JP3473099B2 - Coolant extraction device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coolant draining device for draining coolant from a radiator mounted on a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle engine, a coolant (ethylene glycol as a main component diluted with water) is used as engine cooling water, and this coolant is circulated to a radiator connected to a cooling water passage of the engine. However, since the performance of this coolant gradually deteriorates due to deterioration over time, it is necessary to replace the used coolant with a new coolant or regenerate the used coolant every predetermined running time. Becomes
Not only in the case of replacing the coolant, but also in the case of regenerating the coolant, it is necessary to remove the used coolant from the radiator.

In this case, conventionally, the used coolant has generally been discharged directly to the outside by opening a drain valve provided on the lower surface of the lower tank of the radiator. However, due to the increasing awareness of environmental protection in recent years, such used coolant is used. There is a direction to regulate the external discharge of the used coolant.Therefore, when draining the used coolant from the drain valve, a container is placed below the radiator to receive the used coolant from the radiator. However, the work was complicated, such as opening and closing the drain valve on the underside of the vehicle body.

Therefore, using a coolant regenerator,
Extract the used coolant from the water injection hole provided on the top of the radiator into the storage tank provided outside the engine,
Here, by adding additives etc. to regenerate it and then returning this regenerated coolant to the engine side,
A technique has been proposed in which used coolant is treated in the system without being discharged to the outside (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-296042).

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, the one disclosed in the above-mentioned patent publication is such that a tubular probe having a length reaching the bottom of the radiator is inserted into a water injection hole provided at the top of the radiator, and the probe is Since the used coolant is sucked and taken out sequentially from the bottom side of the radiator, it is necessary to previously have a structure in which the above-mentioned probe can be inserted on the radiator side, and there is a problem in versatility. In particular, it is difficult to apply to a down-flow type radiator having a structure in which a core plate for partitioning an upper tank and a radiator main body which is a heat exchanging portion is arranged horizontally just below a water injection hole.

Further, when returning the regenerated coolant that has been processed and regenerated in the storage tank to the engine side, instead of returning the regenerated coolant to the radiator side via the above-mentioned probe, a flow path provided separately from this is used. Since it is returned to the engine side, there is a problem that the piping structure becomes complicated.

Therefore, the present invention is to provide a coolant draining device which has a simpler structure and is capable of easily draining the coolant from the water injection hole of the radiator.

[0008]

In the present invention, the following constitution is adopted as a concrete means for solving such a problem. That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the upper tank having the water injection hole located at the upper portion and the lower tank located at the lower portion are provided by the plurality of heat transfer tubes provided with the radiation fins and arranged in the vertical direction. In a coolant extractor for extracting coolant from a communicating radiator, the coolant has a shape that can be inserted into the water injection hole, and its tip is airtightly joined to the end of the heat transfer tube on the upper tank side. The heat transfer tube is characterized by being provided with a withdrawal pipe forming a continuous water passage.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the coolant extracting device according to the first aspect, the used coolant is sucked and collected by the regeneration processing means by the suction means to regenerate it, and the regenerated coolant is stored. It is characterized in that it is provided with a coolant regenerator that is stored by means, and that the extraction pipe is connected to the regeneration processing means of the coolant regenerator.

According to a third invention of the present application, in the coolant extracting device according to the second invention, the storage means of the coolant regenerating device is connected to the extraction pipe, and the extraction pipe is connected to the extraction pipe. It is characterized in that a switching means that is selectively connected to the regeneration processing means and the storage means is provided.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the following actions and effects can be obtained by adopting such a configuration.

