JP4853632B2 - Engine intake duct structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an intake duct structure for an engine mounted in an engine room of an automobile or the like.

  In vehicles such as automobiles, a radiator is disposed on the front surface in the engine room at the front of the vehicle body, a fan shroud for housing a radiator fan is attached to the rear surface of the radiator, and an engine and an air cleaner are disposed behind the fan shroud. Has been. A box-like intake duct having an intake opening that opens toward the front of the vehicle body is disposed above the radiator and the fan shroud, the intake duct and the air cleaner are connected by an inlet duct, and the rear of the intake duct An electrical component such as a battery is arranged in the battery.

  By the way, the inside of the engine room of such a vehicle is at high temperature due to hot air passing through the radiator, heat released from the exhaust system, or the like. In such a high-temperature engine room, a thermal load is applied to various electrical components such as a battery and an ECU (Engine Control Unit) installed here, and problems such as a reduction in the service life of these components occur.

  Therefore, conventionally, various electric components such as a battery are cooled by a traveling wind taken into the engine room when the vehicle is traveling. There is also known a method of cooling various electrical components by installing a duct and introducing outside air from the duct into the engine room.

  Further, as a method for cooling the battery, a storage box is communicated with a communication pipe in the middle of the air duct, the battery is stored in the storage box, and the outside air is stored by the negative intake pressure generated in the air duct by driving the engine. Patent Document 1 proposes a method for cooling the battery by introducing it into the above.

  On the other hand, in order to increase the charging efficiency of intake air and improve the output of the engine, it is necessary to avoid the heat in the engine room and to suck more outside air having a low temperature. For this reason, the intake port of the intake duct is opened forward in the front part of the vehicle body outside the engine room.

  However, if the intake port of the intake duct is opened toward the front of the vehicle body outside the engine room as described above, foreign matters such as snow and dust are sucked into the intake box together with the outside air, and these foreign matters cause the air cleaner to reach the air cleaner. Problems such as clogging occur.

Therefore, there is a configuration in which the intake port of the intake duct is opened toward the side of the vehicle body on the back of the headlight that does not directly capture the driving wind, so that foreign matter such as snow and dust is prevented from being sucked into the intake duct. This is proposed in Patent Document 2.
JP 2003-178814 A JP-A-8-058399

  However, in the method of cooling the electrical components such as the battery by the traveling wind taken into the engine room, the electrical components may not be sufficiently cooled by the traveling wind alone.

  Further, in the method of installing a duct and introducing outside air into the engine room from this duct to cool various electrical components, it is necessary to separately install the duct. Even in the battery cooling method described in Patent Document 1, the storage box In addition, there is a problem that cost increases cannot be avoided because it is necessary to install a separate communication pipe.

  On the other hand, the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 2, that is, by opening the intake port of the intake duct toward the side of the vehicle body on the back surface of the headlight, etc., so as to prevent inhalation of foreign matters such as snow into the intake duct. In this configuration, the intake duct's intake port is opened in a place where the driving wind is not directly taken in, so the intake resistance inevitably increases, and it is difficult to increase the intake amount and improve the engine output. .

  As another method, there is also known a method of installing a wind guide plate or the like, and separating foreign matter such as snow by this wind guide plate and sucking only air, but in this method, an intake duct or a wind guide plate is known. The limitation of layout and cost increase were problems.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the object of the process is to clog an air cleaner by removing foreign matters such as snow and sucking only air with a simple configuration without incurring an increase in cost. It is an object of the present invention to provide an intake duct structure for an engine that can prevent the occurrence of this problem and can effectively cool electrical components.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a radiator is disposed on the front surface in the engine room at the front of the vehicle body, and a fan shroud for housing a radiator fan is attached to the rear surface of the radiator. An engine and an air cleaner are disposed at the rear, and a box-shaped intake duct that is long in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body and has an intake port that opens toward the front of the vehicle body is disposed above the radiator and the fan shroud, and the intake duct and the air cleaner In the structure of an intake duct for an engine in a vehicle in which electrical components are arranged behind the intake duct, a connection port is formed on one side of the intake duct, and the inlet is connected to the inlet port. with connecting one end of the duct, the rear end of the upper wall of the intake duct from the vehicle body front-rear direction intermediate portion Headed diaphragm gradually, as an inclined wall which is inclined obliquely downward rear top wall toward the rear of the vehicle body, characterized in that the outlet to below the inclined wall was allowed opening directed to the electrical component.

