EP3648999A1

EP3648999A1 - Cooling unit for a compartment of a motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP3648999A1
Application number: EP18766315.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jean-Paul Herlem; Stephane Andre
Original assignee: Valeo Systemes Thermiques SAS
Current assignee: Valeo Systemes Thermiques SAS
Priority date: 2017-08-29
Filing date: 2018-08-09
Publication date: 2020-05-13
Also published as: WO2019043316A1; FR3070321B1; FR3070321A1

Abstract

A cooling unit (1) for an engine compartment of a motor vehicle comprises a housing configured to be traversed by a flow of air (FA), the housing being delimited by a plurality of peripheral walls (11, 12, 13), and at least one heat exchanger (3, 4) encapsulated in this housing (7). According to the invention, at least one sealing device (16, 17, 18) is arranged laterally with respect to the at least one heat exchanger (3, 4), the at least one sealing device (16, 17, 8) being arranged in contact with this at least one heat exchanger (3, 4) and in contact with another heat exchanger (3, 4) or one of the peripheral walls.

Description

COOLING UNIT FOR A COMPARTMENT OF A

MOTOR VEHICLE

The present invention relates to the field of cooling motor vehicle engines and more particularly to the field of heat exchangers intended to be integrated into an engine compartment.

The normal operation of a motor vehicle requires the intake and the capture of a large quantity of air, for the air supply of the engine or of one of its elements such as the turbocharger, or for the cooling of an element of the engine or the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

This large amount of air is captured by the front of the vehicle. Part of the air flow thus captured is passed through a cooling system, also called "cooling unit", arranged between the front face of the vehicle and the vehicle engine, before being admitted into the engine to allow the fuel combustion or be used for cooling an element of this engine for example. The cooling unit can comprise in particular heat exchangers forming part of a thermal air conditioning loop of the passenger compartment.

A fan may also be provided to force the air supply for example when the vehicle is stopped. A major disadvantage of these cooling units lies in the fact that a portion of the air arriving through the front of the vehicle does not pass through the heat exchanger or exchangers and dissipates spontaneously in the engine compartment. Such a disadvantage requires the provision of relatively large heat exchangers in order to ensure a sufficient heat exchange surface to obtain the desired cooling performance in the circulation loops passing through these heat exchangers.

In order to limit this dissipation of the air that enters the engine compartment, the heat exchangers of the cooling unit can be encapsulated in a closed housing. This housing then comprises at least two peripheral walls arranged transversely to the flow of air entering the cooling unit and at a distance from one another. These two peripheral walls are interconnected by a plurality of other configured peripheral walls. to guide the flow of air so that it passes through the heat exchangers disposed in the housing.

The various peripheral walls delimiting the housing thus make it possible to channel the flow of air to try to pass a maximum of air through the heat exchangers encapsulated in this housing. However, it is understood that inside the housing, even if the flow of air is mainly directed from the first peripheral wall to the second peripheral wall, in particular by the action of the fan, the air remains free to circulate where he wants in the case and then it raises two problems.

On the one hand, we can witness a phenomenon of recirculation of hot air. Indeed the air having passed through a heat exchanger of the cooling unit can bypass this exchanger to pass from the downstream to the upstream of the exchanger. The fact of having hot air at the inlet of the heat exchanger reduces the efficiency of this exchanger as well as the efficiency of the following heat exchanger or heat exchangers, which can also be traversed by warmer air. It is understood that in the case of a plurality of stacked heat exchangers, this recirculation of hot air can be observed at the outlet of each heat exchanger of the cooling unit.

On the other hand, some of the air entering the housing of this cooling unit can also pass between walls of the housing and the heat exchangers rather than through them and it is understood that the efficiency of the heat exchangers heat is impacted.

The present invention is in this context and aims to improve the performance and performance of such cooling units and thus reduces the size of heat exchangers while maintaining the same cooling capacity. Reducing the size of these heat exchangers reduces the size of the housing that contains them and thus reduce the overall weight of the vehicle, closely related to its fuel consumption. In addition, the use of smaller cooling units saves valuable space in such an engine compartment.

