Internal-combustion engines – Charge forming device – Exhaust gas used with the combustible mixture
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-20
2001-11-06
Solis, Erick (Department: 3747)
Internal-combustion engines
Charge forming device
Exhaust gas used with the combustible mixture
C123S184610, C123S041310
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311678
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to elements of the air intake circuit of an internal combustion engine. The elements are placed so that they may communicate with the engine head to provide the cylinders of the engine with air. The elements are an intake splitter, a filter or a pipe which connects the splitter and the filter. This type of element of the air intake circuit, notably a splitter, generally include a body in a plastic material which defines an air intake chamber that features an entry for air and an exit communicating with the engine head.
The present invention also relates to heat exchangers which will be implemented within the air intake circuit of a combustion engine.
For reasons stemming from environmental protection, it is increasingly wished for exhaust gases to be recycled so that they may be re-introduced in the air intake cycle of the engine's combustion.
In order to re-introduce exhaust gases in the air intake cycle, it is necessary to cool those, firstly for performance reasons, as the performance of a combustion engine increases as the air taken in gets colder. Secondly, exhaust gases which are too hot may not be reintroduced in the elements of the air intake as these elements are in a plastic material which may be damaged by the high temperatures of the exhaust gases.
A heat exchanger, able to cool exhaust gases down to an acceptable temperature for the entry into the element of the air intake, is therefore implemented along the line of derivation of the exhaust gases in the direction of the air intake element.
The fitting of such a solution is complicated as the pipe for the intake of exhaust gases must be connected to both ends of the heat exchanger. The connections are so complicated that on the one hand, the rejection levels during manufacturing are very high (especially in the case of welding) and, on the other hand, the manufacturing costs are also high as both the labour costs (to manufacture the exchanger) and the fitting time (to fit the exchanger) are high.
An element of the intake section for an internal combustion engine according to the invention aims to remedy these limitations, notably an intake splitter. The intake splitter enables the recycling of exhaust gases but is easy to manufacture, both in terms of labour and of costs, as the number of connections to be made on the heat exchanger by welding is reduced. The element of the air intake for an internal combustion engine which is obtained is particularly efficient for the recycling of exhaust gases, without however damaging its integrity, notably in the case of intake splitters in a plastic material which have a tendency to deteriorate due to the fusion of the plastic material when subjected to the high temperature of exhaust gases.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an element of the air intake circuit for an internal combustion engine which includes a hollow body, at least part of which is in a plastic material and defines an air intake chamber with an entry for air and one or many exits that communicate with the head of the engine, notably an intake splitter is characterised in that
the body, part of which is at least in a plastic material and includes a wall, part of which is at least in a plastic material which defines an auxiliary chamber. The auxiliary chamber features a first opening towards the outside, a second opening that communicates with the intake chamber, a third opening that communicates with a canal which brings in coolant fluid and a fourth opening that communicates with a canal which takes coolant fluid out;
a metallic assembly, which forms the hot part of a heat exchanger to cool exhaust gases which come through the assembly by way of the coolant fluid is implemented in the auxiliary chamber. The exit of the assembly communicates with the second opening of the auxiliary chamber and the auxiliary chamber constitutes the frame of the heat exchanger; and
a first and second metallic assembly are implemented so as to divide the auxiliary chamber and therefore divides the frame into a first extremity compartment that communicates with the outside, a central compartment and a second extremity compartment. The central compartment communicates with the third and fourth openings so that the coolant fluid may flow from one to the other without however entering one of the extremity compartments. The first metallic element is implemented between the part of the assembly located in the first extremity compartment and at least part of the wall of the auxiliary chamber.
By implementing a second chamber which forms the frame of the heat exchanger, in regard of the metallic assembly which forms the hot part of a heat exchanger and by implementing metallic parts to protect the plastic material of the element of the air intake (notably an intake splitter) from the spot where the temperature of the exhaust gases in the exchanger is the highest, and therefore most likely to damage the plastic material, an element of the air intake is obtained which is in a plastic material within which a heat exchanger is integrated that allows for recycling of exhaust gases. The complex means of assembling pipes for the recycling of exhaust gases on both sides of the heat exchanger are therefore not required.
According to a preferred application of the invention, a locking mechanism, notably by latching, is implemented to fix the assembly to the element of the air intake circuit in its working position within the auxiliary chamber. A good fixation and a good integration of the heat exchanger to the element of the air intake circuit is therefore ensured.
According to a preferred application of the invention, the second metallic element is also implemented between the assembly which forms the hot section located in the second extremity compartment and the wall of the auxiliary chamber or frame.
A complete separation of the hot part and the plastic material is therefore ensured as a metallic part separates the hot section from the wall in both of the extremity compartments, whereas the coolant fluid itself separates the hot assembly from the wall that forms the auxiliary chamber in the central compartment.
According to a preferred application of the invention, at least part of the first metallic element is located above the third opening of the auxiliary chamber.
The first metallic element is therefore directly in contact with the coldest part of the coolant fluid and is kept at a temperature as cold as possible by conduction over all its surface. This separates thermally the hottest part of the assembly from the wall in a plastic material in an efficient manner.
According to a preferred application of the invention, at least part of the second metallic element is located above the fourth opening of the auxiliary chamber. The second metallic element is therefore kept entirely cold by conduction in the same manner as the first metallic element by the third opening. This enables a good thermal separation between the hot part of the heat exchanger on the exit side and the wall that defines the auxiliary chamber.
According to an implementation of the invention, the auxiliary chamber has a cylindrical shape. The heat exchanger is cylindrical and constitutes a first and a second funnel between which an array of pipes extend. The two metallic elements take the form of a cylindrical bell constituting of two rings implemented side by side, having a different radius from one another and linked to one another by a step or lip. The ring with the smallest radius is located underneath the third opening, whereas the ring with the largest radius adjusts tightly to the cylindrically-circular wall of the auxiliary chamber.
According to a preferred application of the invention, a waterproof seal, notably a circular seal in the case of a cylindrical heat exchanger, is implemented between the first metallic element and the wall.
Similarly, according to a second aspect of the preferred invention, a waterproof seal is also implemented between th
Solis Erick
Westaflex-Automobile
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