According to a second aspect of the invention of claim 1 Symbol placement, the on both sides forward than the connecting port of the intake duct, characterized in that the formation of the secondary air port opening in the vehicle width direction.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the foreign matter such as snow sucked into the intake duct together with the outside air from the intake port collides with the inclined wall of the intake duct and falls, and together with a part of the outside air from the lower discharge port. The outside air that has been exhausted to the outside of the intake duct and separated and removed by foreign matter is introduced into the air cleaner through the inlet duct from the connection port that opens to one side of the intake duct. The occurrence of defects is reliably prevented. And since the low temperature outside air taken from the front of the engine room is sucked into the intake duct through the intake opening that opens toward the front of the vehicle body without resistance, more intake air is introduced into the engine to improve the charging efficiency. The engine output can be improved.

  In addition, the low temperature outside air exhausted from the exhaust duct outlet prevents the hot air that has passed through the radiator from flowing in the direction of the electrical components and effectively cools the electrical components. Protected to extend its life and ensure high operational stability.

  The above effects can be obtained by a simple configuration in which an inclined wall and a discharge port are simply provided in the intake duct, and it is not necessary to separately provide separate parts, so that the cost is not increased.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the auxiliary air intake opening that opens in the vehicle width direction is formed on both sides in front of the connection opening of the intake duct, so that the vehicle speed is low and the outside air from the intake opening into the intake duct is reduced. Even when the amount of suction is insufficient, the shortage can be compensated for by sucking outside air from the auxiliary intake port into the intake duct, and a reduction in engine output during low-speed traveling can be prevented.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an engine room portion of a vehicle front portion having an intake duct structure according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the engine room portion, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the engine room portion. FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show a state where the front bumper is removed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an upper member 1 having a U-shape in plan view is arranged at the upper part of the front end of the vehicle body as a frame structure of the front part of the vehicle. A pair of side members 3 extend in the vehicle body front-rear direction, and cross members 4 extending in the vehicle width direction are installed between the front end portions of the side members 3. The upper member 1 includes a hood lock member 1a at the center in the vehicle width direction that curves convexly toward the front of the vehicle body, and outward from the left and right sides of the hood lock member 1a toward the rear of the vehicle body (to the right in FIG. 1). And left and right lamp support members 1b extending obliquely.

  An engine room 8 is formed between the upper member 1 and left and right fenders 27 and a dash panel 28 described later (see FIGS. 1 and 3). Further, the upper member 1 and the front end portions of the pair of left and right side members 3 are connected to each other by a lamp support brace 5 shown in FIG. 3, and as shown in FIGS. A front bumper member 6 and a lower bumper member 7 which are long in the direction are arranged in parallel vertically. A resin grill integrated bumper 9 shown in FIG. 1 is attached to the front bumper member 6 and the lower bumper member 7.

  By the way, between the upper member 1 and the lower bumper member 7 on the front surface in the engine room 8, as shown in FIG. 1, a radiator 10 and a condenser 11 for an air conditioner are arranged at the front and rear. Here, the radiator 10 is disposed over the entire front surface in the engine room 8 in the vehicle width direction, and the capacitor 11 is attached to the right rear surface of the radiator 10. A condenser fan shroud 12 made of plastic is attached, and a radiator fan shroud 13 made of resin is attached to the left rear surface of the radiator 10.

  The condenser fan shroud 12 accommodates a condenser fan 14 that is rotatably disposed behind the condenser 11. The radiator fan shroud 13 is rotatably disposed on the left rear side of the radiator 10. A radiator fan 15 is accommodated (see FIG. 3). Here, the radiator fan shroud 13 extends from the condenser fan shroud 12 to the rear of the vehicle body so that the radiator fan shroud 13 protrudes more inside the engine room 8 than the condenser fan shroud 12 (see FIG. 1). ). In FIG. 1, 16 is a reserve tank for storing cooling water, and in FIGS. 1-3, 17 is a receiver tank for storing liquid refrigerant.

  By the way, a certain gap is formed between the upper end of the radiator 10 and the lower end of the upper member 1. As shown in FIG. 3, a radiator shroud 18 made of resin is attached to the upper surface of the radiator 10 so as to close the central portion of the opening of a radiator grill (not shown) that covers the front surface of the radiator 10.