The object of the present invention thus relates to a cooling unit for a motor compartment of a motor vehicle, the engine compartment can for example be arranged upstream of the engine of the vehicle, said cooling unit comprising on the one hand a configured housing to be traversed by a flow of air, for example a flow of air entering the vehicle in a first longitudinal direction, the housing being delimited by a plurality of peripheral walls, and on the other hand at least one encapsulated heat exchanger in this case. According to the invention at least one sealing device is arranged laterally with respect to the at least one heat exchanger, the at least one sealing device being disposed in contact with this at least one heat exchanger and in contact with another heat exchanger or one of the peripheral walls.

The housing of the cooling unit according to the present invention can thus be delimited by a front peripheral wall arranged transversely to the air flow and a rear peripheral wall also arranged transversely to the air flow and away from the front peripheral wall, this front peripheral wall and this rear peripheral wall being interconnected by two lateral peripheral walls, an upper peripheral wall and a lower peripheral wall. These peripheral walls are arranged so that the flow of air enters the housing through the front peripheral wall of the housing and out through the rear peripheral wall of this housing, the other peripheral walls for channeling and guiding, at least in part, the air flow. It is understood that the terms "front", "rear", "upper" and "lower" refer to an orientation of the housing of the integrated cooling unit in a given vehicle but are not limiting the orientation that can take such a case.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the housing houses at least a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger, the first heat exchanger being the heat exchanger closest to the front peripheral wall and the second heat exchanger. being the heat exchanger closest to the rear peripheral wall. In other words, the air flow enters the housing through the front peripheral wall and passes through, in this order, the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger before passing through the rear peripheral wall to exit the housing .

It is understood that the at least one sealing device according to the invention is intended at least in part to guide the flow of air through the heat exchangers.

Advantageously, this at least one sealing device may also make it possible to avoid recirculation of hot air after the passage of the air flow through a heat exchanger. "Hot air recirculation" is understood to mean a situation in which the air passes over the sides of the heat exchanger that it has just crossed, that is to say between these heat exchangers and the peripheral walls. of the cooling unit housing before being reinjected upstream of these heat exchangers. In other words, this at least one sealing device makes it possible to prevent the air that has already passed through one of the heat exchangers from rising upstream of this heat exchanger, depending on the direction of flow of the heat exchanger. air flow, which would cause a new passage of this air, now heated, through said heat exchanger.

By limiting this phenomenon of recirculation of air, the present invention makes it possible to improve the performance of all the heat exchangers of the cooling unit. According to the invention, the at least one heat exchanger comprises a heat exchange zone and at least one collecting box disposed at a lateral end of this heat exchange zone, the at least one sealing device. being disposed in contact with at least one of these manifolds. The fact that the collector box is disposed laterally with respect to the heat exchangers means that this box is disposed outside the heat exchange zone of the heat exchanger concerned.

According to the invention, it is thus possible to provide that a sealing device is disposed between the at least one collecting box of a heat exchanger and one of the peripheral walls of the housing of the cooling unit, or between the at least one header of the first heat exchanger and the at least one header of the second heat exchanger.

According to a feature of the present invention at least one sealing device can be disposed between the at least one header of one of the heat exchangers and a rib formed protruding from one of the peripheral walls of the housing.

Advantageously, the rib is formed protruding from the front peripheral wall of the housing. This rib thus makes it possible to create a space with controllable dimensions between the front peripheral wall through which the flow of air enters the housing and the first heat exchanger, which makes it possible to increase the quantity of air passing through this first heat exchanger. heat.

Insofar as a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger are stacked in the housing along the first longitudinal direction, provision can be made for at least one first sealing device to be arranged between the at least one box collector of the first heat exchanger and the at least one header of the second heat exchanger and at least one second or third sealing device is disposed between the at least one header of one of the heat exchangers and one of the peripheral walls of the housing, this peripheral wall being disposed transversely to the air flow entering the vehicle.

More particularly, the second sealing device can be arranged between the at least one header of the first heat exchanger and the front peripheral wall disposed transversely to the air flow entering the vehicle and a third sealing device can be disposed between the at least one header of the second heat exchanger and the rear peripheral wall of the housing, the rear peripheral wall being disposed transversely to the air flow and away from the front peripheral wall of this housing. It is understood that other combinations are possible without departing from the context of the invention. For example, the cooling unit according to the present invention may comprise only the first sealing device and the third sealing device.

