GB2579168A

GB2579168A - Height adjustable air deflector

Info

Publication number: GB2579168A
Application number: GB1816772.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ambrose Munster Kingston Frederick; Kingston Ryan
Original assignee: Aerodyne Global Ltd
Current assignee: Aerodyne Global Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-15
Filing date: 2018-10-15
Publication date: 2020-06-17
Anticipated expiration: 2038-10-15
Also published as: GB2609353B; GB2609353A; GB202216329D0; GB2579168B; GB201816772D0

Abstract

An air deflector 22 for a vehicle, for example for use on a cab roof of a HGV tractor, comprises a shield 2, a lever structure 11 connected to shield 2 for adjusting the height of shield 2, and an actuator 5 for driving lever structure 11 via a rotating mechanism. The rotating mechanism comprises two arms 12 at lateral ends of the mechanism, connected by an axle 24, two struts 13 each connected to an arm 12, and two brackets 14, each supported by a strut 13 and each connected to the underside of shield 2. Actuator 5 and struts 13 may be adjustably connected to the rotating mechanism by a choice of connection points. Also provided is a sensor 7 for an air deflector configured to detect the position of a top leading edge of a body of the vehicle or a trailer, and an air deflector 22 comprising sensor 7.

Description

Height Adjustable Air Deflector

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to vehicle technology and more particularly to providing a height adjustable air deflector that is a height adjustable apparatus for deflecting air for a vehicle.

Background of the Invention

The following discussion of the prior art is intended to facilitate an understanding of the invention and to enable the advantages of it to be more fully understood. It should be appreciated, however, that any reference to prior art throughout the specification should not be construed as an express or implied admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.

Air deflectors are known in the prior art. They are installed on vehicles to reduce the air resistance when driving, which is beneficial in that a reduced air resistance reduces the energy consumption of a vehicle. Commonly vehicles consume energy which is stored or produced in the vehicle. Examples of such energy sources are hydrogen, electric energy, diesel, petrol, biodiesel, ethanol, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquefied Natural Gas Vehicles (LNG), and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

Air deflectors are also installed on heavy goods vehicles, HGVs, where the installation on the tractor unit in particular serves to reduce the air resistance of the semi-trailer part of the articulated truck, which comprises the tractor unit and a semi-trailer. This is in particular helpful, since the semi-trailers commonly have cuboid shapes or are higher than the top of the tractor cab. It is also common to transport shipping containers with semi-trailers. Shipping containers are also cuboid in shape. The cuboid forms effect deficiencies in the drag coefficient of the vehicles shape. Air deflectors are also installed on non-articulated rigid trucks, in which the bodies behind the cab often have cuboid shapes or are higher than the top of the cab.

Body and bodies in this context refer to the load which is carried. Usage of the terminology in this way is common practice in the Heavy Goods Vehicle industry. According thereto, a truck has a cab in which the driver sits, and a chassis.

With a rigid truck, a body is then mounted on the chassis, behind the cab. This can be various types of body, but typically a cuboid body which is higher than the cab and is going to cause aerodynamic drag.

With an articulated truck, the tractor or tractive unit has a cab and a chassis, but no body of its own. A semi-trailer, which often has a cuboid body, has wheels at its rear, but its front-end rests pivotally on a horizontal plate on the tractor's chassis, behind the cab. This allows the two parts of this vehicle to articulate.

Therefore, air deflectors are used to improve the drag coefficient of the vehicle.

Commonly known air deflectors can be adjusted in the rear height, to accommodate different heights of the semi-trailer. The construction of some of the currently known systems includes one ram on each side of the deflector directly pushing up the rear of the deflector. The systems known in the art are operated manually or by a control item in or on the vehicles cab. A control item according to this invention is an apparatus that can independently determine a value for raising or lowering the deflector and send control signals to the adjusting mechanism.

In the latter, the control item can control a ram or similar device to raise or lower the rear end of the deflector hydraulically, pneumatically, electrically or similarly.

