CN211592230U

CN211592230U - Cooling unit and structure for the front of a motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN211592230U
Application number: CN201890000575.5U
Authority: CN
Inventors: J-P.赫莱姆; S.安德烈
Original assignee: Valeo Systemes Thermiques SAS
Current assignee: Valeo Systemes Thermiques SAS
Priority date: 2017-03-06
Filing date: 2018-03-02
Publication date: 2020-09-29
Anticipated expiration: 2028-03-02
Also published as: EP3592595A1; WO2018162826A1; FR3063456B1; FR3063456A1

Abstract

The utility model relates to a cooling unit for motor vehicle front, this unit (1) include casing (2) and encapsulate at least one heat exchanger in casing (2), casing (2) include: -a frame (3) for housing an air intake conditioning device (4) provided with at least one movable shutter, said frame being called front frame, -a cover (5), called rear cover, said frame and said cover being fixed to each other in a removable manner, said casing (2) delimiting an enclosed volume (V) and being configured in a modular manner to allow the assembly and disassembly of said at least one exchanger in the casing along a longitudinal direction (X) and/or a transverse direction (Y) and/or a vertical direction (Z). The invention also relates to a structure for a front face of a motor vehicle, comprising such a cooling unit.

Description

Cooling unit and structure for the front of a motor vehicle

Technical Field

The subject of the present invention is a cooling unit for a front face of a motor vehicle; the subject of the invention also relates to a structure for the front face of a motor vehicle, comprising the aforementioned cooling unit.

Background

Normal operation of a motor vehicle requires intake and capture of a large amount of air for air supply of the engine or one of its components (e.g. a turbocharger), or for cooling of the components of the engine or the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

This large volume of air is captured by the front face of the vehicle. A portion of the airflow thus captured is directed through a cooling system (also referred to as a "cooling unit") disposed between the front face of the vehicle and the vehicle engine, and then into the engine to allow combustion of the fuel. The heat treatment module comprises, in particular, a heat exchanger forming part of a thermal circuit for the air conditioning of the passenger compartment and a radiator for cooling the engine.

The main drawback of these cooling units is that a portion of the air arriving through the inlet aperture does not pass through the heat exchanger(s) and is spontaneously dissipated in the engine compartment.

This drawback therefore requires the provision of relatively bulky heat exchangers to ensure a proper heat exchange in the circulation circuit through these heat exchangers to achieve the required cooling performance.

Another disadvantage of the known cooling unit is that the heat exchanger arranged in the cooling unit is difficult to access. The slightest operation on any of the elements constituting the cooling unit actually requires the disassembly of at least the upper part of the casing.

The present invention aims to improve this situation.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

To this end, the subject of the invention is a cooling unit for the front face of a motor vehicle, comprising a casing and at least one heat exchanger mounted in the casing, the casing comprising:

a frame for housing an air intake regulating device provided with at least one movable shutter, called front frame,

-a cover, called back cover,

the frame and the cover are removably fixed to each other, the housing delimiting an enclosed volume and comprising removable connection elements to selectively allow the mounting or dismounting of the at least one exchanger in the housing along at least two different mounting or dismounting directions.

Since the leakage around the exchanger(s) is limited according to the unit of the invention, this makes it possible to improve its efficiency and to reduce the size of the heat exchanger(s), thus reducing the weight and space requirements of the cooling unit. The casing delimiting the closed volume is constructed in a modular manner, i.e. it consists of a set of juxtaposable elements or modules that can be combined with other elements having the same properties or contributing to the same function. The housing is associated with a support to allow the implementation and juxtaposition of the heat exchanger and other elements (for example a set of controlled shutters, a motor-fan unit, etc.) in a sealed manner.

The housing thus makes it possible to carry out the mounting or dismounting of said at least one exchanger in the housing along at least two different mounting or dismounting directions, i.e. a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction and/or a vertical direction, and this independently of other heat exchangers or other elements (e.g. motor-fan units, etc.).

