JP2023094371A - Air intake duct - Google Patents

Abstract

To secure an intake of air of an air intake duct and suppress air resistance.SOLUTION: An air intake duct is disposed at an upper side of a cab of a vehicle and the air intake duct includes: a box shaped head part 31a in which an opening 31c is formed on a side surface; and a cover part 31b in which a louver 31d is provided corresponding to the opening 31c and which is attached to the head part 31a. The cover part 31b has: a side surface cover 33 which is attached to the side surface of the head part 31a; and an upper surface cover 34 which is connected to an upper edge 33a of the side surface cover 33 and attached to a first area 44a. An upper surface 44 of the head part 31a is formed by a first area 44a, a second area 44b which is an area other than the first area 44a, and a step part 45 which is erected from the first area 44a and connects the first area 44a with the second area 44b.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to an air intake duct for sending air to a power source or a device related to the power source in a vehicle.

For example, in a vehicle such as a truck, there is a case where an air intake duct for sending air to a power source such as an internal combustion engine or a device related to the power source is provided on the roof of the cab.
In this way, by providing the air intake duct at a position high above the ground, it is possible to suppress the intake of dust near the ground and to take in cleaner air.
Also, for example, when a heat source such as an engine is provided below the cab, it is possible to reduce the influence of this heat source.

JP 2018-165063 A

For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an invention relating to a vehicle in which an air intake portion of an air intake duct is arranged on the roof of the cab. The air intake is equipped with a louver having multiple louvers for water separation. In this structure, it is necessary to provide a frame-shaped reinforcing portion around the louver in order to secure the strength of the louver, and the area of the louver is reduced by the amount of the reinforcing portion. Therefore, in a conventional structure with the same size, less air may be taken in from the opening.
In addition, in a structure in which the air intake portion is arranged on the roof of the cab, the shape of the upper surface of the air intake portion affects the air flow on the upper side of the cab. Therefore, it is desired that the upper surface shape of the air intake portion is a shape with less running resistance.

The present invention was invented in view of the above problems, and one of the objects thereof is to provide an air intake duct capable of securing an air intake amount and suppressing air resistance.

The present invention has been made to solve at least part of the above problems, and can be implemented as the following aspects or application examples.
An air intake duct according to an application example is an air intake duct that is arranged above a cab of a vehicle and takes in air that is supplied to a power source of the vehicle.
The air intake duct comprises a box-shaped head portion having an opening forming an air intake on a side surface, and a cover portion having a louver corresponding to the opening and attached to the head portion. I have it. The cover portion includes a side cover attached to the side surface of the head portion, and an upper surface cover connected to an upper edge of the side cover and attached to at least a first region on the side surface side of the upper surface of the head portion. and, the upper surface of the head section includes the first region, a second region other than the first region, and the first region and the second region rising from the first region. and a stepped portion that is continuously provided.

According to the air intake duct according to the application example, the upper surface cover connected to the upper edge of the side cover functions as a structure that secures the strength of the upper edge side of the side cover. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a reinforcing portion for securing the strength of the louver on the upper edge side of the side cover, and the vertical dimension of the louver can be expanded to the upper side of the side cover. Therefore, it is possible to increase the area of the louver and secure the air intake amount. Therefore, for example, it contributes to improvement in fuel efficiency of the engine.
Further, due to the stepped portion provided on the upper surface of the head portion, the upper surface of the head portion has a stepped shape in which the second region is provided at a higher position than the first region. Therefore, when the cover portion is attached to the head portion, the outer surface of the top cover and the outer surface of the second region form a shape that smoothly continues without steps. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the air resistance caused by the shape of the outer surface of the air intake portion. Therefore, the intake duct located above the cab contributes to improved aerodynamics.