The deflector can be adjusted physically, manually by the driver, including e.g. a winding handle on the back of the cab. An alternative is powered adjustment operated by the driver pressing a button on e.g. a wander lead. Also, automatic adjustment by powered means is an option, where a control box receives signals from a sensor and determines what height to elevate the deflector and instructs the actuator to operate accordingly.

Furthermore, providing sensors to achieve auto-adjustment is known. Therewith the height of the deflector should adapt to the height of the trailer automatically.

The currently known systems have several problems. In systems with at least two actuators, failing of one of the actuators causes the deflector to lift only on one side. Actuators placed in a generally vertical pose that act directly on the deflector limit the elevation/lifting force 35 options.

Actuators with another known system operate at extreme angles to the deflector surface, which is detrimental to the achievable height and to the stability and integrity of the deflector. Many systems that include at least two actuators are prone to loss of synchronicity, which results in a loss of efficiency and safety. It is also disadvantageous that some systems only employ a single actuator supporting the centre of deflector. This also results in a loss of stability and safety.

Some known systems employ scissor lift mechanisms, which produce uneven support to the sides of the deflector when elevated. Furthermore, a lack of variability/adjustability is present with many available systems, which reduces options for lift force, lowest height, highest height and height range. With the prior art systems, the optimum angle during elevation/lowering cannot be achieved, since the sensor mounting is fixed.

Moreover, with one of the known systems, the sensor is intended to detect maximum height of the body of the vehicle or the trailer and adjust the deflector accordingly. However, this prior art system elevates the deflector to the point where it is at the same height as the highest point of the body or trailer. This creates unnecessary drag and overshoot of the airflow over the trailer.

Finally, a lack of, or insufficient cross-bracing between parallel actuators, as used in some systems, diminishes resistance to sideways movement of the deflector in crosswinds, and can impose forces on the actuators for which they are not designed.

It is thus an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate one or more of the deficiencies of the prior art, or at least to provide a useful alternative.

Summary of the Invention

Accordingly, the invention provides an auto-height adjustable air deflector for vehicles as defined in the independent claims.

This is achieved by an air deflector according to claim 1. Further advantageous features are defined in the claims dependent thereof.

Further the invention provides a sensor to determine a position of the top leading edge of the of the body of the vehicle or of a trailer.

This is achieved by a sensor according to claim 9. Further advantageous features are defined in the claims dependent thereof.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a vehicle and a trailer; the vehicle being provided with an air deflector.

Figure 2 shows an air deflector and an adjustment mechanism.

Figure 3 shows an air deflector and an adjustment mechanism from another angle.

Figure 4 shows an air deflector and an adjustment mechanism from yet another angle. Figure 5 shows an air deflector in a lowered position and a sensor. Figure 6 shows an air deflector in an elevated position and a sensor.

Figures 7 and 8 show an option of an actuator being variably connected to a rotating mechanism.

Detailed Description

The present invention relates to an air deflector for vehicles, in particular to air deflectors for heavy goods vehicles, HGVs, to be installed on the tractor unit.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, the air deflector 22 is shown to be provided on the roof of a truck cab 1. The air deflector 22 consisting of a height-adjustable shield 2 attached to the cab roof. The shield 2 is mounted near the front of the cab pivotally 3, the rear of the deflector's shield 2 is height-adjustable in order to direct the airflow optimally over the roof or top surface 4 of the load-carrying body or trailer 21 behind the cab.

The air deflector can additionally have a bottom portion 23, which is used to attach the deflector securely to the cab roof. Alternatively, the air deflector 22 is attached directly to the cab roof.

As detailed above, this serves to reduce aerodynamic drag and thus save energy and reduce carbon emissions.

The height can be adjusted by a powered actuator 5 which is shown in greater detail in Figs. 2 and 3. The actuator 5 is directed either by the driver using a hand-operated control (not shown), or by a sensor 7. The sensor 7 can be mounted on or near the rear edge of the deflector's shield 2. The sensor 7 can detect the top leading edge 8 of the body or trailer 21 behind the vehicle and can send a signal via a control box (not shown) to the actuator 5. The actuator 5 then can adjust the height of the deflector's shield 2 to a different position, which is preferably a position which improves the drag value. The actuator 5 is preferably single, so as to avoid the failure sometimes seen on similar installations where one actuator of a pair operates out of tandem with the other actuator.

