GB2618633A

GB2618633A - Radiator fan arrangement

Info

Publication number: GB2618633A
Application number: GB2216538.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Modeste Luke; Coleman Jim
Original assignee: High Street TV Group Ltd
Current assignee: High Street TV Group Ltd
Priority date: 2022-11-07
Filing date: 2022-11-07
Publication date: 2023-11-15
Anticipated expiration: 2042-11-07
Also published as: GB202216538D0; WO2024100043A1; GB2618633B; EP4392719A1

Abstract

A radiator fan arrangement (100, fig. 1) comprising two or more independent fans 102 each arranged with a corresponding air-conducting funnel (104, fig. 5a-d) to guide air. The air-conducting funnels each comprise sealing means and the arrangement is arranged to be placed over a radiator to direct air using the fans from the radiator and along the air-conducting funnels to distribute warm air outwards from the radiator to the surrounding room. The fans may be activated according to a temperature sensor monitoring the radiator surface. There may also be speed control (108, fig. 3a) for the fans. The funnels may comprise filters and may be different in shape to each other and the arrangement may comprise a means of altering funnel position to control direction of air. The arrangement may be fixed to the radiator by means of clamps (114, fig. 2) or magnets (107, fig. 2). Use of the arrangement is also claimed.

Description

RADIATOR FAN ARRANGEMENT FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to radiator fan arrangements. In particular, however not exclusively, the present invention pertains to a radiator fan arrangement to help distribute warm air outwards from a radiator.

BACKGROUND

Household heating is critical for keeping houses in tolerable temperatures. Especially during winter months in regions where temperatures can drop close to zero Celsius degrees or even lower, efficient heating is critical. Whereas construction technology and insulation materials have evolved, it is not rare to have leakage in insulation or wind drifting in through miniscule cracks in window frames, especially in older buildings and apartment complexes.

Radiators can be found in most households either built into the house structure or as portable models. However, radiators tend to warm rather slowly and are even slower in distributing heat to the surrounding space, especially if the room is of bigger size. As such, the heat distribution from radiators is not optimized and in worst case can be ineffective. There exist several types of radiators, some use electricity whereas some models circulate warm water through the radiator. Nevertheless, there exists scarce options for effectively circulating warm air from the radi-ator to the exterior space around.

To help distribute heat more effectively, some use portable radiators to ideally place the radiator in a central location of a room. However, this does not still solve the problem of slow heat distribution. Some existing radiator fan solutions have approached this problem by having a fan placed somewhere over a radiator wherein the one fan can be turned on and off to help circulate air from the radiator. However, many existing solutions lack means to direct heated air from a radiator in a controlled manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the present disclosure is to at least alleviate the problems described hereinabove and to provide a solution allowing effective heat distribution from a radiator. One further objective of the present invention is to increase the heat distribution from a radiator. Another objective of the present invention is to reduce heat loss as a result of heat energy dispersing through walls and windows adjacent to a radiator.

The present invention enhances flow of warm air from a radiator, thus making heat distribution more efficient. This enables the surrounding space to warm faster with less energy used.

Accordingly, in one aspect of the present invention a radiator fan arrangement comprising two or more independent fans and a corresponding number of air-conducting funnels wherein each individual fan is arranged with an air-conducting funnel, and wherein the air-conducting funnels comprise sealing means arranged between the independent fan and the air-conducting funnel, wherein the arrangement is arranged to be placeable over a radiator to direct air by operation of the fans from the radiator and along the air-conducting funnels to distribute warm air outwards from the radiator.

Different embodiments of the present invention are disclosed in the dependent claims.

The expression "a number of' refers herein to any positive integer starting from one (1), e.g. to one, two, or three.

The expression "a plurality of' refers herein to any positive integer starting from two (2), e.g. to two, three, or four.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED DRAWINGS

Next the invention is described in more detail with reference to the appended draw-ings in which Fig. 1 illustrates a front view of an embodiment of a radiator fan arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 illustrates a bottom view of an embodiment of a radiator fan arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure.

Figs. 3 a-b illustrate side views of an embodiment of a radiator fan arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure.

