JP2002235546A - Intake swirl generator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an intake swirl generator capable of simply controlling a swirl control valve so as to cause intake swirl in a low speed rotation region without using a high precise drive control system. SOLUTION: This intake swirl generator is constituted such that a main port 12 and a swirl port 13 which are separated from each other by a bulkhead 11 are provided in an intake pipe 1 on the downstream side of a throttle valve 2 and the swirl control valve 10 is provided on a main port side. A guide fin 15 guiding in such a way that intake stream passing through the main port is directed toward a swirl port side when the swirl control valve is half opened is provided on a side wall of the intake pipe in the vicinity of the swirl control valve 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an intake swirl generator provided in an intake system of an internal combustion engine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an intake system of an internal combustion engine, a main port and a confined swirl port are provided in an intake pipe downstream of a throttle valve, and a swirl control valve is disposed in the main port. By closing the main port at idle or idling and supplying intake air into the engine cylinder through a narrow swirl port, swirl (vortex) is generated, improving combustion efficiency in the cylinder chamber and improving fuel efficiency etc. 2. Description of the Related Art A vortex generator is known (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-247661).

[0003]

Conventionally, this kind of intake vortex generator generally closes a swirl control valve provided in a main port at the time of starting or idling of an engine, and at the time of normal operation, the swirl control valve is provided. Is fully opened, but even in the low-speed rotation range of the engine, it is studied to generate a swirl in the intake air to improve fuel efficiency and the like.

However, in the low-speed rotation range of such an engine,
In order to generate swirl in the intake air, the swirl control valve is controlled to half open, that is, slightly open, so as to generate swirl while increasing the intake air amount to some extent, but the main port of the conventional intake vortex generator is When the swirl control valve is opened even slightly, an airflow suddenly flows into the main port, and at the same time, an airflow flowing through the swirl port rapidly decreases. For this reason, the degree of opening of the swirl control valve greatly affects the generation of swirl, and it is very difficult to control the swirl control valve, requiring a high-precision motor and control circuit in the drive system that drives the valve, There was a problem that the manufacturing cost was increased.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and can easily control a swirl control valve so as to generate an intake vortex in a low-speed rotation range without using a high-precision drive control system. It is an object of the present invention to provide an intake vortex generator capable of performing the following.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an intake swirl generating apparatus according to the present invention, wherein a main port and a swirl port separated by a partition are provided in an intake pipe downstream of a throttle valve. Is provided, and a swirl control valve is provided on the main port side, and a swirl port is provided on a side wall of the intake pipe near the swirl control valve, when the swirl control valve is half-opened. It is characterized in that a guide fin is provided for guiding toward the side.

In the intake vortex flow generator, a contact portion is provided on the side wall of the main port in the intake pipe when the tip of the swirl control valve is fully closed, and a guide is provided near the downstream side of the contact portion. Fins can be provided diagonally downstream.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a main port and a swirl port separated by a partition are provided in the intake pipe downstream of the throttle valve, and a swirl control valve is provided on the main port side. The swirl control valve is provided with guide fins that guide the intake air passing through the main port toward the swirl port when the swirl control valve is half-opened. I do.

Here, in the intake vortex generator, the guide fin may be provided on the back side of the butterfly-shaped valve body of the swirl control valve so as to have a surface substantially parallel to the back surface of the valve body.

[0010]

When the swirl control valve is slightly opened at the time of low-speed rotation of the internal combustion engine to be in a half-open state, the intake swirl flow generating device having the above structure allows the intake air passing through the main port to be guided by the guide fin provided on the side wall or the valve body. Flows toward the swirl port. For this reason, even if the swirl control valve is in a half-open state and the intake flow rate flowing through the swirl port is reduced, the vortex generation rate generated in the cylinder does not decrease so much, and the vortex generation rate when the swirl control valve is half-opened is reduced. The decrease can be effectively suppressed.

For this reason, even in the low-speed rotation range of the engine,
By generating a vortex in the intake air, fuel efficiency can be improved and harmful exhaust components can be reduced. In addition, since the rate of occurrence of eddy current due to the opening operation of the swirl control valve slows down, high precision is not required for controlling the valve opening, and a low-cost DC motor or controller is used for the drive motor or controller for the swirl control valve. A simple controller can be used to reduce manufacturing costs.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the swirl control valve is in a fully opened state (a state in which the valve element is positioned in parallel with the intake flow), the guide fins are also located in parallel with the intake flow. In addition, the intake air flow resistance when the valve is fully opened can be further reduced.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional explanatory view of an intake swirl generator provided in an intake system of an internal combustion engine.
Reference numeral 1 denotes an intake pipe of an internal combustion engine. A throttle valve 2 is provided in the intake pipe 1, and a surge tank 3 is provided downstream of the throttle valve 2. A swirl control valve 10 is provided in the intake pipe 1 downstream of the surge tank 3.

