Cooling fan with rotor shaft end abutting polyoxymethylene tube bottom

1. Technical Field

The disclosure generally relates to cooling fans such as those used in electronic devices, and particularly to a cooling fan having a tube and a rotor configured for stable performance of the cooling fan.

2. Description of Related Art

With the continuing development of electronics technology, heat-generating electronic components such as CPUs (central processing units) are generating more and more heat when in operation. In typical devices that employ CPUs, the heat requires immediate dissipation. Cooling fans are commonly used in combination with heat sinks for cooling the CPUs.

A typical cooling fan includes a fan housing, a stator, and a rotor. The fan housing forms a base at a central portion thereof, the stator is mounted on the base, and the rotor is rotatably supported by the stator. In detail, the stator is mounted around a central tube formed at a central portion of the base. A receiving hole is defined in the central tube. The rotor includes a hub and a shaft extending from the hub. A wear plate is received in a bottom end of the receiving hole. An end of the shaft is received in the receiving hole of the central tube and abuts the wear plate. A clasp is received in the receiving hole. The clasp clasps the shaft and abuts against inner surfaces of the receiving hole to fix the shaft in the central tube. A thickness of the wear plate is less than 0.3 mm (millimeters), and the wear plate is light in weight. When the cooling fan is working, the wear plate is liable to be displaced by circulating oil and may become offset. The offset wear plate causes the shaft and the clasp to become offset. The offset clasp may interfere with the shaft, jamming the shaft such that the shaft can no longer rotate properly relative to the stator. Thus, the cooling fan is liable to malfunction or even fail altogether.

What is needed, therefore, is an improved cooling fan which can overcome the above-described shortcomings

FIG. 1 is a schematic, cross-sectional view of a central part of a cooling fan in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a central tube of a fan housing of the cooling fan of FIG. 1 , showing the central tube in isolation.

An embodiment of a cooling fan in accordance with the present disclosure will now be described in detail below and with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a cooling fan 100 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. The cooling fan 100 includes a base plate 10 , a stator 20 mounted on the base plate 10 , and a rotor 30 engaging with the stator 20 .

The rotor 30 includes a cylindrical hub 32 , a shaft 34 , a magnet 36 and a plurality of blades 38 . The hub 32 includes a top wall 322 , and a sidewall 324 extending downwardly from a circumferential edge of the top wall 322 . A shaft seat 323 is formed in a central portion of the top wall 322 . The shaft 34 extends downwardly from within the seat 323 to below the shaft seat 323 . The shaft 34 has a bottom free end 342 . An edge of the free end 342 is chamfered. An annular recess 343 is defined in the shaft 34 at the free end 342 . The blades 38 extend obliquely outwardly from an outer periphery of the sidewall 324 of the hub 32 . The blades 38 are spaced from each other. The magnet 36 is annular and received in the hub 32 . An outer periphery of the magnet 36 contacts an inner surface of the sidewall 324 .

The stator 20 includes a printed circuit board (PCB) 26 , a stator core 22 , an insulating frame 28 , and a plurality of stator coils 24 . The insulating frame 28 encloses the stator core 22 therein. The stator coils 24 are wound on the insulating frame 28 and around the stator core 22 . Thus, the stator coils 24 are electrically separated from the stator core 22 by the insulating frame 28 . The PCB 26 is attached to a bottom side of the insulating frame 28 , and is electrically connected with the stator coils 24 to control an electrical current flowing through the stator coils 24 . A through hole is defined in each of the stator core 22 , the insulating frame 28 , and the PCB 26 . The through holes of the stator core 22 , the insulating frame 28 , and the PCB 26 are coaxial, and cooperatively define a mounting hole 27 . The mounting hole 27 is centered along an axial direction of the stator 20 .

Referring also to FIG. 2 , the base plate 10 is elongated, and a central tube 15 extends upwardly from a central portion of the base plate 10 . The central tube 15 is made of polyoxymethylene.

The central tube 15 is column-shaped, and includes a bottom plate 151 and a cylindrical sidewall 155 extending upwardly from a peripheral edge of the bottom plate 151 . The bottom plate 151 and the sidewall 155 cooperatively define a blind hole 150 therebetween, with the blind hole 150 centered along an axial direction of the central tube 15 . The central tube 15 includes a main section 154 , a fixing section 152 formed at a top end of the main section 154 , and a securing section 156 formed at a bottom end of the main section 154 . The fixing section 152 has an outer diameter smaller than that of the main section 154 , whereby an annular outer step 159 is formed between the fixing section 152 and the main section 154 . The outer diameter of the main section 154 is smaller than that of the securing section 156 .

An annular inner step 153 extends inwardly from an inner circumferential surface of a bottommost portion of the sidewall 155 of the central tube 15 . A bearing 80 is received in the blind hole 150 of the central tube 15 . An annular clasp 90 is received in the blind hole 150 , and located between the bearing 80 and the inner step 153 . The clasp 90 is also received in the recess 343 of the free end 342 of the shaft 34 . Thus, the clasp 90 clasps the shaft 34 and abuts against the inner circumferential surface of the sidewall 155 of the central tube 15 to fix the shaft 34 in the central tube 15 .

Referring to FIG. 1 again, in assembly of the cooling fan 100 , the stator 20 is pressed downwardly around the central tube 15 . During such pressing, the fixing section 152 of the central tube 15 extends sequentially through the PCB 26 , the insulating frame 28 , and the stator core 22 and is received in the mounting hole 27 . A bottom of the stator core 22 abuts on the outer step 159 of the central tube 15 . The clasp 90 is pressed into the blind hole 150 and located at a top end of the inner step 153 . Then the bearing 80 is received in the blind hole 150 and abuts the clasp 90 . Next, the free end 342 of the shaft 34 is extended sequentially through the bearing 80 and the clasp 90 , and snappingly engages with the clasp 90 . A bottom extremity of the free end 342 directly abuts the bottom plate 151 of the central tube 15 .

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the embodiment have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiment, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.