JP6791587B2 - Vehicle intake structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an intake structure of an automobile, and relates to a structure of an intake path from an outside air inlet to an air cleaner.

As the intake air temperature supplied to the engine increases, the engine efficiency decreases. In recent years, due to the miniaturization of vehicles and the expansion of living space, the density in the engine room has increased, and the opportunity for hot air in the engine room to be sent to the engine as intake air has increased.

Therefore, a proposal has been made for an intake structure for suppressing an increase in the intake temperature. Patent Document 1 introduces an invention in which intake air is taken in from the upper surface of a guide duct in a grill of a front portion of an automobile to suppress an increase in intake air temperature.

With reference to FIG. 7, a condenser 103 and a radiator 105 are provided behind the front end portion of the vehicle provided with the grill 107 above the front bumper facer 109 and the intake hole 111 below. A guide duct 125 is formed between the grill 107 and the condenser 103, and an intake duct 129 is arranged above the guide duct 125. In addition, "A" indicates outside air.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-263120

The invention of Patent Document 1 has a configuration in which an intake duct is arranged near an intake port for outside air so that the outside air taken into the vehicle body and the hot air in the engine room are not mixed. With such a configuration, an increase in the intake air temperature can be suppressed.

However, in such a configuration, there is a problem that water is directly supplied to the engine through the intake duct at the time of flooding and causes an engine stall. In particular, in recent years, so-called guerrilla rainstorms often result in high rainfall in a short period of time, and it is not uncommon for roads to be flooded. In such a situation, it is considered a big problem that engine stall is likely to occur.

The present invention has been conceived in view of the above circumstances, and provides a vehicle intake structure capable of providing intake air having a relatively low temperature to the engine, in which hot air in the engine room is unlikely to be mixed into the intake air.

More specifically, the vehicle intake structure according to the present invention is
The intake structure of the vehicle
The outside air inlet provided at the front end of the vehicle and
A heat exchanger provided behind the outside air inlet and
With a fan provided behind the heat exchanger,
An intake hole provided in the upper front part of the heat exchanger,
A seal structure that airtightly covers the area from the outside air inlet to the heat exchanger across the top, bottom, left, and right except for the intake hole.
An intake passage connecting the intake hole to the air cleaner ,
It has a buffer dome provided between the intake hole and the entrance of the intake passage .
The inlet of the intake passage and the intake hole are offset.
The buffer dome is provided with a constriction extending downward from the ceiling.
The constricted portion is provided with a drainage port toward the side opposite to the intake passage .

In the vehicle intake structure according to the present invention, since intake is performed from the portion where the wind flows by the radiator fan, it is possible to suppress an increase in the intake temperature. Further, even if water travels in the submerged channel and vigorously enters the intake unit through the intake hole, it can be discharged from the drain port. Moreover, since the intake passage is offset with respect to the intake hole, the effect is that water does not easily flow into the engine.

It is an assembly drawing of the vehicle intake structure which concerns on this invention. It is BB sectional view of FIG. It is a perspective view of an intake unit. It is a front view of FIG. 3 (b). It is a perspective view which shows the other embodiment of the intake unit. It is a figure which shows the change example of the relationship between an intake unit and a heat exchanger. It is sectional drawing which shows the conventional vehicle intake structure.

The vehicle intake structure according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The following description illustrates one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the following description. Therefore, the following description can be modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In the present specification, the arrow Fr indicates the vehicle front direction, and the arrow Rr indicates the vehicle rear direction. Further, the arrow Up indicates the upward direction of gravity, and Dn indicates the downward direction of gravity.

FIG. 1 shows an assembly drawing of a vehicle intake structure according to the present invention. The vehicle intake structure 1 includes an outside air introduction port 10 (see FIG. 2), a seal structure 12, a heat exchanger 14, a fan 16, and an intake unit 20.

The outside air introduction port 10 is provided at the front end of the vehicle. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. In the vehicle, the bumper 50 is arranged at the frontmost end. The grill 52 is arranged directly below the bumper 50. The portion of the grill 52 serves as the outside air introduction port 10.

See FIG. 1 again. A heat exchanger 14 is arranged behind the outside air introduction port 10. The heat exchanger 14 is a condenser 14a, which is a heat exchanger of a cooler (not shown), and a radiator 14b. Immediately after the radiator 14b, a fan 16 covered with a fan shroud 16s is arranged.

