CN115973100A - Device and method for removing snow from license plate - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for removing snow from a vehicle license plate, comprising at least a supply line (2) for supplying a heat medium, in particular combusted exhaust gases, from an engine (1) to the vehicle license plate (5), a heating line (3) being arranged at the vehicle license plate (5). The invention also relates to a method for removing snow from a vehicle license plate, comprising the step of causing a heating medium to flow through the heating circuit (3). According to the invention, the function of rapidly melting accumulated snow can be realized by only using a small amount of waste gas heat of the engine without consuming additional electric energy or mechanical energy, and the utilization rate of the engine can be improved, so that the vehicle can run more energy-saving and environment-friendly.

Description

Device and method for removing snow from license plate

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of vehicles, in particular to a device for removing snow from a license plate and a method for removing snow from the license plate by using the device, and particularly relates to snow removal by using a vehicle heat source.

Background

Up to now, when a car enters a parking lot to park or enters a highway to pass, a parking system and a highway charging system mostly adopt a mode of automatically identifying license plates of the car, for example, ETC is used for charging, but when the car is snowed in winter, snow covers the license plates, so that the license plates cannot be identified by the automatic identification system, normal charging is influenced, and dredging of the car in the parking lot and normal passing of the highway are influenced. At present, in order to solve the problem, a driver usually gets off the vehicle and then manually removes the accumulated snow on the license plate, so that the vehicle is quite inconvenient, time-consuming and labor-consuming, and is easy to cause traffic jam or even traffic accidents.

The known license plate snow removing technology is mostly electric heating or vibration snow removing through motor drive vibrating device, consequently need rely on the vehicle electric energy to work, increases the vehicle energy consumption.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, in view of one of the above drawbacks and/or other possible drawbacks not mentioned herein, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for license plate snow removal and a method for performing license plate snow removal by means of such a device, in which snow removal is performed using a heat source of the vehicle itself, in particular, engine waste heat.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for removing snow from a license plate, said device comprising at least:

a supply line for supplying a heat medium, in particular combusted exhaust gases, from an engine to a license plate,

-a heating circuit arranged at the license plate.

Compared with the prior art, the device for removing snow from the license plate guides the waste gas with high temperature after the combustion of the vehicle engine to the vicinity of the license plate, such as the back of the license plate, through the pipeline, so as to heat the license plate and melt the accumulated snow covering the license plate. 2022PF01597 by keeping the exhaust gas and the license plate's Young Ref

Our Ref.:CNDAI194390-wjt

The continuous heat exchange between the plates can keep the plate at a certain temperature, such as higher than zero centigrade, to prevent the plate from accumulating snow again. Therefore, the situation that a driver is forced to get off to clean the accumulated snow of the license plate in places needing to identify the license plate due to the accumulated snow of the license plate in the snowing day is avoided. Since the exhaust gas after combustion of the engine still has a high temperature, for example, the temperature from the engine to the exhaust manifold is about 800 to 900 ℃, the temperature of the three-way catalyst is about 600 to 700 ℃, and the temperature of the muffler is substantially 200 to 300 ℃. Therefore, the function of rapidly melting accumulated snow can be realized only by using a small amount of waste gas heat without consuming additional electric energy or mechanical energy, and the utilization rate of the engine can be improved, so that the vehicle runs more energy-saving and environment-friendly.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the device further comprises an outlet line for outputting the heat medium, in particular exhaust gases passing through the heating line, to an exhaust system of the vehicle. Therefore, the problem of secondary pollution caused by directly discharging the secondary used waste gas into the surrounding environment is avoided. The outlet line in this case in particular feeds the heat medium back to an exhaust gas treatment device of the vehicle, for example, the outlet line opens upstream of an exhaust gas catalytic converter in the exhaust system.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the device further comprises a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the license plate, wherein the temperature sensor is arranged in the vicinity of the license plate, for example on a license plate holder for fixing the license plate. Depending in particular on the measuring principle of the sensors used, it can be arranged inside the back plate of the license plate carrier so as to be in contact with the back side of the license plate, for example in the case of a contact temperature sensor, or it can also be arranged on the frame of the license plate carrier so as to be aligned with the front side of the license plate without contact with the license plate, for example in the case of a contactless temperature sensor. Therefore, the device and the snow removing process are accurately controlled according to the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor. For example, when the sensed temperature of the license plate is higher than a set minimum value, keeping the temperature constant to prevent the license plate from being accumulated with snow; and when the sensed license plate temperature is higher than the set maximum value, reducing the supply amount of waste gas to prevent the license plate and the license plate frame from being damaged due to overheating.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the supply line branches off from the exhaust pipe close to the engine and/or from the end of the exhaust pipe, in particular before the muffler of the exhaust pipe. Thereby, the exhaust gas after combustion of the engine is introduced from the position closest to the license plate, thereby reducing the length and heat loss of the supply line and the trouble of the line layout. For example, for a vehicle model with a front engine, exhaust gas may be supplied to the front license plate from an exhaust pipe close to the engine, while exhaust gas may be supplied to the rear license plate from the end of the exhaust pipe remote from the engine, particularly before a muffler of the exhaust pipe. For a vehicle model with a front engine, the reverse setting can be just performed.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, a control valve, in particular a solenoid-operated one-way throttle valve, is arranged in the supply line for controlling the flow of the supplied thermal medium. 2022PF01597 to achieve switching on the heat medium, i.e. the exhaust gas supply, and the young Ref to the flow of the heat medium and the heat supplied thereby, by operating the control valve