According to the air intake duct according to the application example, it is possible to secure an air intake amount and suppress air resistance.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the air intake duct arrangement side (vehicle right side) of the cab upper portion of the vehicle in which the air intake duct according to the application example according to the present embodiment is mounted; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cab of FIG. 1 viewed from the front upper side on the intake duct arrangement side (vehicle right side); FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main parts of the cab of FIG. 1 as seen from the rear upper side on the air intake duct arrangement side (vehicle right side); Indicates status. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view (a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2) of the air intake portion in the air intake duct according to the application example of the present embodiment; FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an air intake portion in an intake duct according to an application example according to the present embodiment; FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the air intake portion of the air intake duct according to the application example of the present embodiment, viewed from the side;

An air intake duct according to the application example of the present application will be described with reference to the drawings. The application examples below are merely examples, and are not intended to exclude various modifications and application of techniques not explicitly described in these application examples. Each configuration of the following application examples can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the application. Further, each configuration of the application examples below can be selected as necessary, or can be appropriately combined with various configurations included in known techniques.

[1. composition]
In this embodiment, a truck will be exemplified as the vehicle.
In the following description, the forward direction of the vehicle is forward, the opposite direction (backward direction of the vehicle) is backward, and left and right are defined with reference to the state in which the vehicle faces forward. The front-rear direction is also called the vehicle length direction, and the left-right direction is also called the vehicle width direction. Further, a direction perpendicular to both the vehicle length direction and the vehicle width direction is referred to as the vertical direction. It is assumed that the vehicle is on a horizontal road surface and is oriented such that the up-down direction is aligned with the vertical direction (the downward direction is aligned with the direction of action of gravity). In this posture, the vertically upward direction is the height direction.

1 and 2 are explanatory diagrams showing an air intake duct according to an embodiment together with a cab of a vehicle.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vehicle 1 is of a so-called cab-over type, and has a cab 2 at the front of the vehicle 1, and an engine (not shown) is mounted below the cab 2. As shown in FIG. The vehicle 1 of this embodiment is a right-hand drive vehicle, and a driver's seat (not shown) is provided on the right side within the cab 2 . Doors 21 for boarding and exiting are provided on left and right side surfaces (hereinafter also referred to as cab side surfaces) 2S of the cab 2, respectively. 1 and 2, only the right side portion 2S and the door 21 are shown.

The roof portion 22 includes a central panel 22a forming a front portion and roof top portion of the roof, a side panel 22b forming a right portion of the roof, and a side panel 22c forming a left portion of the roof. A side panel 22b is welded to the right edge of 22a, and a side panel 22c is welded to the left edge of the center panel 22a. A skeleton member (not shown) is provided inside the roof portion 22 to support the roof portion 22 .

Such a vehicle 1 has an intake duct 3 on the upper side of the roof portion 22 for sending air to an engine (internal combustion engine) as a power source. The air intake duct 3 includes an air intake portion 31 installed on the right rear portion of the roof portion 22 and a duct portion 32 arranged along the rear surface 2B of the cab 2 .
The air intake portion 31 is an intake for taking in air from the atmosphere. The air intake portion 31 has a hollow head portion 31a forming a main body portion of the air intake portion 31, and a cover portion 31b which is mounted so as to cover the head portion 31a and forms a part of the outer surface of the roof portion 22. and have.

The head portion 31a is formed of, for example, a box made of resin, and is provided with an opening portion (reference numeral 31c in FIGS. 4 and 5) on a surface (right side surface) facing the side of the vehicle 1. As shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, the cover portion 31b is a cover member made of a resin panel having an L-shaped cross section. A top cover 34 attached to at least a part of is provided. In this embodiment, the side cover 33 and the top cover 34 are integrally formed as one cover member (cover portion 31b).

The side cover 33 is provided with a louver 31d corresponding to the opening of the head portion 31a (reference numeral 31c in FIGS. 4 and 5). The louver 31d has a plurality of blades 35, which take in air from gaps between adjacent blades 35 and prevent rainwater (rainwater, snow, etc.) from entering. Air is taken into the air intake portion 31 via the louver 31d and the opening (reference numeral 31c in FIGS. 4 and 5).

