Heat exchange – Structural installation – Engine
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-19
2001-03-20
Flanigan, Allen (Department: 3743)
Heat exchange
Structural installation
Engine
C165S185000, C184S104300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06202736
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle transmission heat exchangers and more particularly pertains to a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler for enhancing the cooling of transmission fluid in a vehicle transmission, especially manual transmissions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of vehicle transmission heat exchangers is known in the prior art. More specifically, vehicle transmission heat exchangers heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,671; U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,999; U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,985; U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,926; U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,718; U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,760; U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,368; U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,036; U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,114; U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,129; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,439.
These devices require complex systems to circulate transmission fluid from a transmission to a heat exchanger of some sort and then back to the transmission. Most of these systems require a pump to move the fluid along the path. The pumps used have to be resistant to failure under high temperature conditions which causes such pumps to be expensive. The pathway between the transmission, pump and heat exchanger usually consists of costly high temperature hose that can resist high temperature as well as being highly durable due to the fact that the systems are mounted on the under side of the engines and thus are subject to impacts from debris from the road. The connections between components of such systems require a method of sealing that can withstand extreme temperature variations which can lead to leaks due to the inability of the seals to expand or contract as the need arises.
The vehicle transmission fluid cooler according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of enhancing the cooling of transmission fluid in a vehicle transmission.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of vehicle transmission heat exchangers now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler construction wherein the same can be utilized for cooling transmission fluid in a vehicle transmission.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the transmission heat exchangers mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art transmission heat exchangers, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a perimeter mounting flange for mounting to the housing of the transmission. The perimeter mounting flange defines a hole for fluidly communicating with the access opening of the transmission when said perimeter mounting flange is mounted to the transmission housing. A body portion has a bottom wall and a peripheral wall. The peripheral wall extends upward from a periphery of the bottom wall such that an interior surface of the peripheral wall defines an interior of said body portion. The perimeter wall has a terminal end opposite the bottom wall. The terminal end of the peripheral wall is united to the perimeter mounting flange about the hole such that the interior of the peripheral wall is aligned with the hole for permitting transmission fluid of a transmission on which the perimeter mounting flange is mounted to flow through the access hole and the mounting flange into the interior of the body portion. A plurality of fins extend outwardly from an exterior surface of the peripheral wall of the body portion such that the fins are in thermal communication with the exterior and interior surfaces of the peripheral wall for transferring thermal energy from the transmission fluid to air surrounding said fins.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the vehicle transmission heat exchangers mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art transmission heat exchangers, either alone or in any combination thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler which is of a durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such vehicle transmission fluid cooler economically available to the buying public.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler for enhancing the cooling of transmission fluid in a vehicle transmission.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new vehicle transmission fluid cooler which includes a perimeter moun
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