With reference to FIG. 2 again, sealing materials 12s are arranged on the left, right, and lower sides of the space between the outside air introduction port 10 and the heat exchanger 14. The upper side is covered with the bumper 50 and the intake unit 20. Therefore, the hot air in the engine room does not enter between the outside air introduction port 10 and the heat exchanger 14, and the outside air is not warmed by the hot air in the engine room. That is, a seal structure 12 is provided between the outside air introduction port 10 and the heat exchanger 14. The portion surrounded by the seal structure 12 is called an outside air passage 13.

FIG. 3A shows a perspective view showing only the intake unit 20, and FIG. 3B shows a partially broken view of the intake unit 20 cut in the CC cross section of FIG. An intake hole 24 opened downward is provided on the bottom surface 20d of the intake unit 20. This is to take in the outside air passing through the outside air passage 13 (see FIG. 2). Further, directly below the intake hole 24, a baffle plate 26 is provided in two stages so as to cover the intake hole 24. The baffle plate 26 is open in the front-rear direction. That is, the baffle plate 26 that covers the intake hole 24 is merely an air passage in the front-rear direction.

A buffer dome 28 is provided above the intake hole 24. The buffer dome 28 can be said to be an upper space provided above the intake hole 24. The inlet 30i of the intake passage 30 is provided at a position offset from the intake hole 24 on the ceiling 28T of the buffer dome 28. The intake passage 30 airtightly communicates with an air cleaner (not shown).

The buffer dome 28 between the intake hole 24 and the inlet 30i of the intake passage 30 is provided with a constricted portion 32 extending downward from the ceiling 28T. Further, the buffer dome 28 above the intake hole 24 is provided with a drain port 34 toward the side opposite to the intake passage 30.

The bottom surface 20d of the intake unit 20 is provided with ribs 20L for reinforcement and resistance to water intrusion. A small through hole 20h penetrating downward is provided on the side of the rib 20L. This is a drain hole for draining the water stored in the portion surrounded by the rib 20L after the water has entered the buffer dome 28.

FIG. 4 shows the forward view of FIG. 3 (b). A sealing material 12s is arranged below the intake unit 20. In addition, the front surface of the capacitor 14a can be seen. With the bottom surface 20d of the intake unit 20 as a reference plane, the height 32h to the constricted portion 32 of the buffer dome 28 is set higher by Δh than the height 34dh of the lowermost end 34d of the drain port 34. More specifically, Δh is about 1 to 3 mm.

Further, the height 30ih to the inlet 30i of the intake passage 30 is higher than the height 34uh of the uppermost end 34u of the drainage port 34. Therefore, a space is also created between the height 32h of the constricted portion 32 and the intake passage inlet 30i. This is called a gas-liquid separation space 36. The gas-liquid separation space 36 is a part of the buffer dome 28.

See FIG. 2 again. The rear end of the baffle plate 26 provided below the bottom surface 20d of the intake unit 20 is arranged in front of the vehicle of the heat exchanger 14. On the other hand, a bumper 50 is arranged in front of the baffle plate 26. The lower surface 50d of the bumper 50 and the intake unit 20 form a seal structure 12 at the upper part of the outside air passage 13.

The operation of the vehicle intake structure 1 having the above configuration will be described. With reference to FIG. 2, the outside air taken into the vehicle from the outside air introduction port 10 passes through the outside air passage 13 surrounded by the seal structure 12 and reaches the heat exchanger 14 to be used for heat exchange. A part of the outside air in the outside air passage 13 flows from the bottom surface 20d of the intake unit 20 forming the upper part of the outside air passage 13 to the back surface 50b of the bumper 50 and from the front of the baffle plate 26 toward the heat exchanger 14.

This will be described in more detail. See FIG. 3 (a). The outside air W taken in from the outside air introduction port 10 flows to the heat exchanger 14, but a part of the outside air W flows upward and hits the back side 20dd of the bottom surface 20d of the intake unit 20. Then, it flows in the vehicle front direction and flows in the vehicle width direction along the back surface 50b (see FIG. 2) of the bumper 50. This flow was represented as outside air W50b. This flow passes through the air passage formed by the baffle plate 26 and flows to the heat exchanger 14.

A part of this flow enters the buffer dome 28 through the intake hole 24. Then, it is sent to the air cleaner from the intake passage inlet 30i provided on the ceiling 28T of the buffer dome 28.

Returning to FIG. 2, since the outside air passage 13 is heat-insulatedly sealed by the seal structure 12, it is prevented that the temperature of the intake air rises due to the hot air in the engine room. Further, since the fan 16 sucks and obtains the intake air from the portion where there is a flow, it can be said that the temperature of the intake air is prevented from rising due to the hot air in the engine room. In addition, it is avoided that the hot air in the engine room is mixed with the intake air. Therefore, the intake air is supplied to the engine at a temperature close to the outside air. That is, the rise in the intake air temperature is suppressed.