According to the coolant extracting device of the first invention of the present application, the radiator in which the upper tank and the lower tank having the water injection holes are connected by the plurality of heat transfer tubes arranged in the vertical direction. A withdrawal that has a shape that can be inserted into the water injection hole and that has its tip end airtightly joined to the end portion of the heat transfer tube on the upper tank side to form a water passage continuous with the heat transfer tube. Since the pipe is provided, the extraction pipe is inserted into the radiator from the water injection hole and attached to the end portion of the heat transfer tube, and suction force is applied to the extraction pipe in such a state, the heat transfer tube Are integrated with the extraction pipe to form one water passage, and the coolant in the lower tank is sequentially sucked from the lower end of the heat transfer tube and is withdrawn to the outside of the radiator. It will be.

That is, by making the heat transfer tube of the radiator function as a part of the coolant extraction pipe, the structure of the extraction pipe itself is simplified without the need for the tubular probe as in the above-mentioned known example, and the radiator side is also provided. High versatility is ensured because it is not necessary to separately provide an insertion portion for the probe.

According to the coolant extracting device of the second aspect of the present application, the used coolant is sucked and collected by the regeneration processing means by the suction means to regenerate it, and the regenerated coolant is stored in the storage means. Since the drain pipe is connected to the regeneration processing means of the coolant regenerator, the drain pipe is inserted from the water injection hole of the radiator and the tip portion thereof is a heat transfer tube. The coolant in the radiator is sequentially passed through the extraction pipe from the heat transfer tube to be attached to the end portion of the radiator, and the coolant recycling device is operated in this state to apply suction force by suction means to the extraction pipe. It is taken out by the regeneration processing means, regenerated by the regeneration processing means, and then stored in the storage means. Therefore, the draining of the coolant from the radiator is automatically performed, which greatly improves the workability of draining the coolant.

According to the coolant extracting device of the third invention of the present application, in addition to the configuration of the second invention,
Since the storage means of the coolant regenerator and the extraction pipe are connected to each other, the extraction pipe is provided with a switching means that selectively connects the extraction pipe to the regeneration processing means and the storage means. By connecting the extraction pipe to the regeneration processing means side by the switching means, the coolant of the radiator is drawn out to the regeneration processing means through the extraction pipe as described above, and is regenerated by the regeneration processing means to the storage means. Be stored. Thereafter, by connecting the extraction pipe to the storage means side by the switching means, the regenerated coolant stored in the storage means passes through the extraction pipe, and further through the heat transfer tube from the lower tank side into the radiator sequentially. Will be injected.
Therefore, both the draining of the coolant from the radiator and the re-filling of the regenerated coolant into the radiator are automatically and continuously performed, so that the coolant draining / re-filling work can be further simplified. Incidentally, when the airtightness of the extraction pipe and the heat transfer tube is released at the time of re-injection of the regenerated coolant, the regenerated coolant is introduced into the radiator upper tank side through the extraction pipe,
Since it is injected from the upper tank through the heat transfer tubes to the lower tank side, the re-injection work of the regenerated coolant becomes quicker and further workability can be expected.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The coolant extracting device of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A: First Embodiment FIG. 1 shows an entire system of a sampling device Z according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a radiator mounted on a vehicle 13 which will be described later. The reference numeral X indicates a coolant regenerator described later, and a drain pipe 15 described later is attached between the radiator 1 and the coolant regenerator X. Hereinafter, the structure and the like of each of these constituent members will be described.

Aa: Radiator 1 As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the radiator 1 is a well-known downflow type radiator, in which a lower tank 3 is provided at a lower portion of a radiator main body 2 and an upper tank 4 is provided at an upper portion thereof.
Are attached respectively. The radiator main body 2 includes a heat transfer tube 5 formed of a flat tube having an oval cross section, which extends across a lower core plate 7 and an upper core plate 8 which are arranged to face each other in the vertical direction at a predetermined interval. The lower end 5a and the upper end 5b are respectively arranged in a row at a predetermined interval in a state in which the lower tank 3 and the upper tank 4 are protruded toward the lower tank 3 and the upper tank 4 by a predetermined dimension, and the plurality of heat transfer tubes 5, 5 arranged in the row are arranged. , ..., and corrugated plate-shaped heat radiation fins 6, 6, ... are attached respectively. Further, a water injection hole 10 having a predetermined diameter is provided on the upper surface of the upper tank 4 near one end in the longitudinal direction, and the heat transfer tubes 5, 5 ,.
・ Of which, the other end 5 of the two specific heat transfer tubes 5 and 5
It is formed so as to be located immediately above b and 5b.

