JP2022044940A - Intake manifold - Google Patents

Abstract

To inhibit interference with other components during a collision of a vehicle.SOLUTION: An intake manifold 1 includes: a surge tank 50 having an intake air introduction port 51; branch pipes 60 which extend from the surge tank 50 curving along an outer periphery of the surge tank 50; and a flange 80 connected to ends of the branch pipes 60. In the intake manifold 1, an outer periphery part of each branch pipe 60 is provided with a fragile part 90 comprising a high rigidity part and a low rigidity part connected to the high rigidity part and having rigidity lower than that of the high rigidity part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to an intake manifold.

Patent Document 1 discloses an intake manifold assembled to an internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine and the intake manifold are arranged in the engine room of the vehicle. The intake manifold constitutes a part of the intake passage that introduces the air in the engine room to the internal combustion engine. Further, in the engine room, a fuel pipe for supplying fuel to the internal combustion engine is provided. The fuel pipe is provided at a position close to the intake manifold. A fuel injection valve assembled to an internal combustion engine is connected to the fuel pipe. The fuel supplied to the fuel pipe is injected into the internal combustion engine via the fuel injection valve.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-157720

By the way, in the event of a vehicle collision, there is a risk that the intake manifolds and fuel pipes arranged close to each other in the engine room will interfere with each other. Since the intake manifold described in Patent Document 1 does not take these points into consideration, there is room for improvement. It should be noted that these problems are common not only to the fuel piping but also to other parts arranged in the engine room close to the intake manifold.

An object of the present invention is to provide an intake manifold capable of suppressing interference with other parts in the event of a vehicle collision.

The intake manifold for solving the above problems is connected to a surge tank having an intake inlet, a plurality of branch pipes curved and extending from the surge tank along the outer periphery of the surge tank, and an end portion of the branch pipe. The intake manifold is provided with a flange, and the outer peripheral portion of the branch pipe is composed of a high-rigidity portion and a low-rigidity portion connected to the high-rigidity portion and having a lower rigidity than the high-rigidity portion. The vulnerable part is provided.

In the above configuration, when a load is applied to the intake manifold, the stress can be concentrated on the fragile portion provided on the outer peripheral portion of the branch pipe. Therefore, the load acting due to the collision of the vehicle is absorbed by the intake manifold deforming from the fragile portion as the starting point. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it is possible to suppress the movement of the entire intake manifold in the direction of action of the load, and it is possible to suppress interference with other parts when the vehicle collides.

The schematic diagram which shows the arrangement mode of each part in the engine room of a vehicle. An exploded perspective view of the intake manifold. Sectional view of the intake manifold. Top view of the intake manifold. Side view of the intake manifold. The cross-sectional view which shows the fragile part of the intake manifold in an enlarged view. The schematic diagram which shows the state in the engine room at the time of a vehicle collision. The perspective view which shows the other example of an intake manifold.

An embodiment of the intake manifold will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.
As shown in FIG. 1, an internal combustion engine 110 is mounted in the engine room 100 of a vehicle. An intake manifold 1 is assembled to the cylinder head 111 of the internal combustion engine 110. The intake manifold 1 is made of, for example, resin, and is provided in front of the vehicle with respect to the internal combustion engine 110.

In the engine room 100, a radiator 120 arranged in front of the vehicle from the intake manifold 1, a fuel pipe 130 arranged above the vehicle from the intake manifold 1, and the like are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the intake manifold 1 is composed of four divided bodies. That is, it has a first divided body 10 provided in front of the vehicle and a second divided body 20 provided behind the first divided body 10. A third division body 30 and a fourth division body 40 are provided behind the second division body 20. The third divided body 30 and the fourth divided body 40 are provided side by side in the vertical direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the fourth divided body 40 is joined to the lower part of the vehicle of the second divided body 20. The second divided body 20 and the fourth divided body 40 are joined to each other to form a surge tank 50. As the joining method, a known method such as vibration welding can be adopted. The surge tank 50 has an intake intake port 51. As shown in FIG. 4, the intake intake port 51 is provided on the side portion of the intake manifold 1, and intake air that has passed through a throttle valve (not shown) is introduced. The intake intake port 51 is composed of only the second divided body 20.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the intake manifold 1 includes a plurality of branch pipes 60 extending from the surge tank 50 in a curved manner along the outer circumference of the surge tank 50. In this embodiment, four branch pipes 60 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the second divided body 20 and the fourth divided body 40 form a part of the branch pipe 60. Of the branch pipe 60, the portion composed of the second divided body 20 and the fourth divided body 40 is referred to as an upstream end portion 61. The upstream end portion 61 extends from the lower end portion of the surge tank 50 so as to be curved forward along the surge tank 50. An upstream side connecting portion 62 composed of only the second divided body 20 is connected to the upstream side end portion 61.

