JP3123326B2 - Radiator shroud - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a radiator shroud mounted on the back of a radiator in order to increase the cooling efficiency of the radiator by a cooling fan.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of shroud, in addition to an opening for a cooling fan, an opening that can be opened and closed by a retractable flapper is provided, and the flapper is tilted rearward of the vehicle by running wind during high-speed running. There is one in which the opening area of the shroud is increased to increase the cooling capacity in accordance with the increase in the engine load during high-speed running (for example, see JP-A-60-98119 and JP-A-60-19724).

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional example,
Although the flapper opened reliably at high speeds, the suction pressure of the cooling fan during idling did not completely close the flapper. If the flapper is open during idling, the warm air in the engine room flows back into the shroud from the flapper opening due to the suction pressure of the cooling fan, and the cooling capacity required during idling cannot be secured. For this reason, the conventional device required some additional measures to improve the cooling capacity, such as adding an auxiliary electric fan.

Here, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Sho 62-176021
As in the case of the shroud described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-209, if the amount of radial clearance between the fan guard and the cooling fan that surrounds the cooling fan from the outer circumference (see the S dimension in FIG. 6, hereinafter, referred to as chip clearance) is set, the cooling is performed. The efficiency of the fan is improved, and the cooling capacity during idling is also improved. However, when the chip clearance is reduced, the cooling fan and the fan guard may interfere with each other due to the large swing of the engine under a high load.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive radiator shroud which has a simple structure and can always secure an appropriate cooling capacity irrespective of a change in engine load.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1 showing an embodiment, a radiator shroud according to the present invention has a fan opening 10 and a flapper opening 11 formed in a portion 1a facing a radiator R. Shroud body 1
A fan guard 2 arranged on the peripheral edge of the fan opening 10 so as to be able to expand and contract in the radial direction, a flapper valve 3 capable of opening and closing the flapper opening 11, and a change in engine intake pressure guided inside. Telescopic actuator 4
The operation of the actuator 4 and the operation of the fan guard 2 and the flapper valve 3 are linked so that the fan guard 2 expands in diameter and the flapper valve 3 moves in a direction to open the flapper opening 11 due to an increase in the engine intake pressure. The object described above is achieved by providing the linkage mechanism 5 and the urging means 2, 4, 31 for urging the fan guard 2 and the flapper valve 3 in the direction opposite to the operation direction when the engine intake pressure is increased. . When a supercharger C is mounted on a vehicle to which the radiator shroud of the present invention is applied, the supercharging pressure may be guided to the actuator 4.

[0007]

When the intake air pressure of the engine increases in accordance with the increase of the engine load, the actuator 4 expands or contracts.
In conjunction with this operation, the fan guard 2 expands in diameter and the flapper bubble 3 moves in a direction to open the flapper opening 11. Therefore, even if the chip clearance S (see FIG. 6) is set so that a sufficient cooling capacity can be obtained when the engine load is low, the cooling fan F and the fan guard 2 may interfere with each other due to the large swing of the engine at the time of high load. There is no danger. Also,
The running wind passing through the flapper opening 11 secures a cooling capacity appropriate for the engine load during high-speed running. When the engine load decreases, the fan guard 2 is reduced in diameter by the urging means 2, 4, 31 to increase the fan efficiency due to the decrease in the chip clearance S, and the flapper valve 3 moves in the closing direction to cause the flapper to close. Opening 11 is securely closed. When the supercharging pressure of the supercharger C is guided to the actuator 4, the driving force of the actuator 4 is increased, and the fan guard 2 and the flapper valve 3 can be more reliably operated.

[0008] In the means and means for solving the above-mentioned problems which explain the constitution of the present invention, the drawings of the embodiments are used to make the present invention easy to understand. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a radiator shroud of the present embodiment, where 1 is a shroud body,
2 is a fan guard, 3 is a flapper valve, 4 is an actuator, and 5 is a linking mechanism. The shroud main body 1 is formed of a resin material (for example, ABS resin) in a shape that can be in close contact with the rear side of the radiator R. Shroud body 1
A circular fan opening 10 for sucking air from the radiator R side by a cooling fan F inserted into the fan guard 2 is formed in a portion 1a facing the radiator R, and is separated from the fan opening 10. A rectangular flapper opening 11 is formed at the bent position. The cooling fan F is mounted on a rotating shaft of an engine (not shown) and is driven to rotate.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fan guard 2 is formed in a ring shape having a slit 20 by the same resin material as the shroud body 1. Three mounting claws 21 are integrally formed at the mounting end of the fan guard 2 to the shroud main body 1, and these mounting claws 21 are fitted into concave portions 100 and 101 formed on the peripheral edge of the fan opening 10, and the fan guard 2 is formed. Are supported by the shroud body 1. As shown in detail in FIGS.
Is provided on the outer peripheral side in the radial direction. The tip side of the folded portion 210 is the concave portion 10 described above.
The fan guard 2 is pushed into the center of the fan guard 2 in the radial direction (see FIG. 4), and the restoring force urges the fan guard 2 toward the center of the radial direction. A curved portion 211 is formed on the base end side of the mounting claw 21, and the bending and deformation of the curved portion 211 and the folded portion 210 causes the fan guard 2 to expand and contract in the radial direction as the slit 20 expands and contracts. I do.

