EP2076403A1

EP2076403A1 - Auxiliary cooler for truck cap and a vehicle provided with a cooling member

Info

Publication number: EP2076403A1
Application number: EP07835131A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Erik Dahl; Lennart Eriksson
Original assignee: Volvo Lastvagnar AB
Current assignee: Volvo Truck Corp
Priority date: 2006-10-23
Filing date: 2007-10-22
Publication date: 2009-07-08
Also published as: EP2076403A4; CN101557956A; SE0602234L; SE530639C2; WO2008051145A1; BRPI0717409A2

Abstract

The invention discloses a vehicle, such as a heavy vehicle, e.g. a truck, comprising a cabin (1) having a front side (2) including a windshield (3) and edge regions (4), a roof (5), and driving means including a cooling system, where said vehicle is provided with at least one auxiliary cooling member (6) comprising at least one cooling element (7), and an air intake (8), where at least a part of the cooling member is protruding from the front side (2) to utilize at least a part of the general airflow running substantially parallel with the front side (2) when the vehicle is moving forward. In a preferred embodiment, at least one exterior panel (9) is mounted to cover the cooling elements (7) of the cooling member (6), and it is preferred that this exterior panel (9) is a sun visor (10) or dirt deflector (11). Hereby, there is achieved significant additional cooling without altering the overall appearance and design of the truck and thus also keeping within the size requirements of the vehicle.

Description

Auxiliary cooler for truck cap and a vehicle provided with a cooling member

The present invention relates to a vehicle, such as a heavy vehicle, e.g. a truck, comprising a cabin having a front side including a windshield and edge regions, a roof, and driving means including a cooling system.

The majority of cars and trucks achieve cooling of the engine through an air intake in the front, usually in the form of a grille, combined with a large radiator placed immediately behind this grille. Usually, liquid cooling is used, so that the radiator is con- nected to flow channels running along the engine block, thus allowing for an exchange of thermal energy with the engine.

Efforts to add additional cooling capacity are known from JP61150823 where additional radiators are installed in an air deflector on the roof of a truck cap. A similar design is known from DE3916692 where an additional radiator is positioned behind an air deflector constructed from several flaps. The relative distance between these flaps can then be adjusted to allow air to penetrate the gap between the flaps. Finally, another design is found in EP1426577 where again a radiator is installed in the air deflector of a truck cap.

Today's trucks haves a limited cooling capacity, as there is no space available for installation of large radiators and an increase in fan power to the existing radiator results in parasitic loses and increased noise. Heat rejection from the engine is expected to increase with the development of larger engines. Furthermore, future legal demands on exhaust emissions are also expected to increase the heat rejection of the engine. One limitation of the existing technology to provide additional cooling is that an air deflector is required, thus taking up extra space, which may not be desirable. Furthermore, in many cases it is desired to allow the cabin to extend as high as possible inside, e.g. to have a raised roof section, and it is therefore not desirable if this space is occupied by an additional cooling system. Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a compact solution for additional cooling without increasing the dimensions of the vehicle.

The inventors of the present invention have realized that the air stream around the corners or edge region of the front of the vehicle is particularly suitable for cooling. Accordingly, the invention consists of a vehicle which is provided with at least one auxiliary cooling member comprising at least one cooling element and an air intake, where at least a part of the cooling member is protruding from the front side of the vehicle to utilize at least a part of the general airflow running substantially parallel with the front side when the vehicle is moving forwards.

Hereby, it is possible to achieve significant additional cooling of an internal combustion engine in a truck or the like with a relatively small radiator unit. Furthermore, as will be discussed below, the invention provides the possibility of placing the radiator behind existing external panels such as a sun visor or a dirt deflector. Hereby, one achieves significant additional cooling without altering the overall appearance and design of the truck, and thus also keeping within the size requirements of the vehicle.

In a preferred embodiment, at least one exterior panel is mounted along an edge of the cooling member. This external panel may serve to guide the air around the cooling member, and it may also serve to protect the cooling member from road debris. Preferably, the external panel is a sun visor placed in the edge region either immediately above or partially covering the windshield. In another embodiment, the exter- nal panel is at least one dirt deflector placed in the edge region. In yet another embodiment, the front side of the vehicle also comprises a raised roof section with a front section including an edge region, where the cooling member is mounted on the front section of said raised roof section.

