The field of the present invention is that of motor vehicles and more particularly that of the circulation of air for cooling equipment of the vehicle, in particular its engine. The invention concerns in particular a ventilation device support, a corresponding ventilation device and a corresponding cooling module.
Vehicles need to evacuate the heat generated by the operation of their internal combustion engine and to this end are equipped with heat exchangers, in particular cooling radiators, that are placed at the front of the vehicle and through which external air passes. To force the circulation of that air through the exchanger or exchangers, a ventilation device is placed on the upstream or downstream side of the latter, upstream or downstream in the present document being referred to the direction of aspiration of air by the ventilation device.
The assembly formed by the heat exchanger or exchangers and the ventilation device is termed a cooling module.
The ventilation device includes at least one impeller that is used to force the circulation of air. In a known configuration the impeller is disposed between the heat exchanger, or a set of heat exchangers, and the engine block to be cooled in a globally axial alignment. The impeller is characterized by the flow of air that it produces and that is used to force thermal exchanges between the heat exchanger and the surrounding air. The impeller produces an axial flow. It includes blades connected by their root to a central hub and generally fastened together at their tip by a peripheral shroud also termed a rotating shroud. The ventilation device therefore creates a flow of air that is aspirated on the upstream side through the exchangers and the air is forced to flow axially in the downstream direction in the engine compartment.
The ventilation device, also termed a motorized fan, generally includes a nozzle or base, for example of parallelepiped shape, having at least one orifice or a cylindrical cut-out receiving the impeller. This nozzle attaches the ventilation device, in particular to the cooling radiator or the chassis of the vehicle, and also forms a support for the electric motor driving the impeller. It carries the shaft about which the impeller rotates.
To enable the rotation of the impeller, the latter is received in the orifice of the nozzle with a clearance of the order a few millimeters, generally 3 mm to 5 mm. It proves that when the ventilation device is operating air from the downstream side of the impeller can return to the upstream side thereof by flowing outside the peripheral shroud, between the peripheral shroud and the nozzle. This air that recirculates to the upstream side of the impeller creates a so-called recirculating flow of air. On arriving on the upstream side of the impeller, the recirculating air is again drawn into the main flow of air generated by the impeller and its relatively intense radial flow comes to disturb the main upstream to downstream flow of air. This turbulence can impact up to 30% of the span of the blades of the impeller, and generates noise. Because the flow of air is no longer homogeneous, and the clearance between the peripheral shroud and the nozzle generates losses, the effectiveness of the ventilation device is reduced.
According to one known solution, the nozzle has at the periphery of the orifice to receive the impeller a curved portion covering the upstream edge of the peripheral shroud in such a way as to guide the recirculating flow of air coming from the downstream side. However, with this solution, the flow of air recirculating from the downstream side outside the peripheral shroud still has a tangential component that comes to disturb the main flow of air.
The present invention proposes to remedy at least in part the disadvantages referred to above by proposing an improved ventilation device support enabling the reduction in performance of the ventilation device to be avoided.
To this end the invention consists in a support for a ventilation device of a motor vehicle including an impeller configured to be rotated about a rotation axis in such a way as to generate a flow of air, the support including a nozzle:
According to the invention, the nozzle further includes on its internal wall an air guide shaped so as to direct a flow of air flowing between the peripheral shroud and the internal wall, termed the recirculating air flow, in the direction of flow of the flow of air generated by the impeller.
The air guide therefore enables the speed of the tangential recirculating flow of air to be reduced so as not to disturb the main flow of air.
Said support may further have one or more of the following features, separately or in combination:
The invention also concerns a ventilation device including an impeller configured to be rotated about a rotation axis in such a way as to generate a flow of air, the impeller including a plurality of blades and a peripheral shroud connecting the tips of the blades. According to the invention, said device further includes a support as defined above including a nozzle having an orifice in which the impeller is positioned and having at the periphery of the orifice an internal wall covering at least partly one side of the peripheral shroud. The nozzle further includes on its internal wall an air guide shaped in such a way as to guide a flow of air flowing between the peripheral shroud and the internal wall in the direction of flow of the flow of air generated by the impeller.
Said device may further have one or more of the following features, separately or in combination:
The invention also relates to a cooling module for motor vehicles equipped with a ventilation device as described above.
