JP2001026211A - Magnet-type heater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To finely adjust a temperature of the fluid as a heating medium and to execute the ON/OFF control without using an electromagnetic clutch by comprising a gap adjusting mechanism capable of axially sliding a disc-shaped rotator by the thermowax and capable of varying a gap between a permanent magnet and a conductor. SOLUTION: A conductor 5 opposite to a permanent magnet 4 with a slight gap G is fixed to a conductor support externally fitted to a driving shaft 1 slidably, and the gap G is adjusted by a gap adjusting mechanism using the thermowax 7. That is, the conductor support 6 is axially moved on the basis of a temperature sensed by the thermowax 7 for adjusting the gap G between the permanent magnet 4 and the conductor 5, whereby a slip heating value generated on the conductor 5 can be controlled. By widening the conductor support 6 to a distance not generating the slip heating value by the action of the thermowax 7, the ON/OFF control of a magnet-type heater can be executed without using an electromagnetic clutch.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the improvement of startability of various vehicle engines such as automobiles using a diesel engine or a gasoline engine as a power source, especially in cold or extreme cold, and various vehicles and ships including electric vehicles. Used as auxiliary heating means for heat medium fluid such as engine cooling water used for cabin heating, etc., and for preheating or rapid rise of engine cooling water for engine driven generators, welding machines, compressors, construction machinery, etc. The present invention relates to a magnet heater used for warming (reducing the warm-up time).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A viscous heater is known as an auxiliary heating heat source for a vehicle such as an automobile used for heating engine cooling water at the time of startup in a cold region or the like (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-246823, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-246823). JP-A-4-11716, JP-A-9-254637, JP-A-9-667
29, JP-A-9-323530, etc.).
The viscous heater is a method in which a viscous fluid such as silicon oil generates heat by shearing and exchanges heat with circulating water circulating in a water jacket to use as a heating heat source. A water jacket is formed in a chamber and an outer region of the heat generating chamber, a drive shaft is rotatably supported on the housing via a bearing device, and a rotor rotatable in the heat generating chamber is fixed to the drive shaft. A viscous fluid such as silicon oil is sealed in the gap between the wall of the heat generating chamber and the rotor, and circulating water is taken in from the water inlet port in the water jacket and circulated from the water outlet port to the outside heating circuit.

[0003] In this viscous heater incorporated in a vehicle heating device, when the drive shaft is driven by the engine, the rotor rotates in the heating chamber, and viscous fluid flows between the wall surface of the heating chamber and the outer surface of the rotor. Heat is generated by shearing in the gap, and the generated heat is exchanged with circulating water in the water jacket, and the heated circulating water is supplied to the heating circuit such as engine cooling water for vehicle heating.

However, the above-mentioned viscous heater is
With a simple structure, miniaturization and low cost can be realized,
In addition, high reliability and safety can be secured with a non-contact type mechanism that does not wear, and when the water temperature rises and the auxiliary heater becomes unnecessary, the operation is automatically stopped by an electromagnetic clutch etc. Although it has features such as not using energy, the heat resistance of silicon oil used as a viscous fluid is limited to about 240 ° C, and the temperature of silicon oil cannot be too high. It takes time to generate heat, and as the temperature of the silicone oil rises, the viscosity decreases, causing a decrease in shear resistance and a tendency for the calorific value per unit time to gradually decrease. However, there is a drawback that a great heating effect cannot be obtained. Further, in the viscous heater, when the use environment is extremely low temperature, the viscosity of the viscous fluid increases, so that the load torque at the time of startup increases. Particularly when the engine is driven, an excessive load is applied at the time of starting. For this reason, such viscous heaters are not sufficiently effective especially in a cold district vehicle equipped with a diesel engine.

