FR3048645A1 - FRONT FACE SHUTTERING DEVICE WITH NON-PLANE SHUTTERS - Google Patents

Abstract

The description relates in particular to a shutter device for a motor vehicle front end, comprising a set of identical flaps, each flap comprising a leading edge and a trailing edge, in which the leading edge and the edge of leakage of each flap are inclined relative to each other.

Description

SHUTTERING DEVICE FOR FRONT PANEL WITH SHUTTERS

NOT PLANS

The description particularly relates to a shutter device for the front of a motor vehicle, also called active calender shutter, or air intake control device. Such a device is sometimes referred to by the acronym AGS, derived from the English expression "Active Grille Shutter". The aerodynamics of a motor vehicle is an important feature because it influences in particular the fuel consumption (and therefore the pollution) as well as the performance of said vehicle. This is particularly important when the motor vehicle is traveling at high speed.

A shutter device for the front face makes it possible to open or close the access to the air via a radiator grille of a motor vehicle. In the open position, the air can circulate through the shell and participate in cooling the engine of the motor vehicle. In the closed position, the air does not enter via the grille which reduces the drag and thus reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The AGS therefore reduces energy consumption and pollution when the engine does not need to be cooled by outside air.

The front faces of motor vehicles are generally composed of two main air inlets called high and low lane. These two tracks are usually separated by a beam for protection against shocks (bumper beam).

The heat exchangers of the motor vehicle are generally arranged behind this beam.

A front-end shutter usually includes flaps actuated by a front-end actuator to reduce the drag coefficient and also improve cooling and air-conditioning performance. These flaps are usually flat, and are generally oriented vertically in the closed position and horizontally in the open position. But because of the internal architecture of the vehicles (related in particular to the style of the vehicle, the position of the bumper beam, etc.), when all the flaps are horizontal in the open position, certain areas of the exchanger or exchangers (radiator etc.) are not well supplied with air and lead to a loss of efficiency of the exchanger or exchangers concerned.

It is possible to control each shutter using a lever, and to provide levers of different lengths. This arrangement makes it possible to maintain all the shutters vertically in the closed position (thus ensuring the closure of the shutter device for the front face), while obtaining different orientations for the different shutters in the open position. Thus, certain components, because of their particular orientation, can divert the air to areas that would not be well supplied with air if the shutters in question remained parallel to the other shutters. A disadvantage of such a solution is that the levers driving the flaps are not all identical (at least some have for example a lever arm of different length). This requires more complex tools and a waste of assembly time because the levers are no longer interchangeable: it is necessary to position each lever in the right place. The invention aims to improve the situation. The invention relates in particular to a shutter device for a motor vehicle front end, comprising a set of identical flaps, each flap comprising a leading edge and a trailing edge, in which the leading edge and the edge leakage of each flap are inclined relative to each other.

