US1803952A - Shutter control for air-cooled engines - Google Patents

Description

May 5, 1931. G. B.' uPToN ET Al.A

SHUTTER CONTROLFOR AIR COOLED ENGINES Filed May 12. 1928 Kimm XW y r 1% Tm f.. v/ m f/m f a?. l MN@ Patented May 5, i931 SHUTTER CONTROL FOR AIB-COOLED ENGINES Application led May 12,

This invention relates to internal combustion engines, and has particular reference to engines of the air cooled type used on automobiles, airplanes, or other vehicles.

In the past diiiculty has been experienced in maintaining air cooled engines at their optimum temperature at all times, andv it is the object of the present invention to disclose a systemv of cooling which is interrelated with the engine and outside atmosphere so as to give the proper amount of cooling at all times.

The idea of the present invention is to maintain this optimum temperature for the metal parts of the power plant, particularly the manifold, regardless of outside temper; ature, speed or' load conditions.

In driving an automobile through a hilly country it is known to be one of the critibecomes over-cooled at the bottom of hills, after having been used as a drag on the car to supplement the braking action. This is substantially identically the same condition obtained in connection with the first copper cooled aeroplane engine with which we eX- perimented and which was iown for many hours in both hot and cold weather; that is, the engine over-cooled in a fast glide, an objectionable condition which was very noticeable, and which we have remedied in the present invention. j

lVhen the amount of cooling air is a function of speed alone, regardless of load, then the engine is always over-cooled at high speed, light load conditions. With the automobile engine at moderatespeeds it 'is' possible to obtain very Inearly full torque witlifonly a fraction of total angular movetion.' Hence it is not possible heietf'properly control the amount of coolingiairliantlirottl oflimixture consumption. The *utilized condition occurring 1n ttheVv n governed by mixture flew rate isili@ i' cisms of engine performance that the enginev 'to passthrough the syste j Alnentof the throttle shaft romclosed posi- M u i 'ftrollecljbyfa th y j lientffleem mais.

dled *by linkage alone operated `bytlie1t i .l I' i. MP lffl,@het Wih C Qolifl-I VThe rate of heat rejection to fthecooling Ss'ystem varies somewhat with thetim rate 1928. Serial No. 277,343.

sert in a linkage control some over-control dependent upon manifold vacuum The manifold vacuum increases, at` any throttle position, with mixture iowrate, although at wide open throttle the rate of increase and total increase are both relatively small.y However, at partial throttle the total maximum manifold vacuum can be quite high, and at high speed with closed throttle it may be still higher. However, under this last condition the weight of charge entering the engine is relatively small, consequently the heat rejected to the cooling systemy is likewise small. v

With an uncontrolled cooling system the engine often is over-cooled. Hence if high manifold vacuum can be utilized to. throttle or partially throttle the supply ofcooling air going through the system, the engine will not be over-cooled to so great an extent. It is recognized that at wide open throttle, high speed, the manifold ,vacuum maybe greater than at wide open low speed., In general this condition occurs at high forward velocities of the car, atwhich time, 75 with a tight cooling system as disclosed, advantage may betakenlof the higher velocity pressure of the air at theventrance of the system to overcome such throttling byv the secondary control shutter as lmay be brought about by the highermanifold vacuum.

To obtain propercontrolfofythe cooling effect We make use of two shutters, `one subject to eontrolmby the outside temperaturer and which governsthe admission of c ooling V85 air to the engine, andthe otherjsubject vto control by the engine vacuum" determining the "amount ofth'is air which 'will allowfe The functie to @puede pera-aar .e

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ture. The second shutter will control what yproportion of that maximum air will be alowed to go through the system to adequately cool-but not overcool-the power plant.

The object of the invention is accomplished by placing at the front of the engine a shutter which is controlled by a heat sensitive element, which is subject to the outside or atmospheric temperature. This shutter will control the maximum weight or amount of air handable in proportion to the outside temperature.