Furthermore, this facilitates access to the heat exchangers comprising the cooling unit, which simplifies the maintenance operations performed on these heat exchangers during the entire life of the vehicle.

According to another feature of the invention, the rear cover comprises a housing for the motor-fan unit for moving air.

According to another feature of the invention, the housing comprises at least one detachable connection element between the front frame and the rear cover.

According to another feature of the invention, the housing comprises at least one connection cover between the front frame and the rear cover.

According to another feature of the present invention, the housing includes: a single cover, a detachable connection element between the front frame and the back cover, a detachable connection element between the cover and the front frame and a detachable connection element between the cover and the back cover.

According to another feature of the present invention, the housing includes: two covers, referred to as a first cover and a second cover; a detachable connecting member between the front frame and the first cover; a detachable connecting member between the front frame and the second cover; a detachable connecting element between the first cover and the rear cover; and a detachable connecting member between the second cover and the rear cover.

According to another feature of the invention, the housing comprises fixing means for fixing the unit to a beam of the motor vehicle.

According to another feature of the invention, the unit comprises: a radiator for cooling a vehicle engine, and/or a condenser for a heating, ventilating and/or air conditioning unit of a vehicle, and/or an evaporator for a heating, ventilating and/or air conditioning unit, and/or a subcooler for a heating, ventilating and/or air conditioning unit.

The present invention also relates to a structure for a front face of a motor vehicle, comprising a cooling unit as described above.

Drawings

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following description. The description is illustrative and should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 shows an exploded view of a cooling unit according to the invention;

fig. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the housing of the unit of fig. 1 according to a first embodiment of the invention;

fig. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the housing of the unit of fig. 1 according to a second embodiment of the invention;

figure 4 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the housing of the unit of figure 1 according to a third embodiment of the invention; and

fig. 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the housing of the unit of fig. 1 according to a fourth embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

The subject of the present invention is a cooling unit for the front face of a motor vehicle.

Referring to fig. 1, a cooling unit 1 includes a housing 2, and at least one heat exchanger (three heat exchangers in fig. 1) is enclosed in the housing 2. Encapsulation means that the heat exchanger(s) is included in the housing 2 in a sealed manner without air leakage around the heat exchanger(s).

The casing 2 comprises a frame 3, the frame 3 being intended to house an air intake air conditioning device provided with at least one movable shutter 4, the frame being referred to as front frame 3.

The housing 2 further comprises a cover 5, referred to as a back cover.

In fig. 1, the air inlet regulating device 4 comprises an upper part 6 of the movable flap and a lower part 7 of the movable flap.

In fig. 1, the three heat exchangers enclosed in the casing 2 are a radiator 8, a condenser 9 and an evaporator 10, respectively.

As can be seen in fig. 1, the rear cover 5 comprises a motor-fan unit 11 for moving air in order to draw air into the motor vehicle.

In the embodiment of fig. 1, the housing 2 comprises an upper cover 10 for connecting the front frame 3 and the rear cover 5.

The upper cover 10 is shaped to cover the front frame 3, the three heat exchangers 8,9, and 10, and the rear cover 5.

In its position of installation in a motor vehicle, the casing 2 is arranged so that the frame 3 is arranged at the front and the hood 4 at the rear, with respect to the direction of the air flow F into the casing.

The air flow F is mainly parallel to the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, indicated with X.

The transverse direction is denoted Y.

The vertical direction is denoted as Z.

Thus, the housing 2, once mounted, extends in a longitudinal direction (X), a transverse direction (Y) and a vertical direction (Z), for example with respect to the axis of the vehicle.

According to another feature of the invention, the front frame 3 and the rear cover 4 are detachably fixed to each other.

The casing 2 delimits an enclosed volume V in which the heat exchanger is arranged (more particularly visible in fig. 2 to 5).

The shell 2 is constructed in a modular manner to allow the mounting and dismounting of at least one exchanger along the longitudinal direction X, the transversal direction Y, the vertical direction Z or a combination of these directions, as will be explained in detail.