Such a device is particularly advantageous in that its construction is simplified (the flaps being identical) and in that the inclination of the trailing edges of the flaps with respect to their leading edge makes it possible to reach areas which are not otherwise cooled by the air through the deviation of this air. The invention relates in particular to a closure device in which each flap is formed by a cylindrical surface portion. The invention relates in particular to a closure device in which each flap is formed by two flat surfaces inclined relative to each other. The invention relates in particular to a closure device in which, each flap being movable in rotation about a respective axis of rotation, said axes of rotation of the flaps are parallel to each other and not coplanar. The invention relates in particular to a closure device in which the distance between any two of said axes of rotation is constant. The invention relates in particular to a closure device in which the points formed by the intersection of said axes of rotation with a plane perpendicular to these axes of rotation are placed on the circumference of a convex surface of said plane. The invention relates in particular to a closure device in which the points formed by the intersection of said axes of rotation with a plane perpendicular to these axes of rotation are placed on a circle of said plane. The invention relates in particular to a closure device in which all the axes of rotation are placed at a fixed and single distance for all these axes of at least one other axis of rotation. The invention relates in particular to a closure device in which, in the closed position of the closure device, the leading edge of each of the flaps, except for an extreme flap, is flush with the trailing edge of a flap. another part. The invention relates in particular to a shutter device in which, in the closed position of the shutter device, the orientation of each of the shutters is different from those of the other shutters. The invention relates in particular to a closure device in which, in the closed position of the closure device, the orientation of a flap whose leading edge is flush with the trailing edge of another flap is equal to the orientation of this other component plus a predetermined angle. The invention relates in particular to a shutter device comprising a shutter control member arranged to apply the same rotational movement to each of the shutters. Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the description which follows. This is purely illustrative and should be read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: - Figures 1A and 1B illustrate longitudinal vertical sections of a front face of a motor vehicle according to the state of the art and their defects; FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate longitudinal vertical sections of a front face of a motor vehicle according to a state of the art solving the defects illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B but introducing an industrially penalizing complexity; - Figure 3 illustrates schematically, in longitudinal vertical section, a closure device flap according to one embodiment of the invention; - Figures 4A and 4B schematically illustrate, in longitudinal vertical section, the shutters of a closure device according to one embodiment of the invention, respectively in closed and open positions; FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate in a three-dimensional manner a closure device according to one embodiment of the invention, the flaps of which are respectively in closed and open positions.

Figure 1A illustrates a vertical section of a front face of a motor vehicle in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The vehicle comprises a bumper beam 1, and a heat exchanger 2 (such as a radiator). The vehicle is shown in displacement situation. A relative wind 3 therefore exerts pressure on the vehicle. To reduce aerodynamic drag, a set of eight flaps 4 is held in the closed position. This prevents air from entering via the grille. Each flap 4 is flat, and all eight flaps 4 provides a plane closure surface.

Figure 1B illustrates the front of a motor vehicle of Figure 1A, in which the eight flaps 4 have been opened. Conventionally, these eight panes, planes, have been placed horizontally. However, this leads to not allowing the passage of an air flow behind the obstacles that constitute the bumper beam 1 and the body elements 5 of the calender. Zones 3a are thus seen in front of the exchanger 2, at which no air circulates significantly. The corresponding parts of the exchanger 2 are not properly cooled by air.

FIG. 2A represents a vertical section of a front face of a motor vehicle in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The front face corresponds to that shown in Figure 1A, but the control flaps 4 is changed. This modification is not apparent in Figure 2A, because the eight flaps 4 are closed and have the same configuration as in Figure 1 A.

Figure 2B illustrates the front of a motor vehicle of Figure 2A, in which the eight flaps have been opened. It is observed that these eight panes, planes, are no longer all placed horizontally (contrary to what is observed in Figure 1 B). It can thus be seen that the flap 4a has been slightly inclined upwards in order to direct the flow of air towards an area (situated behind a bodywork part of the shell) which in the prior art of FIG. 1B could not be reached. The flaps 4b and 4c remain in a horizontal position, the corresponding zones of the exchanger 2 being suitably cooled by air. In the flap 4d, it is slightly inclined, in a direction opposite to that of the flap 4a. This allows it to divert air to the area of the exchanger 2 located behind the bumper beam 1. A symmetrical orientation is adopted for the flaps located below the bumper beam 1. Thus the exchanger 2 is it uniformly cooled by air. However, it is necessary to set up an individualized control system for each component, in order to be able to guide each component appropriately. This makes the system complex.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a shutter shutter according to one embodiment of the invention, in vertical longitudinal section (with respect to the vehicle in which the shutter device is intended to be installed). The flap consists of two flat portions 6 and 7, inclined relative to each other by an angle 9. The flap comprises an axis of rotation 8 at the junction between the two flat portions 6 and 7. FIGS 4A and 4B schematically illustrate, in vertical longitudinal section relative to the vehicle in which a closure device according to an embodiment of the invention is intended to be installed, the shutter of the closure device, respectively in closed and open positions . The flaps are all identical (they are flaps of the type shown in Figure 3). The axes of rotation 8 of the flaps are arranged on a circular arc. It can be seen in FIG. 4B that a rotation of a fixed angle applied to these axes of rotation from the initial orientations of the flaps illustrated in FIG. 4A leads to non-horizontal orientations which are different from one another from the flaps in the open position. . It is thus possible to orient differently the relative wind by each of the flaps, even though we use the same rotation control on each of these flaps, which are identical.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate, in three-dimensional fashion, a closure device according to one embodiment of the invention, the flaps of which are respectively in closed and open positions. The shutter device comprises five identical flaps of the type shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 5A, the relative wind 11 is stopped by the flaps, which are closed. In FIG. 5B, the relative wind 11 is deflected upwards by the upper flap 10A. It is deflected downwards by the lower flap 10E. The intermediate flaps 10B, 10C and 10D deviate only more moderately the relative wind. The shutter device illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B is therefore suitable for use both for the high track (located above the bumper beam) and for the lower track (located below the beam of the bumper). shocks) in a configuration such as those illustrated in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B of the prior art. It can thus advantageously replace the high way provided flaps 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D of Figure 2B.

