JP7224724B2 - Reserve tank mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mounting structure of a reserve tank (reservoir tank) for storing cooling water (coolant) in a water-cooled (liquid-cooled) cooling device mounted on a vehicle.

An internal combustion engine and/or an electric motor (motor generator) mounted as a power source on a vehicle is provided with a water-cooled cooling device for cooling it. A cooling device for cooling an internal combustion engine distributes cooling water to various parts of the internal combustion engine, such as a cylinder block, a cylinder head, a throttle body containing a throttle valve, a valve housing containing an EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve, an EGR cooler, and the like. heat exchange with various parts of the internal combustion engine. A cooling device that cools an electric motor circulates cooling water to a PCU (Power Control Unit), an electric motor, a transaxle, etc., and performs heat exchange therebetween.

This type of water-cooled cooling device includes a radiator, which is a heat exchanger that dissipates heat from heated cooling water, and a reserve tank that stores the cooling water, on the flow path of the cooling water.

In a hybrid vehicle having both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, as disclosed in the following patent documents, there are cases where two systems of cooling devices, one for cooling the internal combustion engine and one for cooling the electric motor, are installed. This is because an electric circuit containing a large number of IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors) and other semiconductor switching elements, specifically, a PCU having an inverter, a step-up/step-down converter, etc., has an upper allowable temperature limit (for example, 65°C). , which is lower than the permissible upper temperature limit of the internal combustion engine.

Having two cooling water systems means providing two sets of radiators and reserve tanks. However, in light cars and small passenger cars, the size of the engine room (engine compartment) is inherently limited, and the installation of two sets of radiators and reserve tanks puts pressure on the engine room. For this reason, there is a problem that it is difficult to increase the size of the reserve tank and secure its volume.

JP 2016-125629 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to install a radiator and a reserve tank of a water-cooled cooling system in a compact manner.

The present invention relates to a mounting structure of a reserve tank for storing cooling water in a water-cooled cooling device mounted on a vehicle, and a part of the reserve tank arranged behind a radiator for dissipating the heat of the cooling water is positioned above the radiator. The reserve tank is fixed to the radiator after the protruding portion is fixed to a structural member of the vehicle body (vehicle body). A mounting pin protruding outward is fastened and fixed to a mounting hole provided in a structural member of the body, and a mounted portion provided on the reserve tank and facing in the front-rear direction contacts a mounting portion provided on the radiator. It is characterized by being fixed in contact .

In the case where the reserve tank includes an upper tank member and a lower tank member and is configured by joining these elements, it is preferable that both the upper tank member and the lower tank member are fixed to the radiator. Further, the mounting portion has an insertion hole and ribs extending on the side opposite to the radiator, and the insertion holes are present between the plurality of ribs.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the radiator and reserve tank of a water-cooling type cooling device can be installed compactly.

The perspective view of the reserve tank in one Embodiment of this invention. The side view which shows the attachment structure of the reserve tank of the same embodiment. The rear view which shows the attachment structure of the reserve tank of the same embodiment.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a reserve tank 1 in this embodiment. The reserve tank 1 of the present embodiment has a halved structure composed of an upper tank member 2 and a lower tank member 3, which are joined together to form a closed reserve tank 1. The upper tank member 2 and the lower tank member 3 are hard resin molded products, and the downward surface 24 of the flange at the lower edge of the upper tank member 2 and the upward surface 33 of the flange at the upper edge of the lower tank member 3 are welded together. etc.

2 and 3 show the mounting structure of the reserve tank 1 of this embodiment. This embodiment assumes a hybrid vehicle equipped with two types of power sources, an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, particularly a series type vehicle. The reserve tank 1 and the radiator 4 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are constituent elements of a cooling device that water-cools the electric motors, that is, the motor-generator for traveling and the motor-generator for power generation, and the PCU that electrically controls these electric motors.

In addition to this cooling device, the hybrid vehicle is also equipped with a cooling device of another system for water-cooling various parts of the internal combustion engine. The radiator 4 of the cooling system for the electric motor and PCU and the radiator of the cooling system for the internal combustion engine are arranged side by side at the front end portion of the engine compartment of the vehicle. Therefore, the radiator 4 has a vertically long outer shape in which the height dimension along the vertical direction is larger than the width dimension along the left-right direction of the vehicle.

The reserve tank 1 is arranged behind the radiator 4. - 特許庁As shown in FIG. 3 , the width dimension of the reserve tank 1 is smaller than the width dimension of the radiator 4 . The reserve tank 1 has a function of separating and removing gases such as air mixed in the cooling water from the cooling water. Therefore, it is preferable that the reserve tank 1 is located at the highest position in the cooling water system of the cooling device for cooling the electric motor and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, a portion 20 of the reserve tank 1 protrudes above the radiator 4, and the protruding portion 20 is used as an upper radiator support which is one of the components of the body of the vehicle. It is fixed to the member 5. Specifically, the upper tank member 2 is provided with a mounting pin 23 protruding upward from the projecting portion 20, and the grommet 6 is attached to the mounting hole drilled in the upper radiator support member 5, and the mounting pin 23 is mounted. By press-fitting the mounting pin 23 into the inner hole of the grommet 6 from below, the mounting pin 23 is fastened to the mounting hole of the upper radiator support member 5 , thereby fixing the projecting portion 20 to the upper radiator support member 5 . As a result of adopting such a structure, the space between the upper radiator support member 5 and the radiator 4 (below the upper radiator support member 5 and above the radiator 4) is effectively utilized to expand the volume of the reserve tank 1. becomes possible.