Our Ref.:CNDAI194390-wjt

And (5) adjusting. The control valve is in particular designed as a one-way throttle valve, so that gas backflow can also be prevented, avoiding any effects on the normal operation of the engine and of the catalytic converter for exhaust gas treatment. Furthermore, the control valve is in particular designed as a solenoid valve which can be opened and closed manually by the driver or automatically on the basis of a measurement signal from a sensor. Alternatively, in the control valve, the heat medium is mixed with air supplied from an intake pipe of the engine. The temperature of the supplied heat medium can thus be reduced beforehand by mixing air having a lower temperature, thereby reducing the thermal load on the lines of the device, and in particular for the supply lines branching off from the exhaust pipe close to the engine, the lines after the control valve can be made of a material having a lower requirement for high temperature resistance, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the device and increasing the service life of the lines. In addition, it is possible to control the temperature of the license plate by controlling the amount of air mixed in and to increase the flow rate of the supplied heat medium. Furthermore, optionally, a further temperature sensor is arranged in the supply line downstream of the control valve for sensing the temperature of the heat medium after mixing with air. Thus, the temperature of the heat medium supplied to the license plate can be controlled in advance to prevent the supply line and other components such as the license plate frame from being damaged due to an excessive temperature occurring in the supply line downstream of the control valve. In addition, the temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the license plate may select a sensor having a lower measurement range and a lower cost than the other temperature sensor.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the heating line is designed as a serpentine and is embedded in the license plate carrier, in particular in the back plate of the license plate carrier. The use of such serpentine tubes in heaters and heat exchangers is known. In this case, optionally, the heat exchange area of the heating line can be increased by increasing the density of the serpentine distributed in the license plate carrier and increasing the circuit, so that the license plate can be heated more efficiently and uniformly. Of course, in addition to such a serpentine which is complicated to produce, it is also conceivable to provide at least one heating layer directly in the license plate carrier, through which heating layer the heating medium is continuously passed at a relatively high temperature, so that the license plate can be heated rapidly. Furthermore, other arrangements of the heating circuit within the license plate holder may be considered that would appear meaningful to one skilled in the art.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, an air blowing valve is arranged on the frame of the license plate frame, wherein the air blowing valve is connected with the heating pipeline and is used for blowing a part of the heat medium in the heating pipeline to snow on the license plate. Therefore, the accumulated snow on the license plate can be cleared more quickly, and melted snow water on the license plate can be blown off additionally. In particular, when the cluster nozzle is used for the air blowing valve, thick snow or ice can be blown off. Furthermore, by mixing air at the control valve as described above, it is also possible to increase the flow rate of the supplied heat medium so as to provide more heat medium to the blow valve. In this case, in particular, the treated exhaust gas branching off from the end of the exhaust pipe is used to avoid pollution of the surroundings.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of removing snow from a license plate by means of the device of the first aspect, said method comprising at least:

-flowing a heat medium through the heating circuit.

For example, by opening a control valve, a heating medium, in particular combusted exhaust gas, is supplied from the engine via a supply line to a heating line for heating the license plate.

Optionally, the method may further include:

-sensing a temperature of the license plate;

-adjusting the flow of the thermal medium in dependence on the temperature of the license plate;

-keeping the flow of said thermal medium constant when the temperature of the license plate reaches a threshold value.

For example, the driver manually turns on the snow removal function according to weather conditions or observation of a license plate blocking condition when getting on the vehicle or the vehicle system automatically turns on the snow removal function based on a signal from a temperature sensor and/or a wiper sensor. After the control valve is opened, the temperature of the license plate is sensed through the temperature sensor, and the flow of the heat medium is adjusted according to the sensed temperature of the license plate, so that the license plate can be rapidly heated, and meanwhile, the license plate is prevented from being overhigh in temperature. When the temperature of the license plate reaches a set threshold value, the flow of the heat medium is kept constant, so that the heat medium continuously flows through the license plate frame, the license plate is kept continuously heated to the constant temperature, the license plate is prevented from being snowed or frozen again, and particularly different threshold values can be set correspondingly according to the observation of a driver on the snow situation or the snowing situation sensed by a windshield wiper sensor and the like.

