Title of Invention

"ENGINE-OPERATED GENERATOR"

Abstract

An engine-operated generator unit wherein: a cooling air duct is provided within a soundproof case; an engine, an outer-rotor type generator driven by the engine, and a centrifugal fan driven by the engine are disposed within said cooling air duct in this order; said cooling air duct extends from a region of the centrifugal fan to a region of the engine and has at an upstream end thereof a suction opening located within said soundproof case and at a downstream end thereof a discharge hole in communication with the exterior of the soundproof case; and said cooling air duct is located adjacent to an outer rotor of the generator at a side remote from the engine to produce a cooling air flow for causing cooling air to circulate into the generator to cool an interior thereof; characterized in that: said cooling air duct is a duct fully surrounding outer peripheries of the centrifugal fan the generator and the engine to prevent noise leakage to the outside of the cooling air duct; said suction opening is a sole opening for introducing air solely into the cooling air duct; an air circulation space is provided within said cooling air duct between the generator and the engine along an entire peripheral area of the generator for causing a part of the cooling air flow introduced through said sole opening and flowing toward the engine, to circulate via said circulation space through the interior of the generator back to the centrifugal fan; and all and only cooling air flow that is introduced through said sole opening by means of the centrifugal fan passes through the air duct to the engine so that the air duct isolates the centrifugal fan, the generator and the engine from other instruments provided outside the air duct.

