Vivian Leida

Adam Muzzarelli
Ryan Loeber
Kelsey McIvor
2nd Period
The Reverse Engineering of a Fan
Identify the Purpose

Our group decided to focus our research and analysis on a battery-powered fan with the
intention of learning more about the interconnected relationships of the machinery. While the
design appears simple, the connections between each individual part is actually rather complex
and will be difficult to study. The areas of research we hope to focus on are the fan’s function
and motor.

Develop a Hypothesis

The operation of fan starts with the battery powering it. The battery uses chemical
potential energy to keep a constant flow of electrons to one terminal, thus creating an electric
potential (voltage) between the terminals. This creates the potential movement of the electrons
from the battery to the fan’s circuit. A button on the fan is required to complete the circuit as a
method to turn the fan on or off. The circuit includes a brushed electromagnetic motor. When
current is delivered to the motor, it creates a magnetic field that induces circular motion. This
motion turns the blades of the fan.

Teardown

For our fan disassembly we found the fan to be complicated while also having four main
parts: the motor, button, battery, and fan. When the fan is taken apart the first is removing the
shell that holds all of the pieces to make it work. By removing a few screws and pulling hard on
both sides the fan begins to break apart. On the inside you find a motor that is attached to the fan,
a wire going from the motor to the on/off button, a wire going from the motor to the battery
terminal, and a last wire going from the button to the other battery terminal.
This is a 3D sketch of the fan from a side This is a sketch of each piece of the fan when
view. It shows half of the shell to the far left, it was initially taken apart.
the motor connected to the batteries and
button, the front shell, the fan, and the fan
holder.
Analyze the Elements

Functional Analysis:

The function of this fan starts at the batteries which power it. The fan uses two AA
alkaline batteries. The basic idea of a battery is to convert chemical potential energy into useful
electrical energy. This is achieved by placing a cathode and anode in an electrolyte solution. For
the first battery, made by scientist Alessandro Volta, the anode was zinc, the cathode was copper,
and the electrolyte was sulfuric acid. Zinc is high in the electrochemical series, meaning it can
readily react. This means it will react with the SO​4​2-​ ions in solution, and ionize, becoming Zn2+,
thus freeing 2 electrons. This reaction is known as oxidation. These electrons can then be used in
a circuit before reaching the cathode, copper. In Volta’s battery, the copper does not react and
just acts as a positive electrode. The H​+​ ions in solution are what actually react to accept the
electrons coming through the copper electrode.

In a modern battery, the anode is still zinc, but the cathode is replaced with magnesium
dioxide. The electrolyte is also a solid paste rather than a fluid-potassium hydroxide. The idea of
the reaction is the same, but the electrolyte is kept constant and the electrodes are consumed
during discharge.
 The next step in the function of the fan is creating a circuit. A wire can be connected
from the positive terminal of a battery to the positive side of the electric motor, and the negative
side of the motor can be connected to the negative terminal of the battery to complete a circuit.
This allows the electrons created in the battery’s chemical reaction to travel from anode to
cathode. The switch present on the fan can turn the fan on or off by causing a break in the circuit.