The mouth end of the water injection hole 10 is a mouthpiece portion 11 bent in an inverted U shape, and the mouthpiece portion 11 is provided with a breather mechanism when the radiator 1 is normally used. (Not shown) is detachably attached, but FIGS. 1 and 2 show a state in which the cap is removed and a holding member 19 described later is attached instead of the cap.

Ab: Extraction pipe 15 The extraction pipe 15 has one end 1 as shown in FIG.
A pipe body of a predetermined length is formed by using a metal hose only in a predetermined area on the 5a side and the other portion by a flexible hose, and one end 15a thereof is filled with water from the radiator 1 as described later. The other end 15b is connected to a switching valve 25, which will be described later, while being removably inserted and fixed in the hole 10.

That is, one end 15a of the extraction pipe 15
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, is an extraction port 16 that is enlarged and formed in a substantially rectangular tubular shape, and has a tip surface 16a of the extraction port 16 (that is, a tip surface of the extraction tube 15).
A sealing material 17 formed of an O-ring is attached to the rim along the shape of its rim. And this outlet 16
The rim shape of 2 can be inserted into the water injection hole 10 of the radiator 1, and is located immediately below the water injection hole 10 as shown by a projection line L in FIG. The size and shape are set so that the ends 5b, 5b of the heat transfer tubes 5, 5 can be included.

On the other hand, on the upper side of the extraction port 16 of the extraction pipe 15, a cap-shaped holding member 19 is always separated from the extraction port 16 by a spring 18 arranged between the extraction member 16 and the extraction port 16. It is installed in a biased state. The holding member 19 is shown in FIG.
As shown in, the water injection hole 10 can be detachably attached to the mouthpiece portion 11. Also, this holding member 1
The maximum amount of movement of 9 toward the side opposite to the extraction port 16 is the extraction pipe 1
It is designed to be regulated by a stopper 20 projecting from 5.

A-c: Coolant regenerator X In the coolant regenerator X, the used coolant taken out from the radiator 1 is treated with a regenerated ethylene glycol aqueous solution and impurities by a distillation method utilizing the vapor pressure difference of the coolant components. In the apparatus, the impurities are discharged as a residue, while the ethylene glycol aqueous solution is collected and mixed with an amount of an additive according to the concentration thereof to be reused as a recycled coolant. The basic technology is publicly known (“Automobile Technology” Vol. 47,
No. 11, 1993, “Development of Coolant Recycling Technology”), and its outline will be described here. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the coolant regenerator X is provided with a heater 32 and a heating tank 31 to which a used coolant recovery pipe 41 is connected, and steam generated in the heating tank 31 (steam and ethylene glycol steam). ) Leading communication tube 4
2. A cooler 34 provided in the middle of 2 to circulate a refrigerant by a refrigerant circulation pump 37, and a recovery tank 33 to which one end of the communication pipe 42 is connected and a decompression pump 36 is connected via an opening / closing valve 44. A residue tank 35 connected to the bottom of the heating tank 31 via an on-off valve 46,
It is composed of a regenerated coolant supply pipe 43 which is connected to the bottom of the recovery tank 33 via an on-off valve 45 and has a coolant supply pump 38 interposed therein. The upstream end of the used coolant recovery pipe 41 and the upstream end of the regenerated coolant supply pipe 43 are connected to the other end 15b of the extraction pipe 15 via the switching valve 25.

