WO2008118062A1

WO2008118062A1 - An engine compartment

Info

Publication number: WO2008118062A1
Application number: PCT/SE2008/000227
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rolf Thoresen
Original assignee: Volvo Lastvagnar Ab
Priority date: 2007-03-28
Filing date: 2008-03-27
Publication date: 2008-10-02
Also published as: SE0700799L; SE530990C2

Abstract

The invention relates to an engine compartment (1 ) for a vehicle (2). The engine compartment (1 ) comprises a housing (3) and an air intake (5) for allowing a stream of air to flow into the engine compartment (1). The engine compartment (1) is provided with a means (9) for redirecting the air stream which flows along an internal surface (10) of the housing (3) in the engine compartment (1).

Description

An engine compartment

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an engine compartment for a motor vehicle according to the preamble of claim 1.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In engine compartments of motor vehicles, particularly heavy vehicles such as trucks and busses, there is a need for cooling of components which are located in the engine compartment. One way of achieving such a cooling effect in known engine compartments is by means of ambient air, which enters the engine compartment through an air intake at which there is usually a fan arranged.

The stream of ambient air which enters the engine compartment will, for obvious reasons, mainly manage to cool components which are in the way of the air stream. Components which are placed in the engine compartment more or less at the side of the air stream from the air intake may thus not be cooled as much as might be needed or desired. During certain conditions for example the power steering pump which is arranged at the side of the engine can be overheated due to the fact that the power steering pump itself generates heat and is located in the engine compartment where the temperature can be high. In addition, a lot of components are arranged along the side of the engine which implies that the power steering pump can be covered by such components arranged in positions upstream the power steering pump with respect to the cooling air flow direction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As explained above, there is a problem associated with prior art engine compartments where the temperature inside the engine compartment and/or of a component arranged in the engine compartment sometimes is undesirable high. The object of the invention is to provide an engine compartment of the kind referred to in the introduction, by means of which engine compartment the temperature inside the engine compartment and/or the temperature of at least one component arranged in the compartment can be decreased.

The object is achieved by an engine compartment according to claim 1.

The invention is based on the insight that in prior art engine compartments the air stream closest to or adjacent to the internal surface of the housing flows through the engine compartment more or less unaffected. Such an air stream which passes the engine compartment along the internal surface of the housing will not contribute to the cooling of the engine compartment to any great extent since the amount of heat transferred to the air stream is very limited.

By provision of an engine compartment which is provided with a means for redirecting the air stream which flows along an internal surface of the housing in the engine compartment, the cooling capacity of the air stream can be more effectively utilized and the heat transferred from the engine compartment to the air stream can be increased. This is achieved by exposing any component inside the housing or the housing itself to the air stream to a greater extent, either by directing the air stream towards the component and/or by creating a more turbulent flow inside the housing. The redirecting means can for example be adapted to redirect the air stream towards an engine arranged inside the engine compartment and/or to create a turbulent air flow along the side of an engine arranged inside the engine compartment.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the redirecting means is arranged on an internal surface of the housing, and preferably the redirecting means comprises one or more guide blades or ridges. By means of such a redirecting means at least a part of the air stream flowing closest to the internal surface of the housing can be redirected in a direction away from the internal surface and towards for example an engine arranged inside the housing. The redirecting means can be attached to the surface of the housing as separate units or constitute a part of the housing surface, i.e. the redirecting means can be achieved by a suitable design of the surface of the housing.

According to a further embodiment of the invention the engine compartment is adapted to accommodate at least one component in addition to an engine, and the redirecting means is adapted to redirect at least a part of said air stream towards said component. Usually different components are arranged in an engine compartment, which components can be engine components or non-engine components. On example of such a component which can be suspended from the engine and driven by the transmission is a power steering pump. By means of the redirecting means according to the invention it is possible to increase the air stream to which a component, such as the power steering pump, is exposed.