A separator (partition plate) (not shown) for separating rainwater and the like is provided inside the head portion 31a on the inner side in the vehicle width direction of the cover portion 31b.
This separator is a general one and has a plurality of plate-like members, and rainwater or the like passing through the louver 31d and the opening (reference numeral 31c in FIGS. 4 and 5) hits the plate-like members, causing the head portion 31a to rainwater and the like are separated from the intake air by being guided so as to drip onto the bottom surface of the

A drain (not shown) for discharging separated rainwater is provided on the bottom surface of the head portion 31a on the front side of the vehicle. This drain is provided with a valve (not shown) that is opened and closed by intake pulsation of the engine (not shown). As a result, for example, when the vehicle is stopped, the valve is closed to suppress discharge from the drain.

The duct portion 32 is a portion serving as an air passage between the air intake portion 31 and the engine. The duct portion 32 of this embodiment is formed in a tubular shape extending downward from the rear end portion of the air intake portion 31 .
The inside of the air intake portion 31 and the inside of the duct portion 32 communicate with each other, and the air taken in by the air intake portion 31 is sent through the duct portion 32 to the intake portion of the engine.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the air intake portion 31 is arranged on the upper surface of the roof portion 22 of the cab 2 .
The air intake portion 31 is arranged in a recessed portion 23 (see FIG. 3A) formed by recessing a portion of the roof portion 22 , and the outer surface of the air intake portion 31 is smooth to the curved surface of the roof portion 22 . It is formed in a curved surface shape that continues to
A curved plate 4 is fixed below the air intake portion 31 in order to form a curved vehicle outer surface bent in a desired shape.

FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) are perspective views of the main parts of the roof portion 22 of the vehicle 1 viewed from the rear upper side on the intake duct arrangement side (vehicle right side). , outlines and edge-like bent portions bent at a relatively steep angle are indicated by thick lines, and explanation lines for explaining the curved surface shape are indicated by thin lines.
3(a) shows the state in which the air intake duct 3 is removed, and FIG. 3(b) shows the state in which the air intake duct 3 is attached.

As shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), the air intake portion 31 of the present embodiment is arranged at the right rear portion of the cab 2, so that the right side (driver's seat side) of the roof portion 22 is arranged accordingly. A recessed portion 23 is formed in the rear portion. The recessed portion 23 is formed in a shape capable of accommodating the head portion 31 a of the air intake portion 31 .
The recessed portion 23 includes a side portion 23a on the front side of the vehicle, a side portion 23b on the center side of the vehicle, and a bottom portion 23c. A smooth curved surface is continuously formed between them and between the side surface portion 23b and the bottom surface portion 23c. The bottom surface portion 23c is formed so as to slope downward to the right and downward toward the outside in the vehicle width direction, and to slope forward and downward downward toward the front in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 3(b), the air intake portion 31 of the air intake duct 3 is accommodated in the recess 23 and fixed to the bottom surface portion 23c (roof portion 22) by one or more fastening points. ing.
From the viewpoint of suppressing the amount of dynamic displacement of the air intake portion 31 and minimizing the clearance between the roof portion 22 and the air intake portion 31, the number of fastening points is preferably two or more.

[2. Detailed configuration]
The configuration of the air intake portion 31 will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. FIG. First, the shapes of the cover portion 31b and the head portion 31a will be described. Next, the inclined structure of the air intake portion 31 will be described.
The cover portion 31b is composed of the side cover 33 and the top cover 34 as described above, and has an L-shaped cross section.
The side cover 33 is formed of a planar region that covers the entire right side surface 43 of the head portion 31a. A top cover 34 is connected to the top edge 33 a of the side cover 33 . A top cover 34 extends inward in the vehicle width direction from an upper edge 33a of the side cover 33 .
The upper surface cover 34 is formed of a planar region that partially covers the upper surface of the head portion 31a.
A portion of the upper surface 44 covered with the upper surface cover 34 is specifically a first region 44a on the right side surface 43 side of the upper surface 44 of the head portion 31a. Since the top cover 34 is arranged in a direction that intersects the surface of the side cover 33, it functions not only as a cover member but also as a structure that secures the strength of the side cover 33 on the side of the upper edge 33a.