In any of the mentioned embodiments, the exterior panel may be allowed to extend beyond the edge region, for example to the end of the vehicle. This will allow utilization of the suction caused by a reduced air pressure behind the vehicle when it is moving forward. In the preferred embodiment, the cooling member is mounted substantially along the upstream edge of the exterior panel. However, it may in some instances be advantageous to have the cooling member covered by the exterior panel and mounted some distance from the upstream edge of the exterior panel so that the said edge effectively forms at least part of the air intake for the cooling member. This allows for the possibility to mount the cooling member on the side or top of the truck, while still capturing the air flow running substantially parallel with the front side when the vehicle is moving forward. In a different embodiment, the vehicle includes a truck cab with a raised roof section extending in front of the windshield, where at least one cooling member has an air intake installed in said raised roof section, so that said air intake is substantially perpendicular to the general airflow running substantially parallel with the front side when the vehicle is moving forward. In this embodiment, the suitable air flow in the edge region is utilized in a well-known design where the raised roof is extended, thus at the same time functioning as a sun visor. It should be understood that it is possible to apply the previously described embodiments in combination with a raised roof of this type.

In the preferred embodiments mentioned above, the cooling member comprises at least one cooling element having an angle ranging from 1 to 179 degrees between the general direction of the air flow and the general surface of said cooling element. This angle may be increased or decreased from 90 degrees to increase the area of the cooling element, while still maintaining the dimension perpendicular to the airflow, i.e. extending away from the truck.

In the preferred embodiment, the cooling member comprises two or more cooling elements, where at least two cooling elements are placed in series relative to the general air flow. The cooling element placed behind the first element takes advantage of the residual cooling available after the air has passed said first cooling element. However, it may also be advantageous to let the cooling member comprise two or more cooling elements, with at least two cooling elements being placed in parallel relative to the general airflow. This may be done to allow for simple connec- tivity of the cooling elements, or because it is advantageous with respect to drag and air flow management. It should be understood that the configuration of the cooling elements may be a combination of a series and parallel placement. Furthermore, it should be understood that the angle of each cooling element between the general direction of the air flow and the general surface of said cooling element may be dif- ferent.

In the preferred embodiment, the cooling elements within the cooling member are thermally connected in series but they may also be thermally connected in parallel or a combination thereof. Finally, in the preferred embodiment, care has been taken to guide the airflow to ensure maximum exchange of thermal energy with the cooling member. This may, for example, be to block air from passing in corner openings or the like.

The invention also relates to a vehicle, preferably a heavy vehicle such as a truck, according to claim 19. By provision of such a vehicle using a sun visor for accommodating a cooling member having at least one cooling element, such as a radiator or heat exchanger, an already existing component can be used for another function, i.e. the sun visor can also be used for increasing the cooling capacity which is very cost effective.

Both the space and shape of the sun visor can be used so as to increase the cooling capacity of the cooling member and thus the total cooling capacity of the vehicle. The additional cooling capacity produced by means of the cooling member can be used for example to cool the engine of the vehicle, the engine compartment or components arranged therein or for cooling any other component on the vehicle.

The sun visor is preferably arranged adjacent to the wind shield on the front of the cabin, or in other words; immediately above the wind shield, and in a position below the roof of the cabin or at least below the highest point of the cabin. Hereby, the height and the space available inside the cab can be increased in comparison to vehicles having a corresponding cooling device arranged on the roof of the cabin, while keeping a maximum (allowed) height of the cabin. The sun visor can comprise a panel or other housing defining a space for accommodating the cooling member. A downwardly directed air intake of the sun visor is preferably arranged to receive and utilize an air stream flowing substantially in parallel with and upwards along the front of the cabin. It is stressed that any embodiment of the cooling member having at least one cooling element described hereinafter can be used in the sun visor of the vehicle according to the invention.

In the following, the invention is described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 Shows a perspective view of the frontal portion of a heavy vehicle exemplified by a forward control cab. Fig. 2 Shows a frontal view of the forward control cab shown in figure 1. Fig. 3 Shows a perspective view of the frontal portion of a heavy vehicle exemplified by a normal control cab.

Fig. 4 Shows a perspective view of an example of cooling member defined by the dashed outline box and the cooling elements arranged in series with respect to the air flow.

Fig. 5 Shows a perspective view of an example of cooling member defined by the dashed outline box and the cooling elements arranged in parallel with respect to the air flow. Fig. 6 Shows a top view of a forward control cab with a cooling member mounted behind a sun visor according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 7 Shows a top view of a forward control cab with a cooling member mounted behind two dirt deflectors according to a preferred embodi- ment of the invention.

Fig. 8 Shows a perspective view of the frontal portion of a forward control cab with a raised roof section and a cooling member mounted on the front of the raised roof section.

Fig. 9 Shows a side view of a forward control cab mounted with an exterior panel along the raised roof section where the exterior panel is covering two cooling members

Fig. 10 Shows a side view of a forward control cab comprising a raised roof section extending in front of the windshield where an air intake for a cooling member mounted inside the raised roof is placed in the ex- tended portion of the raised roof section.