Full Text

ENGINE-OPERATED GENERATOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an engine-operated generator covered by a soundproof case in its entirety. The engine-operated generator in which an engine and a generator driven by the engine are integrated is used at a construction work site generally. And in consideration of influences to the surroundings when it is operated in a city area especially at night, an engine-operated generator covered by a soundproof case in its entirety has been used widely in order to restrain operation noise as low as possible. In this kind of engine-operated generator, openings for inhaling or discharging air are made few in number and small in size to achieve necessary silence during operation. But on the one hand, it is necessary to devote great care to cooling interior of the soundproof case because the area of the opening i s small. Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 64-3777 discloses an engine-operated generator in which an engine and a muffler are covered by a duct to be isolated from other instruments and cooling air is forcibly passed through the duct and discharged at the side of the muffler out of the soundproof case so that high temperature discharge of the cooling air is prevented from recirculating into the soundproof case. However, as for an generator placed outside of the duct in the soundproof case, it is necessary to provide another cooling air passage than the above duct or an exclusive cooling fan for the generator, and therefore the engine-operated generator is caused to be large-sized. In the engine-operated generator of the Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 64-3777, a fan for cooling the generator is provided separately from a cooling fan for ventilating forcibly the duct covering the engine and the muffler, and air discharged from the fan for cooling the generator is joined in the duct after cooling the generator. Therefore, passages of air are complicated, there are two fan noise sources, and the apparatus is caused to be large-sized owing to installing two fans. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been accomplished in view of the foregoing and one object of the invention is to provide a compact engine-operated generator in which only one centrifugal fan is provided to confine the fan noise source to one spot for facilitating countermeasure to noise leakage, and the engine and the generator can be cooled efficiently. In order to attain the above object, the present invention provides an engine-operated generator having an engine and a generator driven by the engine arranged in a direction of a rotary shaft and accommodated in a soundproof case, comprising the generator which is an outer-rotor type generator; a centrifugal fan provided on an end surface of an outer-rotor of the generator remote from the engine; a duct covering the centrifugal fan, the generator and the engine and having a suction opening at a side facing the centrifugal fan; a discharge hole on a downstream side of the duct facing an exterior of the soundproof case; and a circulation space provided between the generator and the engine for introducing a part of cooling air flowing toward the engine into the generator to circulate again to the centrifugal fan. Air within the soundproof case is inhaled by the centrifugal fan into the duct through the suction opening of the duct and flows toward the engine, and a part of the air is introduced into the generator through the circulation space between the generator and the engine to be circulated again to the centrifugal fan. Thus, both the engine and the generator can be cooled by one centrifugal fan ventilating the duct. Within the sole duct, the generator of relatively low temperature is positioned at an upstream side and the engine is positioned at a downstream side, so that the cooling is carried out efficiently in order from a lower temperature side toward a higher temperature side. Since only one centrifugal fan for cooling is covered doubly by the duct and the soundproof case, leakage of noise to the exterior can be restrained. Since the outer-rotor of the generator serves as a flywheel of the engine, length of the engine-operated generator in the axial direction can be made short. Since the cooling fan is attached to the outer-rotor integrally, a cooling fan of large capacity can be provided easily and a high supporting strength for the fan can be obtained. The centrifugal fan may be a two faces fan having a primary fan for inhaling air in the soundproof case through the suction opening of the duct and a secondary fan for circulating the air introduced into the generator through the recirculation space to the centrifugal fan, formed integrally. The primary fan inhales air in the soundproof case through the suction opening of the duct to form a primary air stream flowing toward the engine and the secondary fan functions to introduce a part of the primary air stream into the generator through the circulation space between the generator and the engine to circulate the introduced air to the centrifugal fan so that generator can be cooled. The centrifugal fan may have a hole for circulating the air introduced into the generator through the circulation space to the centrifugal fan. The part of the primary air stream introduced into the generator through the circulation space between the generator and the engine circulates again to the centrifugal fan through the hole so that the generator can be cooled. The generator may be an outer-rotor type multipolar generator having a