A first embodiment relates to a closure device for the front face of a motor vehicle. Such a device is placed in front of an exchanger such as a motor vehicle engine radiator.

The device comprises a set of identical flaps. This facilitates its construction. Each flap is for example molded into a single plastic part.

Each flap includes a leading edge and a trailing edge with respect to the flow of air. The leading edge of the flap is the front section of the aerodynamic profile that constitutes the flap. The leading edge thus houses the stagnation point where the flow is divided into two sections (each passing one side of the profile). The leading edge faces the relative wind, it is the portion of the flap that the relative wind reaches first when the device is installed in a moving motor vehicle (forward). The trailing edge is the back part of the shutter profile. In FIG. 3, the leading edge corresponds to the end 6a of the plane 6, and the trailing edge corresponds to the end 7a of the plane 7.

The leading edge and the trailing edge of each flap are inclined relative to each other. In the context of the description, the angle of inclination of the leading edge is compared with that of the surface which supports this leading edge, more generally at the tangent to this surface at its end (at the leading edge ). Similarly, the inclination of the trailing edge is similar to that of the surface that supports the trailing edge, more generally at the tangent to this surface at its end (at the trailing edge). The inclination of the leading edge with respect to the trailing edge thus corresponds in FIG. 3 to the inclination of the surface 6 with respect to the surface 7. The use of the tangent is relevant when the surface at the edge the leading edge or the trailing edge is not flat (for example in the case where the flap has a circular arc shape).

The shutters of the device correspond to walls guiding the air. Thus, the flow of air is deflected by the inclination of the trailing edge with respect to the leading edge. This makes it possible to reach areas of the exchanger that are not reached with a conventional horizontal flap unless the flap is tilted. The device thus makes it possible to maximize the area of the exchanger cooled by the relative wind.

A second embodiment relates to a closure device according to the first embodiment, wherein each flap is formed by a cylindrical surface portion. A cylindrical surface (or cylinder) is a surface defined in space by lines (called generating lines) keeping a fixed direction and passing through a variable point describing a curve (called the steering curve).

According to one possible implementation, the portion of cylindrical surface defined by said cylindrical surface is defined mathematically in particular by two parallel planes. These two parallel planes (which should virtually be imagined - they do not exist concretely in the closure device) are perpendicular to the generating lines of said cylindrical surface. Thus, the projections of the cylindrical surface portion on planes parallel to the generating lines would be finished rectangles, while the projections of the cylindrical surface on planes parallel to the generating lines would be rectangles of infinite lengths. According to one possible implementation, the portion is delimited in addition by a plane parallel to the generating lines and having an intersection with the guide curve. This additional delimitation consists in considering for the definition of the cylindrical surface portion only the generating lines passing through the portion of the curve which lies on a given side of said plane parallel to the generating lines. Said plane parallel to the generating lines is again a virtual object (not materialized in the shutter device).

