JP2015104974A - Grill shutter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a grill shutter which can prevent the overheating of the inside of an engine room even if there occurs an abnormality that the grill shutter is not manually operated while being left in a closed state.SOLUTION: In a grill shutter 1 which can switch an opening part 4 for taking air into an engine room 3 from a front grill 2 to an opened state that the flow-in of the air into the engine room 3 is easy, and a blocked state that the flow-in of the air into the engine room 3 is suppressed, the grill shutter comprises a rotating mechanism which switches the opened state and the blocked state by rotating shield plates 12, 15 with rotating shafts 13, 16 as centers, and a moving mechanism which is different from the rotating mechanism, and brings the opening part 4 into the opened state by moving the shield plates 12, 15 by a method other than the rotation. When there occurs an abnormality that the rotation mechanism is not operated while the opening part 4 is left in the blocked state, the moving mechanism is operated, and the opening part 4 is brought into the opened state.

Description

  The present invention relates to a grill shutter that opens and closes an opening for taking air from a front grill of a vehicle into an engine room.

  The grill shutter is a device that is provided at an opening for sending cooling air from the front grill of the vehicle into the engine room, and controls the inflow state of the air into the engine room by opening and closing. For example, immediately after the engine is started or when the outside air temperature is low, the grill shutter is closed to suppress the inflow of air into the engine room, thereby promoting engine warm-up and shortening the warm-up time. can do. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the time during which the engine speed is increased by the warm-up operation and improve the fuel efficiency of the engine. In addition, even when cruising at high speed, the air resistance of the vehicle can be reduced and the fuel efficiency can be improved by closing the grill shutter. On the other hand, for example, when running at a medium or low speed and high load, or when running in a traffic jam, open the grille shutter to facilitate the inflow of air into the engine room. By doing so, it is possible to efficiently take outside air into the engine room and prevent overheating of the engine and the engine room.

  An example of an invention relating to such a grill shutter is described in Patent Document 1. The grill shutter described in Patent Document 1 is configured to open and close the grill shutter by rotating movable fins supported by the frame. And the grill shutter control apparatus described in this patent document 1 is provided with the abnormality detection means which detects abnormality based on the state after the operation start of a grill shutter, and when abnormality of a grill shutter is detected, The abnormality is notified to the driver.

  Patent Document 2 describes a configuration of a shutter that opens and closes an opening by sliding a foldable sheet along a guide frame as a means for opening and closing the opening between the engine room and the outside of the vehicle. Has been.

JP 2012-197001 A JP 2011-98596 A

  As described above, according to the grill shutter control device described in Patent Document 1, when any abnormality occurs in the grill shutter, the driver can be made aware that the abnormality has occurred. Therefore, the driver can stop the vehicle or evacuate at a low speed after recognizing the abnormality of the grill shutter, and then take measures against the abnormality of the grill shutter. In this way, by taking appropriate measures against the abnormality of the grill shutter, it is possible to avoid a more serious situation such as deterioration of the durability and reliability due to overheating of the engine or overheating in the engine room, for example.

  However, even if the driver recognizes the occurrence of an abnormality of the grill shutter during traveling as described above, there are cases where the abnormality cannot be dealt with immediately. For example, when traveling on a highway or a mountain road, even if the driver recognizes the occurrence of an abnormality in the grill shutter, the driver may not be able to stop immediately. In particular, if an abnormality occurs that prevents the grill shutter from operating when the shutter is closed, if the vehicle is not stopped immediately and the abnormality is not dealt with, the engine may overheat or the engine room There is a risk that durability and reliability may be reduced due to overheating inside.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the technical problem described above, and is capable of preventing overheating of the engine and the engine room when an abnormality that does not operate with the grill shutter closed is generated. Is intended to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an opening for taking air from a front grille of a vehicle into an engine room, an open state in which air can easily flow into the engine room, and the engine room. In a grille shutter that can be switched to a shielding state in which the inflow of air into the interior is suppressed, a rotation mechanism that switches between the open state and the shielding state by rotating a shielding plate around a predetermined rotation axis And a moving mechanism that is different from the rotating mechanism and moves the shielding plate by a method other than the rotation to bring the opening into the open state. The grille shutter is configured to operate the moving mechanism to bring the opening into the open state. .

  According to the present invention, the opening formed inside the front grille is switched between the open state and the shield state by the grill shutter. The grill shutter includes two mechanisms having different structures of the rotation mechanism and the movement mechanism in order to switch the opening between an open state and a shielding state. The moving mechanism is configured to operate when an abnormality occurs in the rotating mechanism and the opening cannot be switched from the shielded state to the opened state by the rotating mechanism, so that the opening can be opened. Has been. Accordingly, when an abnormality occurs that prevents the rotation mechanism from operating while the opening is shielded and the rotation mechanism cannot switch the opening to the open state, the moving mechanism is operated to open the opening. be able to. Therefore, even if the above abnormality occurs, overheating in the engine and the engine room can be prevented. Moreover, the fall of durability and reliability by the influence of such overheating can be suppressed.