magnet rotor serving as a flywheel of the engine, and a control circuit for converting an output of the generator into an alternating current of a predetermined frequency may be provided. Since the output of the multipolar generator is converted into an alternating current of a predetermined frequency, there is no need to maintain the rotational speed constant as in case of a synchronous generator which has been used in this kind of engine-operated generator, therefore, the 'rotational speed can be reduced when the load is not high to reduce operation noise at a rated operation or a low load operation. The engine may be provided with a cylinder inclined sideways obliquely and a muffler may be disposed in a space above the cylinder within the duct. Since a large muffler can be disposed in the space which is formed above the engine by inclining the cylinder, the size in the axial direction can be made small. Further, a reasonable •cooling air stream can be generated for efficient cooling, because the hotter portion is positioned at the higher position. The muffler may be elongated in a direction perpendicular to a rotary shaft of the engine. The muffler of large capacity can be disposed in the space above the inclined cylinder with the vertical size of the apparatus restrained. Accordingly, the present invention relates to an engine-operated generator unit wherein: a cooling air duct is provided within a soundproof case; an engine, an outer-rotor type generator driven by the engine, and a centrifugal fan driven by the engine are disposed within said cooling air duct in this order; said cooling air duct extends from a region of the centrifugal fan to a region of the engine and has at an upstream end thereof a suction opening located within said soundproof case and at a downstream end thereof a discharge hole in communication with the exterior of the soundproof case; and said cooling air duct is located adjacent to an outer rotor of the generator at a side remote from the engine to produce a cooling air flow for causing cooling air to circulate into the generator to cool an interior thereof; characterized in that: said cooling air duct is a duct fully surrounding outer peripheries of the centrifugal fan the generator and the engine to prevent noise leakage to the outside of the cooling air duct; said suction opening is a sole opening for introducing air solely into the cooling air duct; an air circulation space is provided within said cooling air duct between the generator and the engine along an entire peripheral area of the generator for causing a part of the cooling air flow introduced through said sole opening and flowing toward the engine, to circulate via said circulation space through the interior of the generator back to the centrifugal fan; and all and only cooling air flow that is introduced through said sole opening by means of the centrifugal fan passes through the air duct to the engine so that the air duct isolates the centrifugal fan, the generator and the engine from other instruments provided outside the air duct. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE Accompanying DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is an outside view of an engine-operated generator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a soundproof case and inner frame members; Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the engine-operated generator in which a center cover and a fuel tank are omitted; Fig. 4 is a side view of the engine-operated generator partly omitted; 'Fig. 5 is a front view thereof; Fig. 6 is a rear view thereof; Fig. 7 is a side view showing partly by section the generator and vicinity thereof; Fig. 8 is a front view of a centrifugal fan; Fig. 9 is a rear view thereof; Fig. 10 is a section taken along the line X-X of Fig. 8; Fig. 11 is a section taken along the line XI-XI of Fig:9; and Fig. 12 is a side view showing partly by section a generator in an engine-operated generator according to another embodiment using another centrifugal fan and vicinity thereof. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 11. The engine-operated generator 1 according to the preferred embodiment is covered with a soundproof case 2 in its entirety to form a cube as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the soundproof case 2 and other inner frame members. An under frame member 3 is formed in a shape of a flat saucer and has a front side wall 3a, a right side wall 3b and a rear side wall 3c. The front and right side walls 3a, 3b are provided with suction holes 4a, 4b. The rear side wall 3c is detachable. On the inner side of the under frame member 3 are laid a pair of front and rear supporting members 3p, 3q extending in the right-left direction in parallel with each other. On the under frame member 3 are erected substantially rectangular front and rear frame members 5, 6 facing to each other at a predetermined interval. Upper edge portions of the front frame member 5 are bent rearward to form flanges 5a. A rectangular panel portion of the front frame member 5 has a rectangular open hole 5b elongated in the right-left direction at an upper part and a communication open hole 5c formed in a shape of a partly swelled ci rcle at a lower part. On the one hand, the rear frame member 6 is split into upper and lower parts and a large rectangular central through hole 7a is formed when the upper and lower parts are joined. From the through hole 7a is projected forward a duct 7 formed integrally with the rear frame member 6. Upper edge portions of the rear frame member 6 are