[0005] In view of the problems of such a viscous heater, there is a heating device using an eddy current heating heater as an auxiliary heater for heating engine cooling water and the like. This eddy current heating heater is generated by a change in magnetic flux in a magnetic circuit formed between a magnet and a conductor facing each other via a gap, in response to a change in a magnetic field direction and a change in magnetic resistance of the magnetic circuit. It uses Joule heat generated when eddy current flows in a conductor,
JP-A-57-178912, JP-A-57-164
No. 805, for example. This Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
No. 178912 and JP-A-57-164805 disclose that the magnet and the conductor are arranged on a plane parallel to the drive shaft, so that the installation space of the eddy current heating heater is limited. In some cases, there is a structural problem that the amount of generated heat cannot be set large. As a means for solving such a problem, eddy current heat is generated by forming opposing surfaces that extend in the radial direction with respect to the axis of the drive shaft on the magnet and the conductor, and opposing the opposing surfaces via a slight gap. A heater is disclosed in JP-A-11-78495. In the device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-78495, the outer peripheral portion of the opposing surface portion extending in the radial direction with respect to the axis of the drive shaft serves as a magnetic flux changing portion, so that the required space is not increased. In addition, the amount of generated heat can be increased, and the device can be installed in a narrow space.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, a doughnut-shaped permanent magnet 24 is attached to a yoke 24a by a housing 23 supported on a drive shaft 21 via a bearing device 22.
A disk-shaped conductor 25 is provided inside the housing 23 so as to be rotatable by the drive shaft 21 and faces the permanent magnet 24 with a slight gap therebetween. There is a magnet type heater having a structure in which circulating water introduced into the inside of the housing 23 is heated by slip heat generated in the conductor. P1 is a water inlet port, and P2 is a water outlet port. The drive shaft 1 is rotated by a belt through a pulley 26 by an engine of a vehicle or the like.

In the case of the magnet type heater having the above-described structure, when the drive shaft 21 is driven by an engine or the like via a pulley 26, a disc-shaped conductor 25 in a housing 23 is provided.
Rotates, the magnetic path formed between the drive shaft 21 and the permanent magnet 24 mounted on the housing 23 which is non-rotatably supported via the bearing device 22 is sheared, and 25 generates slip heat. This conductor 2
The heat of 5 is exchanged with the circulating water as the heat medium fluid in the housing 23, and the heated circulating water is supplied to the heating of the vehicle or the like in the heating circuit.

[0008]

However, in the case of the magnet type heater as shown in FIG. 5, a disk-shaped conductor 25 rotatably mounted on the drive shaft 21 and a permanent magnet 24 mounted on the housing 23 are provided. Since the gap between them is fixed once set and cannot be changed, the amount of slip heat generated in the conductor 25 can be controlled only by controlling the rotational speed of the magnet or the conductor. could not. However, in this method, it is difficult to delicately adjust the temperature of the heat medium fluid in the housing 23, so that it is not suitable for applications requiring delicate temperature adjustment. In general, an electromagnetic clutch is generally used as the ON / OFF control means of the magnet type heater. However, since the electromagnetic clutch is expensive, it is not preferable in terms of cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem. By adopting a method of changing a gap between a permanent magnet and a conductor, it is possible to finely control the temperature of a heat medium fluid. Another object of the present invention is to provide a magnet type heater capable of ON / OFF control and linear control of a magnet type heater without using an electromagnetic clutch.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A magnet heater according to the present invention has a magnet and a conductor opposed to each other with a slight gap therebetween, and generates slip heat generated in the conductor by relatively rotating the magnet and the conductor. In the first embodiment, a permanent magnet is mounted on a housing supported on a drive shaft through a bearing device, and a small gap is formed between the permanent magnet and the housing. An opposing conductor is provided so as to be rotatable by the drive shaft, and the heat medium fluid introduced into the housing is heated by slip heat generated in the conductor due to the rotation of the conductor. In the magnet type heater, the conductor is mounted on a disk-shaped rotating body which is fitted externally so as to be rotatable integrally with the drive shaft and slidable in the axial direction via a spring. As the end of the drive shaft is pressed, the gap between the permanent magnet and the conductor is reduced by sliding the disc-shaped rotator in the axial direction with thermowax attached to the disc-shaped rotator. The second embodiment is characterized in that a variable gap adjusting mechanism is provided. In the second embodiment, a permanent magnet is incorporated in a housing supported on a drive shaft via a bearing device, and a small amount of the permanent magnet is provided inside the housing. A structure in which an opposing conductor is provided rotatably by the drive shaft with a gap therebetween, and a heat medium fluid introduced into the housing is heated by slip heat generated in the conductor due to rotation of the conductor. In the magnet heater, the permanent magnet is mounted on a magnet support that is slidably fitted in the axial direction inside the housing via a spring. A gap adjusting mechanism is provided in which the gap between the permanent magnet and the conductor is made variable by sliding the magnet support in the axial direction with preferably a plurality of thermowaxes integrally provided inside the housing. It is characterized by the following.