Figs. 4a-b illustrate isometric views of an embodiment of a radiator fan arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure.

Figs. 5a-d illustrate from different point of views the structure of a single air-con10 ducting funnel of a radiator fan arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 illustrates detailed structure of an independent fan and air-conducting funnel pairing inside a radiator fan arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure. Figs. 7a-b illustrate front and back views of the internal design of the overall struc-hire of a radiator fan arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure. Figs. 8a-b illustrate further aspects of the radiator fan arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure.

Figs. 9-11 illustrate examples of variations on the number and shape of the air-conducting funnels in accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The Figs. 1-11 illustrate various aspects of a radiator fan arrangement (100), which comprises two or more independent fans (102) each paired with air-conducting funnels (104) to help reduce heat loss and circulate heat from the radiator to the surrounding living space. The radiator fan arrangement (100) collects vertically rising heat from the radiator and blows it forward using the combination of an independent fan (102) and air-conducting funnel (104) to reduce heat loss and di s-tribute warm air more efficiently. The radiator fan arrangement (100) uses a thermostatic temperature control (110) to activate and inactivate the radiator fan arrangement (100) based on a pre-determined temperature threshold value. The radiator fan arrangement (100) is placed on top of a radiator using a plurality of adjustable clamps (114) and a magnetic fixing (107). The arrangement (100) is powered by either main power or with rechargeable batteries that enable wireless use of the radiator fan arrangement (100).

In one embodiment, the air valves (112), independent fans (102) and air-conducting funnels (104) are placed evenly on both sides of a thermostatic temperature control (110) which shows the temperature of the radiator and activates or deactivates the radiator fan arrangement (100) based on a set temperature threshold. The number of air valves (112), independent fans (102) and air-conducting funnels (104) can differ based on the embodiment.

In an alternative embodiment, the placement of the independent fans (102) and air-conducting funnels (104) can differ. Rather than distributed evenly around a ther-mostatic temperature control (110), the independent fans (102) and air-conducting funnels (104) can be placed in a different manner horizontally and/or vertically. However, the number of air valves (112), independent fans (102) and air-conducting funnels (104) should always be two or more.

In one embodiment, the air-conducting funnels (104) are arranged with filters to reduce contaminants in the air.

Fig. la shows the full-frontal view of a radiator fan arrangement (100). In the middle of the arrangement is a thermostatic temperature control (110) and on both sides of the thermostatic temperature control two pairs of air valves (112) have been placed. In an alternative embodiment, the placement of the thermostatic temperature control (110) can be at a different location than in the middle of the radiator fan arrangement (100).

In fig. 2, the bottom structure of the radiator fan arrangement (100) is shown. The figure shows four independent fans (102) attached to the bottom of the radiator fan arrangement (100) that circulate vertically rising heat from a radiator. On both sides of the radiator fan arrangement (100), adjustable clamps (114) can be seen which help in mounting the arrangement (100) to stay in place on top of a radiator.

Additionally, a magnetic fixing (107) may be used to help the radiator fan arrangement (100) to stay in place. However, in some embodiments the radiator fan arrangement (100) may also be arranged without any clamps (114) and/or magnetic fixing (107) since the arrangement (100) can be used by directly placing the arrangement (100) on a radiator.

Figs. 3a-b show the side views of the radiator fan arrangement (100). On both sides, air valves (112) help remove excess heat generated from the independent fans (102). Additionally, power socket (106) and air-flow speed option buttons (108) have been placed under an air valve (112) on the left side. In one embodiment, the air-flow speed of the independent fans (102) can be changed between two or more different options.

In figs. 4a-b the curved shape of the radiator fan arrangement (100) can be seen. Additionally, the front panel (116) is slightly longer than rest of the arrangement (100) to help mount the arrangement (100) in place.