According to a feature of the present invention, each header of the heat exchangers of the cooling unit extends mainly in a second vertical direction, perpendicular to the first longitudinal direction, at least one sealing device extending over any a vertical dimension of at least one of these manifolds, along the second vertical direction.

Advantageously, each sealing device disposed in the housing of the cooling unit can extend over the entire vertical dimension of at least one of the manifolds of at least one of the heat exchangers, along from the second vertical direction.

The sealing between the heat exchangers can thus be ensured over all this vertical dimension, as well as the seal between the heat exchangers and the peripheral walls of the housing. The air flow having already passed through at least one of the heat exchangers of the cooling unit is thus directed towards the engine of the vehicle or to the next heat exchanger and can not re-circulate, it is that is, this airflow can not pass a second time into the at least one heat exchanger that it has already passed through. In other words, this air flow can not pass between the manifolds or between a manifold and one of the peripheral walls of the housing. The sealing device (s) of the cooling unit according to the present invention thus makes it possible to guiding the flow of air so that it passes on the one hand by each of the stacked heat exchangers and on the other side. on the other hand that this flow of air passes only once through each of them.

Optionally, the first lateral end of one of the heat exchangers may be symmetrical with the second lateral end of this same heat exchanger, with respect to a plane in which the first longitudinal direction and the second vertical direction are inscribed. Thus, the cooling unit according to the present invention, in which two heat exchangers are arranged in a box configured for their encapsulation, can comprise up to six sealing devices, respectively arranged between one of the lateral ends of the one or the other of the heat exchangers and one of the peripheral walls of the housing of this cooling unit or between the lateral ends of these heat exchangers.

According to a feature of the present invention, at least one of the sealing devices is attached to at least one heat exchanger. In other words, this sealing device is made independently of the heat exchangers and is fixed by fitting or gluing for example on a corresponding receiving member formed on the heat exchanger or on a peripheral wall of the housing.

According to this characteristic, the heat exchangers on which the sealing devices are intended to be arranged comprise rebates configured to allow the attachment of these sealing devices. These rabbets are made laterally with respect to the central heat exchange zone and may for example be made on the collector boxes of the heat exchangers concerned.

According to another characteristic of the present invention, at least one sealing device may be produced by a lip overmolded on one of the collector boxes of at least one of the heat exchangers concerned.

In this context, the manifold comprises a slot in which is arranged a base of the at least one molded sealing device.

According to this other characteristic, the at least one lip thus overmoulded must have a larger dimension than the gap formed between the heat exchangers in contact with which is disposed this at least one lip or between the heat exchanger and the peripheral wall of the housing in contact with which is disposed this at least one lip. In order to ensure a seal, this at least one lip must in fact be disposed in contact with the elements between which this seal must be ensured.

It will be understood that all these sealing devices make it possible to prevent the flow of air from bypassing the heat exchangers of the cooling unit, which could, as specified above, reduce the thermal performance of the unit. this cooling unit.

The present invention also relates to a motor vehicle comprising at least one cooling unit according to the present invention.

Other details, characteristics and advantages will emerge more clearly on reading the detailed description given below as an indication, in relation to the different embodiments illustrated in the following figures:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a cooling unit of an engine compartment according to the present invention, in which a device for regulating the air supply in this cooling unit has been made visible, two heat exchangers; heat and fan;

FIG. 2 is a view from above of the cooling unit shown in FIG. 1, once assembled; FIG 3 is a schematic representation, from the side, of the cooling unit according to the invention, on which elements contained in this cooling unit have been made visible;

- Figures 4 and 5 are partial schematic representations of the cooling unit according to the invention illustrating two embodiments of the present invention.

In Figure 1 are illustrated various elements that can be included in a cooling unit 1 to be integrated in a motor compartment of a vehicle according to the present invention.

Such a cooling unit 1 is intended to be disposed on the front face of a motor vehicle and to be traversed by an air flow FA in a first longitudinal direction X, as illustrated in FIG.

Thus, the air flow FA enters the cooling unit 1 by a device 2 for regulating the air supply, passes through a first heat exchanger 3 and then a second heat exchanger 4 before passing through a fan 5 to join the engine - not shown here - of the vehicle in which this cooling unit 1 is integrated, this engine being located downstream of this cooling unit 1, with respect to the direction of flow of the airflow FA.

