Outdoor motor enclosure

Claim 1

An attachment to a vertically disposed, sealed electric motor unit of the outdoor type for protecting the motor unit from rain, said motor unit including a generally cylindrical housing surrounding a motor and further including a cooling fan mounted external to the housing for rotation with the drive shaft of the motor to thereby force a flow of cooling air along the outer surface of said housing, said attachment comprising: a. a generally cylindrical moisture shield circumferentially disposed about said housing and said fan, said shield being of a cross-sectional dimension slightly greater than that of said housing to thereby define a first passage for said flow of cooling air, said shield having lower and upper end openings to define respectively exhaust and intake openings for said passage, the upper end opening being of a cross-section of a dimension reduced from that of said housing and being defined adjacent said cooling fan; b. means for securing said shield directly to said housing wherein the housing is primarily the only support for said shield; c. a rain canopy having a first portion circumscribing at least a portion of said shield and having a second portion disposed transversely of said drive shaft and slightly removed from said upper end opening for covering said upper end opening, said first and second portions being spaced from said shield to provide an air inlet passage to said upper end opening, whereby during operation of said motor unit the fan draws outside air upwardly through said air inlet passage, downwardly through said upper end opening, through said first passage, and through said lower end opening along said outer surface while protecting said motor unit from rain; and d. means for securing said canopy directly to said shield wherein the shield is primarily the only support for said canopy.