The first division body 10 is joined to the front side of the vehicle of the second division body 20. A part of the branch pipe 60 is formed by the first divided body 10 and the second divided body 20. Of the branch pipe 60, the portion composed of the first divided body 10 and the second divided body 20 is referred to as an intermediate portion 63. The intermediate portion 63 is connected to the upstream connection portion 62 and has a curved shape so as to cover the front portion of the surge tank 50. That is, the intermediate portion 63 is curved so that the lower end portion connected to the upstream side connecting portion 62 extends toward the front side of the vehicle and the upper end portion extends toward the rear side of the rear vehicle. A downstream connecting portion 64 composed of only the second divided body 20 is connected to the intermediate portion 63. Further, in the intake manifold 1, the first division body 10 and the second division body 20 are joined to form an EGR gas introduction unit 70 for introducing EGR gas into the branch pipe 60.

As shown in FIG. 4, the EGR gas introduction unit 70 includes a gas introduction port 71 and an EGR gas passage 72 connected to the gas introduction port 71. The EGR gas passage 72 has a first side passage 73 extending from the gas introduction port 71 to one side (right side in FIG. 4) and a second side passage 74 extending from the gas introduction port 71 to the other side (left side in FIG. 4). Consists of. Two first distribution passages 73A for introducing EGR gas into the two branch pipes 60 provided on one side of the branch pipe 60 are connected to the first side passage 73. Two second distribution passages 74A for introducing EGR gas into the two branch pipes 60 provided on the other side of the branch pipe 60 are connected to the second side passage 74. As shown in FIG. 3, the EGR gas passage 72 is configured to have a closed cross-sectional structure.

As shown in FIG. 3, the third divided body 30 is joined to the rear side of the vehicle of the second divided body 20. As described above, since the fourth division 40 is also joined to the rear side of the vehicle of the second division 20, the third division 30 and the fourth division 40 are the same as those of the second division 20. It is joined from the direction. The third divided body 30 is joined to the lower part of the vehicle of the second divided body 20. A part of the branch pipe 60 is formed by the second divided body 20 and the third divided body 30. Of the branch pipe 60, the portion composed of the second divided body 20 and the third divided body 30 is referred to as a downstream end portion 65. The EGR gas passage 72 described above communicates with the downstream end portion 65. The downstream end portion 65 is connected to the downstream side connecting portion 64, and is curved and extends to the rear of the vehicle above the surge tank 50.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when the second divided body 20 is viewed from the rear of the vehicle to which the third divided body 30 and the fourth divided body 40 are joined, what are the third divided body 30 and the fourth divided body 40? They are arranged so that they do not overlap. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the joint surface between the second divided body 20 and the third divided body 30 and the joint surface between the second divided body 20 and the fourth divided body 40 are formed in parallel with each other. There is. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the third divided body 30 is located above the fourth divided body 40 when viewed from the rear of the vehicle in a direction orthogonal to the joint surface so as not to overlap each other. Have been placed.

As described above, the branch pipe 60 is composed of the first divided body 10, the second divided body 20, the third divided body 30, and the fourth divided body 40, and has an upstream end portion 61 and an upstream connecting portion 62. , The intermediate portion 63, the downstream side connecting portion 64, and the downstream side end portion 65 are arranged in this order. In the branch pipe 60, the wall portion located on the surge tank 50 side is referred to as an inner peripheral portion, and the wall portion located on the side away from the surge tank 50 is referred to as an outer peripheral portion. That is, the inner peripheral portion of the branch pipe 60 is composed of the second divided body 20, and the outer peripheral portion of the branch pipe 60 is composed of the first divided body 10, the third divided body 30, and the fourth divided body 40. Has been done.