As shown, the housing 2 includes at least one detachable connection element.

The detachable connection element is, for example, a sealing flange known per se without a seal, which is provided with two fingers that cooperate with one another.

As can be seen in fig. 1, the housing comprises a fixing member 20 for fixing the unit 1 to a beam (not shown) of a motor vehicle.

Referring to fig. 2, the enclosed volume is defined only by the front frame 3 and the rear cover 5.

The housing 2 comprises at least one detachable connection element between the front frame 3 and the rear cover 5.

In fig. 2, the housing 2 comprises two removable connecting elements between the front frame 3 and the rear cover 5.

A first detachable connection element 12 is arranged at the upper part and another detachable connection element 13 is arranged at the lower part.

Upper means the part close to the hood of the vehicle, whereas lower means close to the floor of the vehicle. In other words, the upper portion corresponds to the highest portion of the cooling unit 1 in the vertical direction (Z), and similarly, the lower portion corresponds to the lowest portion of the cooling unit 1 in the vertical direction (Z).

Since the connecting elements are detachable, the front frame 3 can be reversibly detached from the rear cover 5, which allows access to the heat exchanger in the housing 2.

According to the configuration of fig. 2, the exchanger can be mounted and dismounted along direction Z or along a combination of directions Z and X (by pivoting of the exchanger) if only one of the detachable connection elements is detached.

Referring to fig. 3, the closed volume is defined only by the front frame 3, the rear cover 5, and the connection cover 14 for connecting the front frame 3 and the rear cover 5.

The connection cap 14 is referred to as a lower cap 14.

In fig. 3, the housing 2 comprises an upper detachable connection element 12 between the front frame 3 and the rear cover 5, a lower detachable connection element 13 between the lower cover 14 and the front frame 3 and a detachable connection element 13' between the lower cover 14 and the rear cover 5.

The lower cover 14 extends in the direction X, orthogonal to the front frame 3 and the rear cover 5.

The lower connecting elements 15 and 16 are advantageously coupled to the ends of the lower cap 14.

Since the connecting

elements

12, 13 are detachable, the front frame 3, the rear cover 5 and the lower cover 14 can be reversibly detached, which allows access to the heat exchanger in the housing 2. In other words, the casing 2 comprises

removable connection elements

12, 13 in order to be able to configure the cooling unit 1 (in particular the casing 2) and thus access the heat exchanger in the direction X, Y or Z according to constraints such as the nature of the spatial arrangement and the requirements of the front module.

According to the configuration of fig. 3, in the following cases:

if the two lower detachable connection elements 13, 13' are detached, the heat exchanger can be mounted and detached along the direction Z (from the bottom),

if one of the detachable connection elements 12, 13' is detached, the heat exchanger can be mounted and dismounted along the direction Z or along a combination of the directions Z and X (by pivoting of the exchanger).

Referring to fig. 4 and 5, the closed volume is defined only by the front frame 3, the rear cover 5, and two connection covers for connecting the front frame 3 and the rear cover 5.

The first coupling cap is referred to as a lower cap 14.

The second connecting cover is the upper cover 10.

In the embodiment of fig. 4, the upper cover 10 and the lower cover 14 extend parallel to the direction X, and in the embodiment of fig. 5, extend parallel to the direction X and the direction Z.

In fig. 4 and 5, the housing 2 includes:

two upper removable connection elements 12, 12' respectively between the front frame 3 and the upper cover 10, and between the upper cover 10 and the rear cover 5, and

two lower removable connection elements 13, 13' respectively between the lower cover 14 and the front frame 3 and between the lower cover 14 and the rear cover 5.

The upper connecting element (corresponding lower connecting element) is preferably coupled with an end of the upper cover (corresponding lower cover).

Since the connecting elements are detachable, the front frame 3, the rear cover 5, the lower cover 14 and the upper cover 10 can be reversibly separated, which allows access to the heat exchanger in the housing 2.