The actuator 5 drives a rotating mechanism. In order to support the air deflector's shield 2 not just centrally, which would be inadequate for support, but equally at each side. The actuator 5 drives a rotating mechanism by means of a single attachment 10 to a lever structure 11. The actuator 5 may be connected to the lever structure 11 by one of a choice of hole positions to give different variations of force and lift to the elevation of the shield of the deflector 2. This is shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

The rotating mechanism has two arms 12 one at each lateral end, mutually connected by an axle 24, and each connected to struts 13 which support brackets 14. The arms 12 can optionally be connected to the struts 13 via followers 15.

The brackets 14 are attached to the underside of the top surface 18 of the deflector's shield 2. The arms 12 and the followers 15 may be connected by either fixed or adjustable connections, the latter giving a choice of angle between the arms 12 and the followers 15. This lever structure 11, with its associated arms 12, followers 15, struts 13 and brackets 14 can give various combinations of lifting height, lifting range and lifting force to the deflector.

This can be accomplished by means of a choice of connection points -e.g. holes or sliding clamps. Other adjustable fixations can be implemented alternatively.

In effect, the system can be assembled to cater for different sizes and weights of the air deflector 22, differing sizes and strengths of the actuator 5, and different height variations of the vehicle body or the trailer 21.

For example, one operator may be running trailers of 4.0 and 4.3 metres in height, and another operator may have 4.1 and 4.5 metre trailers. The system can be assembled to cater efficiently for both operators. The lever structure 11 and its associated parts thus acts as either a force multiplier, or a distance multiplier, as required. The structure 11 gives constantly equal support to both sides of the deflector's shield 2, in contrast to a scissor lift system where the support becomes uneven as the deflector's shield 2 moves up and down.

Furthermore, each rotating arm 12 and follower 15 can be cross-braced 16 to its parallel arm 12 and follower 15, and each supporting strut 13 can be cross-braced 17 to its parallel strut 13, so as to give lateral stability to the deflector and the supporting structure and prevent 'parallelogramming' in crosswinds.

Figs. 5 and 6 show an air deflector in a lowered position and in an elevated position, respectively and a sensor.

The sensor according to this invention can be used for all kinds of air deflectors, the following description follows the air deflector as laid out above, but a skilled person can easily see that the sensor can be applied to all sorts of air deflectors that can be adjusted in height.

If a sensor 7 is used for directing the actuator, it can be employed to detect the top leading edge 8 of the body or trailer 21 and can send a signal via an electronic control box (not shown) to the actuator 5 to elevate or lower the deflector's shield 2 accordingly, for optimum airflow. If this sensor 7 is mounted in a fixed position, like in the prior art, at the rear of the deflector's shield 2, it is likely to give less than optimum instructions to the actuator 5.

This is because when the deflector's shield 2 is at its lowest point, (usually because it has been lowered to be approximately level with a lower body or trailer), the airflow leaving the deflector's top surface 18 will be travelling more or less straight back horizontally, and therefore aligning the sensor 7 with the deflector's top surface 18 would be correct. This can be seen in Fig. 5.

However, as can be seen in Fig. 6, when the deflector's shield 2 is elevated, the airflow leaving the top surface of the deflector 18 will not follow a line tangential to that surface, but rather will tend to curve over in a slight arc towards the body or trailer 21. This means that setting the sensor 7 to align with the deflector's top surface will aerodynamically misalign the deflector with the trailer's leading top edge 8 and cause the airflow to strike the trailer front below this top edge 8, causing aerodynamic drag.

The lower the deflector is, the nearer to horizontal the rearmost part of its top surface will be, and the less should be the divergence between the angle of inclination of that surface and that of the sensor. Conversely, the higher the deflector is, the greater should be the divergence between the angle of inclination of the deflector's top surface and that of the sensor, to compensate for the curving-over of the airflow on to the body or trailer.