bent forward to form flanges 6a. The front portion of the duct 7 is shaped in a rectangular pipe opening to the front. A duct 8 made of glass wool is disposed behind the rear frame member 6. The duct 8 swells out rearward communicating with the duct 7 through the through hole 7a. The duct 8 is shaped in a substantially rectangular box opening toward the front and bottom and having a discharge hole 8a at an upper side wall. Between the front frame member 5 and the rear frame member 6 elected on the under frame member 3, a pair of right and left reinforcing rails 9, 9 are provided directed in front-rear direction and penetrating upper corners of the frame members 5, 6. A center cover 11 shaped as a halved square pipe is placed along outer peripheral edges of the front and rear frame members 5, 6 for covering the space between the frame members 5, 6 to partition the space from the exterior. The center cover 11 is formed in a shape of a half of a square pipe by bending a plate and has a left side wall 11a, an upper wall 11b and a right upper side wall 11c. The right under side of the center cover 11 is covered by an opening and closing separate lid member 12 to partition a center compartment 22 (Fig. 3) therein. In the upper wall of the center cover 11 is formed a circular hole 11d through which a refueling mouth 55b of a fuel tank 55 projects (Fig. 4). A front of the front frame member 5 is covered by a front cover 13 shaped in a generally rectangular box to partition a front compartment 21. A rear of the rear frame member 6 is covered by a rear cover 14 shaped in a generally rectangular box to partition a rear compartment 23. Along the inner surface of the rear cover 14 extends the aforementioned glass wool duct 8 as a liner. Therefore, the rear compartment 23 is formed inside of the duct 8. A central portion of a front wall of the front cover 13 is recessed and there is formed a rectangular opening 13a for a control panel 62. In an upper wall of the rear cover 14 is formed a rectangular opening I4a corresponding to the discharge hole 8a provided on the aforementioned duct 8. As mentioned above, the soundproof case 2 constituting an outer wall of the engine-operated generator 1 has six faces formed by the under frame member 3, the center cover 11, the lid member 12, the front cover 13 and the rear cover 14. And inner space of the soundproof case 2 is partitioned into the front compartment 21, the center compartment 22 and the rear compartment 23 by the front frame member 5 and the rear frame member 6. In addition, within the center compartment is provided a fan cover 16, which serves as a duct too, continuously to the rectangular-pipe-like section of the duct 7 swelling out into the center compartment 22 from the rear frame member 6. The fan cover 16 is formed about cylindrical to cover a generator 35 and a centrifugal fan 40 and has a suction opening 16a which is a circular opening at the front end. On a circular end surface at the suction opening 16a are provided a plurality of projections 16b having predetermined lengths. The fan cover 16 has a flange 16c projecting radially outward at the opening rear end and a rectangular frame member 17 is attached to the flange 16c from the rear. The rectangular frame member 17 is surrounded by a seal rubber 18 along the rectangular outer peripheral edge and fitted in the rectangular-pipe-like section of the duct 7 being sealed by the seal rubber 18. Namely, the fan cover 16 is connected with the duct 7 of the rear frame member 6 through the rectangular frame member 17 and the duct 7 is connected with the duct 8 which swells out rearward from the rear frame member 6 to form the rear compartment 23. Therefore, within the soundproof case 2, a duct space formed by the fan cover 16, the duct 7 and the duct 8 occupies the rear compartment 23 and a part of the center compartment 22. The duct space has an upper stream side suction opening 16a opening into the center compartment 22 and a lower stream side discharge opening 8a provided in the upper side wall of the duct 8. The discharge opening 8a faces the rectangular opening I4a of the rear cover 14 and opens to the exterior of the soundproof case 2. On the above-mentioned frame construction and duct construction within the soundproof case 2 are disposed various instruments. The engine 30 is accommodated in the ducts 7, 8 at the rear of the soundproof case 2 as shown in Fig. 4, and supported by a pair of right and left vibrationproof mount member 31 fixed to the supporting member 3q on the under frame member 3 (Figs. 4 and 6) . As shown in Fig. 6, the engine 30 has a crankcase 30a positioned biased to the left side, a cylinder 30b projecting inclined to the right direction somewhat upwardly and a crankshaft 30c directed in front-rear direction horizontally and projecting forward. Since the cylinder 30b of the engine 30 is inclined as mentioned above, a large upper space can be ensured in the ducts 7, 8, and in this space, a large cylindrical muffler 32 is disposed directed in right-left direction. The muffler 32 is supported by the engine by means of a bracket 33 and an exhaust pipe 34 extending upward from the cylinder 30b is connected with the muffler 32. A tail pipe 32a extends around the muffler 32 from a right side wall to a rear face thereof, and exhaust opening of the tail pipe is positioned in the vicinity of the discharge opening 8a. The generator 35 is connected to the crankshaft 30c projecting forward from the crankcase 30a. The generator 35 is an outer-rotor type multipolar generator having an outer-rotor 36 