It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the grill shutter of this invention, and is a figure which shows the state which a grill shutter is open at the time of normal. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the structure of the grill shutter of this invention, and is a figure which shows the flow of the air in the state which the grill shutter opened at normal time. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the grill shutter of this invention, and is a figure which shows the state in which a grill shutter is closed at the time of normal. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the structure of the grill shutter of this invention, and is a figure which shows the flow of the air in the state which the grill shutter closed at the normal time. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the grill shutter of this invention, and is a figure which shows the state which the grill shutter opened at the time of abnormality. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the structure of the grill shutter of this invention, and is a figure which shows the flow of the air in the state which the grill shutter opened at the time of abnormality. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation control when abnormality generate | occur | produces with the grill shutter of this invention.

  Next, the present invention will be described based on specific examples. As described above, the grill shutter is a device whose open / close state is controlled in accordance with the running state of the vehicle, the engine coolant temperature, and the like. If some abnormality occurs in such a grille shutter and, for example, the grille shutter does not operate in a closed state, the engine may overheat, or devices and parts in the engine room may be overheated. Therefore, the grill shutter according to the present invention prevents overheating of the engine and the engine room even when an abnormality occurs such that the grill shutter does not operate with the grill shutter closed while the vehicle is running. A mechanism is provided.

  1 to 6 show an example of the configuration of the grill shutter according to the present invention. The grill shutter 1 is installed in the opening 4 between the front grill 2 and the engine room 3 of the vehicle Ve. The front grille 2 side of the grill shutter 1 is opposed to an upper grille 2 a that forms the upper part of the front grille 2 and a lower grille 2 b that forms the lower part of the front grille 2. The engine room 3 side of the grill shutter 1 faces the air conditioner condenser 5 and the engine radiator 6. In the example shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 6, the engine room 3 side of the grille shutter 1 faces the air conditioner condenser 5. The engine radiator 6 is set adjacent to the air conditioner capacitor 5 on the engine room 3 side.

  The grill shutter 1 is mainly composed of an upper grille shutter 7, a lower grille shutter 8, a guide frame 9, an actuator 10, and the like.

  The upper grille shutter 7 is formed of a rectangular frame 11 and a shielding plate 12 that is rotatably supported by the frame 11 at both ends in the longitudinal direction. In the example shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, three shielding plates 12 are arranged in parallel inside the frame 11. In a state where the grill shutter 1 is installed in the opening 4, the grill shutter 1 is usually disposed at a portion facing the upper grill 2 a.

  The shielding plate 12 is supported by the frame 11 so as to be able to rotate around the rotation shaft 13. Therefore, the upper grille shutter 7 as shown in FIG. 2 and the upper grille shutter as shown in FIG. 4 are opened by rotating the shielding plate 12 about the rotation shaft 13 in any direction. 7 can be switched and set.

  The lower grille shutter 8 is formed of a rectangular frame 14 and a shielding plate 15 whose both ends in the longitudinal direction are rotatably supported by the frame 14 in the same manner as the upper grille shutter 7 described above. In the example shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, three shielding plates 15 are arranged in parallel inside the frame 14. In a state where the grill shutter 1 is installed in the opening 4, the grill shutter 1 is usually disposed at a portion facing the lower grill 2 b.

  The shielding plate 15 is supported by the frame 14 so as to be able to rotate around the rotation shaft 16 in the same manner as the shielding plate 12 described above. Therefore, when the shielding plate 15 is rotated in any direction around the rotation shaft 16, the lower grille shutter 8 as shown in FIG. 2 is opened, and the lower grille shutter 8 as shown in FIG. It can be set by switching the closed state.

  By opening at least one of the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8 described above, the opening 4 is made open so that air can easily enter the engine room 3 from the outside. Can do. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a state in which the opening 4 is opened by opening both the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8.

  On the other hand, by closing both the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8, the opening 4 is put in a shielding state in which the inflow of air from the outside into the engine room 3 is suppressed. Can do. FIGS. 3 and 4 show a state in which the opening 4 is shielded by closing both the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8.

  As described above, the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8 rotate the shielding plate 12 and the shielding plate 15 around the rotation shaft 13 and the rotation shaft 16 respectively, thereby opening the opening 4 as described above. Can be switched between an open state and a shielded state. Therefore, the grill shutter 1 is configured to include the rotation mechanism in the present invention.

  As the mechanism for rotating the shielding plate 12 and the shielding plate 15, for example, a well-known mechanism or device as described in Patent Document 1 can be applied. Therefore, detailed description by illustration is omitted here.

  The guide frame 9 supports the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8 slidably in the vertical direction of the front grille 2 (vertical direction in FIGS. 1, 3, and 5). . Specifically, a sliding groove 17 is formed in the guide frame 9. The sliding groove 17 has a boss portion 18 formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the frame 11 of the shutter 7 for the upper grill and a boss portion 19 formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the frame 14 of the shutter 8 for the lower grill. Are inserted so as to be slidable along the sliding groove 17.