The principle of the magnet type heater to which the present invention is applied is that, as described above, slip heat generated on the conductor side by shearing the magnetic path formed between the permanent magnet and the conductor is exchanged with the heat medium fluid. Specifically, permanent magnets, permanent magnets such as thermal ferrite,
Two members of a conductor (heating element), such as a material with large magnetic hysteresis and an eddy current material, face each other with a slight gap, rotate the magnet and the conductor relatively, and shear the magnetic path to generate on the conductor side. In this method, a rare earth magnet is used as a permanent magnet, and an eddy current material or a hysteresis material is used for the conductor, so that the conductor can be heated to a temperature of 200 to 600 ° C. in several seconds to several tens of seconds. It has the feature of being able to. The above-mentioned "slip heat" means that when a conductor is moved (rotated) in a magnetic field generated by the magnet in a direction to cut off the magnetic field, an eddy current (eddy current) is generated in the conductor and the eddy current is generated. It means that heat is generated by electric resistance in the conductor of the current.

In the present invention, the reason why the gap between the permanent magnet and the conductor can be finely adjusted by changing the gap between the permanent magnet and the conductor is that the gap between the permanent magnet and the conductor becomes narrower when the gap is narrowed. When the magnetic flux density forming the magnetic path becomes denser, the amount of heat generated by the slip increases, and when the gap between the permanent magnet and the conductor increases, the magnetic flux density forming the magnetic path formed between the two increases. This is because the calorific value becomes small and the calorific value of the slip becomes small. Therefore, by adjusting the gap between the permanent magnet and the conductor, the amount of slip heat generated in the conductor can be controlled, and the temperature of the heat medium fluid can be finely adjusted.

In the present invention, the use of thermowax as a means for changing the gap between the permanent magnet and the conductor has both the function as a temperature sensor and the function as a powerful axial movement actuator. That's why.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an embodiment of a magnetic heater according to claim 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a state in which a gap between a permanent magnet and a conductor is widened in the magnet heater shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an embodiment of a magnet type heater according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a view showing a state where a gap between a permanent magnet and a conductor is widened in the magnet type heater shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 and 11 are drive shafts,
2, 12 are bearing devices, 3, 13 are housings, 4, 14
Is a permanent magnet, 5 and 15 are conductors, 6 and 16 are conductor supports,
7 and 17 are thermo wax, 8 and 18 are coil springs, 1
9 is a magnet support, 20 is a thermowax support, and G is a gap.

First, the magnet type heater shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is partially exposed on the front inner wall of a sealed housing 3 supported on the outer periphery of a drive shaft 1 via a bearing device 2. Donut shaped permanent magnet 4 is yoke 4
a. The conductor 5 facing the permanent magnet 4 with a slight gap therebetween is fixed to a conductor support 6 slidably fitted to the drive shaft 1, and is fixed by a gap adjusting mechanism using thermowax 7. The gap G between the permanent magnet 4 and the conductor 5 can be adjusted. The gap adjusting mechanism is configured such that a cylindrical body 6-1 provided at the center of the conductor support 6 is fitted around the outer periphery of the drive shaft 1 via a coil spring 8, and a flange provided at an end of the drive shaft 1. A spline 1-2 protruding from the outer periphery of the portion 1-1 is provided with a spline groove 6-
2 is slidably fitted in the axial direction, and the conductor support 6 is provided so as to be rotatable integrally with the drive shaft 1. The conductor support 6 is attached to the open end of the cylindrical body 6-1 by the temperature rise of the heat medium fluid. When the attached thermowax 7 operates and expands, the drive shaft 1 is pressed against the coil spring 8 and the reaction causes the conductor support 6 to move to the side opposite to the permanent magnet 4, thereby causing the conductor 5 and the permanent magnet 4 to move. When the gap G is widened and the thermowax 7 contracts due to the temperature drop of the heat medium fluid, the conductor support 6 moves in the opposite direction by the action of the coil spring 8 and the end thereof comes into contact with the bearing device 2 so that it is fixed. It is configured to stop at. Therefore, according to the gap adjusting mechanism using the thermowax 7, the conductor support 6 is moved in the axial direction by the temperature sensed by the thermowax 7, and the permanent magnet 4 is moved.
By adjusting the gap G between the conductor 5 and the conductor 5,
Can be controlled. A water inlet port P1 and a water outlet port P2 are provided on the rear side of the housing 3.
Is provided. The drive shaft 1 is rotated by a belt through a pulley 26 by an engine of a vehicle or the like.