According to one possible implementation, the cylindrical surface is a cylinder of revolution (namely a cylinder in which the guide curve is a circle and in which the generating lines are perpendicular to the plane containing the circle). According to one possible implementation, the flap then has a plane of symmetry (purely mathematical) comprising the axis of revolution (purely mathematical) of the cylinder, and all the points of the surface formed by the flap are equidistant from this axis of revolution. . A longitudinal section (relative to the motor vehicle in which the flap is intended to be installed) of the flap and has the shape of an arc.

A third embodiment relates to a closure device according to the first embodiment, wherein each flap is formed by two flat surfaces 1 and 2 inclined with respect to each other. A longitudinal section (with respect to the motor vehicle in which the flap is intended to be installed) of the flap thus has the shape of a very open V (as illustrated in Figure 1). The flap of the third embodiment is a particular example of flap according to the second embodiment, because it is a cylindrical surface portion (in the mathematical sense mentioned above).

A fourth embodiment relates to a shutter device according to one of the first to the third embodiments. Each flap is rotatable about a respective axis of rotation. The axis of rotation, mathematical, is not necessarily materialized in the form of a physical axis, in the sense that the part allowing the rotation does not necessarily have an axis shape (although a "physical" axis constitutes a possible implementation). The axis of rotation of each flap makes it possible, by rotation, to open and close the flap. To open a shutter is to place it (by rotation) so that it is as little as possible against the passage of the relative wind while orienting it appropriately. To close a shutter is to place it in such a way that it blocks as much as possible the relative wind, in cooperation with the other shutters. Said axes of rotation of the flaps are parallel to each other. Thus, the rotations applied to all the flaps are all rotations along the same axis, with a translation close (translation corresponding to the position of the flap considered in the closure device). In addition, according to a possible implementation (but not mandatory) the axes of rotation of the flaps are not coplanar. This makes it possible to obtain a different orientation for each component, as will be detailed further. This also makes it possible (incidentally) to avoid that the longitudinal section (with respect to the motor vehicle in which the shutter is intended to be installed) of the closure surface formed by the shutters in closed positions is in zigzag, that is to say to say that it presents angles alternately projecting and reentrant (which would impose coplanar axes of rotation). The presence of a zigzag would be likely to lead to a less aerodynamic profile. But according to one possible variant, the axes of rotation of the flaps are coplanar, the aforementioned advantages can not then be obtained in the same way.

According to a fifth embodiment, the distance between any two of the axes of rotation of the shutters of a shutter device according to the fourth embodiment is constant. Thus, if the device comprises N flaps ^ / ^ to Vn axes of rotation Ai to An, the distance dij between two axes of rotation A, and Aj is constant regardless of the positions of flaps ^ / ^ Vn. Even assuming a complex kinematics (generally useless thanks to the invention) involving both a rotation and a translation of the flaps, the distance between the axes of rotation remains fixed. The distances dij are however not equal to each other. For example, di, 2 is in principle not equal to both di, 3 and di, 4, regardless of the numbering of the shutters.

A sixth embodiment relates to a closure device according to the fourth or fifth embodiment, wherein the points that would be formed by the intersection of said axes of rotation with a plane perpendicular to these axes of rotation are placed on the circumference of a convex surface of said plane. A convex surface is a surface such that, for all points A and B of the surface, the segment [A, B] which joins these two points is entirely contained in the surface. The circumference of a surface is a closed curve delimiting this surface (all points on the surface are inside the circumference, and all the points inside the circumference are points on the surface). This makes it possible to place the shutters in a relevant way and to obtain a relevant orientation for each shutter. Indeed, thanks to the convexity, it is possible to fix for each component a monotonous orientation along the circumference (that is to say an increasing or decreasing orientation, according to the direction of movement considered along the circumference) . The orientation of a flap is defined as an angle representing the angular position of the flap vis-à-vis its axis of rotation, with reference to a reference angular position common to all flaps.