For optimum aerodynamic airflow, the alignment of the sensor 7 therefore needs to vary relative to the angle of inclination of the deflector 2. This can be achieved by mounting the sensor 7 on a pivoting bracket 19 at the rear of the deflector's shield 2, with for example a connecting arm 20 linked to the bracket 19 or with some other means which can thus elevate or lower the angle at which the sensor 7 is pointing.

With the sensor 7 being mounted at the shield 2 of the deflector 22 on a pivoting bracket 19, with a connecting arm 20 linked to the bracket 19 and to the lever structure 11 at respective ends of the connecting arm 20, the sensor 7 is configured to adjust an angle of the sensor relative to an inclination of the deflector's shield 2.

The connecting arm 20 is linked directly or indirectly at its other end to part of the above-mentioned structure 11, which will move as the deflector's shield 2 rises or falls, and thus slightly lower or raise the sensor's angle to an optimum. The connecting arm 20 can be connected to the lever structure 11 for example at the struts 13 that support the deflector's shield 2.

The sensor's angle of inclination will for example be lowered slightly when the deflector's shield 2 rises, as can again be seen in Fig. 6, and consequently signal to the actuator 5 to elevate the deflector's top surface 18 to point a little higher than the body or trailer's leading top edge 8, thus allowing the airflow to curve over neatly along the latter's top surface 4.

For versatility, the sensor 7 can be operated via an adjustable connection which may be formed by a choice of connection points or by sliding clamps. The connection points may be a plurality of holes in the pivoting bracket 19 and/or the connecting arm 20. Thereby the sensor can be mounted to different types of vehicles and air deflectors.

When the deflector's shield 2 is lowered, the sensor's angle of inclination will rise slightly to compensate. The connections between the main structure, the connecting arm and the pivoting bracket may also be varied by a choice of holes or sliding clamps, to allow for adjustment of the sensor angle control to suit the circumstances.

In summary, the air deflector of the invention provides the following benefits: As defined by this invention, the air deflector has a single actuator This reduces the cost, the air deflector is easier to manufacture and maintain, and overcomes the problem of two actuators not working together in synchronicity.

Further, the actuator, does not operate directly but via a series of levers, which means that the actuator's mounting position, size and orientation is not restricted to being placed directly under the deflector in a roughly vertical pose. It is thus also capable of a much wider range of elevation of the deflector, and also of a variety of ranges, depending on the different mix of trailer heights for a particular operator.

Moreover, the levers, through which the actuator transmits force and movement to the underside of the deflector, have variable connection positions, which creates many options to vary the force applied to the elevation, the position of the mounting under the deflector's upper surface, the range of elevation, the starting point for the lowest position and the finishing point for the highest position. These levers are easily replaceable and may be supplied in different lengths. This means that the design can not only be used for one particular model of deflector for many operator situations, but also in different deflector models whose dimensions, weights and elevation requirements are particular to them.

The lever system is designed so that the angles of incidence of force minimise the force transmitted at right angles to the desired direction, for example, along the surface of the deflector, which could create unwelcome stresses between it and its attached bracket.

Cross-bracing of the mechanism's arms and struts gives lateral rigidity to the structure and prevents 'parallelogramming' and sideways movement of the deflector in crosswinds, and prevents forces acting on the actuator for which it was not designed, and thus damage to the actuator. It is clear to a skilled person that the construction of an actuator as per the present invention allows in particular for receiving forces well along its axis.

Also, the mounting of the ram centrally on the mechanism (or near the centre) eliminates (or minimises) the forces that need to be transmitted via the axle of the mechanism, because the rotating force is applied equally (or similarly) to both ends of the axle. This also avoids dichotomy between the elevations at either side of the deflector.