In the magnetic heater having the above structure, when the drive shaft 1 is driven by an engine or the like via the pulley 6, the conductor support 6 is connected to the drive shaft 1 via the spline 1-2 and the spline groove 6-2. Are rotated, the conductor 5 attached to the conductor support 6 and the permanent magnet 4
The magnetic path formed between the conductor 5 is sheared, and slip heat is generated in the conductor 5. The heat generated by the conductor 5 is exchanged with the circulating water as a heat medium fluid supplied from the water inlet port P1 into the housing 3 and the heated circulating water flows out from the outlet port P2 to heat the vehicle or the like. Will be provided. In FIG. 1, since the gap G between the permanent magnet 4 and the conductor 5 is the smallest, large slip heat is generated in the conductor 5, and the circulating water in the housing 3 is heated to a high temperature. On the other hand, when the temperature of the circulating water in the housing 3 rises and the need for heating is
The gap G between the permanent magnet 4 and the conductor 5 is widened by the gap adjusting mechanism using. That is, as shown in FIG.
When the drive shaft 1 is pressed by the coil spring 8 and the thermo-wax 7 operates so as to contract, the conductor support 6 moves to the side opposite to the permanent magnet 4 by the reaction, and the conductor 5
The gap G between the conductor 5 and the permanent magnet 4 widens, and as a result, the conductor 5
Since the magnetic flux density constituting the magnetic path formed between the housing 3 and the permanent magnet 4 becomes coarse, the amount of heat generated by the slip becomes small,
The temperature of the circulating water inside does not rise so much. Therefore, by setting the temperature sensed by the thermowax 7 finely, a slip heat generation value corresponding to the set temperature is obtained, and the circulating water in the housing 3 is heated to the set temperature. Further, the conductor support 6 is further moved to the side opposite to the permanent magnet 4 by the action of
The magnet heater is turned off by increasing the distance from the permanent magnet 4 to a distance where no slip heat is generated.
This eliminates the need for an ON-OFF electromagnetic clutch.

Next, the magnet type heater shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is mounted on a cylindrical body 13-1 provided on the front side of a sealed housing 13 supported on the outer periphery of a drive shaft 11 via a bearing device 12. The doughnut-shaped permanent magnet 14 is attached to a magnet support 19 fitted inside the housing 13 via the coil spring 18 so as to be movable in the axial direction.
There is no mechanism for the magnet support 19 to move in the axial direction by means of the thermowax 17 attached to the thermowax support 20 fitted close to the magnet support 19. The conductor 15 opposed to the attached permanent magnet 14 with a slight gap therebetween is fixed to a conductor support 16 fixed to the drive shaft 11,
The gap G with the permanent magnet 14 can be adjusted by moving the magnet support 19 in the axial direction by a gap adjusting mechanism using. That is, the thermo wax 17 attached to the thermo wax support 20
Operates and expands, the magnet support 19 is
The permanent magnet 14 and the conductor 15 are pressed against
When the gap G between them widens and the thermowax 17 stops, the magnet support 19 is pushed back by the coil spring 18 and stops at a fixed position to maintain a predetermined gap G. Therefore, also in the case of the present embodiment, the amount of heat generated by the slip generated in the conductor 15 can be controlled by moving the magnet support 19 in the axial direction according to the temperature sensed by the thermowax 17 and adjusting the gap G between the conductors 15. Can be. The drive shaft 11 is configured to be rotated by a belt by a vehicle engine or the like via a pulley 26 in the same manner as described above.