shaped in a bottomed cylinder fixed to the crankshaft 30c integrally. A plurality of magnets 36a are stuck circumferentially on an inner surface of a peripheral wall of the rotor 36 so as to rotate together with the crankshaft 30c. The outer-rotor 36 serves as a flywheel of the engine, too. The outer-rotor 36 has a bottom wall at the front and opens rearward. As for the inner stator 37 of the generator 35, a stator core having a plurality of radial yokes and generating coils wound on the yokes is fixed to the crankcase 30a. The bottom wall of the outer-rotor 36 is formed with a plurality of ventilating holes 36b and the centrifugal fan 40 is fixed to the bottom wall of the outer-rotor 36 from the front. Referring to Figs. 8 to 11, the centrifugal fan 40 is a two faces fan having a primary fan 41 on a front face of a disk-like base plate 40a and a secondary fan 42 on a rear face. When the centrifugal fan 40 operates, the primary fan 41 inhales air into the center portion from the front to form an air stream discharged radially outward along the front face of the disk-like base plate 40a, and the secondary fan 42 rotating together with the primary fan 41 inhales air in the rear into the center portion to form an air stream discharged radially outward along the rear face of the base plate 40a (ref. arrows of dotted line in Fig. 11). The fan cover 16 covers the generator 35 and the centrifugal fan 40 with the suction opening 16a at the front end opposed to the centrifugal fan 40. The rear end of the fan cover 16 is fixed to the crankcase 30a of the engine 30 together with the rectangular frame member 17. In front of the fan cover 16, a recoil starter 45 is provided opposite to the suction opening 16a. A predetermined space is left between the recoil starter 45 and the fan cover 16 by the projection 16b on the end surface surrounding the suction opening 16a of the fan cover 16. A boss section 46b of a starter case 46 of the recoil starter 45 is fixed to the fan cover 16 to be supported integrally. Referring to Fig. 3, the recoil starter 45 has a ratchet wheel 47 provided on a rotary shaft which is coaxial with the crankshaft 30c so as to be projected rearward. A ratchet 48 opposing to the ratchet wheel 47 is attached to a central part of the centrifugal fan 40 The ratchet wheel 47 is driven through a gear train 47a by a starter lever and also driven by a starter motor 49 provided at a left end of the starter case 46. When the ratchet wheel 47 usually separated from the ratchet 48 is driven by the starter motor 49 for example, the ratchet wheel 47 projects rearward to engage with the ratchet 48 and the crankshaft 30c is rotated forcibly through the ratchet 48 and the outer-rotor 36 to start the engine 30. The starter case 46 of the recoil starter 45 has a conical wall in which a plurality of slits 46a are formed arranged circumferentially . Cooling air is introduced into the suction opening I6a of the fan cover 16 through the space between the end face of the fan cover 16 and the starter case 46 and further through the slits 46a. The recoil starter 45 is positioned in the center compartment 22 and supported by a pair of right and left vibrationproof mount members 50 fixed to the supporting member 3p on the under frame member 3 (Figs. 4, 5). The engine 30 and the recoil starter 45 are connected integrally by the fan cover 16 to constitute a vibratory unit. The engine 30 in the rear is supported by the vibrationproof mount member 31 and the recoil starter 45 in the front is supported by the vibrationproof mount member 50, so that the vibratory unit can be supported efficiently at positions near front and rear both end portions thereof. Since the generator 35 and the recoil starter 45 are disposed in front of the crankcase 30a positioned left extending over the rear compartment 23 and the center compartment 22, there is formed a space on the right side of the fan cover 16 and the recoil starter 45 in the center compartment 22, and in this space are arranged a carburetor 52 and an air-cleaner 53 with the air-cleaner 53 positioned in front. While the muffler 32 is disposed above the engine 30, the fuel tank 55 is disposed in a space above the fan cover 16, the recoil starter 45, the carburetor 52 and the air-cleaner 53 in the center compartment 22. The fuel tank 55 is supported on the right and left reinforcing rails 9 laid between the front frame member 5 and the rear frame member 6 by means of a flange 55a fixed to the rails 9 by bolts 57 with vibrationproof rubbers 56 inserted. A part of the fuel tank 55 is extruded into the front compartment 21 through the upper open hole 5b of the front frame member 5. The refueling mouth 55b of the fuel tank 55 is projected upward through the circular hole 11d of the center cover 11 and a fuel cap 58 is screwed on an upper end of the refuel ing mouth 55b. The fuel tank 55 is disposed in a space outside of the fan cover 16 and the duct 7 within the center compartment together with suction system instruments such as the carburetor 52 and the air-cleaner 53, and fuel system parts of the engine 30 are concentrated in the lump. Thus, the space is utilized efficiently and the apparatus is made compact. In the flat rectangular space of the front compartment 21 covered by the front cover 13 in front of the front frame member 5, an inverter device 60 and a battery 61 is disposed right and left on the under frame member 3 and above them is provided a control panel 62 facing the front rectangular opening 13a of the front cover 13. Namely, electric instruments are concentrated in the front