The outer surface of the corner of the cover portion 31b where the side cover 33 and the top cover 34 meet is smoothly curved to form the corner where the central panel 22a and the side panel 22b of the roof portion 22 of the cab 2 meet. It is formed in a continuous curved shape.
A louver 31 d having a plurality of blades 35 is provided on the side cover 33 . Each wing plate 35 is a plate material extending along the height direction, and is arranged adjacent to and parallel to each other in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. The upper end of the louver 31d is arranged in the vicinity of the upper edge 33a of the side cover 33, ensuring a large vertical dimension of the louver 31d.

The head portion 31a is provided with a stepped portion 45 on its upper surface 44 in order to attach the upper surface cover 34 of the cover portion 31b having an L-shaped cross section.
Specifically, the upper surface 44 of the head portion 31a is subdivided into a first area 44a, which is an area on the lateral side of the vehicle and to which the upper surface cover 34 of the cover portion 31b is attached, and a second area 44b other than the first area 44a. A step portion 45 is provided between the first region 44a and the second region 44b.
A right side surface 43 of the head portion 31a is provided with an opening 31c facing the side of the vehicle. The opening 31c is a hole that communicates the inside and the outside of the head portion 31a, and is covered with the side cover 33 from the side of the vehicle.
As described above, a separator (partition plate) (not shown) is provided inside the head portion 31a.

The stepped portion 45 is a portion that rises from an edge portion 45a on the opposite side (vehicle center side) of the first region 44a to the second region 44b via the upper edge 45b. The upper surface 44 of the head portion 31a provided with the stepped portion 45 has a stepped shape in which the second region 44b is provided at a position higher than the first region 44a.
As an example, the vertical dimension of the stepped portion 45 is set so as to rise from the first region 44a by the thickness of the upper surface cover 34 (cover portion 31b).

Next, the inclined structure of the air intake portion 31 will be described.
The tilted structure of the air intake portion 31 includes the tilted posture of the bottom surface portion 47 of the head portion 31 a and the tilted posture of the wing plate 35 . In FIG. 6, two-dot chain lines indicate horizontal auxiliary lines and vertical auxiliary lines, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 6, the head portion 31a is disposed in a tilted posture that is downwardly forward (downward to the right in FIG. 6) toward the front in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Therefore, the bottom surface portion 47 of the head portion 31a forms an inclined surface in which the front side 47F of the vehicle is positioned downward with respect to the rear side 47R.
In addition, each louver 31d is arranged in an inclined posture such that the lower side 35D thereof is located in front of the vehicle with respect to the upper side 35U.
The angle at which the bottom surface portion 47 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction and the angle at which the wing plate 35 is inclined with respect to the vertical direction are determined by the amount of water that has entered the air intake portion 31. It may be appropriately set in view of both air intake performance.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the duct portion 32 of this embodiment is connected to the upper rear side surface of the head portion 31a.
As shown in FIG. 5, a connection port 46a to the duct portion 32 is provided above the rear side surface 46 inside the head portion 31a. The inside of the head portion 31a and the duct portion 32 communicate with each other through the connection port 46a. A region of the rear side surface 46 below the connection port 46a forms a vertical wall portion 46b. Since the connection port 46a is provided (restricted) upward, a large vertical dimension of the vertical wall portion 46b can be ensured. The vertical wall portion 46 b prevents the water that has entered the inside of the head portion 31 a from being taken into the duct portion 32 .