Further optionally, the method may further comprise:

-sensing the temperature of the thermal medium downstream of the control valve;

-adjusting the amount of mixed air according to the temperature of the thermal medium; and/or

-opening a blowing valve for blowing the heating medium in the heating line towards the license plate.

The temperature of the heat medium downstream of the control valve is thus regulated by the additional mixing in of air, on the one hand preventing the temperature of the supply line downstream of the control valve from becoming too high, since a lower temperature is advantageous for the material and layout of the supply line, and also reducing the influence of the supply line on the heat conduction of other components of the vehicle; on the other hand, the additional mixing of air makes it possible to increase the amount of air flow available to the air blow valve in order to more rapidly blow off the thicker snow cover. Therefore, a snow removal mode combining blowing and heating is realized, so that the efficiency of the license plate snow removal method is improved.

Drawings

The principles, features and advantages of the present invention may be better understood by describing the invention in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings comprise:

fig. 1 shows a schematic structural view of a snow removal device for license plates according to the present invention;

figure 2 shows a schematic perspective view of a license plate holder with a device according to the invention; and

fig. 3 shows a flow chart of a method for performing snow removal of a license plate according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantageous effects of the present invention better apparent, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and at least one exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and do not limit the scope of the invention.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a schematic structural view of a device 10 for removing snow from a license plate according to the present invention, wherein the device 10 comprises at least a supply line 2 for supplying a heat medium, in particular combusted exhaust gas, from an engine 1 to a license plate 5, a heating line 3 arranged on the rear side of the license plate 5, and an output line 4 for outputting the heat medium, in particular exhaust gas passing through the heating line 3, to an exhaust system 7 of a vehicle. Furthermore, a first temperature sensor 8 is arranged on the license plate 5 for sensing the temperature of the license plate 5, and a control valve 6 is arranged in the supply line 2 for controlling the flow of the supplied thermal medium. In addition, exhaust gases are also mixed with air from the engine intake in the control valve 6, and additionally a second temperature sensor 9 is arranged in the supply line 2 downstream of the control valve 6 for sensing the temperature of the heat medium after mixing with air. In the present example, the supply line 2 may branch off from the exhaust pipe downstream of the exhaust manifold of the engine 1, for example, after a catalyst for exhaust gas aftertreatment, and then supply the exhaust gas having a high temperature to the control valve 6. The line section of the supply line 2 upstream of the control valve 6 and the control valve 6 itself should therefore be made of a material that is resistant to high temperatures, while the line of the device 10 downstream of the control valve 6, due to the proportional mixing of the air with the ambient temperature, can be made of a material that has low requirements for operating temperature and is more versatile, so that the production costs can be reduced and the line layout can be simplified. In addition, the temperature of the heat medium downstream of the control valve 6 can also be sensed by means of the second temperature sensor 9 and the flow rate of the heat medium and/or the amount of mixed air is adjusted by means of the control valve 6 on the basis of the sensed temperature in order to prevent the temperature of the heat medium from being too high and damaging other components downstream of the control valve 6. The control valve 6 is designed here, for example, as an electromagnetically controllable one-way throttle valve, in order to facilitate remote control by the vehicle system and to prevent backflow of the heating medium, which adversely affects the operation of the engine and/or the catalytic converter. The temperature-regulated heat medium is then led to the heating line 3. The heating line 3 is arranged, for example, in a license plate holder 11 for holding a license plate 5 (see fig. 2) and is configured, in particular, with a large heat exchange area, so that the heat medium passing through the heating line 3 can transfer heat to the license plate 5 efficiently for rapidly melting snow or ice on the license plate 5. Finally, the exhaust gas which has passed through the heating line 3 and is reused is fed back to the exhaust system 7 of the vehicle via the outlet line 4, in particular to the exhaust gas line downstream of the catalytic converter and upstream of the muffler, in order to avoid the adverse effect of the lower exhaust gas temperature on the conversion efficiency of the catalytic converter.

