Blower and pap system

Abstract

A blower includes a housing including an inlet and an outlet, a stationary component provided to the housing, an impeller positioned between the inlet of the housing and the stationary component, and a motor adapted to drive the impeller. The stationary component includes a tube portion structured to retain and align a pair of bearings that rotatably support a rotor to which the impeller is coupled. The tube portion includes a diameter in a side closest to the impeller that is sufficient size to accommodate adhesive to retain one of the bearings.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A blower, comprising:
 a housing including an inlet and an outlet;   a stationary component provided to the housing;   an impeller positioned between the inlet of the housing and the stationary component; and   a motor adapted to drive the impeller,   wherein the motor includes a rotor to which the impeller is coupled, the rotor including at least one annular groove.   
     
     
         2 . A blower according to  claim 1 , wherein the rotor is supported by a pair of bearings, and the at least one groove is adapted to be positioned between the bearings. 
     
     
         3 . A blower according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one groove has a diameter between about 50% and about 95% of the outer diameter of the rotor. 
     
     
         4 . A blower according to  claim 3 , wherein the at least one groove has a diameter of between about 60% and about 70% of the outer diameter of the rotor. 
     
     
         5 . A blower according to  claim 4 , wherein the at least one groove has a diameter of about 66% of the outer diameter of the rotor. 
     
     
         6 . A blower according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one groove has a diameter of between about 2 mm and about 2.5 mm. 
     
     
         7 . A blower according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one groove has a width of between about 1 mm and about 2 mm. 
     
     
         8 . A blower according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one groove has a width that is between about 20% and about 50% of the outer diameter of the rotor. 
     
     
         9 . A blower according to  claim 8 , wherein the at least one groove has a width that is between about 30% and about 40% of the outer diameter of the rotor. 
     
     
         10 . A blower according to  claim 9 , wherein the at least one groove has a width of about 33% of the outer diameter of the rotor. 
     
     
         11 . A blower according to  claim 1 , wherein the rotor further includes a plurality of smaller grooves along the length of the rotor. 
     
     
         12 . A blower according to  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of smaller grooves are arranged on a double helix configuration. 
     
     
         13 . A blower according to  claim 1 , further comprising a tube portion adapted to receive a pair of bearings and the rotor. 
     
     
         14 . A blower according to  claim 13 , wherein the rotor further comprises a smaller annular groove adapted to receive a retaining ring structured to maintain the rotor within the tube portion. 
     
     
         15 . A blower, comprising:
 a housing including an inlet and an outlet;   a stationary component provided to the housing;   an impeller positioned between the inlet of the housing and the stationary component; and   a motor adapted to drive the impeller, the motor including a rotor coupled to the impeller,   wherein at least two of the following noise reduction features are provided in the blower:   (i) the stationary component includes a tube portion structured to retain and align a pair of bearings that rotatably support the rotor, the tube portion including a diameter in a side closest to the impeller that is sufficient size to accommodate adhesive to retain one of the bearings;   (ii) the rotor includes at least one annular groove;   (iii) the stationary component and a stator assembly of the motor are overmolded with one another to provide a stationary assembly, the stationary assembly including a plurality of mounting protrusions to precisely position and align a printed circuit board assembly and its attendant components accurately with respect to the stationary assembly, and at least one of the protrusions is positioned near a Hall sensor of the printed circuit board assembly;   (iv) a blower bracket to locate and align the blower within a casing; and/or   (v) a chimney or inlet tube portion provided to the inlet of the housing.   
     
     
         16 . A blower according to  claim 9 , wherein the diameter is increased at the side closet to the impeller compared to the diameter of the remaining tube portion. 
     
     
         17 . A blower according to  claim 16 , wherein the diameter is increased by about 0.005 mm to 0.025 mm compared to the diameter of the remaining tube portion. 
     
     
         18 . A blower according to  claim 15 , wherein the side closest to the impeller includes one or more elongated protrusions to enhance retention of the bearing. 
     
     
         19 . A blower according to  claim 15 , wherein the rotor is supported by a pair of bearings, and the at least one annular groove is adapted to be positioned between the bearings. 
     
     
         20 . A blower according to  claim 15 , wherein the blower bracket includes a main body having a first pair of apertures on opposite sides of the main body and a second pair of apertures on opposite sides of the main body, the second pair of apertures being larger than the first pair of apertures.