[3. Action and effect]
According to the air intake duct 3 of the present embodiment, the cover portion 31b is composed of the side cover 33 and the top cover 34 and has an L-shaped cross section. Since the upper surface cover 34 is arranged in a direction that intersects the surface of the side surface cover 33 , it functions as a rib structure that secures the strength of the upper edge 33 a side of the side surface cover 33 . Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a reinforcing portion for the louver 31d on the side of the upper edge 33a of the side cover 33, and the vertical dimension of the louver 31d can be expanded above the side cover 33. FIG. As a result, the area of the louver 31d can be increased compared to the conventional technology that requires a reinforcing portion to ensure the strength of the louver. Therefore, it is possible to secure an air intake amount. Therefore, for example, it contributes to improvement in fuel efficiency of the engine.

Further, when a reinforcing portion is required, it is necessary to increase the size of the air intake portion 31 in order to secure the area of the louver 31d. In the configuration provided, the recessed portion 23 may be enlarged to accommodate the large air intake portion 31, or the recessed portion 23 may not be enlarged and the air intake portion 31 may be positioned outside the roof portion 22. It is necessary to make it protrude.
On the other hand, in the case of the air intake duct 3, since the reinforcing portion is not required, the required area of the louver 31d can be secured without increasing the size of the air intake duct. There is no need to protrude outward beyond the portion 22 .

By not enlarging the recessed portion 23, it is possible to suppress the reduction in the volume inside the cab due to the formation of the recessed portion 23 and secure the volume inside the cab. In addition, by preventing the air intake portion 31 from protruding outward from the roof portion 22, an increase in air resistance can be suppressed.
Further, for example, if a reinforcing portion such as a reinforcing rib is provided so as to protrude outward from the outer surface of the air intake portion 31, the reinforcing portion increases the air resistance. Since it is unnecessary, it is possible to suppress an increase in air resistance caused by such a reinforcing portion.

Further, a stepped portion 45 rising from the first region 44a is provided on the upper surface 44 of the head portion 31a in order to attach the upper surface cover 34 of the cover portion 31b having an L-shaped cross section. Thereby, the upper surface 44 of the head portion 31a has a stepped shape in which the second region 44b is provided at a higher position than the first region 44a. Therefore, when the cover portion 31b is attached to the head portion 31a and the top cover 34 is arranged so as to overlap the first region 44a, the outer surface of the top cover 34 and the outer surface of the other region 44b of the top surface 44 are flush with each other. form a smooth continuous shape. Therefore, the air resistance caused by the shape of the outer surface of the air intake portion 31 can be suppressed. Therefore, in the air intake duct 3 in which the air intake portion 31 is provided on the upper side of the roof portion 22, the aerodynamics can be improved.

In addition, since the stepped portion 45 provided on the upper surface 44 of the head portion 31 a is arranged in a direction that intersects the upper surface 44 , it also functions as a rib structure that secures the strength of the upper surface 44 . Therefore, the strength of the head portion 31a can be improved.
In addition, in the cover portion 31b of the present embodiment, the outer surface of the corner portion where the side cover 33 and the top cover 34 are butted is the portion of the roof portion 22 of the cab 2 where the central panel 22a and the side panel 22b are butted. The surface is almost flat. Therefore, the air resistance caused by the outer surface shape of the cover portion 31b is suppressed, which contributes to the improvement of aerodynamics.

Further, in the cover portion 31b, the corner of the upper edge 33a of the side cover 33 that is continuous with the upper surface cover 34 has a curved surface shape equivalent to that of the corner of the side panel 22b of the roof portion 22. It can pass smoothly and air resistance is suppressed.
Since the air intake duct 3 of the present embodiment improves the aerodynamics as described above, it contributes to the improvement of the fuel efficiency of the engine.

