Grill panel and motor mount assembly

Claim 1

An improved grill panel and motor mount assembly for a fan of the type including a plurality of blades projecting radially from a vertical center support and spin axis and operable to define a generally circular center section of dead air in the region of the center support and an annular region of moving air about the center section, said assembly comprising in combination: a horizontal, planar sheet metal panel having a pattern of integral, downwardly extending louvers defined in the panel, said panel including a solid, generally circular and multi-sided center section, a plurality of louvers surrounding the center section, said louvers each being die cut and shaped from the panel, said louvers lying within sectors of a circle having the same center coincident with the center of the circle defining the chords, the length of said louvers increasing in proportion to the distance of said louvers from said centers, the number of sides of said multi-sided center section equalling the number of said sectors, said panel further including solid, generally rectangular and radially extending intermediate sections, said intermediate sections intermediate adjacent sectors of said louvers, the number of said intermediate sections equalling the number of said sectors; and each of said louvers being inclined from the plane of the panel and outwardly inclined from the bottom of the louver toward the top thereof; the number of louvers defining free area through the grill panel approximately equal to the rated air flow of the associated fan; a motor bracket and panel bracing assembly including substantially identical bracket members; each said bracket member including a bracket section, a bracing section and a tab section; said bracket section forming a first angle with said bracing section and said tab section forming a second angle with said bracing section; said bracket section including a right angle extension and said bracing section including a right angle extension, said bracket section and said bracing section thereby having an L shape cross section; said bracket section projecting radially along the underside of one of said intermediate sections from said center section to said periphery with the extension thereof substantially parallel to said planar panel and attached to said underside of said intermediate section; said bracing section extending along the underside of the center section of said panel toward the bracket section of an adjacent bracket member with the extension thereof substantially parallel to said planar panel and attached to said underside; said tab section extending substantially parallel to the bracket section of said adjacent bracket member and attached thereto; said bracket members thereby forming a unified encircling bracket for mounting of the fan motor and said bracket members and said panel thereby forming a unified assembly providing relative light weight, high strength and substantial rigidity.