Figure 2 shows a schematic perspective view of a license plate holder 11 with a device 10 according to the invention. Arranged, in particular embedded, in the license plate carrier 11 is a heating line 3, the heating line 3 being here, for example, designed as a serpentine and distributed uniformly in the license plate carrier 11, the heating line 3 abutting against the license plate 5 when the license plate 5 is mounted, for example screwed, on the license plate carrier 11 in order to improve the heat transfer. Furthermore, it is also conceivable to bond or weld the heating line 3 directly in a simple manner on the inner side of the license plate carrier 11 facing the license plate 5, if appropriate additionally to arrange a protective layer or plate, for example a metal plate, having a high thermal conductivity between the license plate 5 and the heating line 3. This prevents the complicated production of a meandering serpentine in the license plate carrier. In addition, it is also conceivable to provide at least one heating layer directly in place of the serpentine in the license plate carrier, which heating layer can also be used to heat the license plate quickly and effectively keep the license plate at a constant temperature when the heating medium is continuously flowing through the heating layer at a higher temperature. Further, the air blow valves 12 are provided on the frame of the license plate frame 11, for example, two air blow valves 12 are provided at the upper frame of the license plate frame 11. The air blowing valves 12 are connected with the heating pipeline 3, and are used for blowing a part of the heat medium in the heating pipeline 3 to the accumulated snow on the license plate 5 and assisting in removing the accumulated snow on the license plate 5. The blowing valve has, in particular, a cluster nozzle for spraying a high-pressure air stream, so that relatively thick snow or ice can be blown off.

Fig. 3 shows a flow chart of a method for performing snow removal of a license plate according to the present invention.

When the license plate snow removal function needs to be started, for example, a driver observes that the license plate has snow or a sensor in a vehicle senses snow, the following method steps are executed:

in step S1, the heating medium is caused to flow through the heating line, for example by opening the control valve 6, which may be the driver manually by the vehicle system or the vehicle system automatically;

in step S2, the temperature of the license plate 5 is sensed by means of the first temperature sensor 8;

in step S3, the flow rate of the heat medium is controlled by adjusting the control valve 6 according to the sensed temperature of the license plate 5;

in step S4, when it is sensed that the temperature of the license plate 5 reaches a predetermined threshold, for example 5 ℃ above zero, the flow rate of the thermal medium is kept constant in order to quickly melt the snow and keep the license plate 5 from accumulating snow any more.

In addition, the following method steps can be carried out: the temperature of the thermal medium downstream of the control valve 6 is sensed by means of a second temperature sensor 9; the amount of mixed air is adjusted by the control valve 6 according to the temperature of the heat medium so that the temperature of the heat medium mixed by the low-temperature air and the high-temperature exhaust gas reaches a predetermined value, and then the temperature-adjusted heat medium is supplied to the heating line 3. In addition, a blowing valve 12 arranged on the frame of the license plate carrier 11 can be opened for blowing a portion of the heating medium in the heating line to the license plate 5.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein in detail, the description is given for purposes of illustration only and the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, the representative structures, and illustrative examples shown and described. On the contrary, various modifications and substitutions may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the basic spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

1. A device for removing snow from license plates, said device comprising at least:

a supply line (2) for supplying a heat medium, in particular combusted exhaust gases, from the engine (1) to the license plate (5),

-a heating circuit (3) arranged at the license plate (5).

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an outlet line (4) for discharging the heat medium, in particular exhaust gas flowing through the heating line (3), to an exhaust system (7) of the vehicle.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

a first temperature sensor (8) for sensing a temperature of the license plate (5).

4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-3,

the supply line (2) branches off close to the exhaust pipe of the engine (1) and/or from the end of the exhaust pipe, in particular before the muffler of the exhaust pipe.

5. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-4,

a control valve (6), in particular an electromagnetically controlled one-way throttle valve, is arranged in the supply line (2) for controlling the flow of the supplied heat medium; and in the control valve (6), a heat medium is mixed with air supplied from an intake pipe of the engine (1); and a second temperature sensor (9) is arranged in the supply line (2) downstream of the control valve (6) for sensing the temperature of the heat medium after mixing with air.

6. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-5,

the heating line (3) is designed as a coil and is embedded in a license plate holder (11) for fixing the license plate (5).

7. The device of any of claims 1-6, wherein you Ref 2022PF01597

Our Ref.:CNDAI194390-wjt

And an air blowing valve (12) is arranged on the frame of the license plate frame (11), wherein the air blowing valve (12) is connected with the heating pipeline (2).

8. A method of performing snow removal of license plates by means of a device according to any one of the preceding claims, said method comprising at least:

-flowing a heat medium through the heating line (3).

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

-sensing the temperature of the license plate (5);

-adjusting the flow of thermal medium according to the temperature of the license plate (5);

-keeping the flow of the thermal medium constant when the temperature of the license plate (5) reaches a threshold value.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the method further comprises:

-sensing the temperature of the thermal medium downstream of the control valve (6);

-adjusting the amount of mixed air according to the temperature of the thermal medium; and/or

-opening a blowing valve (12) for blowing the thermal medium in the heating line (3) towards the license plate (5).

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