Ring cooling fan including stiffening ribs fully connected on at most two sides

Abstract

A process of producing a ring cooling fan, the ring cooling fan including at least two fan blades, a fan hub, and a fan ring. Each of the fan blades has a distal end disposed away from the fan hub and connected with one another via the fan ring and a proximal end disposed on the fan hub. At least one of the fan blades includes at least two stiffening ribs in an open-box structure. The process includes disposing the fan hub in a mold, molding the at least two fan blades and the fan ring such that the stiffening ribs are disposed on a top surface of the fan blade and are fully connected with each other on at most two sides, and removing the ring cooling fan from the mold.

What we claim is:  
     
         1 . A process of producing a ring cooling fan, the ring cooling fan comprising at least two fan blades, a fan hub, and a fan ring, each of the fan blades having a distal end disposed away from the fan hub and connected with one another via the fan ring and a proximal end disposed on the fan hub, at least one of the fan blades including at least two stiffening ribs, the process comprising: 
 disposing the fan hub in a mold;    molding the at least two fan blades and the fan ring, such that the stiffening ribs are disposed on a surface of the fan blade and are fully connected with each other on at most two sides; and    removing the ring cooling fan from the mold.    
     
     
         2 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the stiffening ribs are disposed along a radius of the fan hub.  
     
     
         3 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the stiffening ribs are disposed at an angle to a radius of the fan hub.  
     
     
         4 . The process according to  claim 3 , wherein the stiffening ribs are substantially parallel with each other.  
     
     
         5 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the stiffening ribs have an open-box structure which is open on two full sides.  
     
     
         6 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein four stiffening ribs are present.  
     
     
         7 . The process according to  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 molding at least two additional stiffening ribs on the surface of at least one fan blade opposite the surface on which the original stiffening ribs are disposed.    
     
     
         8 . A ring cooling fan produced by the process of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         9 . A ring cooling fan produced by the process of  claim 5 .  
     
     
         10 . A ring cooling fan produced by the process of  claim 6 .  
     
     
         11 . A ring cooling fan, comprising: 
 a fan ring;    a fan hub comprising a top surface and a bottom surface disposed apart from the top surface along an axis of rotation of the ring cooling fan for connection with a drive shaft or clutch body;    a first fan blade including a first distal end and a first proximal end opposite the first distal end and connected with the fan hub;    a second fan blade including a second distal end and a second proximal end opposite the second distal end and connected with the fan hub, the first and second distal ends of the fan blades being connected with each other via the fan ring; and    at least two stiffening ribs disposed on the first fan blade, the stiffening ribs being fully connected with each other on at most two sides.    
     
     
         12 . The ring cooling fan according to  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the stiffening ribs extends along a radius of the fan hub.  
     
     
         13 . The ring cooling fan according to  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the stiffening ribs extends at an angle to a radius of the fan hub.  
     
     
         14 . The ring cooling fan according to  claim 11 , wherein the stiffening ribs are parallel with each other.  
     
     
         15 . The ring cooling fan according to  claim 11 , wherein the first fan blade includes a fan blade top surface disposed at a blade angle from and adjacent to the top surface of the fan hub, the stiffening ribs extending from the fan blade top surface to the top surface of the fan hub.  
     
     
         16 . The ring cooling fan according to  claim 15 , wherein four stiffening ribs are present.  
     
     
         17 . The ring cooling fan according to  claim 16 , further comprising: 
 at least one bottom stiffening rib disposed on a bottom surface of the first blade opposite the top surface.    
     
     
         18 . The ring cooling fan according to  claim 17 , wherein two stiffening ribs are present on the bottom surface.