Also, the upper end of the radiator 4 is fixed to the projecting portion 20 of the reserve tank 1 . Specifically, the mounted portion 21 formed at the front end portion of the projecting portion 20 is brought into contact with the mounting portion 42 formed on the upper tank 40 of the radiator 4 directly above the radiator core 41 . As shown in FIG. 1, the attached portion 21 has a plurality of ribs extending on the side opposite to the radiator 4, and an insertion hole 22 is formed between the ribs. As is well known, the radiator core 41 has a large number of tubes communicating with the upper tank 40 and circulating cooling water, and fins joined to the tubes to dissipate the heat of the cooling water. Then, the fastening bolt 7 is inserted through the insertion hole 22 drilled in the mounting portion 21 and then screwed into the nut hole 43 drilled in the mounting portion 42 to be tightened. As a result, the upper end of the radiator 4 can be indirectly fixed to and supported by the upper radiator support member 5 via the reserve tank 1 .

As described above, the upper tank member 2 of the reserve tank 1 is fixed to both the upper radiator support member 5 and the upper tank 40 of the radiator 4 . On the other hand, the lower tank member 3 is fixed to a fan shroud 44 forming a part of the radiator 4. As shown in FIG. Specifically, the mounting portion 31 formed at the lower end portion of the lower tank member 3 is brought into contact with the mounting portion 45 formed on the fan shroud 44 behind the radiator core 41 . As shown in FIG. 1, the attached portion 31 has a plurality of ribs extending on the side opposite to the radiator 4, and an insertion hole 32 is formed between the ribs. Fan shroud 44 is fixed to upper tank 40 and lower tank (not shown) of radiator 4 . Then, the fastening bolt 7 is inserted through the insertion hole 32 drilled in the mounting portion 31 and then screwed into the nut hole 46 drilled in the mounting portion 45 for tightening.

In the present embodiment, the mounting structure of the reserve tank 1 for storing cooling water in the water-cooled cooling device mounted on the vehicle is such that a part 20 of the reserve tank 1 disposed behind the radiator 4 for dissipating the heat of the cooling water is It protrudes above the radiator 4 , and the reserve tank 1 is fixed to the radiator 4 after the protruding portion 20 is fixed to the structural member 5 of the body of the vehicle.

According to this embodiment, the outer dimensions of the set of the radiator 4 and the reserve tank 1 are made compact. In particular, it is possible to reduce the depth dimension along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, making it easier to dispose an internal combustion engine or the like behind the combination of the radiator 4 and the reserve tank 1 . Moreover, the necessary and sufficient volume of the reserve tank 1 can be ensured.

In addition, both the upper tank member 2 and the lower tank member 3 are fixed to the radiator 4 in this embodiment. The radiator 4 is integrated with its radiator core 41, upper tank 40, lower tank and fan shroud 44, and these radiator core 41, upper tank 40, lower tank and fan shroud 44 are not displaced relative to each other. . In addition, the mounting portion 21 of the upper tank member 2 is fastened to the mounting portion 42 of the upper tank 40 , and the mounting portion 31 of the lower tank member 3 is fastened to the mounting portion 45 of the fan shroud 44 . Therefore, the upper tank member 2 and the lower tank member 3 are prevented from being displaced relative to each other, and application of a large load and stress to the joint surfaces 24 and 33 of the two tank members 2 and 3 is avoided. As a result, the possibility of breakage of the reserve tank 1 is reduced, and reliability is increased.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments detailed above. In particular, the application of the present invention is not limited to a cooling device for cooling an electric motor or the like of a hybrid vehicle. Naturally, the present invention may be applied to a cooling device for cooling an internal combustion engine, a cooling device for cooling an electric motor of an electric vehicle, or the like.

In addition, the specific configuration of each part can be modified in various ways without departing from the scope of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be applied to a water-cooled cooling device mounted on a vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Reserve tank 2... Upper tank member 20... Protrusion part 3... Lower tank member 4... Radiator 5... Constituent member of a vehicle body (upper radiator support member)

Claims (2)

A mounting structure for a reserve tank for storing cooling water in a water-cooled cooling device mounted on a vehicle,
A part of the reserve tank arranged behind the radiator for dissipating the heat of the cooling water protrudes above the radiator. is fixed to
A mounting pin provided in the projecting portion of the reserve tank and protruding upward is fastened and fixed to a mounting hole provided in a constituent member of the body,
A mounting structure for a reserve tank, wherein a mounting portion provided on the reserve tank and facing in the front-rear direction abuts and is fixed to a mounting portion provided on the radiator. The reserve tank has an upper tank member and a lower tank member as elements, and is configured by joining these elements,
Both the upper tank member and the lower tank member are fixed to the radiator, respectively ;
2. The reserve tank mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein said mounted portion has an insertion hole and ribs extending in a direction opposite to said radiator, and said insertion hole is present between said plurality of ribs.

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