According to one aspect of the invention said module includes a heat exchanger located on the path of at a part of the flow of air generated by the impeller.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become more clearly apparent on reading the following description given by way of nonlimiting illustrative example and from the appended drawings, in which:
In these figures identical elements bear the same references.
The following embodiments are examples. Although the description refers to one or more embodiments, that does not necessarily mean that each reference concerns the same embodiment or that the features apply only to only one embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may equally be combined or interchanged to produce other embodiments.
In the description, some elements may be indexed, for example first element or second element. In this case, this is merely indexing to differentiate and to designate elements that are similar but not identical. This indexing does not imply any priority of one element relative to another and such designations may easily be interchanged without departing from the scope of the present description. Nor does this indexing imply an order in time.
There has been represented diagrammatically in
According to the embodiment shown in
The invention is more particularly directed to the ventilation device 5. The ventilation device 5 includes an impeller 9 and a support 10 including a base or nozzle 11, also termed an armature, seen better in
The impeller 9 is rotatable about a rotation axis A. In the remainder of the description the terms “axial”, “radial” and “tangential” are relative to the rotation axis A of the impeller 9.
Referring again to
When the impeller 9 is configured to be rotated by an electric motor 12 represented diagrammatically in
The impeller 9 is for example made of injection molded plastic.
As can be seen better in
The tips 15b of the blades 15 of the impeller 9 are therefore attached to one another by the peripheral shroud 17. This enables reduction of the risks of the blades 15 floating when the ventilation device 5 is operating. The peripheral shroud 17 connecting the blades 15 of the impeller 9 is also termed a rotating shroud.
According to the embodiments shown the peripheral shroud 17 has a substantially cylindrical shape that extends along the rotation axis A of the impeller 9. Of course, any other shape may be envisaged.
The invention is more particularly directed to the support 10 for the ventilation device 5 including the nozzle 11, represented diagrammatically in
The nozzle 11 has the function of capturing air and guiding air toward the impeller 9. The nozzle 11 also has a mechanical support function for all of the components of the ventilation device 5.
In known manner, the nozzle 11 may have a substantially parallelepiped shape extending substantially parallel to the cooling radiator 7 presented diagrammatically in
The nozzle 11 may in particular carry the electric motor 12 (
The nozzle 11 also includes an axial cylindrical cut-out or orifice 19 allowing passage of the ventilation air. The orifice 19 is formed around the central cap 18. The impeller 9 is intended to be disposed inside the orifice 19 of the nozzle 11. The impeller 9 is therefore able to rotate within the orifice 19 formed in the nozzle 11.
The nozzle 11 further includes retaining arms 20. These are arms extending radially across the orifice 19 and are attached to the periphery of the orifice 19 of the nozzle 11. The retaining arms 20 join at the center to the central cap 18. Via the central cap 18 the retaining arms 20 carry the electric motor 12 adapted to drive the central hub 13 of the impeller 9.
Referring to
The recess 23 is shaped so that the internal wall 21 of the nozzle 11 covers the upstream side of the peripheral shroud 17.
According to the example show the recess 23 formed in the internal wall 21 is such that the internal wall 21 includes an axial section 25, here of substantially cylindrical shape about the rotation axis A of the impeller 9, and this axial section 25 is configured to extend around the peripheral shroud 17. It is in particular a downstream section 25 with reference to the aspiration direction or flow direction F of the flow of air. The axial section 25 is extended on the upstream side by a curved section 27. The curved section 27 therefore forms an upstream section 27 with reference to the aspiration direction or the flow direction F of the flow of air. The curved section 27 is intended to cover, to be more precise radially to cover, the upstream side of the peripheral shroud 17 when the impeller 9 is assembled into the nozzle 11. The curved section 27 therefore extends toward the interior of the orifice 19.
Thus in cross section the internal wall 21 has substantially the shape of a hook, with the curved section 27 having in cross section a substantially “U” shape having two branches extending substantially axially and a base connecting the two branches and forming the cover of the peripheral shroud 17. The end of the curved section 27 therefore extends the base or part that covers the peripheral shroud 17 by extending axially in the direction of the downstream side of the interior of the peripheral shroud 17.
Of course, the invention is not limited to the rounded shape of the curved section 27 shown and any other shape may be envisaged.