In addition, a four-cycle four-cylinder engine 19 as a drive source is mounted in a horizontally placed state behind the condenser fan shroud 12 in the engine room 8 and to the right of the center in the vehicle width direction. an air cleaner 21 is disposed on the upper surface of the cylinder head cover 20.

  The air cleaner 21 is configured by accommodating an air cleaner element (not shown) in a rectangular air cleaner box 21a, and an outlet thereof is connected to an intake system such as a throttle body of the engine 19 (not shown). . The air cleaner box 21a is of a front and rear split type, and an air cleaner element is disposed inside the air cleaner box 21a along the rear surface of the cylinder head cover 20 of the engine 19. The air cleaner box 21a has a front portion and a rear portion that project back and forth from the cylinder head cover 20 of the engine 19 in a plan view, thereby increasing the capacity while keeping the height low. A space for protecting pedestrians is secured between the hood and a bonnet (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 1, a transmission 23 is connected to the left side of the engine 19 via a clutch 22 in a horizontally placed state, and the rotational power from the engine 19 passes through the clutch 22 and the transmission 23 to the left and right. 2 is transmitted to a front wheel 24 (only one is shown in FIG. 2), and the front wheel 24 is driven to cause the vehicle to travel at a predetermined speed. Here, the upper surface of the transition 23 is set lower than the upper surface of the engine 19. As shown in FIG. 1, the transmission 23 is disposed behind the radiator fan shroud 13, and the radiator fan shroud 13 and the transmission 23 overlap in the front-rear direction on the left side in the engine room 8 (front view). (Overlapping visually).

  As shown in FIG. 1, an exhaust manifold 25 is led out from the cylinder head of the engine 19 toward the front of the vehicle body behind the condenser shroud 12, and the exhaust manifold 25, as shown in FIG. It is bent at a substantially right angle downward and connected to the catalytic converter 26. Although not shown, the exhaust pipe extending from the catalytic converter 26 extends from the lower part of the vehicle body toward the rear of the vehicle body, and the rear end thereof is open to the atmosphere.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a fender 27 is connected to the outside of the left and right wheel aprons 2, and a wheel house (not shown) for storing the front wheels 24 is provided under each wheel apron 2. Is formed. And the strut tower 29 is formed in the dash panel 28 side of the upper surface of the right and left wheel apron 2, and the upper surface of the wheel apron 2 is formed with a space that is not easily deformed even when subjected to an impact from the outside. Note that the upper end of the front cushion 30 shown in FIG. 2 is connected to each strut tower 29, and the front wheel 24 is suspended from the vehicle body via the front cushion 30.

  Next, the configuration of the intake system for taking intake air into the engine 19 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the front-rear direction of the vehicle body is provided with an intake port 31a that opens toward the front of the vehicle body between the radiator 10 and the front bumper member 6 at the left front end in the engine room 8. A long box-shaped intake duct 31 is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the intake duct 31 is attached to the lamp support brace 5 (see FIG. 3) via a mounting bracket 32, and an intake port 31 a at the front end of the intake duct 31 is in front of the radiator 10. It opens toward the front (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

  As shown in FIG. 1, one end of the intake side of a bendable bellows-like inlet duct 33 is connected to the right side of the intake duct 31 and the inlet duct 33 is S-shaped in a plan view. The other end on the outlet side is connected to an inlet formed on the left side of the air cleaner box 21a of the air cleaner 21 so as to move rearward.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a battery 34 as an electrical component is disposed on the left side in the engine room 8 and behind the intake duct 31. On the right wheel apron 2, a relay box 35 that houses various relays as electrical components is disposed. In addition, a sub-relay box 36 that houses various relays that are electrical components is disposed in the lower front portion of the battery 34, and an ECU (Engine Control Unit) 37 that is an electrical component is attached to the right side of the battery 34. . The battery 34 is mounted on a battery tray 38 attached to the left side member 3 via mounting brackets (not shown) arranged at the front and rear, and as shown in FIG. Is disposed between the radiator 10 and the battery 34 so as to cross them.

  Here, the detailed configuration of the intake duct 31 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  4 is a perspective view of the intake duct 31 as viewed obliquely from below, and FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of the intake duct 31. A rectangular intake port 31a is opened toward the front of the vehicle body at the front end of the intake duct 31. ing. The intake duct 31 extends straight rearward from the intake port 31a, and then the middle portion bulges out. From the middle portion, the upper wall is gradually squeezed toward the rear end portion, and the rear end upper wall is rearward of the vehicle body. An inclined wall 31b that is inclined obliquely downward is formed.