A bent portion 212 is also formed on the folded portion 210 of the mounting claw 21. The curved portion 212 is engaged with the surface of the shroud main body 1 on the side opposite to the fan guard mounting surface to prevent the mounting claw 21 from coming out of the concave portions 100 and 101. The width of the concave portion 100 provided at a position separated by 90 ° in the circumferential direction from the position where the slit 20 is formed is set to be somewhat larger than the mounting claw 21 as shown in FIG. This is due to the fact that the diameter of the fan guard 2 is increased and decreased.
This is because the position of the mounting claw 21 that fits into the zero moves in the circumferential direction. On the other hand, the width of the concave portion 101 located on the opposite side to the slit 20 is set to prevent the mounting claw 21 from moving in the circumferential direction and prevent the fan guard 2 from rattling in the vertical direction in FIG. It is set substantially equal to the claw 21. A pair of through holes 213 and 214 are formed at opposite ends of the fan guard 2 across the slit 20.

As shown in FIG. 1, the flapper valve 3 opens the flapper opening 11 about the hinge 30 (solid line in the figure) and closes the flapper opening 11 (two-dot chain line in the figure). , And is urged in a direction to close the flapper opening 11 by a pair of coil springs 31 bridged between the shroud main body 1 and the coil spring 31. The flapper valve 3 may be integrally formed with the shroud main body 1 or may be manufactured separately from the shroud main body 1 and attached to the shroud main body 1 by the hinge portion 30.

The actuator 4 is made of an elastic material such as a soft resin in the shape of a hollow and airtight bellows. The actuator 4 is driven by a supercharging pressure introducing hose 6 according to the supercharging pressure of the engine supercharger C. It can be expanded and contracted in one direction (the vertical direction in FIG. 1). Hooks 50 are attached to both ends of the actuator 4 in the expansion and contraction direction, and these hooks 50 are hooked in through holes 213 and 214 (see FIG. 2) of the fan guard 2. FIG. 1 shows the actuator 4
Indicates a state where the elongation occurs.

The linking mechanism 5 links the expansion and contraction operation of the actuator 4 with the operation of the fan guard 2 and the flapper valve 3. The link 50 transmits the above-mentioned hook 50 and the operation of the fan guard 2 to the flapper valve 3.
And a wire 52. The link 51 is supported by a rotary clip 54 attached to the shroud main body 1 so as to be rotatable about an attachment shaft 54a. One end of the link 51 is hooked into a through hole 214 of the fan guard 2 and the other end is a wire 5.
It is connected to 2. The wire 52 is a pair of rollers 55
a, 55b guides the flapper valve 3 to the flapper valve 3 side, and is inserted into a rotary clip 56 rotatably mounted on the flapper valve 3 about a mounting shaft 56a. Fixed. Reference numeral 57 denotes a clip appropriately fixed to the shroud body 1 and the flapper valve 3 for holding the coil spring 31 and the wire 52.

In the radiator shroud having the above-described configuration, when the supercharging pressure of the supercharger C increases in response to an increase in the engine load accompanying high-speed running, the actuator 4 is extended by the pressure and the slit 20 of the fan guard 2 is extended. Are spread, the fan guard 2 expands in diameter, and the chip clearance S shown in FIG. 6 increases. Therefore, even if the engine swings greatly due to a high load, the cooling fan F and the fan guard 2
There is no risk of interference with In addition, due to the enlargement of the slit 20, the link 51 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 1 around the support point of the rotary clip 54, and the wire 52 is pulled upward. For this reason, the projection 32 of the flapper valve 3 connected to the wire 52 is pulled downward, and the force causes the flapper valve 3 to rotate to the position where the flapper opening 11 is opened as shown by the solid line in FIG. Thereby, the traveling wind during high-speed traveling passes not only through the fan opening 10 but also through the flapper opening 11, and the cooling capacity of the radiator R is increased.