The intake manifold 1 is provided with a flange 80 connected to the end of the branch pipe 60. The flange 80 is composed of a third divided body 30, and is connected to a downstream end portion 65 of the branch pipe 60. That is, the third divided body 30 is integrally formed including a portion constituting the downstream end portion 65 of the branch pipe 60 and a portion constituting the flange 80.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the flange 80 is provided with a plurality of outlets 81 that communicate with the branch pipe 60. A plurality of bolt insertion holes 82 are provided around the outlet 81. The intake manifold 1 is assembled to the internal combustion engine 110 by fastening the bolt inserted through the bolt insertion hole 82 to the cylinder head 111 of the internal combustion engine 110. The cylinder head 111 is provided with an intake port opened corresponding to each outlet 81, and the intake air introduced into the surge tank 50 from the intake intake port 51 of the intake manifold 1 is passed through the branch pipe 60 and the flange 80. It is supplied to the intake port of the cylinder head 111. As described above, the intake manifold 1 constitutes a part of the intake passage for introducing the intake air into the internal combustion engine 110.

As shown in FIG. 6, the first divided body 10 is connected to the thin-walled portion 11 having a substantially constant plate thickness and the intake downstream side of the thin-walled portion 11, and is more than the thin-walled portion 11. The thick portion 12 having a thick plate thickness is included. Further, the first split body 10 is connected to the joint piece portion 13 connected to the intake downstream side of the thick portion 12 and joined to the second split body 20, and the EGR gas connected to the intake downstream side of the joint piece portion 13. It includes an EGR component 14 that constitutes the introduction unit 70. Since the thick portion 12 is thicker than the thin portion 11, the thick portion 12 functions as a high-rigidity portion with high rigidity, and the thin-walled portion 11 functions as a low-rigidity portion having lower rigidity than the thick-walled portion 12. do. The thick portion 12 is located on the intake downstream side of the thin portion 11, that is, on the internal combustion engine 110 side (left side in FIG. 6). Therefore, when an external force such as urging the intake manifold 1 to the internal combustion engine 110 side acts, the thin-walled portion 11 is urged to the thick-walled portion 12 side. When the low-rigidity thin-walled portion 11 is urged toward the high-rigidity thick-walled portion 12, stress tends to concentrate on the boundary portion between the thin-walled portion 11 and the thick-walled portion 12. Therefore, the boundary portion between the thin-walled portion 11 and the thick-walled portion 12 functions as the fragile portion 90 in the intake manifold 1. As described above, the fragile portion 90 is composed of a thick portion 12 which is a high-rigidity portion and a thin-walled portion 11 which is a low-rigidity portion, and is provided in the first divided body 10, so that it is a branch pipe. It is located on the outer periphery of 60. Since the EGR component 14 has a closed cross-sectional structure as described above, the EGR component 14 has higher rigidity than the thick portion 12. The thick portion 12 is connected to the highly rigid EGR component portion 14 via the joint piece portion 13, so that the boundary between the thin portion 11 and the thick portion 12 when the thin portion 11 is urged. It is easier for stress to concentrate on the part.

Further, the thick portion 12 is formed to be thicker than the thin portion 11, but the thick portion 12 is formed in a shape protruding toward the outer peripheral side with respect to the thin portion 11, and the thin portion 11 is formed. The first passage surface 11A constituting the intake passage and the second passage surface 12A constituting the intake passage in the thick portion 12 are smoothly connected to each other. That is, the first passage surface 11A and the second passage surface 12A are not provided with unevenness enough to partially disturb the flow of intake air between them, and form a continuous curved surface.

Further, in the intake manifold 1, the joint portion 95 between the second divided body 20 and the third divided body 30 is provided at a position facing the fragile portion 90 in the branch pipe 60. That is, the joint portion 95 between the second divided body 20 and the third divided body 30 is provided between the intermediate portion 63 and the flange 80 in the branch pipe 60, and is arranged at a position close to the fragile portion 90. There is.

Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.
(1) In the present embodiment, a thick portion 12 which is a high rigidity portion and a low rigidity portion which is connected to the thick portion 12 and has a lower rigidity than the thick portion 12 are formed on the outer peripheral portion of the branch pipe 60. A fragile portion 90 configured by a thin-walled portion 11 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 7, when a vehicle causes a forward collision, a component (for example, radiator 120) on the front side of the vehicle from the intake manifold 1 may interfere with the intake manifold 1. In such a case, since the intake manifold 1 is pushed to the rear of the vehicle by the radiator 120, a load toward the rear of the vehicle acts on the intake manifold 1. In the present embodiment, when a load is applied to the intake manifold 1, stress can be concentrated on the fragile portion 90 provided on the outer peripheral portion of the branch pipe 60. Therefore, the load acting due to the collision of the vehicle is absorbed by the intake manifold 1 being deformed starting from the fragile portion 90 of the branch pipe 60. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the entire intake manifold 1 from moving in the direction of action of the load (rear of the vehicle) due to the load acting at the time of a vehicle collision, and it interferes with other parts such as the fuel pipe 130 at the time of a vehicle collision. Can be suppressed.