The device 2 for regulating the air intake can for example be produced by a 2s, 2i calender with adjustable flaps as shown in FIG. 1. This shell 2s, 2i comprises an upper part 2s and a lower part 2i fixed on one another and stalling relative to each other.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first heat exchanger 3 may be a condenser and the second heat exchanger 4 may in turn be a radiator. The radiator allows the cooling of the heat engine via an exchange between the outside air and a coolant circulating in the radiator while the condenser is an element of an air conditioning circuit with an exchange network between the air flow. incoming and a refrigerant.

The fan 5 makes it possible to force the inflow of air into the cooling unit 1 when this air supply is no longer sufficient, for example in situations in which the vehicle is at a standstill or at least idle, disturbing then this air intake. It is here integrated in a fairing 6, which as shown in Figure 1, may have two lateral references 8, a lower edge 9 and a bottom wall 10 in which the fan 5 is integrated. According to the present invention, these elements of the cooling unit 1, and in particular the heat exchangers 3, 4, are encapsulated in a housing 7, in particular illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. This housing 7 can for example be formed by the calender 2s, 2i carrier of the device 2 for regulating the air intake and / or by the shroud 6 incorporating the fan 5 and may also include a closure cap, not shown here.

According to the present invention this housing 7 has four peripheral walls: a front peripheral wall 11, a rear peripheral wall 12, these peripheral front and rear walls 11, 12 being arranged across the air flow FA, that is to say perpendicularly to the first longitudinal direction X, and two lateral peripheral walls 13 which connect the front peripheral wall 11 to the rear peripheral wall 12 extending parallel to this first longitudinal direction X. The housing 7 further comprises a cover and a bottom wall connecting, respectively, the four peripheral walls between them. In other words, the cover extends between the upper end edges of the peripheral walls and the bottom wall extends between the lower end edges of these peripheral walls, this cover and this bottom wall thus being able to register. in two distinct parallel or substantially parallel planes.

It is understood that the terms "upper" and "lower" refers to an orientation of the cooling unit in a given application example but that these terms are not limiting the orientation that can take said cooling unit .

For example, the front and rear peripheral walls 11, 12 may be respectively formed by the calender 2s, 2i carrier of the device 2 for regulating the air supply and by the bottom wall 10 of the fairing 6.

It will thus be understood that the housing 7 is a casing for encapsulating the heat exchangers 3, 4 of the cooling unit 1 which makes it possible to direct the entire flow of air entering this cooling unit 1 towards these heat exchangers. heat 3, 4 and thus limit air loss.

In other words, the heat exchangers 3, 4 are encapsulated in this casing 7, or in other words, the casing 7, and in particular the peripheral walls 11, 12, 13, are arranged in such a way as to ensure the complete flow of the flow. air through the heat exchangers 3,4 without loss or leakage of the airflow. FIG. 2 illustrates the cooling unit 1 according to the present invention, viewed from above, comprising in particular the casing 7 from which the closure cap has been removed in order to leave visible the elements included in this casing 7 As previously mentioned, this cooling unit 1 comprises, in order along the first longitudinal direction X, the front peripheral wall 11 formed by the shell 2s, 2i, the first heat exchanger 3, the second heat exchanger 4 and the rear peripheral wall 12 which carries the fan 5. As seen in this FIG. 2, the front peripheral wall 11 extends laterally as far as the rear peripheral wall 12, thus forming the two lateral peripheral walls 13 of the housing. 7 ·

According to an exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, each heat exchanger 3, 4 comprises a central heat exchange zone 14 which extends between two lateral manifolds 15 arranged respectively at each of the lateral ends of the exchanger of heat 3, 4 concerned. The term "lateral ends" means the ends of these heat exchangers 3, 4 closest to the lateral peripheral walls 13 left and / or right of the housing 7.

Each of these heat exchangers 3, 4 also comprises a first face 30, 40 facing the front peripheral wall 11 of the housing 7 and a second face 31, 41, opposite the first face 30, 40 and facing the peripheral wall Back 12 of the housing 7 · Each of these faces 30, 40, 31, 41 comprises a portion of the heat exchange zone 14 of the heat exchanger 3, 4 concerned as well as the manifolds 15 disposed laterally to this zone heat exchange 14.

