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Here we go... this is the meat of it...
From The Patent:
However, in accordance with one important aspect of the invention, and as is illustrated in the drawings, there is relatively little restriction to inlet air flow imposed by the blower of the present invention. As may best be seen in FIG. 2, the path of the incoming air (see arrow) changes direction ("bends") only about forty-five degrees as it flows through the inlet duct 32 and into the inlet port 30, and then axially through the rotors 28 and 29. By way of contrast, in the typical "rear inlet" blower installation, as described previously, the path of the incoming air makes a one-hundred and eighty (180) degree turn, which severely restricts the overall air flow rate, especially at the type of elevated air flow rates involved in normal supercharger installations and applications.
In accordance with another important aspect of the present invention, and as may also best be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the inlet duct 32 extends, from the inlet port 30, both forwardly and transversely, so that the inlet duct 32 and forward terminal portion 66 cooperate to define a duct opening 70, and the duct opening 70 is disposed transversely from the input shaft 62. In addition, the inlet duct 32 is disposed "above" the input shaft 62, to avoid any interference between the feed duct (not shown) to the blower and the pulley 64. Having the inlet duct 32 above (in a normal installation orientation) the input shaft 62 would be preferred for another reason. With the outlet port 34 on the underside of the blower (in lower flange portion 54), it is desirable from the standpoint of air flow efficiency to have the inlet port 30 disposed toward the upper portion of the blower, as is shown in FIG. 5. Thus, for the most direct flow path into the inlet port 30, the inlet duct 32 is disposed toward the upper portion of the blower, and therefore, in the subject embodiment, passes over and above the input shaft 62.
In connection with the development of the present invention, the blower of FIGS. 2-5 ("Invention") has been tested and compared with similar blowers, but ones having either the conventional "rear inlet" arrangement, or the "top inlet" arrangement, both of which were described previously. In the course of such testing, it has been determined that the Invention provides air flow which is about five (5%) percent better than is provided by a rear inlet blower, and provides air flow which is about ten (10%) percent better than is provided by a top inlet blower. In a typical vehicle, on which a blower such as that shown herein would be utilized, increases in air flow of about five and ten percent would correspond to very noticeable increases in overall engine output. These figures would correspond to the engine operating conditions near the maximum boost point.
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