The invention also relates to a vehicle comprising an engine compartment according to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference to the appended drawings below follows a more detailed description of embodiments of the invention cited as examples.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic view illustrating an engine compartment according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the engine compartment in Fig. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In Fig. 1 an engine compartment arrangement 1 for a vehicle 2 according to the invention is schematically illustrated. The engine compartment 1 comprises a housing 3 arranged to at least partly enclose an engine 4 arranged inside the engine compartment 1. The engine compartment 1 further comprises an air intake 5 for allowing a stream of air to flow into and through the engine compartment 1. The air stream can leave the engine compartment at a position behind the engine 4. The main part of air which enters the engine compartment from outside the vehicle 2 (which vehicle is only partly illustrated) enters through the air intake 5 in the front portion of the vehicle. A fan 7 can be arranged at the air intake 5 to increase the air flow towards a radiator for cooling the engine. The fan can be active or not, but in either case air will enter through the air intake 5 and an air stream is created in the engine compartment during driving the vehicle. The air stream 6 present in front of the engine compartment 1 before entering the engine compartment is illustrated with arrows.

In addition to the engine 4, other components can be arranged inside the engine compartment. Such components can be arranged separately but usually they are attached to or suspended from the engine. Both engine components and non-engine components, which components can be driven by the engine, can be arranged in the engine compartment. In Fig. 1 the main part of the engine corresponding to substantially the engine block is illustrated with solid lines, whereas the area where other components 8 are arranged on the outside of the engine 4 is defined by means of the dashed lines. A power steering pump is an example of an additional non-engine component which can be arranged at the engine 4 and driven by the transmission. In Fig. 1 such a power steering pump 20 as well as other components 8, such as pipes, hoses, etc., arranged in front of the power steering pump, are schematically illustrated. In accordance with the invention the engine compartment 1 is provided with a means 9 for redirecting the air stream which flows along an internal surface 10 of the housing 3 in the engine compartment 1. Although the redirecting means 9 is advantageously arranged on an internal surface 10 of the housing 3 such as illustrated in Fig. 1, also other solutions are possible within the scope of the invention. In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 the redirecting means 9 is constituted by one or more rows of guide blades 11 arranged on the internal surface 10 of the housing 3 between the surface 10 and the engine 4. Such rows of blades 11 or other redirecting means 9 can be arranged on the inside of the housing 3 at different circumferential positions and at different positions in the longitudinal direction. By the term "longitudinal direction" is meant a direction in parallel with a direction from the front part 12 of the engine 4, where the incoming air enters, to the rear part 13 of the engine 4 where the air leaves the engine compartment. In Fig. 1 two such rows of guide blades 11 are schematically illustrated; one row on each side of the engine 4.

The redirecting means 9 serves as guides for the incoming stream of air 6, and redirect at least part of the stream of incoming air to places or locations in the engine compartment 1 which would not, without the guides, have been reached by the air stream, or at least not to the extent which is achieved by means of the redirecting means 9.

The redirecting means 9 can be manufactured from any material which has the requisite properties with regard to material strength, resistance to the environment in the engine compartment, etc. For example, the redirecting means 9 can be made of a hardened plastic material or a metal alloy with suitable properties, preferably in the form of a sheet metal.

The "redirecting" of the air stream is shown symbolically by means of arrows 14 at the sides of the engine 4. It should be understood that the direction shown by these arrows 14 are merely an illustrative example, and is in no way intended to exclude any direction for the redirecting of said air stream. Also, there is no need for all units of the redirecting means 9 to redirect the air stream to one and the same place. The redirecting means may "divide" the air stream, and, thus redirect air from the air stream to a number of different locations in the engine compartment.

