JP7604902B2 - Cooling system - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a cooling device for an electricity storage device mounted on a vehicle.

Conventionally, vehicles equipped with a power storage device and a cooling device for cooling the power storage device are known. For example, JP 2017-77787 A (Patent Document 1) discloses such a vehicle equipped with an air conditioner for conditioning the air in the vehicle cabin, a battery unit, a cooling fan for drawing in air that has passed through the air conditioner and sending it to the battery unit, and an intake duct connected to the intake port of the cooling fan and directing the air that has passed through the air conditioner to the cooling fan. The intake port of the cooling fan opens facing diagonally upward, and the lowest position of the intake port is located above the bottom surface of the duct flow path of the intake duct.

JP 2017-77787 A

The space in which the intake duct can be installed is limited by the vehicle frame and other components. Therefore, even in Patent Document 1, the intake duct cannot be lowered to a position low enough relative to the intake port of the cooling fan. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, when a large amount of water flows into the intake duct, there is a risk that the water will seep into the cooling fan.

The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above problems, and its purpose is to provide a cooling device that can prevent water from entering the blower.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the cooling device includes a duct having an air intake port, and a blower for drawing in air from the air intake port and blowing the air through the duct toward the power storage device. The duct is located above the blower and includes an upper path in which an air flow path is formed. The bottom of the flow path in the upper path is located higher than the air intake port.

According to the above disclosure, since the bottom of the flow path is located higher than the duct intake, water entering through the intake does not reach the bottom. Therefore, according to the above disclosure, water entering through the intake can be prevented from entering the blower.

FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1 . 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating another cooling device having a discharge port facing in a different direction.

Below, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same components are given the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed descriptions thereof will not be repeated. In addition, in the embodiments described below, when numbers, amounts, etc. are mentioned, the scope of the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to those numbers, amounts, etc., unless otherwise specified.

The cooling device of this embodiment is mounted on a vehicle equipped with a power storage device. Specifically, the cooling device of this embodiment is mounted on a vehicle such as a hybrid vehicle that can run using at least one of the power of a motor and an engine, or an electric vehicle that runs using driving force obtained from electrical energy.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the cooling device 1. Referring to Figure 1, the cooling device 1 includes a duct 10 and a blower 20. The duct 10 is connected to the blower 20. The duct 10 is located upstream of the blower 20.

The duct 10 includes a main body 11 and a cushioning material 12 attached to the main body 11. The main body 11 has an upstream path 111, a midstream path (upper path) 112, and a downstream path 113. Each of the paths 111-113 has an inner wall 180. In each of the paths 111-113, air flows through an internal space (i.e., a flow path) defined by the inner wall 180.

The upstream path 111 has an intake port 114. The cushioning material 12 is attached so as to surround the periphery of the intake port 114.

The blower 20 has a fan (not shown) and a fan motor (not shown) for driving the fan. The blower 20 draws in air from the intake port 114 of the duct 10, and blows the drawn air through the duct 10 toward the power storage device.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the cooling device 1 mounted on the vehicle 100.

Referring to FIG. 2, the vehicle 100 includes a floor panel 90, an interior trim 80, and a cooling device 1. The cooling device 1 is typically installed under a seat (not shown).

The interior trim 80 has an opening 81. The opening 81 typically has a plurality of slit-shaped openings arranged side by side in the horizontal direction. The interior trim 80 is provided on the upper part of the floor panel 90. At least a portion of the interior trim 80 is installed under a seat (not shown). The opening 81 is provided under the seat. The opening 81 is formed above the floor panel 90.

The blower 20 has an intake port 21 and an exhaust port 22. The blower 20 draws in air from the intake port 21. The blower 20 exhausts air from the exhaust port 22. The exhaust port 22 is provided parallel to the intake port 21. The exhaust port 22 is provided on the opposite side of the fan in the blower 20 from the intake port 21. The duct 10 has an exhaust port 115 at the end opposite the intake port 114. The intake port 114 and the exhaust port 115 are approximately parallel to each other.

The exhaust port 115 of the duct 10 is connected to the intake port 21 of the blower. The main body 11 of the duct 10 is connected to the rear surface (the side opposite the passenger compartment) of the interior trim 80 via the cushioning material 12. The intake port 114 of the duct 10 faces the opening 81 of the interior trim 80. This allows communication between the inside of the duct 10 and the passenger compartment.

The upstream passage 111 of the duct 10 has an air flow path 201 formed inside. In the upstream passage 111, a part of the bottom of the inner wall 180 is inclined obliquely upward so that the air entering from the air intake 114 flows from the bottom to the top.

The midstream path 112 is located above the blower 20. The midstream path 112 has an air flow path 202 formed therein. The bottom 190 of the flow path 202 in the midstream path 112 is located higher than the intake port 114 of the duct 10. The inner wall 180 of the duct 10 that defines the bottom 190 of the flow path 202 is located higher than the intake port 114 of the duct 10. The example of FIG. 2 shows a state in which the inner wall 180 of the duct 10 that defines the bottom 190 of the flow path 202 is higher by a distance D than the top of the intake port 114. In this example, the inner wall 180 of the duct 10 that defines the bottom 190 of the flow path 202 is a horizontal surface.

