JPH106757A - Viscous heater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To promote the effective utilization of heater calorific value by protect ing a viscous heater from external cooling air, and reducing any heat loss due to the cooling air to the utmost. SOLUTION: A heating chamber 5 and a radiating chamber 6 are partitioned off in both front and rear housings 1 and 2. A rotor 13 of this heating chamber 5 is selectively operated and connected to a car engine as an external driving source via a driving shaft 12 and an electromagnetic clutch 20. When a viscous fluid F in the heating chamber 5 is shorn by the rotor 13, heat is produced there, and this heat is subject to a heat exchange through circulating water in the radiating chamber 6. This viscous heater is being prepared for an airproof cover 31 covering the front housing 1, and this airproof cover 31 is attached to this front housing 1 by use of an adapter plate 28 for attaching the electromagnetic clutch 20 to the front housing 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat generating chamber and a heat radiating chamber defined in a housing, and heat generated by shearing a viscous fluid contained in the heat generating chamber with a rotor is exchanged with a circulating fluid in the heat radiating chamber. To a viscous heater.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Viscous heaters that utilize the driving force of a vehicle engine have attracted attention as auxiliary heat sources for vehicles. Such a viscous heater includes a heat generating chamber and a heat radiating chamber which are partitioned adjacently in a housing. The heating chamber contains a rotor and a required amount of viscous fluid, and the viscous fluid interposed in the gap between the inner wall surface of the heating chamber and the outer surface of the rotor is sheared by the rotor to generate heat based on fluid friction. I have. Then, the heat is exchanged with the circulating water flowing through the radiating chamber and the heating circuit, and is used for heating the vehicle interior.

[0003]

Since the vehicle-mounted viscous heater is driven by the engine of the vehicle, it is planned to be mounted in an engine room, and is not to be exposed to convection cooling air in the engine room. hard. For this reason, the cooling wind deprives the heating circulating water flowing through the heat radiating chamber of heat, thereby preventing the heat generated in the heat generating chamber from being transmitted to the circulating water of the heat radiating chamber. Therefore, the efficiency of heat transfer from the viscous fluid in the heat generating chamber to the circulating water in the heat radiating chamber is reduced by the cooling air in the engine room.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a viscous heater capable of protecting a viscous heater from external cooling air, thereby minimizing heat loss due to the cooling air, and effectively utilizing the amount of heat generated by the heater.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a heat generating chamber and a heat radiating chamber are defined in a housing, and heat generated by shearing a viscous fluid contained in the heat generating chamber with a rotor is used to generate heat in the heat radiating chamber. The gist of the present invention is to provide a viscous heater for exchanging heat with a circulating fluid, wherein a wind shielding member for shielding wind is provided around the housing.

[0006] The wind shield member prevents direct wind from hitting the housing of the heater. Therefore, there is no convection of air around the housing, so that an excessive heat gradient is hardly generated between the outer surface and the inside of the housing. Transmission (heat dissipation) is avoided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the rotor can be selectively operatively connected to an external drive source via an electromagnetic clutch, and the wind shielding member includes a mounting member for mounting the electromagnetic clutch to the housing. It is characterized by being attached to the housing by utilizing.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the housing includes a front housing and a rear housing, and the wind shielding member uses a bolt for interconnecting the front and rear housings. It is characterized by being attached to.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the housing has a mounting arm portion that matches a bracket of a body to which the viscous heater is mounted.
It is characterized by being attached to the housing using bolts for connecting the mounting arm to the bracket.