The operation of the coolant regenerator X will be outlined. First, the decompression pump 36 is operated to decompress the inside of the heating tank 31 and the suction force thereof causes the heating tank 3 to be depressurized.
Introduce a predetermined amount of used coolant into 1. When the used coolant introduced into the heating tank 31 is heated by the heater 32, of the components of the used coolant, first, water having the lowest vapor pressure is evaporated, and this water vapor is recovered from the communication pipe 42 to the recovery tank. While being discharged to the 33 side, it is cooled and condensed in the cooler 34, and is sequentially collected and stored in the recovery tank 33 as condensed water. When the heating by the heater 32 progresses and the evaporation of water ends, the liquid temperature in the heating tank 31 rises, and then ethylene glycol having a higher vapor pressure than water evaporates. This ethylene glycol vapor is cooled and condensed in the cooler 34 while being led out from the communication pipe 42 to the recovery tank 33 side, and is sequentially collected as the ethylene glycol liquid in the recovery tank 3 described above.
3 is collected and stored. When the completion of the evaporation of ethylene glycol is detected by the change in the liquid temperature in the heating tank 31, the heating by the heater 32 is stopped and the on-off valve 46 is opened to remove the impurities accumulated at the bottom of the heating tank 31. It is discharged to the residue tank 35 as. On the other hand, the recovered water and the recovered ethylene glycol solution, which are sequentially separated and recovered in the recovery tank 33, are mixed here to form an ethylene glycol aqueous solution having a predetermined concentration. Here, a regenerated coolant is generated by adding an additive according to its concentration to this ethylene glycol aqueous solution.

In this embodiment, the decompression pump 36 constitutes the suction means in the claims, and the heating tank 31 and the cooler 34 constitute the regeneration processing in the claims. The recovery tank 33 constitutes the storage means in the scope of the claims, and the switching valve 25 constitutes the switching means in the scope of the claims.

A-d: Operating method and operation etc. of the extracting device Z Next, the operating method and operation etc. of the extracting device Z having the above-mentioned structure are targeted for one vehicle, and the radiator 1 is used. An example will be described in which the coolant is extracted, regenerated, and regenerated coolant is returned to the radiator 1.

First, the vehicle 13 from which the coolant is to be removed is stopped at a predetermined position, and in this state, the cap of the radiator 1 of the vehicle 13 is removed to open the water injection hole 10.
Next, the extraction pipe 15 is taken out to the radiator 1 side, the extraction port 16 at the tip thereof is inserted into the radiator 1 through the water injection hole 10, and two pipes are opened inside the extraction port 16 immediately below the water injection hole 10. End surfaces 16a of the heat transfer tubes 5 and 5 with the end portions 5b and 5b being positioned.
The sealing member 17 of the above is brought into contact with the upper surface of the upper core plate 8, and the holding member 19 is attached to the base portion 1 of the water injection hole 10.
Fit to 1 and fix. In this state, since the sealing material 17 is pressed against the upper core plate 8 with a predetermined pressing force by the urging force of the spring 18, the upper core plate 8 and the extraction port 16 are reliably sealed. . Therefore, the two heat transfer tubes 5 and 5 connected to the extraction pipe 15 through the extraction port 16 are integrally connected to the extraction pipe 15,
In the lower tank 3 of the radiator 1, a series of water passages having an open end is formed.

Thereafter, the switching valve 25 is operated to connect the extraction pipe 15 to the used coolant recovery pipe 41 side of the coolant regenerator X, and in this state, the decompression pump 3 is connected.
6 is activated to depressurize the path from the recovery tank 33 to the heating tank 31 via the communication pipe 42. Then, the suction force acts on the extraction pipe 15 connected to the heating tank 31 via the used coolant recovery pipe 41, and the radiator 1
The used coolant in the inside is sequentially withdrawn from the lower tank 3 side to the heating tank 31 through the extraction pipe 15.