A seventh embodiment relates to a closure device according to one of the fourth to sixth embodiments, wherein the points that would be formed by the intersection of said axes of rotation with a plane perpendicular to these axes of rotation are placed on a circle of said plane. This is a particular case of the sixth embodiment in which the convex surface is a disk (whose circumference is the circle of said plane).

According to an eighth embodiment, all the axes of rotation of a closure device according to one of the fourth to seventh embodiments are placed at a fixed distance (and unique for all these axes) of at least one other rotation axis. For example, the axes of rotation are regularly spaced along an arc.

According to a ninth embodiment, a closure device according to one of the first to the eighth embodiments is such that in the closed position of the closure device (that is to say when its shutters are in closed positions). ), the leading edge of each flap, except for a so-called extreme flap, is joined with the trailing edge of another flap. The shutters then collectively form a continuous surface, airtight.

According to a tenth embodiment, a closure device according to one of the first and the ninth embodiments is such that, in the closed position of the closure device, the orientation of each of the flaps is different from those of the other flaps. . This is advantageous because by applying a single rotation to all the flaps, one obtains in the open position flaps each having a different orientation, which allows different orientation of the relative wind depending on the flap. It is thus possible, during the design of the closure device, to start from the orientation of the desired relative wind in the open position (which depends on parameters such as the dimensions and the position of an exchanger, with respect to those which are imposed shutter device, etc.). This desired orientation makes it possible to determine the orientation of the shutters in the open position. An appropriate corresponding position can then be determined in the closed position. One advantage is to allow, by means of a single rotation for all the flaps, and therefore without recourse to different lever arms for each flap, to distribute in an optimized manner the relative wind at the exchanger (s) ).

According to an eleventh embodiment, in a closure device according to the ninth embodiment considered in the closed position, the orientation of a flap whose leading edge is joined with the trailing edge of another flap is equal to the orientation of this other component plus a predetermined angle. The orientation of a flap Vj + i can thus be defined as the orientation of an adjacent flap V, plus a fixed increment. According to one possible implementation, the increment is positive. According to another implementation, it is negative.

According to a twelfth embodiment, a shutter device according to one of the first to the eleventh embodiments comprises a shutter control member arranged to apply the same rotational movement to each of the shutters. This organ is simpler than state-of-the-art devices requiring differentiated components each having a clean lever arm. It is thus easier to produce and assemble.

Claims (12)

A closure device for a motor vehicle front panel, comprising a set of identical flaps, each flap comprising a leading edge (6a) and a trailing edge (7a), in which the leading edge (6a) and the trailing edge (7a) of each flap are inclined with respect to each other. 2. Shutter device according to claim 1, wherein each flap is formed by a cylindrical surface portion. 3. Shutter device according to claim 1, wherein each flap is formed by two plane surfaces (6,7) inclined relative to each other. 4. Shutter device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein, each flap being rotatable about a respective axis of rotation (8), said axes of rotation (8) flaps are parallel to each other and not coplanar. 5. Shutter device according to claim 4, wherein the distance between any two of said axes of rotation (8) is constant. 6. Shutter device according to one of claims 4 and 5, wherein the points formed by the intersection of said axes of rotation (8) with a plane perpendicular to these axes of rotation are placed on the circumference of a surface convex of said plane. 7. Shutter device according to one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the points formed by the intersection of said axes of rotation (8) with a plane perpendicular to these axes of rotation are placed on a circle of said plane. 8. Shutter device according to one of claims 4 to 7, wherein all the axes of rotation (8) are placed at a fixed and single distance for all these axes of at least one other axis of rotation. 9. Shutter device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein, in the closed position of the closure device, the leading edge of each of the flaps, except for a flap said extreme, is joined with the trailing edge of another part. 10. Shutter device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein, in the closed position of the shutter device, the orientation of each of the shutters is different from those of other shutters. 11. Shutter device according to claim 9, wherein, in the closed position of the closure device, the orientation of a flap whose leading edge is joined with the trailing edge of another flap is equal. at the orientation of this other component plus a predetermined angle. 12. Shutter device according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a flap control member arranged to apply the same rotational movement to each of the flaps.