It will be understood that the heat exchange zone 14 of a heat exchanger 3, 4 is thus delimited longitudinally by the first face 30, 40 and by the second face 31, 41 of the heat exchanger 3. 4 and on the other hand transversely through the side manifolds 15 of this heat exchanger 3, 4 ·

Once these heat exchangers 3, 4 encapsulated in the housing 7, it is understood that the first face 40 of the second heat exchanger 4 thus faces the second face 31 of the first heat exchanger 3 · According to another embodiment not illustrated here, each heat exchanger comprises a single manifold then arranged at one of the lateral ends of the heat exchanger concerned.

Whatever the embodiment of the present invention, the heat exchange zone 14 of each heat exchanger 3, 4 is configured to allow a heat exchange between the incoming airflow FA and circulating in the cooling unit 1 and a fluid circulating in this heat exchange zone 14. As previously described, the cooling unit 1 is configured so that the flow of air FA first passes through the first heat exchanger 3, then, in a second step, the second heat exchanger 4 before rejoining the engine. of the vehicle, located downstream of this cooling unit 1.

As mentioned above, the casing 7 makes it possible to limit the greatest air losses in order to maximize the efficiency of the heat exchangers 3, 4 of the cooling unit 1. According to the invention, this cooling unit 1 further comprises sealing devices arranged in the housing 7 to improve the performance of these heat exchangers 3, 4 ·

We will now describe in more detail these sealing devices and their arrangement with reference to Figures 2 to 5 which are respectively a top view of the cooling unit according to the present invention, a schematic representation, seen from the side, of this cooling unit and two partial schematic representations of the cooling unit seen from above.

According to an example illustrated in these Figures 2 and 3, a first sealing device 16 is thus disposed between the first heat exchanger 3 and the second heat exchanger 4, the first sealing device 16 being arranged laterally between the second face 31 of the first heat exchanger 3 and the first face 40 of the second heat exchanger 4

According to this example, the first sealing device 16 is more particularly arranged between the manifolds 15 of the heat exchangers 3, 4, these manifolds 15 being located at the lateral ends of the heat exchangers 3, 4, outside their zones. According to this exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first sealing device 16 is arranged at a first lateral end of the heat exchangers 3, 4 and a complementary sealing device 160 is arranged at a first end. second side end of these heat exchangers, opposite the first side end. More particularly, the complementary sealing device is arranged on a collector box symmetrically, with respect to a median plane of the heat exchanger extending in particular along the first longitudinal direction X, to the first sealing device 16 previously described.

It will be understood that this first sealing device 16 and this complementary sealing device 160 make it possible to prevent a portion of the airflow FA that has just passed through the first heat exchanger 3 from escaping laterally. out of this first heat exchanger and loop around the corresponding collector box to come a second time in this first heat exchanger 3 · In this way, these devices Sealing 16, l60 can channel the air flow FA and thus guide it through the second heat exchanger 4 · These sealing devices 16, l60 can reduce air losses including channeling the air air flow leaving the first heat exchanger 3 and directing it towards the second heat exchanger 4

In the illustrated example, the cooling unit comprises two successive heat exchangers so that only one first sealing device and its complementary sealing device, if any, are to be provided for sealing between the heat exchangers. . It will be understood that if the cooling unit comprises more than two heat exchangers, a plurality of such first sealing devices could be provided, which would respectively extend between a pair of neighboring heat exchangers.

According to the example illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, a second sealing device 17 and a third sealing device 18 are respectively disposed between one of the heat exchangers 3, 4 and a structure element of the housing, this structural element that can be made by one of the front or rear peripheral walls 11, 12 of the housing or by a rib 20 issuing from one of these front or rear walls 11, 12.

