JP2010196624A - Cooling device for electronic control unit mounted on automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means effective for eliminating a thermal effect on an electronic control unit mounted in an engine compartment of an automobile. <P>SOLUTION: An electronic control unit 13 is disposed near an air cleaner 12 of an engine intake system positioned at a side of an engine body 10 (refer to Fig.1). An air guide duct 20 guiding travel wind to the electronic control unit 13 from an opening 18a is formed at an outside air introduction duct 16 introducing outside air to the air cleaner 12 from the opening part 18a facing a front side of the vehicle. A means preventing a reverse flow of air to the outside air introduction duct 16 from the air guide duct 20 is provided (refer to Fig.5 and Fig.6). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling device for an electronic control unit mounted in an engine room of an automobile.

  Electronic control units mounted on automobiles are generally placed in the cabin or trunk room where there is little thermal influence. However, if this is done, the electronic control unit will be far away from the relay box placed in the engine room. For this reason, not only the harness connecting them becomes long, but also the handling and the like become complicated and the assemblability deteriorates.

  For this reason, there is an electronic control unit that can be mounted in the engine room of an automobile while eliminating thermal effects. In Patent Document 1, a storage box is interposed between an air cleaner of an intake system and an upstream fresh air duct (outside air introduction duct) connected thereto, and an electronic control unit is disposed in a storage chamber in the storage box. The In the storage box, a downstream portion of the fresh air duct that connects the upstream portion of the fresh air duct to the air cleaner, and a cool air introduction passage that connects from the downstream portion of the fresh air duct to the air cleaner via the storage chamber are formed.

Actual Kaihei 05-66218

  In such a conventional example, outside air flows from the upstream portion of the fresh air duct through the downstream portion of the fresh duct in the storage box and is supplied to the air cleaner, while a part of the outside air is supplied from the downstream portion of the fresh duct to the cold air introduction passage and Although it flows through the storage room and is supplied to the air cleaner, the passage structure inside the storage box (the downstream part of the fresh duct and the cold air introduction passage via the storage room) is hierarchical and has many bent parts, increasing the intake resistance and the engine. There is a possibility of causing a decrease in output and fuel consumption. Further, the outside air passing through the storage chamber is warmed by the heat generated by the electronic control unit, and the density of the air taken in by the engine may be reduced, leading to a decrease in engine output.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an effective means capable of eliminating the thermal influence on an electronic control unit mounted in an engine room of an automobile while assuming such a problem.

  The present invention relates to a cooling device for an electronic control unit mounted in an engine room of an automobile, wherein the control unit is disposed in the vicinity of an air cleaner of an engine intake system located on the side of the engine body and faces the front of the vehicle. Means for forming a wind guide duct for guiding running air from the opening to the electronic control unit in the outside air introduction duct for guiding outside air to the air cleaner from the opening to prevent backflow of air from the wind guide duct to the outside air introduction duct Is provided.

  In the present invention, the electronic control unit is disposed in a relatively low temperature area in the engine room, and is cooled by the traveling wind from the air duct. Further, the air in the engine room (for example, air whose temperature becomes high at a high load) can be prevented from being sucked from the air duct into the outside air introduction duct on the air cleaner side by the means for preventing the backflow of air. Further, the wind guide duct receives the traveling wind and guides it to the electronic control unit, and does not affect the intake resistance of the outside air introduction duct. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the thermal influence on the electronic control unit mounted in the engine room while ensuring good engine output. Since the arrangement of the electronic control unit is set in the vicinity of the air cleaner, it is possible to easily and easily form the air guide duct and the outside air introduction duct.

It is a partial top view in an engine room. It is a perspective view which shows the installation state of an electronic control unit. It is a top view which shows the arrangement | positioning state of an external air introduction duct. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a perspective view of an outside air introduction duct. It is a partial perspective view of an air duct.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an engine body, which is mounted in a horizontal state in which the direction of the crankshaft is in the vehicle width direction at the center portion in the engine room 11, A system air cleaner 12 is arranged.

  The electronic control unit 13 is set by a function for controlling the engine, and is arranged on the opposite side of the engine body 10 in the vicinity of the air cleaner 12. That is, the electronic control unit 13 is disposed in the engine room 11 in a region that is not easily affected by the heat from the engine body 10.

  FIG. 2 exemplifies the installation state of the electronic control unit 13, and the electronic control unit 13 is attached to the inner panel 14 of the vehicle body panel constituting the side of the engine room 11 via the bracket 15.

  The upstream side outside air introduction duct 16 connected to the air cleaner 12 includes an opening extending immediately above the engine radiator 17. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the opening 18 a of the outside air introduction duct 16 is directed forward of the vehicle. An outside air introduction portion 18b extending from the back (bottom) of the opening 18a to the inlet portion (upstream side of the filter) of the air cleaner 12 and an end 18d extending from the back (bottom) of the opening 18a to the electronic control unit 13 And an air guide portion 18c that is opened.