  The actuator 10 is a device for sliding the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8 along the guide frame 8 respectively. For example, a hydraulic actuator, an electromagnetic actuator, an electric actuator, or the like can be applied. . The movable part 10a of the actuator 10 is connected to the boss part 18 of the shutter 7 for the upper grill. The boss portion 18 of the upper grille shutter 7 and the boss portion 19 of the lower grille shutter 8 are connected by, for example, a spring 20 so that the lower grille shutter 8 is linked to the upper grille shutter 7.

  In the state where the actuator 10 is OFF (that is, the state where no hydraulic pressure or electric power is applied to the actuator 10), as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8 respectively It is comprised so that it may be located in the part facing 2a and the lower grille 2b. Further, when the actuator 10 is in an ON state (that is, a state where hydraulic pressure or electric power is applied to the actuator 10), as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8 are both The upper grille 2a and the lower grille 2b are configured so as to be located at a portion shifted from the portion facing the upper grille 2a and the lower grille 2b. Accordingly, the opening 4 is configured to be opened by turning on the actuator 10. In this case, even if the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8 are both closed, that is, even if the opening 4 is shielded by the rotation mechanism described above, the upper grille shutter 7 The lower grille shutter 8 is moved as described above, so that the opening 4 can be opened. The actuator 10 is set so as to be always OFF.

  Thus, by operating the actuator 10 and moving the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8 slidably supported by the guide frame 9 to the positions shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, The opening 4 can be opened. Therefore, the grill shutter 1 is configured to include the moving mechanism in the present invention.

  The moving mechanism according to the present invention is not limited to the configuration in which the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8 are slid in the vertical direction of the vehicle Ve as described above. The moving mechanism in this invention should just be the structure which can make the opening part 4 an open state by the mechanism different from the above rotating mechanisms irrespective of the state of a rotating mechanism. For example, the upper grille shutter 7 and the lower grille shutter 8 may be slid in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle Ve.

  An electronic control unit (ECU) 21 for controlling the operation of the transition mechanism and the operation of the rotation mechanism described above by the actuator 10 as described above is provided. An example of the control of the grill shutter 1 by the ECU 20 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. This is control for fail-safe when an abnormality occurs in the rotation mechanism of the grill shutter 1. First, it is determined whether or not the abnormality determination flag is ON (step S1). The abnormality determination flag is a flag that is set to ON when some abnormality occurs in the grille shutter 1, and is set to OFF in a normal time when there is no abnormality.

  When the abnormality determination flag is OFF, when a negative determination is made in step S1, the process proceeds to step S2. Then, the actuator 10 in the moving mechanism of the grill shutter 1 is turned off. Thereafter, this routine is once terminated. As described above, the actuator 10 is set to be in an OFF state at the normal time. Therefore, in this case, there is no abnormality in the grill shutter 1 in particular, and this routine is temporarily terminated without controlling the actuator 10 in particular.

  On the other hand, if the abnormality determination flag is ON and the determination is positive in step S1, the process proceeds to step S3. Then, it is determined whether or not there is an abnormality (closing abnormality) in which the shielding plate 12 and the shielding plate 15 cannot be rotated while the opening 4 is in the shielding state by the rotation mechanism of the grill shutter 1.

  If a negative determination is not made in step S3 because the above-described closing abnormality has not occurred, the control example is out of the target state, so the process proceeds to step S2 described above. Is temporarily terminated.

  On the other hand, if the above-described closing abnormality has occurred and the determination in step S3 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S4. Then, the actuator 10 in the moving mechanism of the grill shutter 1 is turned on. That is, the moving mechanism of the grill shutter 1 is actuated to open the opening 4. Thereafter, this routine is once terminated.

  As described above, the grill shutter 1 according to the present invention can open the opening 4 by operating the moving mechanism even when the above-described abnormal closing occurs in the rotating mechanism. It is configured. That is, this grille shutter 1 has a fail-safe function corresponding to the above-mentioned closing abnormality.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Grill shutter, 2 ... Front grille, 2a ... Upper grille, 2b ... Lower grille, 3 ... Engine room, 4 ... Opening, 7 ... Shutter for upper grille, 8 ... Shutter for lower grille, 9 ... Guide frame, 10 ... Actuator , 11, 14 ... frame, 12, 15 ... shielding plate, 13, 16 ... rotating shaft, 17 ... sliding groove, 21 ... electronic control unit (ECU), Ve ... vehicle Ve.

Claims (1)

An opening for taking in air from the front grille of the vehicle into the engine room, an open state in which air can easily flow into the engine room, and a shielded state in which inflow of air into the engine room is suppressed In the grill shutter that can be switched to
A rotating mechanism that switches between the open state and the shielding state by rotating the shielding plate around a predetermined rotation axis, and a mechanism different from the rotating mechanism, and the shielding plate is moved by a method other than the rotation. A moving mechanism for moving the opening to the open state by moving it;
When the abnormality that the rotation mechanism does not operate while the opening remains in the shielding state occurs, the moving mechanism is operated to open the opening. Grill shutter.

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