Intake manifold

Details Intake manifold Intake manifold

1999-12-27

2001-09-18

Argenbright, Tony M. (Department: 3747)

Internal-combustion engines

Intake manifold

Manifold having plenum

Reexamination Certificate

active

06289863

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an intake manifold for use with an automobile gasoline engine or an automobile diesel engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In common, an intake manifold for use with a gasoline engine for an automotive vehicle is provided, as shown in a schematic view of
FIG. 5
, in which a plurality of branch tubes
53
are connected at one end to a flange
51
joined to an intake port of the engine and at the other end to a surge tank
52
joined to a throttle chamber. As the assembly including the branch tubes
53
and the surge tank
52
is generally formed by metal casting, the freedom for designing the passage of the branch tubes
53
is lowered due to various limitations of the casting such as the separation of molds. Also, the distribution of molten metal requires a considerable thickness of casting, hence increasing the overall weight of a casting. For the purpose of eliminating such a problem, an intake manifold is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication (Hei)4-350353 in which the branch tubes
53
are fabricated by bending and joining by brazing in a furnace a set of aluminum alloy pipes at both ends to the flange
51
and the surge tank
52
of aluminum casting.
The joining the branch tubes
53
to the flange
51
and the surge tank
52
by brazing in a furnace provides high air-tightness at the joints thus allowing the mass production. However, the joining by brazing in a furnace where they are heated up under a high-temperature atmosphere with a brazing material being melted may cause thermal deformation due to a difference in the thermal capacity between the two materials to be joined. For example, as shown in an enlarged cross sectional view of
FIG. 6
, the branch tubes
53
are dislocated from their correct position to the brazing region
54
of the surface tank
52
and may decline their function. Also, as the assembly is placed under such a high-temperature atmosphere in the furnace, the branch tubes
53
of aluminum alloy and the surge tank
52
of aluminum casting are possibly annealed hence decreasing the physical strength. Particularly in case that the joint portion is formed with threaded holes for tightening stays and brackets by means of screws, the physical strength of the joint portion will significantly be declined.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention in view of the foregoing problem to provide an improved intake manifold which can be made of an aluminum material and which can maintain a significant degree of air-tightness by brazing in a furnace, while eliminating adverse effects of deformation by heat, preventing positional discrepancy, and ensuring the mounting strength of a reinforcement member if the reinforcement member is to be mounted.
Therefore, according to the present invention, there is provided an intake manifold which has a plurality of branch tubes each joined by brazing in a furnace at one end to a flange on an engine side and at the other end to a surge tank on a throttle chamber side. The surge tank is separated into two pieces or a brazing side member and a non-heating side member. Branch tubes are fixed in position to the brazing side member by peen locking with a peening tool or the like and are then joined by brazing in the furnace. The non-heating side member is not subjected to the brazing in the furnace but is joined to the brazing side member by fasteners such as bolts or the like.
Because the surge tank is separated into two pieces, the peening tool can be set into the brazing side member so as to fix the brazing side member and the branch tubes to each other at a predetermined joining position by peen locking. The joined parts are then subjected to the brazing in the furnace. Accordingly, the joining operation can accurately be made without causing any positional discrepancy while providing a significant degree of air-tightness. Also, because of the separation into two pieces, a common, low cost aluminum casting method can be employed with no use of cores. Moreover, the non-heating side member can be fabricated of a low-melting point aluminum alloy which is available at lower cost
The non-heating side member may be reinforced by a reinforcement member such as a stay. Since then on-heating side member of the surge tank remains outside the furnace and is not declined in the physical strength, it can be provided with a female thread or the like by means of which the reinforcement member such as a stay can be mounted for rigidly supporting the entirety of the surge tank.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4829944 (1989-05-01), Sukimoto et al.
patent: 5253616 (1993-10-01), Voss
patent: 5357931 (1994-10-01), Semence
patent: 5400951 (1995-03-01), Shiroyama et al.
patent: 5404632 (1995-04-01), Zaborszki
patent: 5762036 (1998-06-01), Verkleeren
patent: 5954021 (1999-09-01), Yuunaga
patent: 4350353 (1992-12-01), None
patent: 08004609 (1996-01-01), None

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