According to the second to fourth aspects of the present invention, the existing members (the mounting member of the electromagnetic clutch, the bolt for connecting the housing,
Since the wind shield member is attached to the housing of the viscous heater using the bracket connecting bolts), the adoption of the wind shield member increases the number of heater members and does not cause a complicated structure.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the wind shielding member is made of a resin material. Since the resin material is lighter in weight than the metal material, the viscous heater can be prevented from becoming excessively heavy even if the size of the wind shielding member is increased in proportion to the size of the housing.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments 1 to 3 in which the present invention is applied to a viscous heater incorporated in an engine room as an auxiliary heat source of a vehicle heating device will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) As shown in FIG. 1, a partition plate 3 having excellent heat conductivity is interposed between a front housing 1 and a rear housing 2, and the front housing 1 and the rear The housing 2 is fastened and joined to the partition plate 3 by a plurality of housing bolts 4.

A concave portion provided on the rear end side of the front housing 1 forms a heat generating chamber 5 together with the flat front end surface of the partition plate 3. A water jacket 6 is defined between the rear end side outer peripheral portion of the partition plate 3 and the rear housing 2 as a heat radiating chamber adjacent to the heat generating chamber 5. A water inlet port 7 and a water outlet port 8 are provided outside the rear part of the rear housing 2. The water inlet port 7 takes in circulating water as a circulating fluid from the heating circuit (not shown) provided in the vehicle into the water jacket 6. The circulating water travels around the water jacket 6 and is sent out from the water outlet port 8 to the heating circuit. Thus, the water jacket 6 forms a circulation path of the circulating water together with the heating circuit of the vehicle.

The rear end inner portion of the partition plate 3 and the rear housing 2
A sub oil chamber 9 as a storage chamber is defined between the sub oil chamber 9 and the sub oil chamber 9. A recovery passage 14 and a supply passage 15 are formed in the partition plate 3, and the passages 14 and 15 communicate the auxiliary oil chamber 9 and the heat generation chamber 5.

A drive shaft 12 is rotatably supported on the front housing 1 via a radial bearing 11 as a bearing device. Further, an oil seal 10 as a shaft sealing device is provided in the front housing 1 adjacent to the heat generating chamber 5, whereby the rear end (inner end) of the drive shaft 12 is provided in the heat generating chamber 5. Heating chamber 5 and sub oil chamber 9 while being stored
Is an airtight interior space. A disk-shaped rotor 13 housed in the heat generating chamber 5 is fixed to the inner end of the drive shaft 12.

The heating chamber 5 and the sub oil chamber 9 are filled with a required amount of silicone oil F as a viscous fluid. As the drive shaft 12 and the rotor 13 rotate integrally, silicone oil is evenly interposed in the gap between the inner wall surface of the heat generating chamber 5 and the outer surface of the rotor 13 based on the surface tension.
With the rotation of the rotor 13, a part of the viscous fluid F in the heat generating chamber 5 is returned from the recovery passage 14 to the sub oil chamber 9, while the viscous fluid F in the sub oil chamber 9 is supplied to the supply passage 15 by its own weight or the like.
And the viscous fluid F is exchanged between the heating chamber 5 and the sub oil chamber 9.

Outer end of drive shaft 12 and front housing 1
An electromagnetic clutch 20 is disposed in the vicinity of the support cylinder 16 projecting forward from the front. The electromagnetic clutch 20 is slidably provided on a pulley 21 rotatably supported on the support cylinder 16 via an angular bearing 22 and on a support ring 23 fixed to the outer end of the drive shaft 12. And a disk-shaped clutch plate 24. A leaf spring 25 is provided on the rear side of the clutch plate 24. The leaf spring 25 is fixed to the support ring 23 at a substantially central portion thereof, and its outer end (upper and lower ends in FIG. 1) is connected to the outer peripheral portion of the clutch plate 24 by rivets or the like. The front of the clutch plate 24 is the side end surface 2 of the pulley 21.
1a, and the pulley-side end surface 21a serves as another clutch plate. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the clutch plate 24 is in contact with the pulley side end surface 21a. The pulley 21 is operatively connected to a vehicle engine as an external drive source via a power transmission belt (not shown).