The downstream path 113 has an air flow path 203 formed therein. In the downstream path 113, the flow path 203 is formed so that the direction of the air flow near the exhaust port 115 is opposite to the direction of the air flow in the midstream path 112. In detail, the duct 10 is bent downward by approximately 90° on the upstream side of the downstream path 113 (midstream path 112 side). In addition, the duct 10 is bent by approximately 90° toward the blower 20 side on the downstream side of the downstream path 113 (blower 20 side).

As described above, the blower 20 draws in air through the intake port 21 connected to the exhaust port 115 and expels the drawn-in air from the exhaust port 22. A duct (not shown) is connected to the exhaust port 22, and air is sent to the electricity storage device through the duct. This allows the electricity storage device to be cooled by the air in the vehicle cabin.

As described above, the cooling device 1 includes a duct 10 having an intake port 114, and a blower 20 for drawing in air from the intake port 114 and blowing the air through the duct 10 toward the power storage device. The duct 10 is located above the blower 20 and includes a midstream path 112 having an air flow path 202 formed therein. The bottom 190 of the flow path 202 in the midstream path 112 is located higher than the intake port 114.

With this configuration, the bottom 190 of the flow path 202 is located higher than the intake port 114 of the duct 10, so water that has entered through the intake port 114 does not reach the bottom 190. Even if a large amount of water flows into the duct 10 from inside the vehicle cabin, the difference in elevation between the bottom 190 and the intake port 114 prevents the water from flowing beyond the midstream path 112 (downstream).

Therefore, the cooling device 1 can prevent water that has entered through the air intake 114 from entering the blower 20. This also makes it possible to prevent water that has entered through the air intake 114 from entering the power storage device via the blower 20.

In addition, since the midstream side path 112 of the duct 10 is located above the blower 20, the midstream side path 112 serves as a cover for the blower 20. Therefore, the cooling device 1 can prevent water from splashing on the blower 20 from above. As shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable that the midstream side path 112 is located directly above the blower 20.

(Modification)
(1) In the above, an example has been described in which the intake port 21 of the blower 20 is directly connected to the exhaust port 115 of the duct 10, but the present invention is not limited to this. The exhaust port 115 of the duct 10 may be connected to an intake port (not shown) of the power storage device, and the exhaust port (not shown) of the power storage device may be connected to the intake port 21 of the blower 20. In other words, the air in the vehicle cabin may flow in the order of the duct 10, the power storage device, and the blower by the suction force of the air by the blower 20.

(2) The opening 81 of the interior trim 80 may be located lower than the bottom of the intake port 21 of the blower 20.

(3) In the above, an example was described in which the direction of the outlet 22 of the blower 20 is the negative direction in the Y-axis direction. More specifically, an example was described in which the direction of the outlet 22 and the direction of the inlet 21 are parallel. However, the direction of the outlet 22 is not limited to this. Below, a cooling device having a duct 10 and in which the direction of the outlet 22 is different from that of the cooling device 1 will be described.

Figure 3 is a diagram for explaining cooling device 1A in which the orientation of the outlet 22 is different from that of cooling device 1. Referring to Figure 3, cooling device 1A includes a duct 10 and a blower 20A. The blower 20A and the power storage device 300, which is the object to be cooled by cooling device 1A, are arranged side by side in the X-axis direction. The power storage device 300 is installed in the negative direction of the X-axis when viewed from the position of the blower 20A.

The blower 20A draws in air from the intake port 114 of the duct 10, and blows the drawn air through the duct 10 toward the power storage device 300. The direction of the outlet 22 of the blower 20A is the negative direction of the X-axis. The outlet 22 of the blower 20A faces the power storage device 300. The direction of the outlet 22 is perpendicular to the direction of the intake port 21 (see FIG. 2). Even with the cooling device 1A having the outlet 22 oriented in this way, it is possible to obtain the same effect as the cooling device 1.

The direction of the outlet 22 of the blower 20A may be perpendicular to the direction of the intake 114 of the duct 10. In this case, the same effect as that of the cooling device 1 can be obtained.

The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims.

1, 1A cooling device, 10 duct, 11 main body, 12 cushioning material, 20, 20A blower, 21 intake port, 22 exhaust port, 80 interior trim, 81 opening, 90 floor panel, 100 vehicle, 111 upstream path, 112 midstream path, 113 downstream path, 114 intake port, 115 exhaust port, 180 inner wall, 190 bottom, 201, 202, 203 flow path, 300 power storage device.

Claims (1)

a duct having an intake port and an exhaust port ;
a blower having an intake port connected to the exhaust port and an exhaust port parallel to the intake port,
The blower blows air drawn into the duct from the intake port toward the power storage device from the exhaust port .
The duct is
a first path located directly above the blower and having an air flow path formed therein such that the direction of the air flow is a first horizontal direction ;
a second path located downstream of the first path and having an air flow path formed therein such that a direction of the air flow in the vicinity of the exhaust port is a second direction opposite to the first direction,
a bottom portion of the flow passage in the first path is located higher than the intake port,
The blower discharges the air from the outlet in the second direction,
The outlet is located directly below the duct .

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