(2) In the present embodiment, the joint portion 95 between the second split body 20 and the third split body 30 is provided at a position facing the fragile portion 90 in the branch pipe 60. When the intake manifold 1 is composed of a plurality of divided bodies, the joint portion 95 of each divided body tends to have lower rigidity than the other portions. By providing the joint portion 95 between the second divided body 20 and the third divided body 30 so as to face the fragile portion 90, it is possible to easily cause deformation at a position close to the fragile portion 90 in the intake manifold 1. Therefore, it becomes possible to further suppress interference with other parts.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, when a load at the time of a vehicle collision is applied, the fragile portion 90 and the joint portion 95 are deformed, so that the intake manifold is at the position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. The branch pipe 60 of 1 can be easily broken. The joint portion 95 is provided between the intermediate portion 63 of the branch pipe 60 and the flange 80, and is located below the flange 80. Therefore, the branch pipe 60 will be broken at a portion below the flange 80. The broken portion becomes difficult to move upward beyond the flange 80 due to the interference with the flange 80. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately suppress interference with other parts provided above the flange 80, such as the fuel pipe 130.

(3) In the present embodiment, when the second divided body 20 is viewed from the direction in which the third divided body 30 and the fourth divided body 40 are joined, the third divided body 30 and the fourth divided body 40 do not overlap with each other. It is arranged like this. Therefore, when the third divided body 30 and the fourth divided body 40 are joined to the second divided body 20, the third divided body 30 and the fourth divided body 40 are less likely to interfere with each other. With such an arrangement, it is possible to simultaneously perform the step of joining the third divided body 30 to the second divided body 20 and the step of joining the fourth divided body 40. Therefore, it can contribute to shortening the time required for the joining process in the intake manifold 1.

(4) In the present embodiment, the thin-walled portion 11 and the thick-walled portion 12 are smoothly connected to the first passage surface 11A and the second passage surface 12A constituting the intake passage through which the intake air flows in the branch pipe 60. Therefore, even when the fragile portion 90 is formed by the thin-walled portion 11 and the thick-walled portion 12, the passage surface on the intake passage side is smoothly formed. Therefore, it is possible to suppress an increase in intake pressure loss due to the provision of the fragile portion 90.

This embodiment can be modified and implemented as follows. The present embodiment and the following modified examples can be implemented in combination with each other within a technically consistent range.
-In the above embodiment, the thin-walled portion 11 and the thick-walled portion 12 are smoothly connected to the first passage surface 11A and the second passage surface 12A, but such a configuration can be omitted. For example, in order to define the deformation direction of the branch pipe 60 to some extent, the first passage surface 11A is projected to the inner peripheral side of the second passage surface 12A, that is, into the intake passage, and these first passage surfaces 11A and the second passage surface 11A and the second passage surface 11A are projected. The passage surface 12A may be connected via a step. Even with such a configuration, it is possible to obtain the same effect as in (1) above.

-In the above embodiment, when the second divided body 20 is viewed from the direction in which the third divided body 30 and the fourth divided body 40 are joined, the third divided body 30 and the fourth divided body 40 do not overlap with each other. Placed. When the second divided body 20 is viewed from the direction in which the third divided body 30 and the fourth divided body 40 are joined, a part of the third divided body 30 and the fourth divided body 40 overlap each other. It may be arranged as follows.

-In the above embodiment, the joint portion 95 between the second divided body 20 and the third divided body 30 is provided at a position facing the fragile portion 90 in the branch pipe 60, but such a configuration can be changed as appropriate. be. For example, as an embodiment of dividing the intake manifold 1, a joint portion between the second divided body 20 and the fourth divided body 40 may be provided at a position facing the fragile portion 90 in the branch pipe 60. In such a configuration, the joint portion between the second divided body 20 and the fourth divided body 40 may be provided at a position facing the fragile portion 90 in the branch pipe 60. Further, the joint portion of each divided body may not be provided at a position facing the fragile portion 90 in the branch pipe 60.

In the above embodiment, the thick portion 12 is connected to the joining piece portion 13 in the first split body 10 to form the fragile portion 90 at a position close to the EGR gas introduction portion 70. The position of the fragile portion 90 in the first divided body 10 can be changed as appropriate. For example, in the first divided body 10, the fragile portion 90 may be provided in the portion between the upper end portion and the lower end portion and located on the most front side of the vehicle.

