Idea for a fan

[Trikein]

Just a stupid idea I had and I wonder if it's already been done. Basically it's a maglev fan. One of the big flaws I have always seen in fan design is the motor is in the inside of the fan head. This means less room for a fan design that can use the center, or hub of the wheel. Also, most fans rely on friction based barrens and lubrication for efficiency, something that hasn't changed for a very long time. Also, they rely on electric motors, while effective, are based on hundred(s) year old tech... that we are using in computers where a GPU that is a year old is..mehhh. 

 

So my idea is two fold; levitation and acceleration. Levitation would be the same tech you see when a globe hovers above a stand, or those levitating speakers or toys. See spoiler. It would work on a flat plan, with the magnets balanced to both provide gryoscoptic elements to make use of centrifugal forces.

Spoiler

The inner disk would be as light as possible with only the thin supermagnets needed for elevation. The magnets would be spaced with neutral plastic, strong but light. The outer ring would also have magnets, but spaced with electrico magnets. This could be turned on/off similar to how a electric motor works, but with much less torque requires. Excuse my very crude 5min drawing. The star is just what MSpaint had available, but in real life it would be a modern fan design meant to emphasize low power, low noise, and central aerodynamics.

 

 

[NinjaJc01]

1 minute ago, Trikein said:

Just a stupid idea I had and I wonder if it's already been done. Basically it's a maglev fan. One of the big flaws I have always seen in fan design is the motor is in the inside of the fan head. This means less room for a fan design that can use the center, or hub of the wheel. Also, most fans rely on friction based barrens and lubrication for efficiency, something that hasn't changed for a very long time. Also, they rely on electric motors, while effective, are based on hundred(s) year old tech... that we are using in computers where a GPU that is a year old is..mehhh. 

 

So my idea is two fold; levitation and acceleration. Levitation would be the same tech you see when a globe hovers above a stand, or those levitating speakers or toys. See spoiler. It would work on a flat plan, with the magnets balanced to both provide gryoscoptic elements to make use of centrifugal forces.

  Reveal hidden contents

The inner disk would be as light as possible with only the thin supermagnets needed for elevation. The magnets would be spaced with neutral plastic, strong but light. The outer ring would also have magnets, but spaced with electrico magnets. This could be turned on/off similar to how a electric motor works, but with much less torque requires. Excuse my very crude 5min drawing. The star is just what MSpaint had available, but in real life it would be a modern fan design meant to emphasize low power, low noise, and central aerodynamics.

 

 

Main problem would be if the user pushed it, and vibrations.

[Ryoutarou97]

I might be seeing it from the wrong axis, but wouldn't the hit a rad or panel to which it's mounted with each rotation?

[Goldensapling]

I could see this going off-balance fairly easily, unless the case and fans were just kind of sitting, never touched while in operation.

I don't see this going as a consumer-level thing, but I could see a few applications where a fan like this would be great

[Trikein]

centrifugal force help with vibrations. Also notice how the ring is concave, further providing lateral movement protection. Last, even if someone press down on it as spinning, the worst would happen is concave edge would rest in convex rim.

[Necrodead]

Cool ideas, however there isn't really an issue with having the center of the fan used as the hub because the rotational speed of the blades at that point is so slow as to not generate very much airflow. Some fans even have a little part that sticks out at the hub in order to push air outward towards the areas with the most airflow.

[Low_Battery]

1 minute ago, Goldensapling said:

I could see this going off-balance fairly easily, unless the case and fans were just kind of sitting, never touched while in operation.

I don't see this going as a consumer-level thing, but I could see a few applications where a fan like this would be great

You could still have a guiding rod to help keep its location.  But how are you going to get it to start and stop?

An interesting idea though...

[Trikein]

3 minutes ago, Ryoutarou97 said:

I might be seeing it from the wrong axis, but wouldn't the hit a rad or panel to which it's mounted with each rotation?

This configuration is to 200mm scale. Figure to left(1) is from front, the star(fan) would spin to provide air-movement towards the observer of picture. Figure to right(2) would be 90degree left, and rotated 90 degrees and fit to scale in picture 1.  The oval of the middle ring is just bad drawing, should be a second ring to devide the fan design with the outer hub of the inner ring.

[Trikein]

20 minutes ago, Necrodead said:

Cool ideas, however there isn't really an issue with having the center of the fan used as the hub because the rotational speed of the blades at that point is so slow as to not generate very much airflow. Some fans even have a little part that sticks out at the hub in order to push air outward towards the areas with the most airflow.

The point isn't max airflow, but quiet scalable airflow. The outer part of the fan blades could still be used and provide identical output. With a typical motor, the force comes from the center, meaning F1D1=F2D2. But moving propulsion to the outer part of limb of fulcrum, less energy (but more speed) is needed to move the fan blade to produce equal RPM. That combined with the efficiency from magnetic levitation, and great micro scalability, I see it as being a tiny, low power fan for tablets or other small device. 

 

I also wanted to see if fan less air propulsion is a possibility, and could be incorporated as a hybrid. Could the same electric field provided by the electric magnets be channeled to move ionized air? Im thinking no, KIS, but interesting thought.

[Necrodead]

5 minutes ago, Trikein said:

The point isn't max airflow, but quiet scalable airflow. The outer part of the fan blades could still be used and provide identical output. With a typical motor, the force comes from the center, meaning F1D1=F2D2. But moving propulsion to the outer part of limb of fulcrum, less energy (but more speed) is needed to move the fan blade to produce equal RPM. That combined with the efficiency from magnetic levitation, and great micro scalability, I see it as being a tiny, low power fan for tablets or other small device. 

 

I also wanted to see if fan less air propulsion is a possibility, and could be incorporated as a hybrid. Could the same electric field provided by the electric magnets be channeled to move ionized air? Im thinking no, KIS, but interesting thought.

Ah, a really tiny fan for tablets and the such, that may be a good application. I was just assuming 120 or 140mm for normal case fan size.

 

Ionic fans exist, but they don't move enough air to be worth any cooling beyond a slight breeze.

[Trikein]

7 minutes ago, Necrodead said:

Ah, a really tiny fan for tablets and the such, that may be a good application. I was just assuming 120 or 140mm for normal case fan size.

 

Ionic fans exist, but they don't move enough air to be worth any cooling beyond a slight breeze.

Well it could be both. What materials used, fan design, how many static magnets vs how many electric magnets. I could see it working as a 120mm fan for small HTPC's or networking equipment cooling. However it  would need to be either shielded or in a environment where rare earth magnets wouldn't kill things. But most SSD tech wouldn't be effected.

 

Also, any way it could be rigged to produce electricity?  Like regenerative breaking? I imagine a cooler on a laptop that you could prop up in a stiff breeze to help charge your battery a tiny bit.