Thus, the second sealing device 17 is disposed between the first heat exchanger 3 and the front peripheral wall 11 of the casing 7 of the cooling unit 1 and the third sealing device 18 is placed between the second heat exchanger 4 and the rear peripheral wall 12 of this housing 7 ·

More specifically, the second sealing device 17 is disposed between the first face 30 of the first heat exchanger 3 and the front peripheral wall 11 of the housing 7 and the third sealing device 18 is placed between the second face 41 of the second heat exchanger 4 and the rear peripheral wall 12 of the housing 7

It will be understood that the second sealing device 17 has a function of guiding the flow of air entering the cooling unit 1. Thus this second sealing device 17 makes it possible to channel the air flow FA and the orienting it so that it is directed towards the heat exchange zone 14 of the first heat exchanger 3 · Without this second sealing device 17, a portion of the airflow FA could pass between the first heat exchanger 3 and the lateral peripheral walls 13 of the housing 7 rather than through this first heat exchanger 3, it being understood that this portion of the air flow could continue to accommodate the lateral peripheral walls, avoiding each of the following heat exchangers. Likewise, the third sealing device 18 makes it possible to guide the flow of air FA leaving the second heat exchanger 4 to the engine arranged downstream of the cooling unit. In addition to this function of guiding the air flow, this third sealing device 18 helps to limit the recirculation phenomena of hot air, as mentioned above. Thus, the flow of air having passed through the first heat exchanger 3 and the second heat exchanger 4 is directed towards the engine and can not pass through one of these two heat exchangers 3, 4 ·

As can be seen in particular in FIG. 3, a distance d1, measured parallel to the first longitudinal direction X, which separates the first heat exchanger 3 from the front peripheral wall 11 of the housing 7 is here greater than a distance d2, also measured parallel to the first longitudinal direction X, which separates the second heat exchanger 4 from the rear peripheral wall 12 of this housing 7

Thus, the third sealing device 18, placed in contact with the second heat exchanger 4 on the one hand, and more precisely in contact with one of the manifolds 15 of the second heat exchanger 4, is on the other hand disposed directly in contact with the rear peripheral wall 12 of the housing 7, the distance d2 being sufficiently small for a sealing device to rest in contact with the two elements.

On the other hand, the second sealing device 17 can not be placed both in contact with the first heat exchanger 3 and with the front peripheral wall 11 of the housing 7 which is too far away from this first heat exchanger 3 · A rib 20 is thus provided projecting from the front peripheral wall 11 and it is on this rib 20 that the second sealing device 17 comes to rest to ensure sealing. It is therefore understood that this second sealing device 17 is disposed in contact on the one hand with the first heat exchanger 3, and more precisely on contact with one of the manifolds 15 of this first heat exchanger 3 and on the other part in contact with the front peripheral wall 11 via the rib 20 formed projecting from the front peripheral wall 11 of the housing 7 ·

As may have been described for the first sealing device 16 arranged between two successive heat exchangers, the second sealing device 17 and the third sealing device 18 are doubled. The term "doubled" means that two complementary sealing devices are disposed opposite this second and third sealing device 17, 18. Each heat exchanger 3, 4 carries, according to the illustrated example in particular in Figure 2, two sealing devices disposed symmetrically, respectively on a manifold. Thus, the second sealing device 17 is arranged between a first manifold 15 of the first heat exchanger 3 and the front peripheral wall 11 of the housing 7 and a complementary sealing device - not visible in FIG. 2 - is arranged between a second manifold of the first heat exchanger 3 and the front peripheral wall 11 of this housing 7

Similarly, the third sealing device 18 is arranged between a first manifold 15 of the second heat exchanger 4 and the rear peripheral wall 12 of the housing 7 and a complementary sealing device 180 is disposed between a second header of the second heat exchanger 4 and the rear peripheral wall 12 of this housing 7 ·

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation, seen from the side, of the cooling unit 1 according to the present invention in which at least one of the lateral peripheral walls 13 formed by the lateral extension of the front peripheral wall 11 has been removed. As illustrated in this figure, it is noted that the heat exchangers 3, 4 stacked in the housing 7 of this cooling unit 1 extend parallel to each other in a second vertical direction Z. More precisely, this FIG. here the manifolds 15 disposed at the lateral ends of the heat exchangers 3, 4 ·

It should be noted that the term "vertical" has been chosen here with respect to the orientation of the heat exchangers 3, 4 of the cooling unit 1 in FIG. 3 and in an example of application on a given motor vehicle. , but that this name is not limited to the orientation that these heat exchangers can take 3, 4 ·

As can be seen in this figure 3, the sealing devices 16, 17, 18 all extend in directions parallel to the second vertical direction Z described above. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Figure 3, these sealing devices 16, iy, 18 extend over an entire dimension of at least one of the exchangers on which they are attached. Thus, the first sealing device 16 and the second sealing device 17 both extend over an entire dimension of the first heat exchanger 3, along the second vertical direction Z and the third sealing device 18. extends over a whole dimension of the second heat exchanger 4, along this second vertical direction Z.

