Patent 7456373 was granted and assigned to Illinois Tool Works on November, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A welding apparatus having an easily replaceable fan and a method of replacing the fan is disclosed. An opening is formed through the front panel of a welding-type power source to correspond to the profile of a cooling fan. The opening allows the cooling fan to pass therethrough unobstructed. Once inside the housing of the welding-type power source, the fan is positioned to generally occlude the opening and is then mounted to an inner surface of the front panel by a fastener secured through the front panel and into the fan.