Fig. 11 Shows a side view of a practical implementation according to the preferred embodiment, where the cooling member is covered by a sun visor.

With reference to figures 1-3, the cabin 1, the front side 2, the windshield 3, the edge region 4, and the roof 5 of the vehicle are shown. Figure 1 shows the respective components for a forward control cab whereas figure 2 shows the same components on a normal control cab. Furthermore, examples of exterior panels 9 as a sun visor 10 and dirt deflectors 11 are shown. Figures 4 and 5 shows examples of configurations of the cooling member 6 applied in the invention. The cooling member is defined as the outline box encapsulating one or more of the cooling elements 7 used in the invention, where it is understood that the cooling elements need not extend from side to side of the cooling member. The cooling element 7 may be a radiator configured according to methods well known in the art, e.g. for either leaving the air flow direction more or less un-altered when the air flow passes the radiator, or to some extent alter the air flow when the air floW passes the radiator. The latter may be advantageous either to increase the thermal interaction with the cooling element or to provide a lift or down-force via the air flow. The bottom side of the cooling member 6 perpendicular to the general air flow direction 17 defines the air intake for the cooling member 6. Exceptions to this definition are found when the cooling member is mounted some distance from the upstream edge 15 of the exterior panel (shown in figure 9) or when the air intake is mounted in a raised roof section 12 extending past the windshield 3 (shown in figure 10).

This air intake 8 may be direct access to the air flow or a grille-type structure well- known in the art, which includes holes or slits in a cover plate. Such a grille-type structure may serve several functions, such as filtering the air to protect the cooling elements 7, to shield the driver or service personnel from accidentally touching the cooling elements and/or to improve the appearance of the vehicle. Each cooling element 7 is placed at an angle 16 between the general air flow direction 17 and the general surface of the cooling element 7. The angle 16 may range from 1 to 179 degrees where this angle may be increased or decreased from 90 degrees to in- crease the area of the cooling element 7, while still maintaining the dimension perpendicular to the airflow.

In figure 4, two cooling elements 7 are arranged according to the preferred embodiment to follow one another with respect to the air flow, i.e. the cooling elements 7 are placed in series relative to the general air flow 17. This is done in order to improve the cooling efficiency, by taking advantage of the residual cooling available after air has passed the first (with respect to the general air flow direction) cooling element 7 . Furthermore, according to the invention, the cooling elements have different angles 16 to the general air flow direction to improve the fit behind a conven- tional sun visor design. Another embodiment of the cooling element is shown in figure 5. Here, the cooling elements 7 are placed in parallel relative to the general air flow 17, which may in some instances provide better air flow and/or simpler thermal connectivity to the cooling elements 7.

In figures 6 and 7, a top view of a forward control cab is shown. In figure 6, a cooling member 6 is mounted behind a sun visor 10 on the front surface of the vehicle 2, according to a preferred embodiment. In figure 7, two cooling members 6 are mounted behind two dirt deflections 11 according to another preferred embodiment of the invention.

In figure 8, the vehicle is shown as a forward control cab 1 with a raised roof section 12. In figure 8, the raised roof section 12 is shown as integral part of the truck cab 1, but it may also be a wind deflector well-known in the art, or a combination of the two. The raised roof section comprises a front section 13, which is considered a subsection of the front side of the vehicle. Depending on the design, and especially in the case where the raised roof section is wind deflector, this front section 13 may extend to the back of the truck cab 1. The front section 13 of the raised roof section 12 comprises an edge region 14, which is considered a subsection of the edge region 4 for the truck cab. In figure 8, another embodiment of the invention is shown where a cooling member 6 (not seen) is mounted behind an exterior panel 9 on the front section 13 of the raised roof section 12. However, in similarity to the other embodiments, cooling members may also be mounted in the edge regions along the top or the side (-s) of the raised roof section.

Figure 9 shows a side view of a forward control cab 1 with a raised roof section 12. The figure illustrates the concept of mounting the exterior panel 9 so that it extends beyond the edge region, in this case to the end of the cab 1. Furthermore, figure 9 also illustrates the concept of mounting the cooling member 7 either substantially along the upstream edge 15 of the exterior panel, or mounted some distance from the upstream edge 15, so that said upstream edge forms part of the air intake 8 of the cooling member. Such a configuration allows for a more flexible positioning of the cooling member, while still utilizing the air flow running substantially parallel with the front side 2 when the vehicle is moving forwards. It should be understood that the concept of extending the exterior panel may be applied to all parts of the edge region, e.g. by extension of dirt deflectors along the side of the vehicle.