-In the above embodiment, it is also possible to provide ribs and slits on the outer peripheral surface of the fragile portion 90. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the rib 98 is formed in the first divided body 10 so as to connect the outer peripheral surfaces of the thick portion 12 and the thin portion 11. The rib 98 is provided with a slit 99 having a shape cut out from the upper end portion. According to such a configuration, shear failure starting from the slit 99 is likely to occur due to the load at the time of a vehicle collision, so that the branch pipe 60 of the intake manifold 1 can be further deformed.

The fragile portion 90 is composed of a thick portion 12 and a thin portion 11, and such a configuration can be changed as appropriate. For example, the fragile portion 90 is composed of a high-rigidity portion made of a highly rigid material and a low-rigidity portion connected to the high-rigidity portion and made of a material having a lower rigidity than the high-rigidity portion. You may. In this configuration, it is possible to make the plate thickness of the high-rigidity portion and the low-rigidity portion the same. Further, the high-rigidity portion and the low-rigidity portion may be formed by bending a wall portion having the same plate thickness to form an L-shape. In this configuration, among the bent wall parts, the wall part having a large moment of inertia of area in the direction of action of the load is arranged on the internal combustion engine side to form a high rigidity part, and the moment of inertia of area is small in the direction of action of the load. The wall portion may be arranged on the side away from the internal combustion engine to form a low-rigidity portion.

-In the above embodiment, the intake manifold 1 is configured by a plurality of divided bodies, but such a configuration is not essential. That is, in the above embodiment, at least two of the first divided body 10, the second divided body 20, the third divided body 30, and the fourth divided body 40 may be integrally molded.

-In the above embodiment, the intake manifold 1 arranged in front of the vehicle with respect to the internal combustion engine 110 has been described as an example. The arrangement of the intake manifold is not limited to this. For example, the same configuration as that of the above embodiment can be applied to the intake manifold arranged at the rear of the vehicle with respect to the internal combustion engine 110 and the intake manifold arranged at the side of the vehicle.

1 ... Intake manifold 10 ... First split body 11 ... Thin-walled part (low-rigidity part)
11A ... 1st passage surface 12 ... Thick part (high rigidity part)
12A ... 2nd passage surface 13 ... Joint piece 14 ... EGR component 20 ... 2nd split 30 ... 3rd split 40 ... 4th split 50 ... Surge tank 51 ... Intake inlet 60 ... Branch pipe 61 ... Upstream Side end 62 ... Upstream connection 63 ... Intermediate 64 ... Downstream connection 65 ... Downstream end 70 ... EGR gas introduction 71 ... Gas inlet 72 ... EGR gas passage 73 ... First side passage 73A ... 1st distribution passage 74 ... 2nd side passage 74A ... 2nd distribution passage 80 ... Flange 81 ... Outlet port 82 ... Bolt insertion hole 90 ... Vulnerable part 95 ... Joint 98 ... Rib 99 ... Slit 100 ... Engine room 110 ... Internal combustion Engine 111 ... Cylinder head 120 ... Radiator 130 ... Fuel piping

Claims (4)

A surge tank with an intake inlet and
A plurality of branch pipes extending from the surge tank in a curved manner along the outer circumference of the surge tank.
An intake manifold provided with a flange connected to the end of the branch pipe.
An intake manifold provided with a fragile portion formed by a high-rigidity portion and a low-rigidity portion connected to the high-rigidity portion and having a lower rigidity than the high-rigidity portion on the outer peripheral portion of the branch pipe. The branch pipe is joined to the first divided body constituting the outer peripheral portion, the second divided body joined to the first divided body to form the inner peripheral portion of the branch pipe, and the second divided body. It is composed of a plurality of divided bodies including the third divided body.
The intake manifold according to claim 1, wherein the joint portion between the second divided body and the third divided body is provided at a position facing the fragile portion in the branch pipe. It has a fourth divided body joined from the same direction as the third divided body is joined to the second divided body.
Claim that the second divided body is arranged so as not to overlap the third divided body and the fourth divided body when viewed from the direction in which the third divided body and the fourth divided body are joined. 2. The intake manifold according to 2. The intake manifold according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the low-rigidity portion and the high-rigidity portion are smoothly connected to a passage surface constituting an intake passage through which intake air flows in the branch pipe.

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