Figs. 5a-d show close ups of an air-conducting funnel (104). The base part of the 10 air-conducting funnel (104) has placements for screws in the inner surface to attach a fan (102). The outer screw placements are used to attach each air-conducting funnel (104) to the base of the radiator fan arrangement (100) as shown in fig. lb. Fig. 6 shows the deconstruction of an independent fan (102) and air-conducting funnel (104) inside the radiator fan arrangement (100). The air-conducting funnel (104) consists of three parts, two casing pieces forming the air-conducting funnel (104) and a mouthpiece (105) to ensure the warm air does not leak inside the arrangement (100).

Figs. 7a-b illustrate the front and back views of the air-conducting funnel (104) arrangements and their locking pieces (118a, 118b and 118c). The figures do not show the thermostatic temperature control (110) (as shown in fig. la), but what can be seen is that the air-conducting funnels (104) are arranged so that they are placed evenly on both sides of the thermostatic temperature control (110) forming pairs of two. There is one lock (118a) in front of the air-conducting fiumel (104) and two in the back side (118b and 118c).

Figs. 8a-b present simplified views in order to illustrate isometric views of the air-conducting funnel (104) arrangement where the air-conducting funnels (104) are placed diagonally and face different directions in relation to each other. In the illustrations, paired air-conducting funnels (104) face different directions. In an alternative embodiment, the air-conducting funnels (104) can face other directions in relation to each other not illustrated in figs. 8a-b. For example, the arrangement may comprise means to rotate or turn the air-conducting funnels (104) so that the direction of air flow from the air-conducting funnels (104) can be manipulated.

Figs. 9-11 present simplified views in order to illustrate different variations on the number of air-conducting funnels (104) of a radiator fan arrangement (100). However, the minimum number of air-conducting funnels (104) is two. The shape of the air-conducting funnels (104) can vary in view of design requirements Similarly, the design and size of the independent fans (102) may vary.

In a preferred embodiment, each independent fan (102) is paired with a single air-conducting funnel (104). In an alternative embodiment, an independent fan (102) can be arranged across multiple air-conducting funnels (104) each having inde10 pendent sealing means with said independent fan (102).

Consequently, a skilled person may on the basis of this disclosure and general knowledge apply the provided teachings in order to implement the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims in each particular use case 15 with necessary modifications, deletions, and additions.

Claims

Claims 1. A radiator fan arrangement (100) comprising two or more independent fans (102) and a corresponding number of air-conducting funnels (104) wherein each 5 individual fan (102) is arranged with an air-conducting funnel (104), and wherein the air-conducting funnels (104) comprise sealing means arranged between the independent fan (102) and the air-conducting funnel (104), wherein the arrangement (100) is arranged to be placeable over a radiator to direct air by operation of the fans (102) from the radiator and along the air-conducting funnels (104) to distrib10 ute warm air outwards from the radiator.
2. The radiator fan arrangement (100) according to claim 1, further comprising a thermostatic temperature control (110) to monitor the surface temperature of the radiator and means to activate or deactivate the radiator fan arrangement (100) at a temperature.
3. The radiator fan arrangement (100) according to claim 1, wherein the ar-rangement (100) is main powered.
4. The radiator fan arrangement (100) according to claim I, wherein the ar-rangement (100) is battery-operated.
5. The radiator fan arrangement (100) according to any preceding claim, comprising means to control the speed of the independent fans (102) so that air flow 25 speed can be switched between two or more different options.
6. The radiator fan arrangement (100) according to any preceding claim, wherein the arrangement (100) comprises a number of clamps (114) and/or a number of magnetic fixings (107) for attaching the fan arrangement (100) to a radiator.
7. The radiator fan arrangement (100) according to any preceding claim, wherein the air-conducting funnels (104) are arranged with filters.
8. The radiator fan arrangement (100) according to any preceding claim, 35 wherein the air-conducting funnels (104) are arranged to blow air to different directions in relation to each other.
9. The radiator fan arrangement (100) according to any preceding claim, wherein the arrangement comprises means to alter the position of air-conducting funnels (104) in order to alter the distribution of warm air to different directions.
10. The radiator fan arrangement (100) according to any preceding claim, wherein the air-conducting funnels (104) comprise different shapes from each other.
11. Use of the radiator fan arrangement (100) according to any preceding claim, 10 to distribute warm air outwards from a radiator.