Figure 10 shows yet another embodiment of the invention, in which the vehicle 1 comprises a raised roof section 12 which extends in front of the windshield 3. In this configuration, the vehicle may be equipped with additional cooling via any of the embodiments described above. However, the extension past the windshield 3 of the raised roof allows for another embodiment of the invention by positioning the air intake 8 of the cooling member in the part of the raised roof section 12 that extends past the windshield 3. In this embodiment, the cooling elements (not shown) of the cooling member may be positioned inside the raised roof section 12, as well as in other positions on the vehicle.

Figure 11 shows a practical implementation according to a preferred embodiment, where the cooling member 6 is covered by the sun visor 10. The figure shows a side view of a cabin 1, with a front side 2, windshield 3 and a roof 5. An external panel 9 in the form of a sun visor 10 is mounted partially covering the windshield 3. The cooling elements 7, being a part of the cooling member 6, are mounted behind the sun visor 10. To allow for a suitable fit, the cooling elements are positioned at an angle 16 with respect to the general air flow 17 of about 35 degrees and 65 degrees. These angles are included as examples only, and it will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art that several configurations for fitting cooling elements behind a sun visor exist.

The invention has been described above with reference to several examples of embodiments. However, by the invention it is realised that variants of these embodiments may be provided without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A vehicle, such as a heavy vehicle, e.g. a truck, comprising

a cabin (1) having a front side (2) including a windshield (3) and edge regions

(4), a roof (5), and driving means including a cooling system, characterized in that said vehicle is provided with at least one auxiliary cooling member (6) comprising

at least one cooling element (7), and

an air intake (8),

in which at least a part of the cooling member protrudes from the front side (2), to utilize at least a part of the general airflow running substantially parallel with the front side (2) when the vehicle is moving forward.

2. A vehicle according to claim 1 , in which at least one exterior panel (9) is mounted to cover the cooling elements (7) of the cooling member (6).

3. A vehicle according to claim 2, in which the exterior panel is a sun visor (10), substantially immediately above the windshield (3).

4. A vehicle according to claim 2, in which the exterior panel is a sun visor (10) at least partially overlapping the windshield (3).

5. A vehicle according to claim 2, in which the exterior panel is at least one dirt deflector (11) in an edge region (4).

6. A vehicle according to any of claims 1 to 5, in which the front side (1) comprises a raised roof section (12) with a front section (13) including an edge region (14)

and in which the cooling member (6) is mounted on the front section (12) of said raised roof section (12).

7. A vehicle according any of claims 2 to 6, in which the exterior panel extends beyond the edge region (4,14).

8. A vehicle according any of claims 2 to 6, in which the exterior panel extends beyond the edge region (4,14) and to the end of the vehicle.

9. A vehicle according any of claims 2 to 8, in which the cooling member is mounted substantially along the upstream edge (15) of the exterior panel.

10. A vehicle according any of claims 2 to 8, in which the cooling member is covered by the exterior panel and mounted some distance from the upstream edge (15) of the exterior panel, so that said edge effectively forms at least part of the air intake (8) for the cooling member (6).

11. A vehicle according to any of the preceding claims, including a truck cab (1) with a raised roof section (12) extending in front of the windshield (3), with at least one cooling member having an air intake (8) installed in said raised roof section (12) so that said air intake (8) is substantially perpendicular to the general airflow running substantially parallel with the front side (2) when the vehicle is moving forward.

12. A vehicle according to any of the preceding claims, in which the cooling member (6) comprises at least one cooling element (7) having an angle (16) ranging from 1 to 179 degrees between the general direction of the air flow (17) and the general surface (18) of said cooling element.

13. A vehicle according to claim 12 in which the cooling member comprises two or more cooling elements, in which vehicle at least two cooling elements are placed in series relative to the general air flow (17).

14. A vehicle according to claim 12 or claim 13, in which the cooling member comprises two or more cooling elements, in which vehicle at least two cooling elements are placed in parallel relative to the general airflow (17).

15. A vehicle according to claim 13 or 14, comprising two or more cooling elements, in which vehicle at least two cooling elements have different angles (16) to the general direction of the air flow (17).

16. A vehicle according to any of claims 12 to 15, in which at least two cooling ele- ments are thermally connected in series.

17. A vehicle according to any of claims 12 to 16, in which at least two cooling elements are thermally connected in parallel.

18. A vehicle according to any of the preceding claims, in which the air flow of the air intake is constricted to travel past the cooling member.

19. A vehicle comprising a cabin (1) having a front side (2) including a windshield (3), the vehicle being provided with a sun visor (10) arranged above the windshield, characterized in that a cooling member (6), which has at least one cooling element (7), is arranged in the sun visor (10) to utilize at least a part of the airflow flowing along the front side (2) when the vehicle is moving forward for increasing the cooling capacity of the vehicle.