The air after passing through the shutter is caused to circulate around the cylinders of the engine in a suitable and well known way, and by means of suitable battles is forced to travel toward the front of the engine where it is sucked by the fan and forced out of openings in the sides, or sides and top of the engine hood.

In the path of the indrawn air and preferably at the front of the engine just to the rear of the fan there is positioned a second shutter which controls the exit of the air. This shutter is interconnected with the throttle of the engine by means of a suitable linkage, which linkage is in turn connected to an element controlled by thel induction system of manifold vacuum of the engine. This element is capable of expansion or contraction in response to the suction and will accordingly determine' the position of a lever --of the connecting linkage. The condition of this element will determine the extent 'of opening of the exit shutter, the position of the latter therefore, being a direct function of the degree of expansion or contraction of the element or of thesuction of the intake manifold. The throttle is operated as usual, and due to the interrelated linkage the shutter is operated simultaneously with the throttle.

In the drawings: Figure 1 shows a view through an air cooled engine applied to an automotive vehicle with the hood and other parts in section and parts broken away.

Figure 2 is a side view of the front portion of the engine showing an opening for allowing egress of air from the engine.

Referring to Figure 1, the numeral 10 designates the hood of an automotive vehicle, 12 the cowl, 14 the cowl pan, and 16 the instrument board.

At the front lower portion of the hood 10 there is positioned a shutter 18 comprising a plurality of vanes or blades 20 ivoted to a common link 22 at one end an to the frame 24 of the shutter at their other end. The link 22 has a pin 26 at one end which works in a slot 28 at the end of an arm 30 attached to a heat sensitive element 32, secured by means of a bracket 34 to any suitable` part of the engine. It will be noted that this heat sensitive element 32 is subject to the temperature of the outside air, due to the fact that the hood 10 isV broken away in front thereof. The shutter 18 will be d1- rectly controlled by the extent of expansion or contraction of the heatsensitive element 32 and when it is fully contracted, it will be evident that the shutter is completely closed, while at its full expansion the Vanes, 20 will be opened to their fullest extent. Intermediate expansions of the member 32 will bring about intermediate positions of Vthe vanes. It istherefore, quite obvious that the temperature of the 4outside air will directly control the amount of cooling air admitted lto the cylinders of the air cooled engine.

The path of the air through the shutter 18 and through the engine is shown by the arrows. The engine is provided with any suitable kind of baffle arrangement 36 for properly directing the air past the cylinders and toward the fan 38, preferably positioned at the front of the engine. lThe cylinders of the engine are shown at 40 and surroundingA each cylinder is the housing 42 containing a plurality of fins (not shown) as is customary, to radiate the heat from the cylinder.

At the front of the engine and hood 10 and preferably at the rear of the fan 38 there is arranged a second shutter 44, the construction of which is similar to the shutter 18. This shutter has a common link 46 connecting all of the vanes or blades 2O and one end of which has a pin 48 which operates in a slot 50 at one end of an' arm 52 of a bell crank lever 54, the opposite arm 56of which is pivoted to a linkI 58 connected at its opposite end as at 60 to the arm 62 66, which extends through the foot board I and Lterminates in a knob 68. By pulling or pushing on the rod 68 the throttle valve 64 may be o erated in either direction.

The be crank lever is pivoted at 7 0 to an arm 72 formed on an expansible and contractible member 74, preferably in the form of a bellows, which is connected at 76 to the induction system 78 of the engine. The connection is preferabl made to the intake manifold 80, as shown 1n Figure 1.

The interior of the bellows 74 is subject to the suction of the induction system or intake manifold, and it will, therefore, be obvious that when the suction is high as for instance, at throttle-closed position at high or low speeds, the bellows 74 will contract and move the bell crank lever 54 upwardly. As the suction decreases, such as at full throttle-open position, the suction will be relatively low and there will be little contraction of the bellows 74. This will allow the bell crank lever 54 to assume its lowermost position. The position of` the bell crank lever 54 will therefore, be directly def pendent upon the suction in the induction system of the engine. I

