Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
  • F01P—COOLING OF MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; COOLING OF INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES
  • F01P3/00—Liquid cooling
  • F01P3/18—Arrangements or mounting of liquid-to-air heat-exchangers
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
  • F01P—COOLING OF MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; COOLING OF INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES
  • F01P7/00—Controlling of coolant flow
  • F01P7/14—Controlling of coolant flow the coolant being liquid
  • F01P7/16—Controlling of coolant flow the coolant being liquid by thermostatic control
  • F01P7/165—Controlling of coolant flow the coolant being liquid by thermostatic control characterised by systems with two or more loops
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F01—MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
  • F01P—COOLING OF MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; COOLING OF INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES
  • F01P3/00—Liquid cooling
  • F01P3/18—Arrangements or mounting of liquid-to-air heat-exchangers
  • F01P2003/187—Arrangements or mounting of liquid-to-air heat-exchangers arranged in series

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an engine cooling system, particularly for average industrial vehicles, provided with an improved heat exchange efficiency, and also to a vehicle comprising such system. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
• radiators for air/water heat exchange are known in the art.
• the water or the coolant that runs through the engine cooling system arrives to the radiator where it is hit by a fresh air current, thus obtaining the desired heat exchange.
• the radiator is frontally hit by the air flow because of the vehicle forward movement, in order to improve the heat exchange efficiency it is known to place a fan behind said radiator, usually connected to a viscous-static joint or to an electric engine, suitable for ensuring the required air flow for obtaining the desired heat exchange.
• the fan is placed behind the radiator so that it does not interfere with the fresh air flow coming from outside that hits the radiator itself when the vehicle is travelling.
• the fan creates an intake air flow which passes through the radiator and adds to the air flow generated by the forward movement of the vehicle, from the front part to the rear part of the vehicle.
• the problem of the engine overheating is critical.
• the problem of average vehicles which have high-performance engines accommodated in vehicles with reduced dimensions, which do not allow to mount radiators with large heat exchange surfaces.
• An improved efficiency of the engine cooling system results in an improved efficiency of the engine itself, which can thoroughly exploit its power without any risk of overheating.
• a first solution is to use fans with higher performances, which causes the fan to absorb more power, and therefore causes the engine itself to consume more fuel. Thus this solution may be possible, but it is not advantageous.
• an engine cooling system particularly for average industrial vehicles comprising a main radiator, at least a fan placed behind said radiator with respect to the direction of the air flow that it generates, and characterized in that it comprises also at least a second additional radiator, placed downstream said fan with respect to the direction of the air flow it generates.
• the cooling system according to the present invention is characterized in that said additional radiator is placed downstream the fan and in front of the oil pump, and in that it has smaller dimensions than the main radiator, as to not prevent the cooling effectiveness of the air flow generated by the fan itself.
• the additional radiator may advantageously have a surface equal to about 1/3 of the main radiator, thus increasing the heat exchange surface of about 30%.
• figure 1 shows a perspective view of the cooling system according to the present invention mounted on an engine
• figure 2 shows a side view of a part of the cooling system of figure 1
• figure 3 shows the same cooling system as in the previous figures viewed from a different perspective.
• Figure 1 shows a cooling system 1 according to the present invention assembled to an internal-combustion engine 2, in particular to the engine of an average industrial vehicle.
• the cooling system comprises a main radiator 10 placed in correspondence of the front part of the vehicle, thus in front of the engine. Behind said main radiator there is a fan 11, suitable for directing the fresh air flow coming from outside and generated by the forward movement of the vehicle, schematically indicated by the "air flow” arrow in figure 1.
• the task of the fan 11 is therefore to suck air from the front area of the main radiator 10 and to direct it toward the area occupied by the engine.
• the direction of the air flow generated by the fan 11 is thus the same as the air flow generated by the forward movement of the vehicle itself. Therefore the fan is placed behind the main radiator 10 and substantially involves the whole surface of the radiator itself.
• the cooling system there is also an additional radiator 12 placed behind the fan 11.
• the additional radiator 12 advantageously has smaller dimensions with respect to the main radiator 10 as to not stop the air flow going outside the fan 11, namely as to not reduce the efficiency of the heat exchange of the main radiator, and it is placed in correspondence of a perimetral portion of the surface of said main radiator. More in detail, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the additional radiator 12 may advantageously have a surface equal to about 1/3 of the surface of the main radiator and may be placed in correspondence of the lower portion of said main radiator. Moreover, always according to the preferred embodiment shown in the attached figures, the additional radiator 12 takes the coolant directly from the engine, and thus the temperature of the fluid in the additional radiator 12 is very high, exceeding 9O 0 C. Since normally the air that is directed by the fan 11 toward the engine after having passed through the main radiator 10 has a temperature of about 7O 0 C, the difference of temperature between the air coming from the fan
• the cooling fluid arrives to the additional radiator 12 from the engine by means of the first going pipe 12a, and it is cooled thanks to the heat exchange between fluid and air coming from the fan 11, then it is sent back to the engine by means of the first return pipe 12b.