  Further, a substantially semicircular discharge port 31c is formed on the lower surface of the rear end of the intake duct 31 and below the inclined wall 31b formed at the upper end of the rear end. As shown in FIG. The outlet 31c opens toward the electrical components such as the sub-relay box 36 and the battery 34.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a circular connection port 31d is formed at a position in front of the discharge port 31c on the right side of the intake duct 31, and the connection port 31d has an inlet side for the inlet duct 33. Are connected at one end.

  Next, the operation of the intake duct structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 is a plan view of the intake system showing the intake (outside air) intake path to the air cleaner 21, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the flow of cooling air in the engine room 8.

  When the vehicle driven by the engine 19 is traveling, outside air is taken into the intake duct 31 from the intake port 31a as indicated by an arrow in FIG. It is squeezed inside and flows toward the rear of the vehicle while increasing the flow velocity. Since the outside air flowing through the intake duct 31 collides with the inclined wall 31b formed at the upper rear end of the intake duct 31 to reduce the flow velocity, the snow sucked into the intake duct 31 together with the outside air from the intake port 31a. Are separated by the difference in specific gravity with the outside air and fall, and are discharged from the lower discharge port 31c to the outside of the intake duct 31 together with a part of the outside air. Then, the low temperature outside air from which the foreign matter has been separated and removed is introduced into the air cleaner 21 through the inlet duct 33 from the connection port 31d opened at the right side of the intake duct 31 as indicated by an arrow b in FIG. Therefore, the occurrence of problems such as clogging due to foreign matter in the air cleaner 21 is reliably prevented. In this case, since the intake port 31a of the intake duct 31 is open toward the front of the vehicle body in front of the radiator 10 as described above, outside air having a low temperature is sucked into the intake duct 31 without resistance from the intake port 31a. Since more intake air is introduced into the engine 19, the charging efficiency of the intake air is increased, thereby improving the output of the engine 19.

  Further, the low temperature outside air discharged from the discharge port 31c of the intake duct 31 flows in the direction of arrow a (rear side of the vehicle body) in FIG. 6 and passes through the radiator 10 and the condenser 11 indicated by the white arrow in FIG. The hot air is prevented from flowing in the direction of the electrical components such as the battery 34, and the electrical components such as the battery 34, the relay box 35, the sub-relay box 36, and the ECU 37 are effectively cooled. It is protected from damage, and its life extension and high operational stability are ensured.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, the sub-relay box 36 is disposed at the front lower portion of the battery 34, and the exhaust port 31c of the intake duct 31 is opened toward the sub-relay box 36, so that the air is discharged from the exhaust port 31c. The sub-relay box 36 can be effectively cooled by the outside air having a low temperature, and the sub-relay box 36 is protected from heat damage and its durability is improved.

  In the present embodiment, since the ECU 37 is attached to the left side surface of the battery 34, the ECU 37 can be effectively cooled by the low-temperature outside air discharged from the discharge port 31c of the intake duct 31. Durability and operational stability are improved.

  Furthermore, since the inlet duct 33 is disposed between the radiator 10 and the battery 34 so as to cross them, the flow of the hot air that has passed through the radiator 10 and the capacitor 11 toward the electrical components such as the battery 34 is blocked by the inlet duct 33. Then, heating of the electrical components such as the battery 34, the sub relay box 36, the relay box 35, and the ECU 37 by hot air is prevented, and the temperature rise is suppressed.

And the above effect is acquired by the simple structure which only provides the inclined wall 31b and the discharge port 31c in the intake duct 31, and since it is not necessary to provide another component separately, it does not cause a cost increase.

  By the way, since the radiator 10 is arrange | positioned in the forefront row in the engine room 8, in this radiator 10, heat exchange with the cooling water by running wind with a low temperature is made | formed efficiently. In particular, in the present embodiment, the radiator shroud 18 is attached to the upper surface of the radiator 10 so as to close the central portion of the opening of the radiator grill (not shown) that covers the front surface of the radiator 10 as described above. The traveling wind flowing into the engine room 8 from the opening of the grill is guided toward the front surface of the radiator 10 by the radiator shroud 18, and heat exchange with the traveling wind of the cooling water in the radiator 10 is further efficiently performed.

