KR20140032620A - Smart active air flap for vehicle and method for controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a smart active air flap for a vehicle and a method for controlling the same to improve the fuel efficiency of a vehicle with improved aerodynamics due to the flow of air into an engine room at a desired rate by calculating the desired flow rate of air and adjusting the opening and closing of an air flap. In other words, the present invention provides the smart active air flap for a vehicle and a method for controlling the same to improve the fuel efficiency of the vehicle with improved aerodynamics by enabling users to adjust the radial movement of each air flap and the size of an air inlet and allowing air to flow into the engine room at a desired rate. For this, the present invention has the streamlined air flaps arranged between a radiator grill and a radiator in a radial manner to be opened to detect the flow rate of air. [Reference numerals] (AA) Accelerate a vehicle speed; (BB) Decelerate the vehicle speed; (CC) Radiator

Description

Smart active air flap for vehicle and method for controlling the same}

The present invention relates to a smart active air flap for automobiles and a method of controlling the operation thereof, and more particularly, by calculating the required air flow rate to adjust the opening and closing amount of the air flap to a desired level, only the air flow rate required for the engine room The present invention relates to a smart active air flap for automobiles and a method of controlling the operation thereof, which can improve fuel efficiency through aerodynamic improvement effect.

In general, heat exchange parts such as a radiator, an intercooler, an evaporator, a condenser, and the like for cooling each part are intensively installed in an engine room of a vehicle, including various heat generating parts such as an engine, a transmission, and electrical equipment.

In order for various heat exchange components in the engine room to operate stably, outside air must be smoothly introduced into the engine room.

To this end, in recent years, heat exchange parts including radiators and the like are not assembled alone, but modularized and installed as one cooling module in a front end module including a head lamp and a bumper.

Therefore, the bumper modularized in the front end module is formed with an opening for introducing air from the front while driving, and the opening is applied as a mesh structure in the form of a net or grill to prevent foreign substances from entering.

Accordingly, when the vehicle travels, the outside air is introduced through the opening formed in the mesh structure of the bumper, and the introduced air exchanges heat with a cooling module including a radiator.

However, the opening structure of the mesh structure is fundamentally impossible to control the amount of inflow of air flowing at high speed, there is a problem such as lower fuel consumption due to the increase in the resistance of the air flowing into the engine room.

In order to solve this problem, an active air flap (abbreviated as AAF) for actively controlling the inflow of air at a location where external air is introduced is installed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional AAF 100 includes an air duct 104 having an symmetrical opening 102 at both sides thereof, and a flap mounted to the air duct 104 to be opened and closed. A door 106, an actuator 108 mounted invisibly on the rear of the air duct 104, a link 110 mounted on the shaft of the actuator 108 so as to be movable up and down, and a rack of the link 110 ( And a gear type loader 114 that engages the portion 112 and is mounted to the shaft of the flap door 106.

Accordingly, the link 110 is raised or lowered according to the on or off operation of the actuator 108, and then the loader 114 engaged with the rack 112 of the link 110 transmits power to the flap door 106 each time. When the flap door 106 is rotated to the open or closed position, the inflow or blocking of external air is made.

However, the flap door of the conventional AAF is only capable of two-way opening / closing operation to block or allow inflow of air, that is, open / closed according to the ON / OFF of the actuator. / CLOSE) can be operated only in two stages, the amount and direction of the air flowing into the engine room can not be actively controlled, there is a limit to control the air flow rate.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, by arranging a plurality of streamlined flaps of radial structure in the space between the radiator grill and the radiator to open and close, by adjusting the radial movement of each flap at the same time to detect the flow rate of air Smart active air flaps for automobiles, which can adjust the size of the air inlet to a size that can flow the required flow rate, and improve fuel efficiency through aerodynamic improvement while introducing only the required air flow rate into the engine room; Its purpose is to provide a method of controlling its operation.

The present invention for achieving the above object is a flap housing which is mounted in the space between the radiator grill and the radiator, the flap mounting hole is formed in the center; A fixed ring having a plurality of fixing pins formed at one side of the edge at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of one side of the edge and integrally formed in the flap mounting hole of the flap housing; A worm gear formed at an outer diameter portion, and having a ring structure in which a plurality of rotating pins are formed at equal intervals along the circumferential direction at an inner circumference thereof, the rotating ring being disposed adjacent to the inside of the fixing ring; A plurality of streamline types are arranged to open and close in a flap mounting hole in the overlapping state is provided with a streamlined structure formed with a fixing pin insertion hole for the fixing pin of the fixing ring is inserted, and a rotation pin insertion hole for the rotation pin of the rotary ring is inserted. Flap; An actuator mounted to the flap housing while having a worm engaged with the worm gear of the rotating ring as a rotating shaft; It provides a smart active air flap for a vehicle, characterized in that configured to include.

Preferably, the method further comprises a controller for controlling the driving of the actuator to adjust the opening and closing degree of the streamlined flap for adjusting the air inflow rate.

