Patent 8068339 was granted and assigned to Sony on November, 2011 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
There is provided an axial fan apparatus including an axial-flow impeller, a drive unit, and a housing. The axial-flow impeller is capable of rotating and includes a plurality of blades inclined with respect to a rotational axis direction. The drive unit rotates the axial-flow impeller. The housing is mounted with the drive unit, and includes a sidewall, and a plurality of slits that circulate gas. The sidewall is provided around the axial-flow impeller. The plurality of slits are provided to the sidewall and inclined with respect to the rotational axis direction in a direction opposed to a direction in which the plurality of blades incline.