From the construction just described 1t will be evident that as the rod 66 is moved to move the arm 62 of the throttle valve 64, it will at the same time move the link 58 and cause the bell crank 54 to swing on its pivot 7 0 to thereby open or close the shutter. The extent of opening of the shutter will therefore, be dependent in the iirst place upon the extent of o ening of the throttle valve 64. The li 58 it will be seen from Figure 1, forms an angle with the arm 62 and the degree of swing on the bell crank lever will depend upon the position ,of the arm 58 with reference to the arm 62. As the bellows 74 contracts and draws the bell crank lever as a whole upwardly, it will cause the link 58 to assume more and more a horizontal position, inasmuch as the arm 62 is now stationary. The upward swing of the link 58 will cause the arm 56 of the bell crank to be moved toward the left, which will swing the second arm 52 of the bell' crank 54 in an upward direction and cause a closing of the shutter 44. This condition will maintain. when the suction in the intake manifold is operating and ythe degree of movement of the bell crank will depend directly upon the amount of suction. It is therefore to be seen that the width of opening of the shutter 44 is dependent on the degree of suction in the manifold.

The extent of opening of the shutter 44 is therefore dependent upon two conditions:

First: The extent of movement of the throttle valve 64.

Second: The degree of suction in the induction system.

The amount of air admitted to the engine will therefore, be controlled: v

First: By the amount of air admitted by the shutter 18, which is subject to control of the 4outside atmosphere.

Second: By the amount of air which is allowed to pass through the shutter 44.

And this latter condition is in turn governed by the aforementioned two conditions. It will, therefore, 'be seen that we have a number of controls to` give the proper amount of air to the engine and therefore determine our optimum temperature.

When the air is relatively cold, there will be a corresponding contraction of the element 32, and a less amount of air will be admitted through the shutter 18. This is desirable for the reason that the relatively colder air will give a much quicker cooling of the cylinders 40. As the outside air temperature 'rises the shutter will open and admit a greater quantity of air in order that proper cooling may be eEected.

After the air is admitted it will be drawn by the fan toward the shutter 44, and after the throttle of the engine is closed, which is the usual condition when idling or when going down hills, the suction in the induction system will be relatively high, which will contract the bellows 74 to substantially. its fullest extent and brin about theigreatest upward positionof t e bell crank 54. At this time the arm 62 will also be in its extreme left hand position or the position of closing of the shutter 44. This position of the arm and bellows will bring about a substantially complete shutting of the shutter 44, only suiiicient air being allowed to pass through so that the engines does not over heat.

When driving uphill atfull throttle open position the throttle valve 64 will be swung to be substantially in line with the intake pipe of the manifold or'will give an eXtreme right hand position for the arm 62, a osition corresponding to open position o the shutter 44. At full throttle open position the suction in the manifold and in the induction system is considerably less than in the case of throttle closed position and the degree of contraction of the bellows 74 will therefore be considerably less and bring about a relatively much lower `position of the bell crank 54. This lesser upward movement of the bell crank 54 will give a relatively lower position to the pivot point between the arms 56 and 58 and will cause the arm 58 to swing on a radius on the pivot 60. This will cause the arm 56 to be swung to the right and the arm 52 to be swung downwardly thereby producing a greater opening of the shutter 44. v

These movements of the bell crank 54 to move the shutter 44 will be allowed because of the lost motion connection between the arm 52 andthe link 46 caused by the pin and4 slot construction 48., 50.

Degrees of suction in the induction system intermediate the two extremes will bring about a corresponding relative degree vof opening of the shutter 44. From an inspection of Figure 2, it will be seen that suitable openings, 82 are provided at both sides of the hood, which openings are to allow for the egress of the air. As many of these openings as desired may be used or if desired only one large opening at either side may sufiice. It is also within the scope of the invention to provide openin s in the top of the hood about the fan 38.

he. usual brake pedal is shown at 84, while 86 indicates the gear shift lever for the transmission 88. Y

We claim:

1. In combination with an engine, heat sensitive means for controlling the flow of air to the engine, and means connected with the controlling parts of the engine for controlling the iiow of air from the engine.