Next, a case where the water level rises during running in a flooded state will be described. When traveling in a submerged channel beyond the lower end of the heat exchanger 14, water rises along the front surface of the heat exchanger 14. However, since the intake hole 24, which is the inlet of the intake air to the buffer dome 28, is provided with the baffle plate 26 in two stages below, it is difficult for water to enter the buffer dome 28 in the first place.

See FIG. 3B again. Further, even if water enters the buffer dome 28 through the intake hole 24, the water flows from the constricted portion 32 toward the drain port 34. This is because the constricted portion 32 serves as a barrier to the intake passage 30 side.

Further, the inlet 30i of the intake passage 30 facing the air cleaner is offset in position from the intake hole 24 in the direction opposite to the direction of the drain port 34. Further, since the rib 20L is provided on the intake passage inlet 30i side from the intake hole 24, it is more difficult for water to proceed in the air cleaner direction. The water accumulated in the portion surrounded by the rib 20L is allowed to flow downward from the drain hole (through hole 20h).

Next, refer to FIG. Even if water constantly enters the buffer dome 28 and a certain amount of water is stored, the lowermost end 34d of the drainage port 34 is set below the constricted portion 32, so that the water is constantly drained from the drainage port 34. To. On the other hand, even if water is stored in the buffer dome 28, air can be sucked from the drain port 34 through the constricted portion 32. At the time of suction, the water in the buffer dome 28 is scattered toward the intake passage inlet 30i, but due to the presence of the gas-liquid separation space 36, water enters the intake passage 30 from the intake passage inlet 30i and reaches the air cleaner. There is no.

As described above, in the vehicle intake structure 1 according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress an increase in the intake air temperature and reduce the engine load. Further, since the structure is provided so that water does not easily flow directly to the engine even when the engine is flooded, it is possible to prevent the engine from stalling due to water.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the intake unit 20. The intake unit 21 is provided with a communication passage 38 between the drain port 34 and the gas-liquid separation space 36. With such a configuration, when water is stored in the buffer dome 28, it becomes easy to obtain intake air through the drain port 34. It is desirable that the cross-sectional area of the communication passage 38 is suppressed to such that the mixing of hot air in the engine room can be substantially ignored.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment (change example) of the arrangement relationship between the intake unit and the heat exchanger. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, there is a step between the upper end of the capacitor 14a and the upper end of the radiator 14b, and the rear end of the baffle plate 26 is arranged in front of this step. In other words, the rear end of the baffle plate 26 is arranged so as to face the surface of the radiator 14b.

When arranged in this way, the air passage formed by the baffle plate 26 flows directly to the radiator 14b. Therefore, the air resistance is reduced and the flow velocity is faster than that of the capacitor 14a. As a result, the amount of intake air taken in from the intake hole 24 also increases.

The present invention can be suitably used for a vehicle intake structure.

1 Vehicle intake structure 10 Outside air inlet 12 Seal structure 12s Sealing material 13 Outside air passage 14 Heat exchanger 14a Condenser 14b Radiator 16 Fan 16s Fan shroud 20, 21 Intake unit 20d (of intake unit) Bottom surface 20dd (on the bottom of intake unit) Back side 20h Through hole 24 Intake hole 26 Baffle plate 28 Buffalo dome 28T (of the buffer dome) Ceiling 30 Intake passage 30i Inlet (intake passage entrance)
30ih (at the entrance of the intake passage) Height 32 Constriction 32h (at the constriction) Height 34 Drainage port 34d (at the bottom of the drainage port) 34dh (at the bottom of the drainage port) Height 34u (at the bottom of the drainage port) Top end 34 uh (at the top of the drain) Height 36 Gas-liquid separation space 38 Passage 50 Bumper 50d (Bumper) Bottom 50b (Bumper) Back 52 Grill W Outside air W50b (Bumper back flows in the vehicle width direction but changes T) outside air

Claims (1)

The intake structure of the vehicle
The outside air inlet provided at the front end of the vehicle and
A heat exchanger provided behind the outside air inlet and
With a fan provided behind the heat exchanger,
An intake hole provided in the upper front part of the heat exchanger,
A seal structure that airtightly covers the area from the outside air inlet to the heat exchanger across the top, bottom, left, and right except for the intake hole.
An intake passage connecting the intake hole to the air cleaner ,
It has a buffer dome provided between the intake hole and the entrance of the intake passage .
The inlet of the intake passage and the intake hole are offset.
The buffer dome is provided with a constriction extending downward from the ceiling.
A vehicle intake structure characterized in that a drainage port is provided in the constricted portion toward the side opposite to the intake passage .