Besides the battery and switch, the last part of the circuit in the fan is an electric motor.
The fan uses a brushed DC motor. The motor works by exploiting the principles of
electromagnetism. The main idea employed is that current carrying wires create a magnetic field.
When current enters a terminal and touches a commutator via the brushes, a certain loop of wire,
called a winding, will have current run through it. This creates a magnetic field, which is
amplified by the armature. This generated magnetic field will try and oriante with the external
magnetic field caused by the stator magnets, thus causing rotational motion. When this happens,
the commutator that was creating the induced magnetic field is rotated so that it no longer
touches the brushes. This results in another commutator touching the brushes, leading to another
induced magnetic field being created, which also wants to orient with the external stator field.
This process continues, leading to a constant rotational motion which can be harnessed.
In the case of the fan, the blades are attached to this rotating axle to push air.
Structural Analysis:
The structure of the fan supports the internal and external loads in addition to holding
each and every part in place. The main component of the fan is the battery, which ​turns the
power of the electricity on or off that is flowing through the connecting wires. The structure of
the batteries does not contribute to the overall function of the fan, but do support each internal
part through the distribution of the electric current to each essential part of the machine. The
connecting wires connected from ​the positive terminal of battery to the positive side of the
electric motor and the negative side of the motor can be connected to the negative terminal of the
battery to complete a circuit. The structural purpose of these connecting wires is to transport the
electric current and ensure that it is distributed to the appropriate parts of the machine as they are
connected to multiple parts of the machine. Its copper composition is extremely flexible and
resistant, so the wires can carry the current efficiently.
The outside switch of the machine can interrupt this current if switched off or complete
the electric circuit when switched on. Its position on the exterior of the fan allows for the internal
circuit to be protected as the user does not have access to the wiring or electric connection, but
can control the continuation of the current through the mere control of the switch. Therefore, the
structural purpose of the switch is to provide the user with control over the electric current while
also being connected to the actual circuit.
The motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy through the carrying wires’
creation of a magnetic field. The armature, brushes, stator magnets, and overall motor all rely on
the power of electromagnetism in order to ensure that the machine constantly rotates. These parts
are enclosed within the motor with the structural purpose of keeping the part rotating when the
circuit is completed. The structural purpose of the motor itself is to distribute the current in a
compact container and rotate the external blades. The motor is connected to the wiring from the
batteries, holds multiple parts within it, and is connected to the fan. The blades are the product of
the circuit with the sole purpose of providing cool air to the user. Arguably, the part with the
greatest structural purpose is the fan’s plastic shell. This encasement holds all internal parts in
place to ensure that the fan functions properly.
Material Analysis:
Most of the materials and parts in the fan are not too complicated and have mostly simple
connections. The exterior of the fan is a plastic shell that houses all the parts that makes the fan
turn. On the exterior is also the foam fan blades that are held on by a plastic piece that is placed
on the end. Once the outside is broken off the motor, wires, button, and battery terminals are
exposed. Energy for the fan starts with a transfer of electricity. From the batteries to the wires
that then lead to the button and the motor. Then an electrical transfer goes from the wire attached
to the button on to the motor. Then mechanical energy powers the motor and transfers to the fan
to make it spin. The battery terminals are made of metal and are connected to metal wires
covered in plastic. The button is made of plastic and the motor is mostly metal with some wires
made of copper inside the motor. The actual foam blades are made of foam and the piece that
holds the foam on is plastic.

Manufacturing Analysis:
The manufacturing process of a handheld fan starts with the creation of plastic. Plastics
are derived from natural, organic materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and crude oil.
Crude oil is a complex mixture of thousands of compounds and needs to be processed before it
can be used. The production of plastics begins with the distillation of crude oil in an oil refinery.
This separates the heavy crude oil into groups of lighter components, called fractions. Each
fraction is a mixture of hydrocarbon chains (chemical compounds made up of carbon and
hydrogen), which differ in terms of the size and structure of their molecules. One of these
fractions, naphtha, is the crucial compound for the production of plastics.
The next step in the manufacturing process of the fan is the creation of the small electric
motor. A brushed DC motor is made up of 4 basic components; the stator, the rotor (or armature
), brushes, and commutator. The first component is the stator. The stator generates a stationary
magnetic field that surrounds the rotor and this magnetic field is generated by either permanent
magnets or electromagnetic windings. Next is the rotor, also known as the armature. The rotor is
made up of one or more windings that are wound with the same direction of rotation. When these
windings are energized they produce a magnetic field. The magnetic poles of this rotor field will
be attracted to the opposite poles generated by the stator, causing the rotor to turn. As the motor
turns, the windings are constantly being energized in a different sequence so that the magnetic
poles generated by the rotor do not overrun the poles generated in the stator. This switching of
the field in the rotor windings is called commutation. So, as the rotor rotates inside the stator, the
brushes rub the different segments of the commutator supplying a charge to that segment and its
corresponding winding. As the brushes pass over the commutator gaps the supplied electrical
charge will switch commutator segments. Thus, switching the electrical polarity of the rotor
windings. This will create an attraction of the different polarities and keep the rotor rotating
within the stator field. This process will continue as long as a supply voltage is applied.
 Lastly, is the wiring used to complete the circuit inside the fan. There are three total wires
that complete this particular circuit. One of these is the wire that connects one of the battery
terminals to the motor. The next wire connects the motor to the switch that controls the on and
off function of the fan. The last wire connects the other battery terminal to the switch to complete
the circuit. These wires are connected to these different locations through a technique called
soldering. Soldering is a process in which two or more items that are usually metal are joined
together by melting and putting a filler metal (solder) into the joint, the filler metal having a
lower melting point than the adjoining metal.

Product Redesign:
For our redesign on the fan, we decided that we wanted to add a spray bottle. In order to
do this, we would take a small spray bottle and attach it to the fan. We would have the nozzle of
the spray bottle near the fan so when you sprayed the water, the fan would disperse the water.
Ideally, we would want to create a new plastic case to fit the spray bottle and the original
mechanical design of the fan all inside this new encasement. This would allow for both the fan
and the spray bottle to be one device.