  In addition, the engine room 8 is cooled by the low-temperature running wind flowing into the engine room 8 through a gap formed between the upper surface of the radiator 10 and the lower surface of the upper member 1, but as described above, the upper surface of the engine 19 is cooled. Since the upper surface of the transition 23 is set lower than that of the engine 23, the traveling wind is likely to flow above the left side of the engine room 8.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  8 is a perspective view of an engine intake system showing an intake duct structure according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. In these drawings, the same elements as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted below.

  The present embodiment is characterized in that circular auxiliary intake ports 31e that open in the vehicle width direction are formed on both side portions in front of the connection port 31d of the intake duct 31, and the other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment. Is the same as that.

  Thus, in the present embodiment as well, since the intake duct 31 is provided with the inclined wall 31b and the discharge port 31c, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained, but in front of the connection port 31d of the intake duct 31. Since the auxiliary intake port 31e that opens in the vehicle width direction is formed on both sides of the vehicle, even if the vehicle speed is low and the intake amount of the outside air from the intake port 31a is insufficient, the shortage amount is reduced from the auxiliary intake port 31e. It is possible to compensate for this by sucking outside air, and it is possible to prevent a decrease in the output of the engine 19 when the vehicle runs at a low speed.

  On the other hand, when the vehicle is traveling at a high speed, the intake duct 31 can sufficiently receive traveling air (outside air) having a low temperature mainly from the intake port 31a, so that the charging efficiency of the engine 19 is increased and the output is improved. .

It is a top view of the engine room part of the vehicle front part provided with the intake duct structure which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a side view of the engine room part of the vehicle front part provided with the intake duct structure which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a front view of the engine room part of the vehicle front part provided with the intake duct structure which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the perspective view which looked at the intake duct from diagonally downward. It is a sectional side view of an intake duct. It is a top view of the engine intake system which shows the intake route to the air cleaner. It is a top view which shows the flow state of the cooling air in the engine room of the vehicle front part provided with the intake duct structure which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a perspective view of the engine intake system which shows the intake duct structure which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is an AA line expanded sectional view of FIG. It is a BB line expanded sectional view of Drawing 8.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper member 1a Hood lock member 1b Lamp support member 2 Wheel apron 3 Side member 4 Cross member 5 Lamp support brace 6 Front bumper member 7 Lower bumper member 8 Engine room 9 Integrated grille member 10 Radiator 11 Condenser 12 Condenser fan shroud 13 Radiator fan Shroud 14 Condenser fan 15 Radiator fan 16 Reservoir tank 17 Receiver tank 18 Radiator shroud 19 Engine 20 Cylinder head cover 21 Air cleaner 21a Air cleaner case 22 Clutch 23 Transmission 24 Front wheel 25 Exhaust manifold 26 Catalytic converter 27 Fender 28 Dash panel 29 Stroke power 30 Front cushion 1 intake duct 31a auxiliary air intake port 32 mounting bracket 33 inlet duct 34 Battery connection port 31e intake duct outlet 31d intake duct inclined walls 31c intake duct inlet 31b intake duct of the intake duct (electrical equipment)
35 Relay box (electrical equipment)
36 Sub-relay box (electrical equipment)
37 ECU (electrical components)
38 Battery tray

Claims (2)

A radiator is arranged on the front surface in the engine room at the front of the vehicle body, a fan shroud for housing the radiator fan is attached to the rear surface of the radiator, an engine and an air cleaner are arranged behind the fan shroud, and toward the front of the vehicle body A box-shaped air intake duct that is long in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body and has an air intake opening that is open is disposed above the radiator and the fan shroud, the air intake duct and the air cleaner are connected by an inlet duct, and electrical equipment is provided behind the air intake duct. In the intake duct structure of the engine in the vehicle that is arranged
A connection port is formed on one side of the intake duct, and one end of the inlet duct is connected to the connection port, and the upper wall of the intake duct is gradually throttled from the middle part in the vehicle longitudinal direction toward the rear end part, An intake duct structure for an engine, wherein the rear end upper wall is an inclined wall inclined obliquely downward toward the rear of the vehicle body, and a discharge port is opened below the inclined wall to face the electrical component. Intake duct structure of the on both sides forward than the connecting port of the intake duct, according to claim 1 Symbol placement engine, characterized in that the formation of the secondary air port opening in the vehicle width direction.

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