US 11,898,569 B2
Banded cooling fan band having knit-line strength improvement
Markus Liedel, Buehl (DE); Alain-Bernard Isel, Riedseltz (FR); Ray Cote, Dover, MA (US); Eugen Stockmann, Karlsruhe (DE); and Serge Nako, Souffelweyersheim (FR)
Assigned to Robert Bosch LLC, Broadview, IL (US); and Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart (DE)
Appl. No. 17/915,699
Filed by Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart (DE)
PCT Filed Apr. 6, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/058879
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 29, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/204766, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 14, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/147,500, filed on Feb. 9, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/006,840, filed on Apr. 8, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0132288 A1, Apr. 27, 2023
Int. Cl. F04D 29/02 (2006.01); F04D 29/32 (2006.01); F04D 29/38 (2006.01)
CPC F04D 29/023 (2013.01) [F04D 29/32 (2013.01); F04D 29/326 (2013.01); F04D 29/388 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A fan, the fan comprising:
a hub configured to be driven by motor to rotate about a fan rotational axis;
a band that surrounds the rotational axis and is concentric with the hub, the band including a cylindrical portion that extends in parallel to the fan rotational axis, a lip portion that extends in at an angle to the fan rotational axis, and an intermediate portion that connects one end of the cylindrical portion to one end of the lip portion;
blades that protrude radially from the hub, each blade comprising a root that is connected to the hub and a tip that is connected to a hub-facing surface of the cylindrical portion; and
a structurally-reinforcing rib that protrudes from the hub-facing surface of the cylindrical portion, the rib disposed between respective tips of an adjacent pair of the blades, wherein a circumferential dimension of the rib is at least 40 percent of a distance along the hub-facing surface between the respective tips of the blades of the adjacent pair of the blades, wherein the rib extends onto the intermediate portion.