On the other hand, when the engine load decreases, for example, during idling, the supercharging pressure of the supercharger C decreases, and the actuator 4 restores its own elongation and deformation to the direction in which the fan guard 2 expands. Is contracted by the restoring force against the deformation and the force of the coil spring 31 for urging the flapper valve 3 in the closing direction. Therefore, the slit 2 of the fan guard 2
As shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6, the diameter of the fan guard 2 is reduced, the chip clearance S is reduced, and the suction efficiency of the cooling fan F is improved. At the same time, the contraction of the slit 20 causes the link 51 to rotate clockwise in FIG. 1 around the support point of the rotary clip 54, so that the connection side of the link 51 with the wire 52 moves downward as indicated by the two-dot chain line in the figure. I do. Therefore, the force for holding the flapper valve 3 in the open position is lost, and the flapper valve 3 is rotated by the coil spring 31 to a position where the flapper opening 11 is completely closed (a two-dot chain line position in FIG. 1). Thereby, the flapper valve 3
The reduction of the cooling capacity due to the backflow of air from the air is reliably prevented.

As described above, in this embodiment, the tip clearance S is changed to be large at the time of high engine load and small at the time of low engine load by expanding and contracting the actuator 4 using the supercharging pressure of the supercharger C. Is reliably opened and closed according to the engine load, so that an appropriate cooling capacity is always ensured irrespective of changes in the engine load. Without using a control valve such as a solenoid valve to switch the operation of the actuator 4, the supercharging pressure to the engine is controlled by the actuator 4.
The structure is simple and can be realized at low cost.

The actuator 4 may be arranged on the flapper valve 3 side, and the operation may be transmitted to the fan guard 2 side by a link mechanism or the like. The actuator 4 disposed between the fan guard 2 and the flapper valve 3 may be connected to the fan guard 2 and the flapper valve 3 by a link mechanism or the like. The actuator 4 may be configured in the form of a pneumatic cylinder to perform a contracting operation by increasing the supercharging pressure of the supercharger C, and the fan guard 2 may be expanded in the radial direction by the contracting operation. The present invention is not limited to the vehicle equipped with the supercharger C, and the intake pressure of a naturally aspirated engine may be guided to the actuator 4.

In the above embodiment, the restoring force of the actuator 4 against the elongation deformation, the restoring force against the expansion of the fan guard 2 and the coil spring 31 constitute the urging means.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The fan guard is expanded by the displacement of the actuator due to the rise of the engine intake pressure, and the flapper valve is moved in the direction in which the flapper opening opens, thus preventing interference between the fan guard and the cooling fan at high engine load. The opening for the flapper can be reliably opened to ensure the cooling capacity corresponding to the high load of the engine. When the engine is under a low load, the tip clearance is reliably reduced by the urging means to improve the efficiency of the cooling fan, and the required cooling capacity can be secured without completely adding the auxiliary electric fan by closing the flapper opening. The above-described operation can be realized only by guiding the engine intake pressure to the actuator, and since switching of the operation of the actuator does not require a control means such as an electromagnetic valve, the structure is simple, reliable and inexpensive. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the driving force of the actuator can be increased to more reliably operate the fan guard and the flapper valve.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a shroud according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a mounting structure of the fan guard and the shroud main body of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a part III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a connection portion between the fan guard and the shroud main body in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a state where the connecting portion of FIG. 4 is viewed from a direction V in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a change in tip clearance in the shroud of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Shroud main body 1a Facing part of shroud main body with radiator 2 Fan guard 3 Flapper valve 4 Actuator 5 Linkage mechanism 10 Fan opening 11 Flapper opening C Turbocharger F Cooling fan R Radiator

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A shroud body having a fan opening and a flapper opening formed at a portion facing the radiator; a fan guard disposed along a peripheral edge of the fan opening so as to be radially expandable and contractible; A flapper valve that can open and close the flapper opening; an actuator that can expand and contract according to a change in the engine intake pressure guided into the inside; a fan guard that expands due to an increase in the engine intake pressure; A linking mechanism for linking the operation of the actuator with the operation of the fan guard and the flapper valve so as to move in a direction to open the opening for use, and the operation direction of the fan guard and the flapper valve when the engine intake pressure is increased. And a biasing means for biasing the radiator to the opposite side. De. 2. A radiator shroud according to claim 1, wherein a supercharging pressure of a supercharger mounted on a vehicle is guided to said actuator.