And finally, the sensor, which can be based on a laser or others methods, is mounted on a pivoting bracket so that it is not simplistically 'looking' along the direction of the deflector's surface in all situations, but its direction of 'vision' is regulated according to the angle of elevation of the deflector, for optimum airflow from the deflector over to the top surface of the body or trailer behind. It is slightly lowered when the deflector is elevated and raised when it is lowered, this action being automatically regulated by the pivoting bracket's connection with the lever mechanism (e.g. the struts connected to the underside of the deflector's upper surface) or by other means.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this

disclosure, in one or more embodiments.

Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form different embodiments, as would be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

Claims

CLAIMS1. An air deflector (22) for a vehicle (1), comprising: a shield (2); a lever structure (11), which is connected to the shield (2), and which is configured to adjust the height of the shield (2); and an actuator (5), configured to drive the lever structure (11) via a rotating mechanism when actuated; characterized in that the rotating mechanism comprises: two arms (12) at the lateral ends of the rotating mechanism; an axle (24), which connects the two arms (12); wherein each of the two arms (12) is connected to one of two struts (13); and wherein each of the struts (13) supports one of two brackets (14), which are connected to the underside of the shield (2).
2. An air deflector (22) for a vehicle (1) according to claim 1, wherein the arms (12) are connected to the struts (13) via followers (15).
3. An air deflector (22) for a vehicle (1) according to any previous claim, wherein the struts (13) are connected to rotating mechanism by an adjustable connection.
4. An air deflector (22) for a vehicle (1) according to claim 3, wherein the adjustable connection is formed by a choice of connection points, and in particular by a plurality of holes in the brackets (14), struts (13), arms (12) or followers (15), or by sliding clamps.
5. An air deflector (22) for a vehicle (1) according to any previous claim, wherein the actuator (5) is connected to the rotating mechanism adjustably by a choice of connection points, and in particular by a plurality of holes in receiving part of the lever structure (11) or by sliding clamps.
6. An air deflector (22) for a vehicle (1) according to any previous claim, wherein the actuator (5) is configured to drive the lever structure (11) via a rotating mechanism by means of a single attachment (10).
7. An air deflector (22) for a vehicle (1) according to any previous claim, wherein a connection via a cross-brace (16, 17) is used to connect two of the arms (12), two of the followers (15), and/or two of the struts (13).
8. An air deflector (22) for a vehicle (1) according to any previous claim, wherein the lever structure (11) is configured to be connected to the roof of the vehicle (1) or connected to a bottom portion (23) which is configured to be connected to the roof of the vehicle.
9. A sensor (7) for an air deflector (22) for a vehicle (1), which is configured to detect a position of a top leading edge (8) of a body of the vehicle (1) or of a trailer (21).
10. A sensor (7) according to claim 9, wherein the sensor (7) is configured to send a signal to an actuator (5), which is further configured to raise or lower a shield (2) of the deflector (22) in response to the signal.
11. A sensor (7) according to any one of claims 9 to 10, wherein the sensor (7) is attached to a lever system or a sensor actuator, the lever system or sensor actuator being configured to vary the angle of the sensor relative to an inclination of the air deflector (22).
12. A sensor (7) according to claim 11, wherein means to vary the angle of the sensor are controlled by an algorithm.
13. A sensor (7) according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the sensor (7) is mounted at the shield (2) of the deflector (22) on a pivoting bracket (19), with a connecting arm (20) linked to the pivoting bracket (19) and to a lever structure (11) at respective ends of the connecting arm (20), and wherein the lever structure (11) is configured to vary the angle of the shield (2).
14. A sensor (7) according to claim 13, wherein the connecting arm (20) is linked to the lever structure (11) at one of arms (12), one of struts (13), one of followers (15), or one of cross-braces (16, 17).
15. A sensor (7) according to any one of claims 9 to 14, wherein the sensor (7) is mounted at or near the rear of the shield (2).
16. A sensor (7) according to any one of claims 9 to 15, wherein the sensor (7) is mounted via an adjustable connection which is formed by a choice of connection points, and in particular by a plurality of holes in the pivoting bracket (19) and/or the connecting arm (20), or by sliding clamps.
17. An air deflector (22) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a sensor (7) according to any one claims 9 to 16.