Neck Fan
Patent No. US11635083 (titled "Neck Fan") was filed by Shenzhen Jisu Technology Co Ltd on Apr 11, 2022.
What is this patent about?
’083 is related to the field of personal cooling devices, specifically neck fans. These devices aim to provide hands-free cooling for users in various environments, such as during outdoor activities or in office settings. Existing neck fan designs often suffer from safety concerns due to exposed fan blades and discomfort caused by concentrated air outlets, leading to uneven or unpleasant cooling experiences.
The underlying idea behind ’083 is to create a safer and more comfortable neck fan by integrating multiple fan assemblies within a protective shell . This shell is designed to hang around the user's neck and features strategically placed air inlets and outlets to distribute airflow evenly. The key insight is to use multiple smaller fans instead of a single large one, improving safety and allowing for a more diffused and comfortable airflow.
The claims of ’083 focus on a neck fan with an arc-shaped shell having two portions that sit on either side of the neck. Each portion has a wall that defines a receiving space with multiple air inlets and outlets. A fan assembly resides in each receiving space, guiding air from the inlets to the outlets. A cover is positioned on the outer side of the wall, away from the neck, corresponding to the air inlets, with a gap between the cover's edge and the wall to allow air intake. Another claim focuses on a partition within the receiving space, dividing it into sub-spaces, with the fan assemblies residing in these sub-spaces. The cross-sectional area of the air duct decreases from each portion towards the other, and a cover with a gap is also present.
In practice, the neck fan operates by drawing air through the inlets on the shell's exterior and directing it towards the outlets positioned to provide cooling to the user's neck and face. The use of multiple fan assemblies allows for a more distributed and less concentrated airflow, enhancing comfort. The decreasing cross-sectional area of the air duct helps maintain air velocity, ensuring consistent cooling performance across all outlets.
This design differentiates itself from prior approaches by fully enclosing the fan assemblies within the shell, mitigating the risk of hair entanglement and improving overall safety. The cover with a gap provides an additional layer of protection while ensuring sufficient airflow. Furthermore, the use of partitions to create separate air ducts for each fan assembly minimizes air volume loss and reduces wind noise, addressing common issues found in existing neck fan designs. The decreasing cross-sectional area of the air duct is a further refinement that helps to maintain a consistent airflow.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical landscape at the time
In the late 2010s when ’083 was filed, portable electronic devices were at a time when miniaturization and power efficiency were key design considerations. At that time, thermal management in wearable devices was typically implemented using passive cooling techniques or small, low-power fans due to constraints on battery life and device size. When hardware or software constraints made complex airflow control non-trivial, simple fan designs with limited directional control were common.
Novelty and Inventive Step
The examiner approved the patent because the closest prior art, Liu et al. US20220235786, discloses a neck fan with fan assemblies that pull air into the casing, but it does not disclose a cover for the fan assembly. The examiner considered the structure of "wherein each of the first portion and the second portion comprises a cover; the cover is disposed on a side of the second side wall away from the first side wall and corresponds to the plurality of air inlets; and a gap is defined between an edge of the cover and the second side wall and is communicated with the plurality of air inlets" to be the allowable subject matter.
Claims
This patent contains 16 claims, of which claims 1 and 10 are independent. The independent claims are directed to a neck fan with specific structural features, such as an arc-shaped shell, air inlets/outlets, and fan assemblies. The dependent claims generally elaborate on and add detail to the features described in the independent claims, such as partitions, electronic control assemblies, fan blade assemblies, and air outlet configurations.
Key Claim Terms New
Definitions of key terms used in the patent claims.
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Date
Description
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US11635083
- Application Number
- US17717131
- Filing Date
- Apr 11, 2022
- Status
- Granted
- Expiry Date
- Nov 13, 2040
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO, Google Patents