The electromagnetic clutch 20 has a stator member 27 in which an annular solenoid coil 26 is housed. The stator member 27 is fixed to a mounting plate 28 on the rear end side, and the mounting plate 28 is fixed to the front housing 1 by a plurality of fixing tools 29. The stator member 27 includes an outer peripheral portion of the pulley 21 and the angular bearing 2.
2, the solenoid coil 26 is disposed so as to enter the pulley 21, and the pulley side end surface 21 a
The electromagnetic force is exerted on the clutch plate 24 through the clutch.

The solenoid coil 26 of the electromagnetic clutch 20
An electromagnetic force is generated by energizing the pulley 21, and as shown in FIG.
To the side end surface 21a. By joining the clutch plate 24 and the pulley 21, the rotation of the pulley 21 (that is, the rotational driving force of the engine) causes the clutch plate 24 and the support ring 2 to rotate.
3 is transmitted to the drive shaft 12 to rotate the rotor 13. As the rotor 13 rotates, the silicone oil is sheared by the gap between the inner wall surface of the heat generating chamber 5 and the outer surface of the rotor 13 to generate heat. This heat is exchanged with the circulating water in the water jacket 6 through the partition plate 3, and the heated circulating water is supplied to a vehicle interior through a heating circuit (not shown). When the power supply to the solenoid coil 26 is stopped, the electromagnetic force disappears, and the clutch plate 24 is separated from the side end surface 21 a of the pulley 21 by the spring force of the leaf spring 25. Then, the power transmission from the pulley 21 to the drive shaft 12 is cut off, and the shearing of the silicone oil by the rotor 13 is stopped.

Further, a wind shield cover 31 as a wind shield member is fixed to a mounting plate 28 as a mounting tool for mounting the stator member 27 to the front housing 1. The wind shield cover 31 includes front and rear housings 1, 2.
And protects the front and rear housings 1 and 2 from the cooling air by blocking the engine cooling air from the front side of the viscous heater. The wind shield cover 31 may be made of a metal, but is preferably made of a resin material such as general-purpose plastic or engineering plastic in order to reduce the weight.

Instead of using the mounting plate 28 and the fixture 29, the stator member 27 is fixed to the front housing 1 with a C retaining ring, and the wind shield cover 31 is fixed to the stator member 27 using the same C retaining ring. May be fixed integrally.

The effects of the first embodiment will be listed below. (A) As shown in FIG. 1, since the wind shield cover 31 is provided so as to cover the main parts of the front and rear housings 1 and 2 having the heat generating chamber 5 and the heat radiating chamber 6, convection in the engine room in a certain direction. The engine cooling air flowing through the front and rear housings 1 and 2
Does not directly hit the main part of. Therefore, heat radiation from the housing surface to the cooling air can be prevented, and the heat retained by the viscous fluid in the heat generating chamber 5 and the circulating water in the heat radiating chamber 6 can be efficiently used without waste.

(B) As described above, the mounting plate 28 is fixed to both the stator member 27 and the wind shield cover 31 of the electromagnetic clutch.
It also serves as the fixture. Therefore, it is not necessary to newly provide a fixture or a fixture only for attaching the wind shield cover 31, and the number of members is not increased.

(C) The front and rear housings 1, 2 and the like are preferably formed of an aluminum alloy or the like for the purpose of weight reduction or the like. Generally, the aluminum alloy has a higher thermal conductivity than an iron-based metal. Therefore, when an aluminum alloy is used for the front and rear housings 1 and 2 of the viscous heater, by providing a wind shielding member (wind shielding cover 31), heat radiation from the front and rear housings 1 and 2 to the outside can be suppressed, and the heat generating chamber 5 to the water jacket 6 can be effectively improved.

