Air mover inlet interface and cover

Abstract

An air mover assembly comprising: (a) an impeller having an impeller outer diameter and a rotational axis; (b) a motor for driving the impeller; (c) an air mover housing that encloses at least a portion of the impeller and the motor, the air mover housing including: at least one air inlet that receives air when the impeller is rotating and at least one air outlet; and (d) an air mover inlet interface adjoining the at least one air inlet and including: (i) a height, (ii) a wall having a curvature along at least a portion of the height of the air mover inlet interface that extends outward in a direction of air flow, and (iii) an inner diameter; wherein the inner diameter is less than the impeller outer diameter.

We claim: 
     
         1 ) An air mover assembly comprising:
 a. an impeller having an impeller outer diameter and a rotational axis;   b. a motor for driving the impeller;   c. an air mover housing that encloses at least a portion of the impeller and the motor, the air mover housing including: at least one air inlet that receives air when the impeller is rotating and at least one air outlet; and   d. an air mover inlet interface adjoining the at least one air inlet and including: (i) a height, (ii) a wall having a curvature along at least a portion of the height of the air mover inlet interface that extends outward in a direction of air flow, and (iii) an inner diameter;   
       wherein the inner diameter is less than the impeller outer diameter. 
     
     
         2 ) The air mover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the impeller outer diameter and the air mover inlet interface inner diameter both include a center line and the center lines are generally aligned with each other along the rotational axis. 
     
     
         3 ) The air mover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the impeller includes a plurality of radially disposed vanes substantially about a circumference of the impeller, the vanes each including an upper edge, a lower edge, an outer edge, and an inner edge having at least a portion that slopes generally towards the rotational axis of the impeller. 
     
     
         4 ) The air mover assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the vanes have a contoured surface with a curvature defined from the outer edge towards the inner edge. 
     
     
         5 ) The air mover assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the plurality of vanes are supported on a base of the impeller and the base includes a hub portion adapted to house at least a portion of the motor and is adapted to rotate the impeller, the base having an upper surface that is located between a top and a bottom of the impeller. 
     
     
         6 ) The air mover assembly of  claim 5 , wherein the hub portion has a height that is less than two thirds a distance between the top and the bottom of the impeller. 
     
     
         7 ) The air mover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the motor is disposed at least partially within the hub portion of the impeller. 
     
     
         8 ) The air mover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one inlet is at least partially defined in a cover that attaches to the housing and the cover includes at least a portion of the contour of the at least one inlet. 
     
     
         9 ) The air mover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the air mover assembly includes an air mover inlet interface is integrally formed with the air mover housing, the cover, or a combination of both. 
     
     
         10 ) The air mover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the air mover inlet interface has an inner circumferential edge and an outer circumferential edge with a radiused surface extending between and connecting the outer circumferential edge to the inner circumferential edge, the inner circumferential edge is at a different height than the outer circumferential edge. 
     
     
         11 ) The air mover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein a cover is connected to the at least one air inlet and the cover includes a grill portion adapted to allow movement of air while preventing objects of a predetermined size from passage, and the cover is generally dome shaped. 
     
     
         12 ) The air mover assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the cover is integrally molded with the air mover housing. 
     
     
         13 ) An air mover cover comprising:
 a grill portion adapted to allow movement of air while preventing objects of a predetermined size from passage;   wherein the grill portion includes:
 (1) a generally contoured shape that is convex; 
 (2) at least one first generally centrally disposed through hole opening having a first geometric shape, and a plurality of radially adjoining through hole openings having a second geometric shape different from the first geometric shape and radially adjoining the generally centrally disposed through hole opening; 
 (3) a plurality of connection structures that have a center density in a central region of the grill portion and an adjacent density in regions surrounding the central region, where the center density is higher than the adjacent density when measured using a total length of the connection structure per unit area of each region; 
 (4) at least one first generally centrally disposed through hole opening having a first area, and a plurality of radially adjoining through hole openings each having a second area that are each different than the first area; or 
 (5) any combination of (1) through (4). 
   
     
     
         14 ) The air mover cover of  claim 13 , wherein the air mover cover includes a connection portion adapted to connect to an inlet or an outlet of an air mover housing. 
     
     
         15 ) The air mover cover of  claim 13 , wherein the connector portion includes a circumferential outwardly radiused wall. 
     
     
         16 ) The air mover cover of  claim 13 , wherein the grill portion has a plurality of second through hole openings radially adjoining the at least one first generally centrally disposed through hole opening, the plurality of second through hole openings having a second geometric shape. 
     
     
         17 ) The air mover cover of  claim 13 , wherein the least one first generally centrally disposed through hole opening is pentagonal, and the plurality of second through hole openings are hexagonal. 
     
     
         18 ) The air mover cover of  claim 13 , wherein the grill portion is configured to have a dome shape having a height and a diameter and the ratio of the height to the diameter is from about 1:2 to about 1:100. 
     
     
         19 ) The air mover cover of  claim 13 , wherein the grill portion includes an outer density of connection structures that are located in an outer region that is radially disposed outside of the central region and the region surrounding the central region where the outer density is lower than both the center density and the adjacent density when measured using length of the connection structure per unit area. 
     
     
         20 ) The air mover cover of  claim 13 , wherein the cover is flat and the grill portion of the cover is flat.