The swirl control valve 10 is provided on the side of the main port 12 where the inside of the intake pipe 1 is separated into a main port 12 and a swirl port 13 by a partition wall 11, and is opened and closed by a drive motor 14. At a specific location in the intake pipe 1 where the swirl control valve 10 is disposed, a partition wall 11 is arranged along the axial direction of the pipe and near one of the side walls. The port 12 and the narrow swirl port 13 are formed separately.

A valve shaft 10a of the swirl control valve 10 is provided near the partition 11 in the main port 12.
The swirl control valve 10 having a butterfly-shaped valve body fixed and disposed on the valve shaft 10a is disposed and supported in the transverse direction of the intake pipe 1. To perform the closing operation. When the swirl control valve 10 is opened, the swirl control valve 10 rotates to a position substantially parallel to the axis of the intake pipe 1.
When the swirl control valve 10 is fully closed, the contact portion 16 for contacting the distal end of the valve body is connected to the main port 12.
A guide fin 15 is provided on a side wall slightly downstream of the contact portion 16 when the guide fin is closed.

The guide fins 15 are provided on a wall portion facing the partition wall 11 so as to be inclined obliquely downstream, and when the swirl control valve 10 is slightly opened to a half-open state, the air flow passing through the main port 12 is reduced. To the partition 11 side, that is, the swirl port 13 side. That is, when the butterfly-type swirl control valve 10 is opened slightly away from the contact portion 16 provided on the wall, the intake passage is formed near the contact portion 16. Flows through the guide fins 15, and acts on the side of the partition 11 opposite to the contact portion 16, that is, on the side of the swirl port 13.

An injector 5 for injecting fuel into the intake pipe is provided downstream of the swirl control valve 10 in the intake pipe 1. The intake pipe 1 is connected to an intake port 6 of a cylinder 4 of the internal combustion engine. An intake valve 7 is disposed in the intake port 6, and a piston 8 is inserted into the cylinder 4.

A relatively inexpensive DC motor is used as the drive motor 14 for driving the swirl control valve 10. The output shaft of the motor 14 is linked to the valve 10 via a speed reducer (not shown) to open and close the valve 10. . On the other hand, the drive motor 14 is connected to and controlled by the controller 20. The controller 20 closes the swirl control valve 10 at the time of starting and idling of the internal combustion engine,
At a low speed of about 2,000 rpm, the valve 10 is controlled so as to be in a half-open state (for example, an opening degree of about 10 ° to about 45 °).

Next, the operation of the intake vortex generator having the above configuration will be described. The controller 20 controls the drive motor 14 so as to close the swirl control valve 10 at the time of starting and idling of the internal combustion engine. The swirl control valve 10 is controlled by the drive motor 14 to
During startup and idling, the intake air that is closed as shown in FIG. 1 and flows through the intake pipe 1 flows through the swirl port 13 because the main port 12 is closed. appear. Due to the generation of the vortex, the combustion speed in the cylinder 4 is promoted, the combustion efficiency is improved, and the fuel efficiency and harmful exhaust components during idling are improved.

Further, the swirl control valve 10 is provided in a low-speed rotation range of the internal combustion engine (for example, a rotation speed of about 20 rpm).
At the time of low-speed rotation of about 00 rpm), the drive motor 14 is controlled to a half-open state as shown in FIG. That is, when the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine is increased from the idle state to a low-speed rotation range of about 2000 rpm by the accelerator operation, the swirl control valve 10 is controlled to open to the half-open state by the operation of the drive motor 14. Is done.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the intake air flowing only in the swirl port 13 at the time of idling flows to the main port 12 side. The guide fins 15 are guided toward the swirl port 13 by contacting the guide fins 15 inclined toward the partition 11. By the action of the guide fins 15, the intake air flowing when the swirl control valve 10 is half-opened is swirled by the swirl port 1.
Since the swirl flow flows toward the third side, the generation of the vortex in the cylinder 4 does not drastically decrease from the time when the swirl control valve 10 is fully closed, and the generation of the vortex promotes the combustion speed in the cylinder 4 to reduce the fuel consumption at the low speed rotation. Improvement and reduction of harmful exhaust components can be achieved.

That is, as shown in the graph of FIG. 3, in the conventional case in which the guide fins 15 are not provided, when the swirl control valve is slightly opened to secure a required intake air amount at the time of low-speed rotation of the engine, the main port is closed. The airflow suddenly flows out, and at the same time, the airflow flowing through the swirl port sharply decreases, and as shown by the broken line in FIG. 3, the generation rate of the swirl (swirl) in the cylinder 4 sharply decreases.