As mentioned above, the calender 2s, 2i carrier of the device 2 for regulating the air inlet has an upper part 2s and a lower part 2i having a stall 2d when fixed together. This shell 2s, 2i can form a face of the housing 7, this stall 2d can in particular allow the stacking of an additional heat exchanger in the housing 7, such as for example shown schematically in Figure 3 · This stall 2d can also allow to adapt the shape of the housing 7 to that of the engine compartment in which it is intended to be integrated.

According to the invention, additional sealing devices can be added, for example between the first heat exchanger 3 and this additional heat exchanger 21 or between this additional heat exchanger 21 and the front peripheral wall 11 of the housing 7.

Figures 4 and 5 are partial schematic representations, seen from above, of the cooling unit according to the invention. These figures 4 and 5 illustrate two types of sealing devices according to the invention.

According to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 4, the sealing devices 16, 17, 18 are directly overmoulded on the manifolds 15 of the heat exchangers 3, 4 · According to this first exemplary embodiment, each Sealing device 16, 17, 18 thus has a free end l6l, 171, 18l intended to be disposed in contact with the other heat exchanger 3, 4- that is to say the one of which is not derived the sealing device in question - or on the structural elements of the housing 7, whether the front or rear peripheral walls 11, 12 of the housing 7 or a rib 20 resulting from one of these peripheral walls 11, 12. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the rib 20 may have at its free end closest to the first heat exchanger a return edge to provide a greater bearing surface at the end. free 171 of the device corresponding sealing, here the second sealing device 17.

A sealing device 16, 17, 18 is an element made of a flexible material, elastically deformable, for example elastomer. In the assembled cooling unit, as shown in Figure 4, each heat exchanger has a curvature under the effect of compression between the two elements with which it is in contact. The contact surface between the free end of the sealing device and the element against which this sealing device bears is wide and the seal is better. It should also be noted that the curvature is here realized so that the free end is turned towards the outside of the housing of the cooling unit, that is to say the opposite of the passage zone central airflow, to avoid obstructing this passage of air along the first longitudinal direction X.

It should be noted that each sealing device has, in its original form, a dimension which is greater, for the first sealing device 16, than the gap formed between the heat exchangers 3, 4, and for the second and third sealing devices 17, 18, between a heat exchanger 3, 4 and the corresponding structure element of the housing 7.

Thus, during the assembly of the cooling unit, the sealing device is compressed by the heat exchanger, the peripheral wall or the rib opposite which its free end is positioned. Its large size originally ensures that contact is made, and a slight curvature can initially be provided so that the direction of deformation of the sealing device is that expected.

In order to allow overmolding of the sealing devices, the manifolds 15 of the heat exchangers 3, 4 have a slot 150, visible in FIG. 4 only for the second heat exchanger 4, each slot being intended to receive a portion forming base of the sealing device.

The second embodiment of the present invention, illustrated in FIG. 5, differs from the above in that the sealing devices 16, 17, 18 are made separately from the heat exchangers 3, 4 and are then fixed on one of these heat exchangers, for example on the manifolds 15, or on a rib 20 projecting from a peripheral wall.

According to this second exemplary embodiment, the second heat exchanger 4 has rebates 19 formed both on the side of the first face 40 and the second face 41 and which are dimensioned to allow the attachment of the first and third sealing devices 16 , 18 on this heat exchanger 3, 4 · These rabbets 19 can be made either on a lateral portion of the heat exchange zone of the second heat exchanger 4, or, more advantageously, on the collector box (s) 15. this heat exchanger.