When the drainage of the used coolant from the radiator 1 is completed, the decompression pump 36 is stopped and the heater 32 is operated to heat the used coolant to separate water and ethylene glycol liquid from impurities as described above. It is collected and sequentially stored in the collection tank 33 as an aqueous solution of ethylene glycol having a predetermined concentration. still,
Since ethylene glycol has a high vapor pressure, during the distillation of ethylene glycol, the evaporation can be promoted by operating the decompression pump 36 to decompress the system.

When the separate collection of water and ethylene glycol from the used coolant is completed, and the regenerated coolant is produced by adding the additive according to the concentration to the ethylene glycol aqueous solution, the next operation is the switching valve 25. Is operated to connect the regenerated coolant supply pipe 43 to the extraction pipe 15 side, and in this state, the on-off valve 45 is opened and the coolant supply pump 38 is operated to extract the regenerated coolant stored in the recovery tank 33. It returns to the radiator 1 via 15 from the lower tank 3 side one by one. When the work of returning the regenerated coolant to the radiator 1 is completed, the extraction pipe 15 is removed from the radiator 1 side, and the water injection hole 1
Attach the cap to 0. This completes the coolant replacement work.

When the amount of cooling water is insufficient with only the regenerated coolant, it is needless to say that a predetermined amount of cooling water is injected by injecting a predetermined amount of fresh coolant and water.

Further, in the radiator 1, the size of the upper tank 4 differs depending on its capacity, and therefore the vertical gap between the upper end of the water injection hole 10 and the upper core plate 8 is different, but the difference in such gap is due to the expansion and contraction of the spring 18. Since it is absorbed by, it can be directly applied to a plurality of types of radiators having different intervals.

Thus, the extraction device Z of this embodiment
According to this, the extraction port 16 of the extraction pipe 15 connected to the coolant regenerator X side is connected to the water injection hole 10 of the radiator 1.
After that, only by inserting it into the inside of the radiator and fixing it, the work of replacing the coolant of the radiator 1 is automatically performed with the operation of the coolant regenerator X side. Therefore, since the used coolant is not discharged to the outside, there is no concern about environmental pollution. In addition, since it is not necessary to provide a long probe reaching the lower tank 3 on the suction side when draining the used coolant from the water injection hole 10 as in the above-mentioned known example, the structure of the draining device is simplified and the draining operation is facilitated. Can be achieved. Further, since the used coolant can be extracted only by operating the radiator 1 on the upper tank 4 side, a special probe insertion space is provided on the radiator side in order to reach the lower tank 3 side as in the above-mentioned known example. It is not necessary to form the radiator, and the range of applicable radiators is expanded accordingly, and high versatility is ensured.

In this embodiment, one vehicle 1
The used coolant is extracted from the radiator 1 of No. 3 and is regenerated to be returned to the radiator 1 of the vehicle 13 again. However, the present invention is not limited to this and, for example, a plurality of vehicles 13, 13 are used. It is also possible to regenerate the used coolant that has been sequentially withdrawn from each of the vehicles, ... At once, and then to return it again to each vehicle 13, 13 ,.

B: Second Embodiment FIGS. 4 and 5 show the structure of the extraction pipe 15 applied to the extraction device Z according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The extraction pipe 15 of this embodiment has the same basic structure as the extraction pipe 15 of the first embodiment, but the holding structure of the extraction pipe 15 is different from that of the first embodiment. That is, the extraction pipe 15 of this embodiment is formed in a cylindrical shape with an elastic material such as rubber at a position above the extraction port 16 at one end 15a of the extraction pipe 15 and has a plurality of ridges 22a, 22a on its outer peripheral surface. The elastic bush 22 provided with. The extraction port 16 is connected to the end portions 5a, 5 of the two heat transfer tubes 5, 5 of the radiator 1.
At the time of mounting to the a, by elastically inserting the elastic bush 22 into the water injection hole 10 of the radiator 1 while pressing the sealing material 17 against the upper surface of the upper core plate 8, the extraction pipe 15 is held and The sealing material 17 ensures the sealing property between the extraction port 16 and the upper core plate 8.
Therefore, since the mounting operation of the holding member 19 is not required as in the case of the first embodiment, the mounting operation of the extraction tube 15 is easy and quick.