  The outside air introduction portion 18b guides outside air taken in from the opening portion 18a to the air cleaner 12, and constitutes the original outside air introduction duct 16 together with the opening portion 18a. The air guide portion 18c guides the traveling wind received from the opening portion 18a so that it smoothly flows to the open end portion 18d without resistance, and constitutes the air guide duct 20 for cooling the electronic control unit 13 together with the opening portion 18a. .

  In FIG. 1, 19 is a fuse box, which is arranged around the electronic control unit 13 together with electrical components such as a relay box.

  While the vehicle is traveling, the traveling wind travels straight from the front of the vehicle through the opening 18a and smoothly flows from the back of the opening 18a through the outside air introduction portion 18b and is supplied to the inlet of the air cleaner 12, while the opening 18a passes through the opening 18a. A part of the traveling wind traveling straightly flows smoothly from the back of the opening 18a through the air guide 18c and blows out from the open end 18d to the electronic control unit 13. For this reason, the electronic control unit 13 and its periphery can be sufficiently cooled. In that case, the traveling wind from the air guide duct 20 takes away heat from the electronic control unit 13 and blows out to the outside together with the traveling wind flowing behind the engine radiator 17 in the engine room 11.

  Since traveling wind cannot be obtained when the vehicle is stopped, air in the engine room 11 (which has a higher temperature than the outside air) may be sucked into the outside air introduction duct 16 from the air guide duct 20 to prevent this. Therefore, the opening portion 18a of the outside air introduction duct 16 and the air guide duct 20 is formed with a partition wall 21 that divides the inside into a passage on the outside air introduction portion 18b side and a passage on the air introduction portion 18c side (see FIG. 5). ). That is, the partition wall 21 constitutes a means for preventing the backflow of air from the air guide duct 20 to the outside air introduction duct 16.

  With such a configuration, the electronic control unit 13 is disposed in a relatively low temperature area in the engine room 11 and is cooled by the traveling wind from the air guide duct 20. Further, air in the engine room 11 can be prevented from being sucked from the air guide duct 20 into the outside air introduction duct 16 on the air cleaner 12 side by means for preventing the backflow of air (the partition wall 21 of the opening 18a). The air guide duct 20 receives the traveling wind without resistance and guides it to the electronic control unit 13, and does not affect the intake resistance of the outside air introduction duct 16. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the thermal influence on the electronic control unit 13 mounted in the engine room 11 while ensuring a good engine output. Since the electronic control unit 13 is disposed in the vicinity of the air cleaner 12, the air guide duct 20 is shortened, and integration with the outside air introduction duct 16 can be performed easily and easily. These integrations also have the effect of suppressing an increase in the number of parts and assembly man-hours.

  Although the partition wall 21 can prevent the air in the engine room 11 from being sucked into the outside air introduction part 18b from the wind guide part 18c, the air in the engine room 11 is separated from the wind guide duct 20 side on the front surface of the opening part 18a. It is conceivable that the air passes through the engine air 17 and is sucked into the outside air introduction duct 16 side, or sucked by the cooling fan of the engine radiator 17 so that air in the engine room flows from the air guide duct 20 side through the engine radiator 17. As a means for preventing the backflow of air from the air guide duct 20 to the outside air introduction duct 16, a check valve 22 may be provided as shown in FIG.

  The check valve 22 is arranged at an open end 18d of the air guide duct 20 toward the electronic control unit 13, and is configured to open by the flow of traveling wind and to close when the flow of traveling wind disappears. This prevents air in the engine room 11 from flowing into the open end portion 18d when the vehicle is stopped, where traveling wind cannot be obtained, and the air in the engine room 11 gets over the partition wall 21 of the opening 18a. It is possible to reliably prevent the air from being sucked into the outside air introduction duct 16 side or sucked by the cooling fan of the engine radiator 17 from the opening 18a and flowing through the engine radiator 17.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the technical idea.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Engine main body 11 Engine room 12 Air cleaner 13 Electronic control unit 16 Outside air introduction duct 18a Opening part 18b Outside air introduction part 18c Air guide part 18d Open end part 20 Air guide duct 21 Bulkhead 22 Check valve

Claims (3)

  In a cooling device for an electronic control unit mounted in an engine room of an automobile, the control unit is disposed in the vicinity of an air cleaner for an engine intake system located on the side of the engine body, and from an opening facing the front of the vehicle. A means for preventing the backflow of air from the air guide duct to the outside air introduction duct is provided by forming an air introduction duct for guiding the running air from the opening to the electronic control unit in the outside air introduction duct for guiding outside air to the air cleaner. An electronic control unit cooling device.   2. The electronic control unit cooling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a check valve is disposed at a downstream opening of the air guide duct extending to the electronic control unit as means for preventing the air from flowing backward.   The cooling of the electronic control unit according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a partition wall that partitions the opening into the outside air introduction duct side and the air guide duct side as means for preventing the back flow of the air. apparatus.

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