Instead of guide blades, the internal surface of the housing can comprise protrusions or ridges which are arranged in a row. As illustrated by the enlarged view shown in Fig. 2, the guide blades 11 or guide ridges have suitably a main extension from the internal surface 10 of the housing 3 in a direction 15 having a first component direction 16 which coincides with the main flow direction of the incoming air stream 6 (i.e. in the longitudinal direction) and a second component direction 17 which is perpendicular to the main flow direction of the incoming air stream 6 (i.e. in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction). In other words; the guide blade 11 can form an angle α with the housing as indicated in Fig. 2. The angle α can be in the interval 0<α<90°, preferably 20°<α<70°, and more preferably 30°<α<50°. As described above the guide blades 11 can be situated in different positions along the circumference of the housing 3. However, in an embodiment where the housing encloses the engine to a great extent, the blades or ridges could be designed as discrete portions of rings or continuous rings with an extension along the circumference of the bousing.

The number of guide blades or ridges can be varied as well as the distance between two consecutive blades or ridges. Furthermore, the length of the guide blades or ridges can be varied.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1 the redirecting means 9 is adapted and arranged to redirect the air stream towards the engine 4 arranged inside the engine compartment 1. The redirecting means 9 will promote a turbulent air flow along the side of the engine arranged inside the engine compartment. The temperature can be decreased due to the fact that the heat transfer from the engine 4 to the air stream in the engine compartment 1 is increased, i.e. an increased amount of heat energy is removed from the engine compartment by the outgoing air stream.

As previously described, the engine compartment 1 is preferably adapted to accommodate at least one component 20 in addition to an engine 4. The redirecting means 9 can be adapted to redirect at least a part of said air stream towards such an additional component 20 for directly cooling the specific component. An example of such a component is a power steering pump 20.

In a further embodiment of the invention the redirecting means can be arranged on a component to be accommodated in the engine compartment. This component could be the engine or another component separately arranged or connected to the engine.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings; rather, the skilled person will recognize that many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An engine compartment (1) for a vehicle (2), comprising a housing (3) and an air intake (5) for allowing a stream of air to flow into the engine compartment, characterized in that the engine compartment (1 ) is provided with a means (9) for redirecting the air stream which flows along an internal surface (10) of the housing (3) in the engine compartment (1).

2. An engine compartment (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the redirecting means (9) is adapted to redirect the air stream towards an engine (4) arranged inside the engine compartment (1).

3. An engine compartment (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the redirecting means (9) is adapted to create a turbulent air flow along the side of an engine (4) arranged inside the engine compartment (1 ).

4. An engine compartment (1 ) according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the redirecting means (9) is arranged on the internal surface (10) of the housing (3).

5. An engine compartment (1) according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the redirecting means (9) is arranged between the internal surface (10) of the housing and an engine (4) arranged inside the engine compartment (1).

6. An engine compartment (1 ) according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the redirecting means (9) comprises one or more guide blades (11 ) or ridges.

7. An engine compartment (1 ) according to claim 6, characterized in that said one or more guide blades (11 ) or ridges have an extension from the internal surface (10) of the housing (3) in a direction (15) having a first component direction (16) which coincides with the main flow direction of the incoming air stream (6) and a second component direction (17) which is perpendicular to the main flow direction of the incoming air stream (6).

8. An engine compartment (1) according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that two or more said guide blades (11) or ridges are arranged in a row along the internal surface (10) of the housing (3).

9. An engine compartment (1) according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the redirecting means (9) is adapted to cool an engine

(4) arranged inside the engine compartment (1) by increasing the heat transfer from the engine to the air stream in the engine compartment (1 ).

10. An engine compartment (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the engine compartment (1 ) is adapted to accommodate at least one component (20) in addition to an engine (4), and the redirecting means (9) is adapted to redirect at least a part of said air stream towards said component (20).

11. An engine compartment (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that the component is a power steering pump (20).

12. An engine compartment (1) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the redirecting means is arranged on a component to be accommodated in the engine compartment.

13. An engine compartment (1) according to claim 12, characterized in that the redirecting means is arranged on an engine to be accommodated in the engine compartment.

14. A vehicle (2) comprising an engine compartment (1) according to any of claims 1-13.