compartment 21. The inverter device 60 converts output of the multipolar generator 35 into alternating current of a predetermined frequency. The inverter device 60 is disposed on the right side of the front compartment 21 near the suction holes 4a, 4b to be cooled by sucked outer air at the outset. As described above, the engine-operated generator 1 having the soundproof case 2 is constructed in such a manner that the generator 35, the engine 30 and the muffler 32 are arranged in this order and accommodated in the ducts 7, 8 and the fan cover 16. The suction opening 16a of the fan cover 16 opens into the center compartment 22 and the centrifugal fan 40 is provided inside of the suction opening 16a, so that by rotation of the centrifugal fan 40, air is introduced into the center compartment 22 through the front compartment 21 from exterior of the soundproof case 2 and inhaled in the fan cover 16 through the slits 46b in the starter case 46 of the recoil starter 45, the space between the fan cover 16 and the starter case 46, and the suction opening 16a (streams of the air are shown by arrows of dotted line in Figs. 4 and 7). As shown in Fig. 1, air inhaled in the fan cover 16 through the suction opening I6a by the primary fan 41 on the front face of the centrifugal fan 40 is discharged radially outward and flows along the inner peripheral surface of the fan cover 16 and the outside of the outer-rotor 36 of the generator 35 toward the engine 30 to cool the engine. In a middle of a passage of the above-mentioned primary air stream, a space 43 is formed between the generator 35 and the engine 30, and a part of the primary air stream branches to be directed to the inside of the outer-rotor 36 through the space 43. This circulating air is generated by the secondary fan 42 provided on the rear face of the centrifugal fan 40 and the space 43. The air directed in the inside of the outer-rotor 36 cools the generating coil, reaches the secondary fan 42 through the ventilating holes 36b in the bottom wall of the outer-rotor 36, and discharges radially outward to join the primary air stream again. The air introduced in the engine 30 including the above-mentioned recirculated air cools the engine and then flows upward guided by the ducts 7, 8 to cool the muffler 32 (Fig. 4). After cooling the muffler 32, the air is discharged to the exterior through the discharge opening 8a of the soundproof case 2 positioned above the muffler facing the exterior. Since the center compartment 22 communicates with the front compartment 21 through the communication open hole 5c of the front frame member 5, air introduced from the exterior through the suction holes 4a, 4b into the front compartment 21 is inhaled in the center compartment 22. At that time, the front compartment 21 acts as a labyrinth duct for introducing exterior air which restrains leakage of suction noise occurring in the center compartment 22. The inverter device 60 is positioned in the course of the suction air stream from the suction holes 4a, 4b to be cooled effectively. The generator 35, the engine 30 and the muffler 32 which are heat sources are covered by the fan cover 16 and the ducts 7, 8 to be isolated from other instruments, and the air inhaled in the fan cover 16 by the centrifugal fan 40 through the suction opening 16a opening into the center compartment 22 cools firstly the generator 35 of relatively low temperature and then the engine 30 and the muffler 32 of higher temperature and discharged to the exterior through the discharge opening 8a. Therefore, an efficient cooling can be carried out. Since a part of the air inhaled in the fan cover 16 and the duct 7 by the centrifugal fan 40 to be directed to the engine is introduced into the generator 35 through the circulation space 43 between the generator 35 and the engine 30 and circulates to the centrifugal fan again, both the engine 30 and the generator 35 can be cooled by one centrifugal fan 40 ventilating the duct 7, 8. Moreover, within the sole duct 7, 8, the generator 35 of relatively low temperature is positioned at an upper stream side and the engine 30 is positioned at a lower stream side so that the cooling is carried out efficiently in order from a lower temperature side toward a higher temperature side. Since only one centrifugal fan 40 for cooling is covered doubly by the fan cover 16 and the soundproof case 2, leakage of noise to the exterior can be restrained. Since the centrifugal fan 40 is attached to the outer-rotor 36 of the generator 35, the centrifugal fan of a large capacity can be furnished easily and a high fan supporting strength can be obtained. Since the muffler 32 is disposed above the engine 30 in such a manner that the hotter instrument is positioned at the higher position and the discharge opening 8a is provided above the muffler 32, a reasonable cooling air stream can be generated for efficient cooling. In addition, since the cylinder 30b of the engine 30 is inclined sideways and the muffler 32 is disposed above, vertical size of the engine-operated generator can be restrained small while disposing the muffler 32 of a large capacity. Since the output of the multipolar generator 35 is converted into an alternating current of a predetermined frequency, there is no need to maintain the rotational speed constant regardless of the load in order to maintain the output frequency constant as in case of a synchronous generator which has been used in this kind of engine-operated generator, therefore the rotational speed can be reduced when the load is not large to reduce operation noise