According to the configuration of fig. 4 and 5, in the following cases:

if the two lower detachable connection elements or the two upper detachable connection elements are detached, the heat exchanger can be mounted and detached from below (respectively from above) in direction Z,

if one of the detachable connection elements is detached, the heat exchanger can be mounted and dismounted along direction Z or along a combination of directions Z and X (by pivoting of the exchanger),

the heat exchanger can be mounted and dismounted along direction X if the two detachable connection elements associated with the front frame or the two detachable connection elements associated with the rear cover are dismounted.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

For example, one or two side covers extending in the direction Y between the front frame 3 and the rear cover 5 may be provided in addition to or instead of the lower cover and the upper cover.

Note that the shape of the upper cover is not intended to serve as a hood for a motor vehicle, nor does it help to close the hood of the vehicle.

It should also be noted that the described embodiments may be combined with each other as long as they are not incompatible.

The unit according to the invention comprises a casing for enclosing the heat exchanger, air leakage being limited, which allows to reduce the size of the heat exchanger while improving the thermal performance coefficient of the vehicle, and to reduce the carbon dioxide emitted from the motor vehicle.

The casing according to the present invention is modular, that is to say the elements that constitute it (front frame, rear cover, possible cover (s)) are reversibly removable, facilitating access to the exchangers throughout the life of the vehicle, both for assembly in the primary market, for assembly and disassembly during vehicle maintenance operations, or for the secondary market.

The utility model discloses still relate to a structure for motor vehicle front portion face, including cooling unit 1.

The support includes a beam coupled to the cooling unit.

The beam is advantageously a lower cross beam, an upper cross beam or a lateral upright of the support.

The support optionally comprises a bumper beam.

Claims

1. A cooling unit (1), characterized by a motor vehicle front face, the cooling unit (1) comprising a housing (2) and at least one heat exchanger (8,9,10) comprised in the housing (2), the housing (2) comprising:

a frame (3) for housing an air intake conditioning device (4) provided with at least one movable shutter, said frame being called front frame,

a cover (5), called back cover,

the frame and the cover are removably fixed to each other, the casing (2) delimiting a closed volume (V) and comprising removable connection elements (12, 13) to selectively allow the mounting or dismounting of the at least one exchanger in the casing (2) along at least two different mounting or dismounting directions.

2. A cooling unit according to claim 1, characterised in that the rear cover (5) comprises a receptacle for a motor-fan unit (11) for moving air.

3. Cooling unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the housing (2) comprises at least one detachable connection element (12, 13) between the front frame (3) and the rear cover (5).

4. Cooling unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the housing (2) comprises at least one connecting cover (10, 14) between the front frame (3) and the rear cover (5).

5. Cooling unit according to claim 4, characterized in that the housing (2) comprises: -a single cover (14), -a detachable connection element (12) between the front frame (3) and the rear cover (5), -a detachable connection element (13) between the cover (14) and the front frame (3) and-a detachable connection element (13') between the cover (14) and the rear cover (5).

6. Cooling unit according to claim 4, characterized in that the housing (2) comprises: two covers (10, 14), called first and second covers; -a detachable connection element (12) between said front frame (3) and said first cover (10); -a detachable connection element (13) between the front frame (3) and the second cover (14); -a detachable connection element (12') between said first cover (14) and said rear cover (5); and a detachable connection element (13') between the second cover (14) and the rear cover (5).

7. Cooling unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the housing (2) comprises fixing members (20) for fixing the unit (1) to a beam of a motor vehicle.

8. The cooling unit of claim 1 or 2, comprising: a radiator for cooling a vehicle engine, and/or a condenser for a heating, ventilating and/or air conditioning unit of a vehicle, and/or an evaporator for a heating, ventilating and/or air conditioning unit, and/or a subcooler for a heating, ventilating and/or air conditioning unit.

9. A structure for the front face of a motor vehicle, characterized by comprising a cooling unit (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8.