More preferably, the radiator grill is characterized in that between the flap housing is equipped with a flow rate detection sensor for detecting the air inlet speed of the front while traveling to the controller.

Another embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises the steps of: sensing the flow rate of air flowing into the engine room, while the vehicle is running; Calculating a required amount of air flowing into the engine room based on the flow rate signal of the air in the controller; Transmitting a driving signal to the actuator in stages according to the air flow rate calculated in the controller; Controlling the air inflow rate into the engine room by adjusting the size of the air inlet according to the expansion or the fold of the streamlined flap according to the driving of the actuator; It provides a smart active air flap operation control method for a vehicle comprising a.

Preferably, as the speed of the vehicle increases, the streamlined flap is controlled to be gradually closed as the air flow rate increases, and as the speed of the vehicle decreases, the streamlined flap is gradually controlled to be opened as the air flow rate decreases.

Through the above-mentioned means for solving the problems, the present invention provides the following effects.

According to the present invention, due to the air flow control as necessary, the cooling performance of the engine room and its peripheral parts can be maintained at the same level as the existing AAF, and directly controls the amount of air compared to the existing AAF to reduce aerodynamic losses due to air inflow. It can be prevented to a minimum and can provide fuel efficiency.

1 and 2 are schematic diagrams illustrating a conventional AAF configuration,
3 and 4 is a front view and a side cross-sectional view showing a smart active air flap for an automobile according to the present invention;
5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a smart active air flap for an automobile and an operation control method thereof according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention arranges a plurality of circular flaps (FLAP) of a radial structure, preferably a plurality of streamlined flaps of a streamlined structure so as to be openable and overlapped, so that the flaps are unfolded in the opening direction or pressed in the closing direction. The main point is to control the amount of air flowing into the engine room.

To this end, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 4, the flap housing 10 having the flap mounting hole 12 penetrated therebetween is fixedly mounted in the space between the radiator grill and the radiator, and the plurality of streamlined flaps 40 are provided in the flap housing 10. To overlap so that the opening and closing are arranged.

As a configuration for opening and closing the streamlined flap 40, the fixing ring 20 is press-fitted in the flap mounting hole 12 of the flap housing 10.

More specifically, the fixing ring 20 is a plurality of fixing pins 22 are provided in a ring structure formed integrally at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of one surface edge, the flap mounting hole of the flap housing 10 It is inserted and fixed in 12.

At this time, the rotating ring 30 for substantially opening and closing the streamlined flap 40 is disposed adjacent to the inner side of the fixing ring 20, the worm gear 34 in some section in the outer diameter portion of the rotating ring 30. Is formed, and the inner circumferential portion is provided with a ring structure in which a plurality of rotating pins 32 are formed at equal intervals along the circumferential direction, and are disposed adjacent to the inside of the fixing ring 20.

Here, a plurality of streamlined flaps 40 for adjusting the amount of air flowing into the engine room over the fixing ring 20 and the rotary ring 30 is mounted to be openable.

To this end, a rotation pin insertion hole 44 through which the rotation pin 32 of the rotation ring 30 is inserted is formed in the radially outer side of the streamlined flap 40, and the fixing ring 20 is formed therein. The fixing pin 22 of which the fixing pin 22 is inserted is formed through.

Therefore, the streamlined flaps 40 are arranged to open and close in the flap mounting hole 12 in a state where they overlap each other, the fixing pin of the fixing ring 20 in the fixing pin insertion hole 42 of each streamlined flap 40 22 is inserted, and the rotary pin 32 of the rotary ring 30 is inserted into the rotary pin insertion hole 44, so that each streamlined flap 40 overlaps each other in the fixed ring 20 and the rotary ring 30. It is attached in the state and it is in the state arrange | positioned so that opening and closing is possible in the flap mounting hole 12.

At this time, the worm gear 34 of the rotary ring 30 is engaged with the rotary shaft of the actuator 50, that is, the worm 52 integrally mounted on the rotary shaft, so that the worm 52 is rotated when the actuator 50 is rotated. The rotational force is transmitted to the worm gear 34 while rotating in place, so that each rotation of the worm gear 34 is performed.

On the other hand, in order to adjust the opening and closing degree of the streamlined flap 40 for adjusting the air inflow rate is connected to the actuator 50, the controller 54 in charge of the drive control of the actuator is capable of transmitting a signal, preferably the flap housing The flow rate sensor 56 which is mounted on the front radiator grill and senses the air inflow speed of the front while driving is connected to the controller 54 so as to transmit a detection signal.

Here, the smart active air flap for the vehicle and the operation control method thereof based on the above configuration will be described.

First, the step of detecting the flow rate of the air flowing into the engine room while driving the vehicle is preceded.

That is, the flow rate sensor 56 mounted on the radiator grill in front of the flap housing detects the air inflow rate and transmits the detection signal to the controller 54.