In the magnet type heater shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the drive shaft 11 is driven by the engine via the pulley 6, the conductor support 16 integrated with the drive shaft 11 rotates. As the conductor 15 rotates,
A magnetic path formed between the conductor 15 and the permanent magnet 14 is sheared, and slip heat is generated in the conductor 15. The heat generated by the conductor 15 is exchanged with circulating water serving as a heat medium fluid supplied from the water inlet port P1 into the housing 13, and the heated circulating water flows out of the outlet port P2 to heat the vehicle or the like. Will be provided. In FIG. 3, since the gap G between the permanent magnet 14 and the conductor 15 is the smallest, large slip heat is generated in the conductor 15 and the circulating water in the housing 13 is heated to a high temperature. On the other hand, when the temperature of the circulating water in the housing 13 rises and the heating becomes unnecessary, the gap G between the permanent magnet 14 and the conductor 15 is adjusted by the gap adjusting mechanism using the thermowax 17.
Becomes wider. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the thermowax 17 operates so as to expand and the magnet support 19 is pressed against the coil spring 18 so that the permanent magnet 14 is pressed.
The gap G between the conductor 15 and the conductor 15 widens, and as a result, the magnetic flux density constituting the magnetic path formed between the permanent magnet 14 and the conductor 15 becomes coarse, so that the amount of heat generated by the slip becomes small. It will not rise much. Therefore, also in the present embodiment, by setting the temperature sensed by the thermowax 17 finely, a slip heating value corresponding to the set temperature is obtained, and the circulating water in the housing 13 is heated to the set temperature. You. Further, the magnet support 19 is further pressed by the thermo-wax 17 and the distance between the conductor 15 and the conductor 15 is increased to a distance where the calorific value does not occur in the conductor 15 so that the magnet heater is turned off.
The electromagnetic clutch for ON-OFF is not required because it is possible to perform F. The conductor supports 6 and 16 may be provided with impellers as shown by chain lines in FIGS. 2 to 4 so as to impart velocity energy to the heat medium fluid.

[0019]

As described above, the magnet heater according to the present invention can control the amount of slip heat generated in the conductor by changing the gap G between the permanent magnet and the conductor by the gap adjusting mechanism using thermowax. It has a function that can control the temperature of the fluid for heat medium delicately, and the ON / OFF control of the magnet type heater by the gap adjustment mechanism is also unnecessary. Is also very advantageous.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an embodiment of a magnet type heater according to claim 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1, showing a state in which a gap between a permanent magnet and a conductor is widened in the magnet heater shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view showing an embodiment of a magnet heater according to claim 2 of the present invention.

4 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3, showing a state in which a gap between a permanent magnet and a conductor is widened in the magnet heater shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view showing an example of a conventional magnetic heater to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,11 Drive shaft 2,12 Bearing device 3,13 Housing 4,14 Permanent magnet 5,15 Conductor 6,16 Conductor support 7,17 Thermo wax 8,18 Coil spring 19 Magnet support 20 Thermo wax support G gap

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method in which a magnet and a conductor are opposed to each other with a slight gap therebetween, and a fluid for a heat medium is heated by slip heat generated in the conductor by relatively rotating the magnet and the conductor. A permanent magnet is mounted on a housing supported on a shaft via a bearing device, and a conductor facing the permanent magnet with a slight gap therebetween is provided inside the housing so as to be rotatable by the drive shaft. A magnet type heater having a structure in which the heat medium fluid introduced into the housing is heated by slip heat generated in the conductor due to the rotation, the magnet type heater being rotatable integrally with the drive shaft and via a spring. The conductor was attached to a disk-shaped rotating body fitted outside so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and attached to the disk-shaped rotating body as if pressing an end of the drive shaft. A magnet type heater comprising a gap adjusting mechanism in which the gap between the permanent magnet and the conductor is made variable by sliding the disk-shaped rotating body in the axial direction with thermowax. 2. A method in which a magnet and a conductor are opposed to each other with a slight gap therebetween, and a fluid for a heat medium is heated by slip heat generated in the conductor by relatively rotating the magnet and the conductor. A permanent magnet is incorporated in a housing supported on a shaft via a bearing device, and a conductor facing the permanent magnet with a slight gap therebetween is provided inside the housing so as to be rotatable by the drive shaft. In a magnet type heater having a structure in which a heat medium fluid introduced into the housing is heated by slip heat generated in the conductor due to the rotation, the permanent magnet is disposed inside the housing in the axial direction through a spring. The magnet support is attached to a magnet support slidably fitted in the housing, and the magnet support is swung in the axial direction by thermowax provided integrally inside the housing. A magnet type heater provided with a gap adjusting mechanism in which a gap between the permanent magnet and the conductor is made variable by riding.