Patent Application
20120291749
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to fluid handling devices.
2. Description of Related Art
A standard air intake works by sucking warm air into the engine, which it can then use to oxygenate the gas inside of it. Of course, this is done to cause an ignition, providing the power the engine needs to run. Common air intakes may be fairly long, with several twists or chambers to help stifle their loud sound. While a quieter engine is probably ideal for most people, others are not satisfied with stock air intakes, most of which do not take full advantage of a vehicle's potential horsepower.
According to one embodiment, an air inlet system of an engine includes a throttle, a fan frame: a fan, a valve, a motor, and a throttle sensor. The fan frame has a hole and the hole is exposed toward outside of the air inlet system. The fan is connected to the throttle and mounted into the fan frame behind the hole. The valve is mounted to the hole. The motor can drive the fan to force air into at least one intake manifold of the engine through the throttle and can drive the valve open. The throttle sensor can control the rotational speed of the fan according to the motion of a throttle pedal.
According to another embodiment, an air inlet system of an engine includes a throttle, a fan frame, a fan, a valve, a motor, and a throttle sensor. The throttle includes a throttle body, a throttle plate, and at least one throttle linkage. The throttle plate is housed in the throttle body. The throttle linkage connects the throttle plate to a throttle cable. The fan frame has a hole and the is hole is exposed toward outside of the air inlet system. The fan is connected to the throttle and mounted into the fan frame behind the hole. The valve is mounted to the hole. The motor can drive the fan to force air into at least one intake manifold of the engine through the throttle and can drive the valve open. The throttle sensor can control the rotational speed of the fan according to the motion of the throttle plate of the throttle.
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically depicted in order to simplify the drawings.
In use, the air and fuel can be mixed well because the rotational speed of the fan 300 and the opening the valve 400 releases are controlled according to the motion of the throttle pedal 610. Also, the recycled exhaust gas is introduced into the hole 210 through the opening of the valve 400 and is sucked by the fan 300. Thus, the engine can run more smoothly under the condition of oxygen deficiency or when starting.
In use, the air and fuel can be mixed well because the rotational speed of the fan 300 and the opening the valve 400 releases are controlled according to the motion of the throttle pedal 610. Also, the air outside the air inlet system is sucked by the fan 300 and filtrated by the air filter 800. Thus, the engine can run more smoothly under the condition of oxygen deficiency or when starting.
In one or more embodiment, the motor 500 may be a brushless motor for is the following reasons. First, the brushless motor has a small size, such that air can flow through a larger area without being blocked by the motor 500. Second, the brushless motor has a longer lifetime (no brush erosion). On the other hand, the energy consumption of the brushless motor is less than a turbine supercharger, so the air inlet system of the engine can be assembled to almost all kind of cars.
More particularly, the motor 500 may be a continuously variable speed motor. Accordingly, the car will have a better acceleration performance.
The valve 400 may be a solenoid valve or a mechanical valve. The valve 400 can be controlled by the motor 500 driven according to the motion of the throttle pedal 610. The throttle sensor 600 can control the rotational speed of the fan 300 according to the motion of the throttle pedal 610. That is, at the same time of stepping on the throttle pedal 610, the fan 300 shows relative rotational speed according to the motion of a throttle pedal 610 and also the valve 400 releases a relative opening according to the motion of a throttle pedal 610. In other words, the larger the motion of the throttle pedal 610, the faster the fan 300 rotates and the bigger opening the valve 400 releases.
The throttle plate 120 is housed in the throttle body 110. The throttle linkage 130 is connecting the throttle plate 120 to a throttle cable 620. The throttle cable 620 connects the throttle pedal 610 to the throttle linkage 130, and the throttle sensor 600 is connected to the throttle linkage 130. At the same time of stepping on the throttle pedal 610, the fan 300 shows relative rotational speed according to the opening degree of the throttle plate 120. That is, the throttle sensor 600 can control the rotational speed of the fan 300 according to the motion of the throttle plate 120.
The trip computer 900 is programmed to adjust the rotational speed of to the fan 300 according to the rotational speed of the engine, the speed of a car carrying the engine, and/or whether combustion in the engine is complete or not. On the other hand, by assembling the extra sensors, such as pressure sensor 910 detects the pressure of the intake manifold of the engine, oxygen sensor 920 detects oxygen concentration in the exhaust manifold of the engine and inclinometer 930 detects the tilt angle of the car carrying the engine. The trip computer 900 adjusts the rotational speed of the fan 300 by reading in the data of the extra sensors.
According to the data in the table 1, the motor 500 does not operate when the rotational speed of the engine is below 1500 rpm. Therefore, the motor 500 of the air inlet system of the engine does not affect the original efficiency of the car. The motor 500 needs 104 W and 8 A when the rotational speed of the engine is between 1500 rpm to 2000 rpm. The motor 500 needs 144 W and 12 A when the rotational speed of the engine is around 2000 rpm. The motor 500 needs 260 W and 20 A when the rotational speed of the engine is around 3000 rpm. To sum up, only when the car suddenly accelerated or drives on the mountain, in other words, when the rotational speed of the engine is beyond 1500 rpm, the motor 500 starts to operate. The motor 500 adjusts the rotational speed of the fan 300 to reach the best condition of the engine by reading in the data of the rotational speed of the engine.
Applying the air inlet system of the engine not only increases the filling rate of air but also gets a greater quantity of air because the hole 210 drilled in the sidewall of the fan frame 200 provides a channel for further introducing air or recycled exhaust gas. Accordingly, the engine applying the air inlet system can run smoothly under the condition of oxygen deficiency or when starting. The brushless motor has a longer lifetime (no brush erosion). It is more convenient to assemble the air inlet system of the engine in all kinds of cars. Moreover, the throttle sensor 600 controls the rotational speed of the fan 300 directly, not only avoids the signal interference with the trip computer 900 but also reinforces the signal strength.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.
This application is: a continuation-in-part (CIP) of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/695,149 filed Jan. 27, 2010 and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12695149 | Jan 2010 | US |
| Child | 13540631 | US |