Next, a description will be given of Embodiments 2 and 3 which cope with a case where cooling air convectively flowing in the engine room blows from the rear side of the viscous heater. (Embodiment 2) As shown in FIG. 2, a wind shield cover 32 made of resin is disposed behind the rear housing 2 as a wind shield member that covers the entire rear end surface of the rear housing 2.
The wind shield cover 32 is fastened to the rear housing 2 using the housing bolt 4. Wind shield cover 32
Protects the heater from the engine cooling air from behind the viscous heater, and prevents heat radiation from the housing surface by the cooling air, as in the first embodiment. Also, since the housing bolt 4 is used for mounting,
In particular, the number of members does not increase.

(Embodiment 3) As shown in FIG. 3, the front housing 1 has mounting arms 1 protruding from upper and lower ends thereof.
7 and 18 and each mounting arm has a bolt insertion hole 1
7a and 18a are formed. A pair of brackets B1 and B2 corresponding to both mounting arms 17 and 18 are provided on the inner wall surface of the engine room as the body to be mounted. Then, both mounting arm portions 1 are fixed by the bracket mounting bolts 19.
By fastening and fixing the brackets 7 and 18 to the brackets B1 and B2, the viscous heater is fixed in the engine room. The same applies to the viscous heaters of the first and second embodiments.

Behind the rear housing 2, there is provided a resin windshield cover 33 as a windshield member that covers the entire rear housing 2. The wind shield cover 33 is provided with the front housing 1 using the bracket mounting bolts 19.
Are fastened together to both mounting arms 17, 18. The wind shield cover 33 protects the viscous heater from the engine cooling air from the rear side thereof, and protects the heater from the first and second embodiments.
Similarly to the above, heat radiation from the housing surface due to cooling air is prevented. In addition, the bracket mounting bolt 19
, The number of members is not particularly increased.

In addition to the inner wall surface of the engine room, for example, an engine component (for example, a housing), other accessories (compressor, water pump, etc.) and the like can be appropriately selected as the attached member. .

The present invention is not limited to the above-described first to third embodiments, but may be implemented in the following manner, for example. (A) By combining the first embodiment with the second or third embodiment, one viscous heater is provided with a front windshield cover 3.
Attach both 1 and rear windshield cover 32 (or 33). In this case, it is possible to cope with the cooling air from either the front side or the rear side, so that it is possible to easily cope with a change in the convection direction of the cooling air in the engine room.

[0031]

As described in detail above, according to the viscous heater described in each claim, the viscous heater body is protected from the external cooling air by the wind shielding member, so that the heat loss due to the cooling air is minimized. Thus, it is possible to effectively use the calorific value of the heater.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a viscous heater according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a viscous heater according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a viscous heater according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Front housing, 2 ... Rear housing, 4 ... Handing bolt, 5 ... Heat generation chamber, 6 ... Water jacket as heat dissipation chamber, 13 ... Rotor, 17, 18 ... Mounting arm part, 1
9: bracket mounting bolt, 20: electromagnetic clutch, 26
... Solenoid coil, 27. Stator member, 28... Mounting plate as mounting tool, 31, 32, 33... Wind shielding cover as wind shielding member, B1, B2.
... Silicone oil as a viscous fluid.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A viscous heater for defining a heat generating chamber and a heat radiating chamber in a housing and exchanging heat generated by shearing a viscous fluid contained in the heat generating chamber with a rotor to a circulating fluid in the heat radiating chamber. A viscous heater provided with a wind shielding member around the housing to block the wind. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotor is selectively operably connected to an external drive source via an electromagnetic clutch, and the wind-blocking member uses an attachment for attaching the electromagnetic clutch to the housing. The viscous heater according to claim 1, which is attached to a housing. 3. The housing includes a front housing and a rear housing, and the wind shield is attached to the housing using bolts for interconnecting the front and rear housings. The viscous heater according to claim 1. 4. The housing has a mounting arm portion corresponding to a bracket of the mounted body to which the viscous heater is mounted, and the wind shield member connects the mounting arm portion to the bracket. The viscous heater according to claim 1, wherein the viscous heater is attached to the housing using a bolt. 5. The viscous heater according to claim 1, wherein the wind shielding member is made of a resin material.