Rotor ventilator

Abstract

The invention disclosed is a rotor ventilator which includes a base to which a shaft is connected to extend upwardly therefrom and a rotor. The rotor is rotatable about the shaft and includes a plate and a plurality of vanes extending downwardly therefrom. Also included is a bearing means for supporting the rotor on the shaft. The bearing means is located at the plate, above the centre of gravity of the rotor.

1 . A rotor ventilator that has:
 a base;
 a shaft that is connected to and extends upwardly from the base; 
 a rotor that is rotatable about the shaft; 
 a plate on the rotor; 
 a plurality of vanes on the rotor that extend downwardly from the plate; 
   a rotatable bearing unit that is connected to the plate and supports the rotor on the shaft;   one race in the bearing unit that is disposed on a first plane that is generally perpendicular to the shaft; and   another race in the bearing unit that is disposed in a second plane that is parallel to and axially offset from the first plane.   
     
     
         2 . A rotor ventilator according to  claim 1  wherein the rotatable bearing unit includes:
 a bearing including a central bore and two internal axially spaced bearing races; 
 a central shaft extending longitudinally through the bore, with a space being defined between the bearing and the shaft, the shaft including two external axially spaced bearing races, with the shaft races being aligned with the races on the bearing; 
 a plurality of ball bearings captively engaged between respective aligned races; and 
 a low friction seal located at one end of the bearing and projecting radially inwards towards the shaft. 
 
     
     
         3 . A rotor ventilator according to  claim 1  wherein the rotatable bearing unit is located above the plate. 
     
     
         4 . A rotor ventilator according to  claim 2  including a second radially inwardly projecting seal located at another end of the rotatable bearing unit. 
     
     
         5 . A rotor ventilator according to  claim 1  including a support means rotatably mounted at one end to the shaft and mounted at another end to the rotor. 
     
     
         6 . A rotor ventilator according to  claim 5  wherein the one end of the support means includes a bearing unit for rotatable mounting on the shaft. 
     
     
         7 . A rotor ventilator according to  claim 5  wherein the support means is intermediate the plate and base. 
     
     
         8 . A rotor ventilator according to  claim 1  including a deflector located with respect to the shaft and between the base and the plate to deflect gas passing through the rotor ventilator away from the rotatable bearing unit. 
     
     
         9 . A rotor ventilator according to  claim 1  wherein an end of each vane is mounted to the plate on the rotor by tab fastening means including at least one tab projection for receipt in a corresponding slot in the plate.