount bracket of claim 9 , wherein the first section and the second section, are relatively oriented at a first angle, and the second section and third section are relatively oriented at a second angle.

14. The mount bracket of claim 13 , wherein the first angle and second angle are configured to conform the first portion to a curvature of the cage.

15. A fan comprising:
a motor assembly;
a set of blades rotatably driven by the motor assembly to move a volume of air about a space;
a cage encasing the set of blades, the cage including a set of ribs and a set of bars; and
a mount bracket coupled to the cage, the mount bracket comprising:
a first portion including a first pair of hooks connected to at least one of the set of ribs or set of bars to form a first pivot about which the first portion pivots relative to the cage, with the first portion including a pair of apertures and an attachment feature, and
a second portion including a second pair of hooks connected to at least one of the set of ribs or set of bars to form a second pivot about which the second portion pivots relative to the cage, with the second portion including a pair of extensions configured to secure to the first portion at the pair of apertures;

wherein the first portion is pivoted about the first pivot and the second portion is pivoted about the second pivot such that the first portion and second portion at least partially overlap and the pair of extensions are received through the corresponding pair of apertures to couple the first portion and the second portion;
wherein the attachment feature is configured to couple an accessory to the cage via the mount bracket.

16. The fan of claim 15 , wherein the first portion includes a pair of fixing extensions configured to position on the cage.

17. The fan of claim 16 , wherein the pair of extensions are spaced to position on opposite sides of one rib of the set of ribs or one bar of the set of bars.

18. The fan of claim 15 , wherein the first portion is separated into a first section, a second section, and a third section, whereby the first section is offset from the second section by a first angle, and the second section is offset from the third section by a second angle.

19. A method of connecting an accessory to a fan with a mount bracket, the method comprising:
attaching a first portion to a cage of the fan, by connecting a first pair of hooks on the first portion to a rib of the cage to form a first pivot about which the first portion is pivoted;
attaching a second portion to the cage of the fan, by connecting a second pair of hooks on the second portion to a different rib of the cage to form a second pivot about which the second pivot is pivoted;
securing the first portion to the second portion once the first portion and second portion are in at least a partially overlapping orientation after pivoting about the corresponding first pivot and second pivot; and
securing the accessory to an attachment feature extending from the first portion.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein securing the first portion to the second portion includes inserting at least one connector on the second portion into at least one complementary aperture on the first portion.

21. The method of claim 19 , further comprising securing a position of the first portion with a pair of fixing extensions.

Assignees

• Hunter Fan Co

Inventors

• Rice Daniel

Classifications

• F04D29/646 Primary

  Mounting or removal of fans · CPC title

• F04D25/08

  the working fluid being air, e.g. for ventilation · CPC title

• F04D29/005

  Decorative aspects, i.e. features which have no effect on the functioning of the pump · CPC title

• F04D29/601

  specially adapted for elastic fluid pumps · CPC title

• F04D29/703 Primary

  specially for fans, e.g. fan guards · CPC title