2. The combination of claim 1, said first named means including a shutter and a heat responsive element.

named means including a shutter and a heat responsive element subject to outside or atmospheric temperature.

4. The combination of claim 1, said second named means includin a shutter and said controlling part includlng the throttle valve of the carburetor.

5. The combination of claim 1, said engine having a manifold and said second n amed means subject to control from the manifold.

v6. In combination with an internal combustion engine having a throttle associated therewith, means for controlling the flow of air to the engine, and means interconnected with the throttle and engine induction system for controlling the flow of air from the engine.

7. The combination of claim 6, said first named means comprising a temperature controlled shutter.

8. The combination of claim 6, said second named means including a shutter.

9. In combination with an internal combustion engine, means for controlling the iow of air from the engine including a shutter, a throttle, a controlling means interconnecting said throttle and shutter, and means interconnected with said controlling means for varying the extent of opening of the shutter. N

- 10. The combination of claim 9, said last named means including an element operated from the induction system of the eng-ine.

11. The combination of claim 9, said controlling means including a plurality of levers interconnecting the throttle and shutter.

12. The combination of claim 9, said conl trolling means including a bell crank lever.

13. The combination of claim 9, said con trolling means including a bell crank lever and said last named means being connected to the bell crank lever.

14. The combination of claim 9, said last named means including a bell crank lever having a lost motion connection with said shutter.

15. The combination of claim 9, said last named means including a lever having a lost motion connection with said shutter, and said last named means being connected to said lever.

16. In combination with an automotive vehicle having an engine, controlled means for admitting air to said engine, controlled means for allowing eXit of the air from the engine and interconnected with a controlling member of the engine, and means for operating the controlling member from a remote point.

17. The combination of claim 16, said first .named means comprising a heat sensitive element subject to outside or atmospheric temperature and a shutter. 3. The combination of claim 1, said first 18. The combination of claim 16, said second named means including a shutter, a connection between the shutter and the controlling member, and a member connected to said connection and subject to control by the engine induction system.

19. The combination of claim 16, said engine having a fan positioned in front of said second named means.

20. In combination with an air cooled internal combustion engine, a shutter for allowing access of air to said engine, a heat sensitive element subject to outside or atmospheric temperature connected to said shutter to control the same, a second shutter to control the exit of air from the'v engine, a throttle associated with said engine, a linkage including a bell crank lever connecting said throttle and exit shutter, a lost motion connection between said bell crank and shutter, means pivoted to said bell crank and Asubject to the induction system of the engine for controlling said exit shutter by causing movement of the bell crank lever, and means for simultaneously operating said throttle and shutter.

21. In combination with an engine, means for controlling the How of air to the engine, heat sensitive means for controlling said first named means, a throttle, and means interconnected with the throttle to control the air flow admitted by said rst named means.

22. In combination with an engine, a throttle, means for controlling the How of air for cooling the engine, means controlled by the pressure in the intake manifold for controlling the position of said means, and means interconnecting the throttle and said first named means to cause the operation of the latter simultaneously with the former.

23. In combination with an engine, a throttle, means for controlling the iiow of air for cooling the engine, means including a bell crank lever interconnecting the throttle and said means whereby the latter is operated simultaneously with the former, and expandible and contractible means connected to the pivot of the bell crank lever to control the position of the bell crank lever and of the first named means.

24. In combination with "an engine, a throttle, means for controlling the iow of air for cooling the engine, means including a bell crank lever interconnecting the throttle and said means whereby the latter is operated simultaneously with the former, and a bellows open to intake manifold pressure and secured to the pivot of the bell crank lever to control the position of the lever and of said first named means.

25. In combination with an engine, a throttle, a shutter for controlling the flow of air for cooling the engine, a bellows open to intake manifold pressure, a bell crank pivoted to said bellows to move therewith and having its arms connected to said shutter and said throttle so as to cause the simultaneous operation of the shutter with the throttle and subject to control by the bellows.

In testimony whereof we alx our signav tures. 1 GEORGE BURR UPTON..

ROLAND V. HUTCRINsoN.

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