Acoustics – Sound-modifying means – Muffler – fluid conducting type
Patent
1993-07-02
1994-07-26
Gellner, Michael L.
Acoustics
Sound-modifying means
Muffler, fluid conducting type
181252, 181264, 181282, F01N 718
Patent
active
053328736
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a motor vehicle muffler comprising an exhaust conduit extending, surrounded by filler material, inside a housing, said housing comprising two half shells.
In recent years, greater demands have been placed on motor vehicles, especially passenger cars, as regards aerodynamic design of the body and undercarriage- Among other things, this has meant that greater attention has been paid to eliminating protruding components with high air resistance on the underside of the vehicle. As a result of this development, present day motor vehicle mufflers tend to have a flat design. Furthermore, the available space for a muffler is usually limited, which means that the muffler must be adapted to said limited space in order to increase the effective volume.
Such flat mufflers are known, for example, by GB-A-2 097 857, DE-C2-3 238 638, and EP-A1-0 337 877. As is evident from these specifications, the known mufflers are of relatively complicated design with many different components. The assembly thereof will thus also encompass many steps, and is therefore time-consuming and expensive.
The present invention is intended to provide a flat muffler using a minimum of materials and with a simpler design than the previously known mufflers, which is easy to manufacture, permits uncomplicated and rapid assembly of the components in the muffler, and which only introduces a minimum of heat stress in the design.
This goal is achieved according to the invention with a muffler of the type described by way of introduction, which is characterized in that the two ends of the exhaust conduit are securely joined to the housing and that the exhaust conduit in the interior of the housing is only in contact with the filler material of the housing. Assembly of such a muffler involves, in addition to filling in the filler material, only placing the exhaust conduit in one of the half shells, whereafter the other half shell is placed thereon and is joined to the first half shell. The joint between the ends of the exhaust conduit and the housing can be effected either when the exhaust conduit is laid in one of the half shells or when the half shells are Joined to each other. Assembly of a muffler according to the invention thus involves few steps and can be done quickly and simply. By virtue of the fact that the exhaust conduit inside the housing only makes contact with the filler material, no heat stresses will be introduced in the interior of the housing.
In a preferred embodiment of the muffler according to the invention, in which the half shells have a length and width which is greater than their depths, there is at least one means extending vertically between the half shells without touching the exhaust conduit, said means being securely joined to the bottoms of the half shells. This essentially prevents the bottoms of the half shells, when the muffler is in use, from being caused to oscillate like a diaphragm and thus creating noise.
Preferred embodiments for such means are disclosed in the subclaims.
One preferred embodiment of a muffler according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
FIG. 1 shows a side view of a muffler according to the invention,
FIG. 2 shows a view from above of the muffler in FIG. 1 with a major portion of the upper half shell removed,
FIG. 3 shows a section along the lines III--III in FIG. 2, and
FIGS. 4 and 5 show the lower half shell of the muffler in FIG. 1 in a view from the rear and a view from the side.
The muffler shown in the Figures comprises a housing made up of an upper half shell 1 and a lower half shell 2, which are joined to each other by means of a folded seam 3. The folded seam 3 is shown in detail in FIG. 3. Both the length and width of each of the half shells 1, 2 are preferably greater than twice the depth thereof.
An exhaust conduit or convoluted pipe 4 extends through the housing, and its ends 5, 6 are disposed at opposite longitudinal sides of the housing. The convoluted pipe 4 consists of two U-shaped pipe se
REFERENCES:
patent: 4132286 (1979-01-01), Hasui et al.
patent: 4700806 (1987-10-01), Harwood
patent: 4834214 (1989-05-01), Feuling
Bergquist Karl
Kullander Urban
AB Volvo
Dang Khanh
Gellner Michael L.
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