Accordingly, the step of calculating the required air amount flowing into the engine room based on the flow rate signal of the air in the controller 54 is performed, assuming that the speed of the vehicle and the speed of the air flow rate are proportional to air flow rate (Q) = ρ (density) A (area) V (speed)

At this time, since the flow rate (Q) = A (area) V (speed) increases as the vehicle speed increases, assuming that the speed of the vehicle and the inflow rate of air entering the engine room are the same, the flow rate of air entering the engine room is It is proportional to speed.

Therefore, when the inflow rate of air increases, the streamlined flap is closed to control the size of the air inlet, and on the contrary, when the inflow rate of air decreases, the streamlined flap opens to control the size of the air inlet. The amount of inflow can be controlled constantly.

Accordingly, by transmitting the drive signal to the actuator in different stages according to the air inflow amount calculated by the controller, the size of the air inlet is adjusted to flow into the engine room in accordance with the expansion or deflation of the streamlined flap according to the actuator's stepwise driving. Air flow rate is controlled.

That is, the step of rotating the worm 52 in place with the driving of the actuator 50, the rotational force is transmitted to the worm gear 34 of the rotary ring 30 to rotate the rotary ring 34 in the opening or closing direction, respectively And the rotation pin 32 of the rotation ring 30 inserted into the rotation pin insertion hole 44 of the streamlined flap 40 when the rotation ring 30 is rotated at the same angle while the streamlined flap 40 rotates. The opening or closing of the streamlined flap is performed by opening and closing the opening in the opening or closing direction, so that the size of the air inlet according to the opening and closing of the streamlined flap 40 is adjusted to control the amount of air inflow into the engine room. .

At this time, the fixing pin 22 of the fixing ring 20 serves as a rotation center point in a state of being inserted into the fixing pin insertion hole 42 of each streamlined flap 40.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 5, the speed of the vehicle increases to control the streamlined flap 40 as the air flow rate increases, and the streamlined flap 40 decreases as the speed of the vehicle decreases. Is controlled to open gradually, and as a result, air flow control as much as necessary can maintain the cooling performance of the engine room and its peripheral parts at the same level as the existing AAF, and directly control the amount of air compared to the existing AAF. This can minimize the aerodynamic loss caused by this, can provide fuel economy improvement effect.

10 flap housing 12 flap mounting hole
20: fixing ring 22: fixing pin
30: rotating ring 32: rotating pin
34: worm gear 40: streamlined flap
42: fixing pin insertion hole 44: rotation pin insertion hole
50: actuator 52: worm
54 controller 56 flow rate sensor

Claims (5)

A flap housing 10 mounted in the space between the radiator grille and the radiator and having a flap mounting hole 12 formed in the center thereof;
A plurality of fixing pins 22 are formed in a ring structure integrally formed at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of one edge thereof, and a fixing ring 20 inserted and fixed in the flap mounting hole 12 of the flap housing 10. and;
Worm gear 34 is formed in the outer diameter portion, the inner ring portion is provided with a ring structure formed with a plurality of rotating pins 32 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, the rotary ring is disposed adjacent to the inside of the fixing ring 20 30;
In a streamlined structure in which a fixing pin insertion hole 42 into which the fixing pin 22 of the fixing ring 20 is inserted, and a rotation pin insertion hole 44 into which the rotating pin 32 of the rotating ring 30 is inserted, are formed. A plurality of streamlined flaps 40 provided and arranged to be opened and closed in the flap mounting hole 12 in a state where they overlap each other;
An actuator (50) fixedly mounted to the flap housing (10) while having a worm (52) engaged with the worm gear (34) of the rotating ring (30) as a rotating shaft;
Smart active air flap for cars, characterized in that configured to include.
The method according to claim 1,
Smart active air flap for a vehicle, characterized in that it further comprises a controller (54) for controlling the driving of the actuator (50) to adjust the opening and closing degree of the streamlined flap (40) for adjusting the air flow rate.
The method according to claim 1,
The radiator grille is a smart active air flap for a vehicle, characterized in that between the flap housing is equipped with a flow rate detection sensor 56 for detecting the air inlet speed in front of the driving while transmitting to the controller (54).
Detecting a flow rate of air flowing into the engine room while the vehicle is running;
Calculating a required air inflow rate into the engine room based on the flow rate signal of the air in the controller;
Transmitting the driving signal to the actuator in stages according to the required air inflow amount calculated by the controller in different stages;
Controlling the air inflow rate into the engine room by adjusting the size of the air inlet according to the expansion or the fold of the streamlined flap according to the driving of the actuator;
Smart active air flap operation control method for a vehicle comprising a.
The method of claim 4,
Smart active air flap for automobiles, characterized by controlling the streamlined flap by gradually closing the air velocity as the speed of the vehicle increases, and controlling the streamlined flap by opening gradually as the air velocity decreases by decreasing the speed of the vehicle. Control method.

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