The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 01, 2016
Filed:
Jan. 09, 2014
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
William J. Anderl, Rochester, MN (US);
Bret P. Elison, Rochester, MN (US);
Phillip V. Mann, Rochester, MN (US);
Arden L. Moore, Cedar Park, TX (US);
Arvind K. Sinha, Rochester, MN (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
An air valve includes a frame and a sheet of thin material. The frame may have an outlet-side member configured mounted on a fan housing and an inlet-side member rotatably coupled to the outlet-side member. The material may have top and bottom edges, and a plurality of folds perpendicular to the top and bottom side edges that divide the sheet into a plurality of sections. The material may be attached to the outlet-side member and the inlet-side member, and configurable between folded and expanded positions. An attraction between a magnetic component on the inlet-side member and a magnetic component on a rotating fan blade may cause the inlet-side member to rotate, moving the material into the folded configuration. When the fan blade is not rotating, a spring attached at a pivot point may cause the inlet-side member to rotate in an opposite direction, moving the material into the expanded position.