Internal-combustion engines – Charge forming device – Supercharger
Patent
1994-07-01
1995-07-25
Koczo, Michael
Internal-combustion engines
Charge forming device
Supercharger
F02B 2904
Patent
active
054352894
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
This invention relates to an intercooler apparatus for a supercharged internal combustion engine.
It will be appreciated that in charging air for use in an internal combustion engine, the air becomes compressed and therefore is heated.
Intercoolers are known which cool charged air prior to the charged air entering the combustion chamber of the engine, thus to improve the efficiency of the engine.
Arrangements are known for example from U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,727 in which the charged air for an internal combustion engine of a vehicle is cooled by the action of air at ambient temperature passing a heat exchanger thereof, either as the vehicle moves, or due to the action of a fan. With such an arrangement, the charged air cannot be cooled below the ambient air temperature.
Arrangements are also known, for example from Japanese patent application JP 61037523 in which refrigerant is circulated both to an air conditioning unit and to an air intercooler to cool charged air. This requires an unduly long refrigerant circuit and complicated control mechanisms.
According to one aspect of the invention we provide an intercooler apparatus for a supercharged internal combustion engine comprising a heat exchanger through which charged air for combustion passes prior to entry into a combustion chamber of the engine, and means to provide to the heat exchanger, coolant comprising air cooled to a temperature below ambient temperature which removes heat from the charged air.
The cooled air may be cooled by a refrigeration unit which may be driven from the engine.
For economic reasons, the refrigeration unit preferably is not dedicated solely to the intercooler apparatus, but rather preferably the refrigeration unit is operable otherwise to provide cooling.
For example the internal combustion engine may be controlled from an operator'cab and the refrigeration unit may be operable in addition to providing coolant air to the heat exchanger of the intercooler apparatus, to provide cooled air for the operator's cab.
The cooled air for the intercooler apparatus may be bled from a cooled air feed between the refrigeration unit and the operator's cab or vice versa.
Preferably though the refrigeration unit has a first cooled air outlet connected to the operator's cab and a second cooled air outlet which is connected to the heat exchanger of the intercooler apparatus.
In each case, preferably a control means is provided which is capable of providing for a proportion of, or even all of the air cooled by the refrigeration unit to be fed to the intercooler apparatus.
According to a second aspect of the invention we provide a system comprising an internal combustion engine, a supercharger for charging combustion air for the internal combustion engine, and an intercooler apparatus, the intercooler apparatus comprising a heat exchanger through which charged air for combustion passes prior to entry into the combustion chamber of the engine, a refrigeration unit for providing to the heat exchanger of the intercooler apparatus coolant comprising air cooled to a temperature below ambient temperature, thereby to remove heat from the charged air.
The system may comprise part of a machine such as an excavator and/or loader or crane wherein the engine is operable to provide power for digging and/or loading and/or lifting operations. Alternatively or additionally, the system may comprise part of a vehicle such as a tractor having wheels or tracks or other ground-engaging drive means driven from the engine.
In each case, the refrigeration unit may be operative to provide further cooling for example to cool air for an operator's cab of the machine/vehicle from which the internal combustion engine is controlled.
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a side illustrative view of a digging/excavating machine in accordance with the invention,
FIG. 2 is an illustrative view of a first embodiment of an intercooler apparatus in accordance with the invention,
Referring to FIG.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3306032 (1967-02-01), Chaffiotte
patent: 4237689 (1980-12-01), Sampietro
patent: 4683725 (1987-08-01), Sugiura
Pendlebury Robert M.
Shirman Henry N.
J. C. Bamford Excavators Limited
Koczo Michael
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