• a thermostat 14 which detects the temperature of the fluid pre-cooled in the additional radiator 12 and decides whether to send back this fluid to the main radiator 10 for a further cooling.
• the fluid is sent from the thermostat 14 to the main radiator 10 by means of the second going pipe 10a. Then the cooled fluid goes from the main radiator 10 to the engine by means of a second return pipe 10b.
• the additional radiator 12 may be appropriately equipped with a flow conveyor 13.
• Said flow conveyor 13 may be formed for example by a deflector or by a flange having a flow input profile suitable to match with a part of the perimeter of said fan 11 and a flow output profile suitable to match with a part of the perimeter of said additional radiator 12.
• the fan 11 in fact, sucks air from the front area to the main radiator with an axial input flow which becomes radial when coming out of the fan.
• the air released by the fan has therefore a radial direction which is directed by the conveyor 13 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the heat exchange surface of the additional radiator 12.
• the additional radiator may have, as said, a surface equal to about 1/3 of the surface of the main radiator .
• the dimensions of the additional radiator are suitable for guaranteeing a good additional heat exchange surface, since having 1/3 of additional heat exchange surface results in an improvement of about 10% with respect to a system equipped only with the main radiator, but at the same time they are suitable to not prevent the air flow going out of the fan 11.
• the conveyor 13 has an input part with a substantially annular structure which follows the perimeter of the fan 11, and joints as to match with at least the lower border and the side borders of said additional radiator 12.
• behind the additional radiator 12 there may advantageously be two or more electric fans. This way it is possible to reduce the loss of efficiency that may be possibly detected in correspondence to the main radiator 10, and at the same time to increase the heat exchange efficiency of the additional radiator 12.
• the shown embodiment relates to an average industrial vehicle which may be possibly equipped with automatic gearbox .
• the cooling fluid going out of the engine is directly sent to the additional radiator 12, and from it to the thermostat 14, as said. If the thermostat detects that the cooling fluid temperature still exceeds a predetermined threshold value, a valve controlled by the thermostat 14 sends back the cooling fluid to the main radiator 10, and the fluid goes out of the main radiator and comes back to the engine, closing the circuit .
• the circuit of the cooling fluid going out of the engine brings the fluid to the gearbox heat exchanger, and only after that the fluid arrives to the additional radiator 12.
• the cooling system according to the present invention is characterized by the presence of an additional radiator 12 placed downstream the main radiator 10 and of the fan 11 associated to it, without any distinction due to the presence or to the absence of the automatic gearbox, causing some differences in the architecture of the system.
• the additional radiator 12 takes place the first cooling step of the engine coolant, which is then sent to the main radiator.
• the main radiator receives the coolant at a lower temperature with respect to a traditional system, the ATB index increases with the fan absorbing the same power, with an increase of the overall efficiency of the system up to 10% with respect to a traditional system of the type known.
• the engine cooling system according to the present invention achieves the task and the aims proposed.
• the engine cooling system according to the present invention achieves the aim to increase the surface that can be used for the heat exchange, envisaging a larger heat exchange surface without changing the dimensions of the main radiator and embodying a system that comprises an additional heat exchanger maintaining the overall small dimensions.
• the present invention achieves the aim to provide an engine cooling system with improved performances without any intervention on the radiator and on the main circuit, which remain mostly unchanged, and without any need for more space than that already present in the engine compartment of an average industrial vehicle. Since no intervention to the base system is required, the cooling system according to the present invention may be mounted on industrial vehicles with very low intervention costs.
• the cooling system according to the present invention is extremely advantageous both in terms of improved functioning efficiency, and in terms of decrease of the required interventions for mounting the system itself, with a consequent reduced costs.
• the cooling system according to the present invention allows, the power absorbed by the fan being equal, to remarkably increase the cooling efficiency, which results in an improved efficiency of the engine, the fuel consumption being the same.
• the present embodiment may be modified and some details may be changed by the person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention described in the attached claims.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Cooling, Air Intake And Gas Exhaust, And Fuel Tank Arrangements In Propulsion Units (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=40846128

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 2008
  • 2008-09-12 EP EP20080425601 patent/EP2163744B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2008-09-12 ES ES08425601.5T patent/ES2482994T3/es active Active
• 2009
  • 2009-09-09 BR BRPI0918788A patent/BRPI0918788A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2009-09-09 CN CN2009801354180A patent/CN102149908A/zh active Pending
  • 2009-09-09 WO PCT/EP2009/061695 patent/WO2010029108A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (5)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events