However, as in the present invention, when the swirl control valve 10 is half-opened, the intake air is guided by the guide fins 15 so as to flow toward the swirl port 13, so that the vortex generated in the cylinder 4 is generated. A decrease in the swirl rate due to the opening operation of the swirl control valve 10 can be moderated as shown by the solid line in FIG. For this reason, the opening control of the swirl control valve 10 by the drive motor 14 becomes easy, and the opening control of the swirl control valve 10 in the low speed rotation range of the internal combustion engine is performed by using a DC motor or a simple controller that does not require so high precision. You can do it.

FIGS. 4 to 6 show another embodiment. In this example, a guide fin 18 provided on the back surface side of the valve body of the swirl control valve 17 is used instead of the guide fin 15 provided on the side wall. The structure of the swirl control valve 17 other than the valve body is the same as that of the above-described embodiment. In the drawings, the same components as those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the swirl control valve 17 has a butterfly type valve element fixed to a shaft 17a, and a guide fin is provided on the back side (the side facing the downstream side in the intake pipe) of the valve element. 18 are provided. The shaft 17a is supported in the transverse direction near the partition 11 in the main port 12 similarly to the above. The guide fin 18 is formed so as to have a surface substantially parallel to the back surface of the butterfly-shaped valve body of the swirl control valve 17, and provides a space for flowing air between the back surface of the valve body and the guide fin 18. It is attached to the back surface of the valve via the leg 18a.

The swirl control valve 17 having such a guide fin 18 on the back surface of the valve body is controlled to a half-open state by the drive motor 14, as shown in FIG. Is done.
As a result, the intake air flow flowing only to the swirl port 13 at the time of idling also flows to the main port 12 side, but the intake air flowing near the front end portion of the half-open valve 17 18 and is guided to flow toward the swirl port 13 side.

By the action of the guide fins 18, the intake air flowing when the swirl control valve 17 is half-opened flows toward the swirl port 13 in the same manner as described above. , The combustion speed in the cylinder 4 is promoted by the generation of the vortex, so that the fuel efficiency at the time of low-speed rotation and the harmful exhaust component can be reduced.
Further, when the swirl control valve 17 is fully opened, the guide fins 18 provided in the back surface of the valve body of the swirl control valve 17 are directed together with the valve body in the axial direction of the intake pipe, that is, in the intake air flow direction. The flow resistance can be made smaller than that of the guide fins 18.

[0028]

As described above, according to the intake vortex generator of the present invention, when the swirl control valve is half-opened at the time of low-speed rotation of the engine, the intake air passing through the main port is restricted to the side wall or the valve body. Since the swirl control valve is opened by the guide fins provided at the swirl port side, even if the intake flow rate flowing through the swirl port decreases, the generation rate of the vortex generated in the cylinder does not decrease so much. In addition, it is possible to effectively suppress a decrease in the vortex generation rate when the swirl control valve is half-opened. As a result, even in the low-speed range of the engine, a vortex is generated in the intake air to improve fuel efficiency and reduce harmful exhaust components, and a reduction in the vortex generation rate due to the opening operation of the swirl control valve. The control of the valve opening does not require high precision, and the cost can be reduced by using an inexpensive DC motor or a simple controller as the drive motor or controller for the swirl control valve. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an intake eddy current generator showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing a half-open state of the swirl control valve.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a relationship between an opening degree of a swirl control valve and a swirl occurrence rate.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an intake vortex generator according to another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the swirl control valve 17 of the same device as viewed from the back.

FIG. 6 is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of the device during operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-intake pipe 2-throttle valve 10-swirl control valve 11-partition wall 12-main port 13-swirl port 14-drive motor 15-guide fin

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An intake vortex generator, comprising: a main port and a swirl port separated by a partition wall provided in an intake pipe downstream of a throttle valve; and a swirl control valve provided on the main port side. On the intake pipe side wall near the swirl control valve,
An intake vortex generator, wherein guide fins are provided to guide the intake air passing through the main port toward the swirl port when the swirl control valve is half-opened. 2. A side wall of a main port in the intake pipe,
2. A contact portion at which a tip portion of the swirl control valve contacts when fully closed, and the guide fin is provided obliquely downstream near a downstream side of the contact portion.
An intake vortex generator as described. 3. An intake vortex generator, comprising: a main port and a swirl port separated by a partition wall provided in an intake pipe downstream of a throttle valve; and a swirl control valve provided on the main port side. A swirl control valve, wherein a guide fin is provided on a valve body of the swirl control valve so as to guide an intake flow passing through the main port toward the swirl port when the swirl control valve is half-opened. . 4. The intake vortex flow generation according to claim 3, wherein the guide fin is provided on a back side of a butterfly type valve body of the swirl control valve so as to have a surface substantially parallel to the back side of the valve body. apparatus.