Fans
A fan can be a mechanical device or personal and ornamental object. Being a mechanical devise, fans require the need of fan blades to revolve and bring natural ventilation. It also needs an electric motor to power the fan blade as in the case of an electric fan. As a personal use, fan is a handheld object shaped like a leaf and can come in a variety of shapes, sizes and forms. Fan can also be used as an ornament at homes.
There are many applications of fan and these include ornamental decorations, cooling systems, ventilation, winnowing climate control, removing dust as in a vacuum cleaner, the integration of fan in a blower dryer for drying, personal and domestic wind-generation and to supply draft for a blazing fire.
For domestic applications, fans are used to beautify a room. The fan makes a good object when the motif of the living room is Chinese or Japanese style.
The most common application of fans is the personal and domestic wind-generation. Electric fans are a common appliance at home and can come in many varieties. The ceiling fan is an ornamental type of electric fan. It is suspended and attached on the ceiling and can cool the objects below it. It is an expensive type of electric fan that comes in many designs, custom made to fit the style of the house. Another type is the wall fan which is an installed type. The table top and stand fans are the most common varieties of electric fans which are portable and more convenient to use. This type of fan also comes in many variants.
Fan has broader applications and is not only used for comfort. It can be found in a car, refrigerator, air-conditioner, vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, and in a CPU of a personal computer.
The existence of fans dates back from the time of Egyptian pharaohs and Japanese shoguns. Leaves or designed flat objects are once used to cool the atmosphere. Fans came to evolve into a more fashionable object. The hand-held folding fan of Japan is an example. This concept of fan design was brought in China and there the popular name Chinese Fan came into being.
In the twentieth century, fans have become a utility use. At the start of the new millennium, fan designs and aesthetics have turned into a fashionable concern to buyers and souvenir collectors. The folding fans are an important object in some countries as Japan, Spain and China. The use of this is associated with social status and ceremonial symbol.
Fan blades that are mechanically revolving are manufactured in many ranges of sizes, materials and designs. In a home, table top or floor fans are a normal appliance. Other varieties include ceiling fans and wall fans. Blade fans are also found in electronic systems such as computers where they cool the circuits and other systems inside, and in appliances such as vacuum cleaners, hair blowers and space heaters. Fans make a wind chill but do not directly lower the temperature. Another variant of fan is the exhaust fan where it functions to remove the air from an area such as in a kitchen where it is installed to remove the smoke away from the room. Greenhouse exhaust fan is another item normally used in greenhouse. This kind of exhaust fan has a special design just for the greenhouse.
A solar powered fan is another innovation in fan design wherein electric fans used for ventilation are powered by solar panels instead of main currents.
Axial fan blades, centrifugal or radial fan blades and cross flow fan blades are the three main types of fan. The uses of these types of fan differ in applications. These fans can be found in an electric fan, air-conditioners and other equipment that are commercial and industrial in use.
These types of fan blades need an electric motor for them to function. An electric motor is attached to a fan through a shaft. For huge industrial fans, 3-phase motors are commonly utilized to power several equipment and some technological devices. Smaller fans are powered by AC motors or DC motors. DC-powered fans are also called battery fans.
Fans are important for domestic and industrial applications. They come in different shapes, sizes and classes. They can be handheld, stationary or motor-powered. Fan is considered among the constantly innovated items.