Motor vehicles – Power – With fuel supply for internal combustion engine
Utility Patent
1998-07-02
2001-01-02
Mai, Lanna (Department: 3619)
Motor vehicles
Power
With fuel supply for internal combustion engine
C123S19600W, C280S834000, C237S049000
Utility Patent
active
06167978
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to engine-powered vehicles that carry their own supplies of combustible fuel for their engines. The invention also relates to a new and useful association of a portion of a fluid system that handles a fluid other than engine fuel with a portion of an engine fuel system. Inventive principles are well-suited for various mobile and stationary uses. Mobile uses include land- and water-craft, while stationary uses include industrial engines that power various devices such as electric generators for example. Inventive principles are particularly advantageous in certain trucks, such as medium and heavy trucks.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An internal combustion engine that powers an automotive vehicle comprises a lubrication system that lubricates relatively moving surfaces within the engine. A lubricant commonly used in such a system is known as engine motor oil, which may bear an SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) grade designation indicating one or more physical characteristics, such as oil viscosity.
Certain internal combustion engines have self-contained lubrication systems that include deep-drawn oil pans disposed in underlying relation to their cylinder blocks to form engine crankcases. Such an oil pan provides a reservoir for motor oil that lubricates relatively moving internal engine surfaces requiring lubrication. A pump that is powered by the engine draws oil from the reservoir and forces it under pressure through a system of various internal oil passages to relatively moving surfaces requiring lubrication. Excess oil returns to the crankcase. It is in this way that the motor oil is circulated in a closed circuit to provide the required lubrication. The circuit typically includes a filter for removing contaminants, such as particulate materials, from the circulating oil, and may optionally include an oil cooler to enhance the rejection of heat from hot oil that has been heated as it passed through internal engine passages and across engine surfaces requiring lubrication. It is known to locate an oil cooler external to the engine where it can reject heat to air. It is also known to locate an oil cooler internal to a radiator header where it can reject heat to engine coolant being circulated through the radiator.
Because of various considerations, such as available engine compartment space and/or road and/or front axle clearance, the volume of oil that can be held in an oil pan may be limited. Engines that have smaller oil capacities may require more frequent oil changes than engines with larger ones. Visual inspection of oil fill level and certain servicing of the lubrication system may require opening of an engine compartment hood to obtain access to an oil fill and/or dip stick. Service procedures, such as draining old oil or changing a filter, may involve a person having to crawl under the vehicle either unaided or with the aid of a creeper, or the use of a ramp or hydraulic lift to elevate all on part of the vehicle off the ground.
A “dry sump” type lubrication system comprises an oil reservoir that is is external to a machine having relatively moving surfaces requiring lubrication. Oil is circulated in a closed circuit, being sucked by an oil pump from the reservoir through an oil supply conduit, then forced through tubes to the machine's various moving surfaces requiring lubrication, and finally returned to the reservoir through an oil return conduit. The circuit typically includes an oil filter.
If applied to certain automotive vehicles, a “dry sump” type lubrication system might provide certain advantages. It might allow a larger volume of oil in the lubrication system, and that consideration may provide certain benefits, a longer interval between oil changes being one example. Visual inspection of the amount of oil in the system may be more convenient. Servicing the system, including draining old oil, adding new oil, and changing the filter, may be easier and quicker.
Certain automotive vehicles, such as larger trucks for example, have fuel tanks that are chassis-mounted at a side of the vehicle below the driver's cab. Filling of such a tank can be made convenient by locating the fill of the tank to be accessible without the necessity of opening a fuel door to obtain access to a closure, or cap, that removably closes the fill.
It is believed that integrating an engine lubricating oil reservoir with a fuel tank in an engine-powered vehicle may provide certain benefits and/or economies in the manufacture and/or use of certain vehicle models.
Engine motor oil may also be used as a type of hydraulic actuating fluid that is used by hydraulic actuators. Certain electric-controlled high-pressure fuel injectors for internal combustion engines have hydraulic actuators that utilize hydraulic actuating fluid to inject fuel directly into engine combustion chambers. The present invention also has application to integration of a hydraulic actuating fluid reservoir with a fuel tank.
In one general respect, the present invention relates to an automotive vehicle engine oil supply system that has a novel, and advantageous, association with a portion of the vehicle's fuel system, particularly integration with a vehicle fuel tank. An internal wall partitions the interior of a tank into a fuel supply reservoir for holding a supply of fuel that is to be consumed by the engine and an oil supply reservoir for holding a supply of oil that can be used as engine lubricant and/or hydraulic actuating fluid. Fuel is supplied from the fuel supply reservoir to the engine through a fuel supply conduit. Oil is supplied from the oil supply reservoir to a portion of the vehicle powertrain through an oil supply conduit. Excess oil is returned to the oil reservoir through an oil return conduit. In returning to its reservoir, oil may flow through a filter that is external both to the tank and to the fuel supply reservoir. If the fuel system requires a return for excess fuel, the excess fuel is returned to the fuel supply reservoir through a fuel return conduit.
In vehicles like the larger trucks mentioned earlier, such an association can make checking the amount of oil in the system more convenient because the oil supply reservoir is disposed proximately adjacent the fuel supply reservoir. Service procedures like those previously mentioned can also be accomplished faster and more conveniently.
Accordingly, one generic aspect of the present invention relates to an automotive vehicle comprising: a chassis comprising a powertrain, including a driven member for supporting the chassis on an underlying surface and an engine that has a fuel delivery system for introducing combustible fuel into one or more combustion chambers of the engine for combustion to power the engine and cause the driven member to propel the vehicle on the underlying surface; a walled tank that bounds an interior volume; a partition partitioning the interior volume of the tank into a fuel supply reservoir that is bounded in part by one portion of the tank wall and a second reservoir that is bounded in part by another portion of the tank wall; a supply conduit through which fuel is supplied from the fuel supply reservoir to the engine fuel delivery system; and a circuit for circulating a fluid other than engine fuel from the second reservoir to a portion of the powertrain and back to the second reservoir.
A further generic aspect relates to an automotive vehicle comprising: a chassis having opposite sides extending between a front and a rear; a cab disposed on the chassis; a powertrain, including a driven member for supporting the chassis on an underlying surface and an engine that is disposed on the chassis and has a fuel delivery system through which combustible fuel is introduced into one or more combustion chambers of the engine for combustion to power the engine and cause the driven member to propel the vehicle on the underlying surface; a fuel supply reservoir and a second reservoir disposed on the chassis below the cab at one of the sides of the chassis; a
Calfa Jeffrey P.
Mai Lanna
Navistar International Transportation Corp
Sullivan Dennis K.
To Toan
LandOfFree
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