greatly. Fig. 12 shows another embodiment of the present invention having a centrifugal fan different from the above-described centrifugal fan 40. In Figs. 12 and 7, the same members are shown by the same symbols excepting the centrifugal fans 70, 40. The centrifugal fan 70 has fan blades 72 formed on a front face of a disk-like base plate 71 and holes 73 for circulation formed at a predetermined positions of the base plate 71. The holes 73 are provided corresponding to the ventilating holes 36b formed in the bottom wall of the outer-rotor 36a of the generator 35. Air is inhaled in the fan cover 16 through the suction hole 16a and discharged radially outward by the centrifugal fan 70. Then, the air flows along the inner peripheral surface of the fan cover 16 and the outside of the outer-rotor 36 of the generator 35 to cool the engine 30 and a part of the air is introduced in the space 43 between the generator 35 and the engine 30 to be directed to the inside of the outer-rotor 36. The air directed to the inside of the outer-rotor 36 cools the generating coil and reaches to the front of the disk-like base plate 71 through the ventilating holes 36b of the bottom wall of the outer-rotor 36 and the holes 73 to join the suction air from the suction hole 16a. The air stream inhaled through the suction hole 16a and flowing radially outward along the front face of the disk-like base plate 71 produces a negative pressure in rear of the hole 73 to introduce the circulating air into the space 43. Thus, the air after cooling the generator 35 returns to the suction air and flows again toward the engine 30 to cool it, so that both the generator 35 and the engine 30 can be cooled efficiently. We Claim: 1. An engine-operated generator unit wherein: a cooling air duct (7, 16, 8) is provided within a soundproof case (2); an engine (30), an outer-rotor type generator (35) driven by the engine, and a centrifugal fan (40) driven by the engine are disposed within said cooling air duct (7, 16, 8) in this order; said cooling air duct (7, 16, 8) extends from a region of the centrifugal fan (40) to a region of the engine (30) and has at an upstream end thereof a suction opening (16a) located within said soundproof case (2) and at a downstream end thereof a discharge hole (8a) in communication with the exterior of the soundproof case (2); and said cooling air duct (7, 16, 8) is located adjacent to an outer rotor (36) of the generator (35) at a side remote from the engine (30) to produce a cooling air flow for causing cooling air to circulate into the generator (35) to cool an interior thereof; characterized in that: said cooling air duct (7, 16, 8) is a duct fully surrounding outer peripheries of the centrifugal fan (40), the generator (35) and the engine (30) to prevent noise leakage to the outside of the cooling air duct (7, 16, 8); said suction opening (16a) is a sole opening for introducing air solely into the cooling air duct (7, 16, 8); an air circulation space (43) is provided within said cooling air duct (7, 16, 8) between the generator (35) and the engine (30) along an entire peripheral area of the generator (35) for causing a part of the cooling air flow introduced through said sole opening (16a) and flowing toward the engine (30), to circulate via said circulation space (43) through the interior of the generator (35) back to the centrifugal fan (40); and all and only cooling air flow that is introduced through said sole opening (16a) by means of the centrifugal fan (40) passes through the air duct (7, 16,8) to the engine (30) so that the air duct (7, 16,8) isolates the centrifugal fan, the generator and the engine from other instruments provided outside the air duct (7, 16, 8). 2. An engine-operated generator unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said centrifugal fan (40) is a two-face fan having a primary fan (41) for drawing air into said soundproof case (2) through said suction opening (16a) of the air duct (7, 16, 8) and a secondary fan (42) formed integrally with said primary fan (41) for circulating the air flow introduced through said circulation space (43) into said generator (35) to said centrifugal fan (40). 3. An engine-operated generator unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said centrifugal fan (40) has a hole for circulating the air flow introduced through said circulation space (43) into said generator (35) to said centrifugal fan (40). 4. An engine-operated generator unit as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, wherein said generator (35) is a multipolar generator having a magnet rotor serving as a flywheel of said engine, and an inverter device (60) is provided for converting an output of said generator into alternating current of a predetermined frequency. 5. An engine-operated generator unit as claimed in anyone of claim 1, 2 and 3, wherein said engine (30) has a cylinder (30b) inclined sideways obliquely and a muffler (32) is disposed within said duct (7) in a space above said cylinder (30b). 6. An engine-operated generator unit substantially as herein described with reference to the foregoing examples.

Documents:

2113-del-1998-abstract.pdf

2113-del-1998-claims.pdf

2113-del-1998-correspondence-others.pdf

2113-del-1998-correspondence-po.pdf

2113-del-1998-description (complete).pdf

2113-del-1998-drawings.pdf

2113-del-1998-form-1.pdf

2113-del-1998-form-13.pdf

2113-del-1998-form-19.pdf

2113-del-1998-form-2.pdf

2113-del-1998-form-3.pdf

2113-del-1998-form-4.pdf

2113-del-1998-form-6.pdf

2113-del-1998-gpa.pdf

2113-del-1998-petition-137.pdf