Further, according to the air intake duct 3 of the present embodiment, the bottom surface portion 47 of the head portion 31a forms an inclined surface in which the front side 47F of the vehicle is positioned downward with respect to the rear side 47R. are arranged in an inclined posture such that the lower side 35D is located in front of the vehicle with respect to the upper side 35U. Therefore, the water that has entered the snorkel body head portion 31a and the water that has adhered to the wing plate 35 flows toward the front of the vehicle and is separated from the air by the separator in the snorkel body 31a. Therefore, the water separation efficiency inside the snorkel main body head portion 31a can be improved, and the drainage performance during running is also improved.

Further, according to the intake duct 3 of the present embodiment, since the connection port 46a of the duct portion 32 is provided above the rear side surface 46, the vertical wall portion 46b below the connection port 46a on the rear side surface 46 A large dimension in the direction can be secured. The vertical wall portion 46 b prevents the water that has entered the inside of the head portion 31 a from being taken into the duct portion 32 . Therefore, the water separation efficiency inside the head portion 31a can be improved.
In the air intake duct 3 whose water separation performance is improved by discharging water to the front side of the vehicle in this way, it is difficult for water to enter the duct portion 32 connected above the rear side surface 46 inside the head portion 31a. As a result, for example, it is possible to reduce the risk that the air cleaner filter will get wet and airflow resistance will increase, resulting in deterioration of fuel efficiency, and the risk of damage due to water intrusion into the engine.

[4. others]
In the above application example, the upper surface cover 34 of the cover portion 31b covers the first region 44a (part of the upper surface 44) of the upper surface 44. However, the upper surface cover 34 covers the entire upper surface 44 of the head portion 31a. may be configured to cover the Also in this case, the same actions and effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.
When the upper surface cover 34 covers the entire upper surface 44 of the head portion 31a, the lower surface of the upper surface cover 34 may be provided with a step corresponding to the stepped portion 45 of the upper surface 44 of the head portion 31a.

Further, in the intake duct 3 described above, the configuration in which the entire head portion 31a is tilted downward forward is taken as an example, but if at least the bottom surface portion 47 of the head portion 31a is tilted forward downward, the water separation performance described above can be improved. An improvement effect is obtained.
Further, the air intake duct 3 may be configured to have at least one of the tilted posture of the head portion 31a (bottom portion 47) and the tilted posture of the blades 35 described above.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the air intake duct 3 is provided on the right side of the roof portion 22 of the vehicle, but it may be provided on the left side.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the intake duct 3 is used to feed air into the engine (internal combustion engine) as the power source, but the intake duct is not limited to this. The intake duct may supply cooling air to, for example, an electric motor as a power source of an electric vehicle, a battery unit (a device related to a power source) of an electric vehicle, or the like.
Furthermore, in the above embodiments, a truck was used as an example of a vehicle, but the roof structure according to the present invention can be applied to various vehicles other than trucks.

1 : Vehicle 2 : Cab 3 : Intake duct 22 : Roof 23 : Recess 31 : Air intake 31a : Head 31b : Cover 31c : Opening 31d : Louver 32 : Duct 33 : Side cover 33a : Top Rim 34 : Upper surface cover 35 : Wings 35D : Lower side 35U of wings : Upper side 43 of wings : Right side of head 44 : Upper side of head 44a : First region 44b : Second region 45 : Step 45a : Edge 45b : Upper edge 46 : Rear side 46a : Connection port 46b : Vertical wall 47 : Bottom 47F : Front side 47R : Rear side

Claims (1)

An air intake duct disposed above a cab of a vehicle for taking in air supplied to a power source of the vehicle,
a box-shaped head portion having an opening forming an air intake on the side;
a cover portion provided with a louver corresponding to the opening portion and attached to the head portion;
The cover portion includes a side cover attached to the side surface of the head portion, and an upper surface cover connected to an upper edge of the side cover and attached to at least a first region on the side surface side of the upper surface of the head portion. and
The upper surface of the head portion includes the first region, a second region other than the first region, and a stepped portion rising from the first region and connecting the first region and the second region. and an air intake duct.

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