Furthermore, the rib 20 is also dimensioned to receive at its free end a sealing device, here the second sealing device 17. It should be noted that in the example shown, the first heat exchanger does not include of specific means, of the type rabbet 19, for receiving a sealing device, the seal at this first heat exchanger being formed by the free end contact of sealing devices fixed elsewhere. Of course, it is understood that one could, without departing from the context of the invention, make the rabbets on the first heat exchanger rather than the second heat exchanger. As illustrated in Figure 5, the sealing devices 16, 17, 18 each have a base 21 fitted on one of the rabbets 19 formed on the manifolds 15 heat exchangers 3, 4 or directly fitted on the rib 20 formed projecting from the front peripheral wall 11, and the free end l6l, 171, 18l arranged in contact with the manifold 15 of the other heat exchanger 3, 4 or in contact with the rear peripheral wall 12.

It is understood from the foregoing that the present invention can channel the flow of air entering the cooling unit. This flow of air is thus guided to pass through the heat exchangers stacked in the housing of the cooling unit. The present invention also makes it possible to avoid the phenomena of recirculation of the air flow and thus improves the thermal efficiency of each heat exchanger participating in this cooling unit. The invention can not, however, be limited to the means and configurations described and illustrated herein, and it also extends to any equivalent means or configurations and to any technically operating combination of such means. In particular, the shape and arrangement of the sealing devices and heat exchangers can be modified without harming the invention, inasmuch as they fulfill the functionalities described herein.

Claims

Cooling unit (1) for an engine compartment of a motor vehicle comprising on the one hand a housing (7) configured to be traversed by an air flow (FA), the housing (7) being delimited by a plurality of peripheral walls (11, 12, 13), and on the other hand at least one heat exchanger (3, 4) encapsulated in this housing (7), characterized in that at least one sealing device (16, 17 , 18) is arranged laterally with respect to the at least one heat exchanger (3, 4), the at least one sealing device (16, 17, 18) being arranged in contact with this at least one heat exchanger heat (3, 4) and in contact with another heat exchanger (3, 4) or one of the peripheral walls.

Cooling unit (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein the at least one heat exchanger (3, 4) comprises a heat exchange zone (14) and at least one header (15) arranged at one end side of this heat exchange zone (14), the at least one sealing device (16, 17, 18) being disposed in contact with at least one of these manifolds (15) ·

Cooling unit (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein the at least one sealing device (16, 17, 18) is disposed between the at least one header (15) of one of the heat exchangers (3, 4) and a rib (20) formed protruding from one of the peripheral walls (11, 12) of the housing (7).

Cooling unit (1) according to any one of claims 2 or 3, wherein a first heat exchanger (3) and a second heat exchanger (4) are stacked in the housing (7) along the first direction longitudinal axis (X), wherein at least one first sealing device (16) is disposed between the at least one header (15) of the first heat exchanger (3) and the at least one header (15) of the second heat exchanger (4) and wherein at least one second or third sealing device (17, 18) is disposed between the at least one header (15) of one of the heat exchangers (3, 4) and one of the peripheral walls (11, 12) of the housing (2).

Cooling unit (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein the second sealing device (17) is arranged between the at least one header (15) of the first heat exchanger (3) and a front peripheral wall (it ) arranged transversely to the airflow (FA) entering the vehicle and in which the third sealing device (18) is disposed between the at least one header (15) of the second heat exchanger (4) and a rear peripheral wall (12) of the housing (2), this rear peripheral wall (12) being disposed transversely to the airflow (FA) and away from the front peripheral wall (11) of this housing (2).

Cooling unit (1) according to one of Claims 2 to 5, in which each collecting box (15) of the heat exchangers (3, 4) of the cooling unit (1) extends mainly according to a second vertical direction (Z), perpendicular to the first longitudinal direction (X), and wherein at least one sealing device (16, 17, 18) extends over a vertical dimension of at least one of these collector boxes (15) along the second vertical direction (Z).

Cooling unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the sealing devices (16, 17, 18) is attached to at least one heat exchanger (3, 4).

Cooling unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one sealing device (16, 17, 18) is formed by a lip molded onto one of the manifolds (15) of minus one of the heat exchangers (3, 4) concerned.

Cooling unit (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein the collector box comprises a slot (ΐ5θ) in which is arranged a base of the at least one sealing device (16, 17 18) overmolded.

10. Motor vehicle comprising at least one cooling unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims.