Blower housing for air conditioning system

Abstract

A blower includes a fan wheel and a blower housing. The blower housing includes a first housing portion and a second housing portion. The second housing portion is removably connectable to the first housing portion to define a hollow interior therebetween configured to receive a fan wheel, wherein an interface between the first housing portion and the second housing portion is arranged at a central plane of the blower housing.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A blower comprising:
 a fan wheel; and   a blower housing comprising:
 a first housing portion; and 
 a second housing portion, the second housing portion being removably connectable to the first housing portion to define a hollow interior therebetween configured to receive the fan wheel, wherein an interface between the first housing portion and the second housing portion is arranged at a central plane of the blower housing. 
   
     
     
         2 . The blower of  claim 1 , wherein the blower housing is symmetrical about the central plane. 
     
     
         3 . The blower of  claim 1 , wherein the blower housing further comprises a first sidewall, a second sidewall, and an outer wall, the first sidewall and the second sidewall being arranged at opposite sides of the outer wall. 
     
     
         4 . The blower of  claim 3 , wherein the first housing portion includes the first sidewall and a first portion of the outer wall and the second housing portion includes the second sidewall and a second portion of the outer wall. 
     
     
         5 . The blower of  claim 4 , wherein at least one of the first sidewall and the first portion of the outer wall are integrally formed and the second sidewall and the second portion of the outer wall are integrally formed. 
     
     
         6 . The blower of  claim 3 , further comprising at least one flow feature formed in at least one of the first housing portion and the second housing portion. 
     
     
         7 . The blower of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one flow feature is formed in the first sidewall and the second sidewall. 
     
     
         8 . The blower of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one flow feature is formed in the outer wall. 
     
     
         9 . The blower of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first housing portion and the second housing portion is formed from sheet metal shaped via a deep draw process. 
     
     
         10 . The blower of  claim 1 , further comprising a lock engageable to restrict relative rotation between the first housing portion and the second housing portion. 
     
     
         11 . The blower of  claim 10 , wherein the lock further comprises a plurality of first engagement features associated with the first housing portion and a plurality of second engagement features associated with the second housing portion, wherein the plurality of second engagement features are configured to intermesh with the plurality of first engagement members. 
     
     
         12 . A method of forming a blower comprising:
 forming a first housing portion;   forming a second housing portion;   mounting a fan wheel within the first housing portion; and   rotating the first housing portion relative to the second housing portion to couple the first housing portion to the second housing portion.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the first housing portion further comprises a first edge having a first connector flange and the second housing portion further comprises a second edge having a second connector flange, the method further comprising aligning the first connector flange and the second connector flange within a central plane prior to rotating the first housing portion. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the first connector flange includes a plurality of first engagement features and the second connector flange includes a plurality of second engagement features. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein rotating the first housing portion relative to the second housing portion further comprises rotating the plurality of first engagement features into engagement with the plurality of second engagement features to couple the first housing portion to the second housing portion. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising installing at least one fastener through the first connector flange and the second connector flange after rotating the first housing portion relative to the second housing portion. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein at least one of forming the first housing portion and forming the second housing portion further comprises deep drawing a sheet metal. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein forming the first housing portion further comprises forming a first sidewall and a first portion of an outer wall of the blower housing, and forming the second housing portion further comprises formed a second sidewall and a second portion of the outer wall of the blower housing. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising forming at least one flow feature in at least one of the first sidewall and the second sidewall. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising forming at least one flow feature in at least one of the first portion of the outer wall and the second portion of the outer wall.