The difference in the vertical gap between the upper surface of the water injection hole 10 and the upper core plate 8 due to the difference in the capacity of the radiator 1 means that the axial length of the elastic bush 22 is set to a large value in advance. Alternatively, the elastic bush 22 and the extraction pipe 15 are configured so that they can be moved relative to each other in the axial direction without being completely fixed, and the position of the elastic bush 22 is shifted in the axial direction of the extraction pipe 15 in accordance with the interval. Can be dealt with. However, in the latter case, it is necessary that the fitting state of the elastic bush 22 and the extraction tube 15 is such that the sealing material 17 is elastically fitted to the upper core plate 8 so as to ensure a proper pressing force. is there.

Further, in the case of this embodiment, the sealing material 17 and the upper core plate 8 can be easily separated by pulling the extraction pipe 15 upward so as to release the sealing property therebetween. Therefore, for example, at the time of returning the recycled coolant, by pulling the sampling pipe 15 slightly upward prior to the work, the recycled coolant introduced from the sampling pipe 15 is directly introduced to the upper tank 4 side. All heat transfer tubes 5 regardless of the specific two heat transfer tubes 5 and 5.
By using this to flow this to the lower tank 3 side, the time required to return the regenerated coolant can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall system diagram of a coolant extracting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view of a sampling pipe portion of the coolant sampling device shown in FIG.

3 is an exploded perspective view of the coolant extraction device shown in FIG. 2. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a structural explanatory view of the extraction pipe portion of the coolant extraction device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a view taken along the line VV of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a radiator, 2 is a radiator main body, 3 is a lower tank, 4 is an upper tank, 5 is a heat transfer tube, 6 is a radiating fin, 7 is a lower core plate, 8 is an upper core plate, 10 is a water injection hole, 11 is a mouthpiece part. , 13 are vehicles, 15
Is an extraction pipe, 16 is an extraction port, 17 is a sealing material, 1
8 is a spring, 19 is a holding member, 20 is a stopper,
22 is an elastic bush, 25 is a switching valve, 31 is a heating tank, 32 is a heater, 33 is a recovery tank, 34 is a cooler, 35 is a residue tank, 36 is a decompression pump, 37 is a refrigerant circulation pump, and 38 is a coolant supply pump. , 41 is a used coolant recovery pipe, 42 is a communication pipe, 43 is a regenerated coolant supply pipe, and 44 to 46 are open / close valves.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-178719 (JP, A) JP-A-5-296042 (JP, A) Actually open 61-187922 (JP, U) Actually open 63- 118329 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F01P 11/00-11/06

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A radiator in which an upper tank located at an upper part and provided with a water injection hole and a lower tank located at a lower part are connected by a plurality of heat transfer tubes provided with radiating fins and arranged in a vertical direction. A coolant draining device for draining the coolant from a pipe having a shape that can be inserted into the water injection hole, the tip of which is airtightly joined to the end of the heat transfer tube on the upper tank side. A coolant withdrawal device comprising a heat pipe and a withdrawal pipe forming a continuous water passage. 2. The coolant regeneration device according to claim 1, wherein the used coolant is sucked and collected by the suction processing means to the regeneration processing means to regenerate it and the regenerated coolant is stored in the storage means. At the same time, the coolant extraction device is characterized in that the extraction pipe is connected to the regeneration processing means of the coolant regeneration device. 3. The storage means of the coolant regenerator and the extraction pipe are connected to each other, and the extraction pipe is selected as the regeneration processing means and the storage means. A coolant withdrawing device, characterized in that the coolant withdrawing device is provided with a switching means for electrically connecting the coolant.