In other words, in this example the recess 23 is formed by a first part 23a of substantially cylindrical shape about the rotation axis A of the impeller 9 and a second part 23b of substantially toroidal shape that extends the cylindrical part 23a in the upstream direction in such a way as to form a groove 23b. The two parts 23a and 23b of the recess 23 are diagrammatically delimited by an axis B in dashed line in
The flow of air, also termed the clearance flow or recirculating flow of air, that flows outside the peripheral shroud 17 from the downstream side of the impeller 9 to the upstream side is therefore redirected by the curved section 27 of the internal wall 21 of the nozzle 11. The recirculating flow of air flows between the peripheral shroud 17 and the internal wall 21. The peripheral shroud 17 and the internal wall 21 of the nozzle 11 therefore form a channel 28 for redirecting the flow of air recirculating from the downstream side to the upstream side.
The axial section 25 of the internal wall 21 of the nozzle 11 can extend axially over a height h25 substantially similar to the height h17 of the peripheral shroud 17, as shown in the examples from
The inside diameter of the axial section 25 of cylindrical shape of the internal wall 21 of the nozzle 11, that is to say at the level of the first part 23a of the recess 23 (see
The inside diameter of the internal wall 21 of the nozzle 11 at the level of the curved section 27 is for its part less than the diameter of the peripheral shroud 17.
The curved section 27 delimiting the groove 23b may extend radially relative to the peripheral shroud 17 over a distance d, d′ that may be modified (see
When the impeller 9 is received in the orifice 19 of the nozzle 11 the blades 15 of the impeller 9 therefore extend radially between the central hub 13 and the internal wall 21 of the nozzle 11, the peripheral shroud 17 of the impeller 9 extends inside the recess 23 of the internal wall 21 of the nozzle 11, and the curved section 27 of the internal wall 21 of the nozzle 11 covers the upstream side of the peripheral shroud 17.
In the example shown in
Alternatively, there may be an axial offset (not shown in the figures) between the upstream side of the peripheral shroud 17 and the curved section 27 of the nozzle 11. In other words, according to this alternative, the upstream side of the peripheral shroud 17 does not extend inside the groove 23b but is axially set back relative to the groove 23, that is to say below the groove 23b in the aspiration direction or flow direction F of the flow of air. Likewise, the free end of the hook or curved section 27 does not extend inside the cylinder delimited by the peripheral shroud 17 of the impeller 9.
In a complementary way, the nozzle 11 includes on its internal surface an air guide 29 for directing the recirculating flow of air in the flow direction of the flow of air generated by the impeller 9, that is to say a substantially axial flow toward the downstream side of the impeller 9, as symbolized by the arrow F′ in
The air guide 29 is preferably shaped in such a way as to force redirection of the recirculating flow of air at least in part within the thickness of the boundary layer cl of the peripheral shroud 17 at the level of the blade tips 15b. The recirculating flow of air comes to be mixed at least in part with the boundary layer cl of the peripheral shroud 17. This makes it possible to increase the flow speed in the boundary layer cl and to limit its extent.
The air guide 29 may moreover be formed on the axial section 25 and/or on the curved section 27 of the internal wall 21 of the nozzle 11.
In particular, referring to
The ribs 31 are arranged in such a way as to force the clearance flow axially. In fact, the presence of the ribs 31 in the redirection channel 28 has the consequence of limiting or breaking up the tangential component of the recirculating air.
The ribs 31 are advantageously sized in such a way as to limit the recirculation of the recirculating air at the level of the blade tips 15b.
The ribs 31 may be arranged on the axial section 25 and extended onto the interior of the curved section 27, that is to say on the side intended to face the upstream side of the peripheral shroud 17, as shown in
The ribs 31 may instead be arranged only on the axial section 25, as shown in
According to a further variant the ribs 31 may be arranged only on the interior of the curved section 27 or in other words inside the groove formed by the second part 23b of the recess 23, as shown in
The ribs 31 may extend axially and/or radially.
The ribs 31 are shaped in such a way as to follow the contour of the internal wall 21 of the nozzle 11. The shape of the ribs 31 may also be adapted as required.
The examples from
By way of example, as shown in
Of course, the size of these ribs 31 may be modified. For example, the ribs 31 may extend or not over all the height h25 of the axial section 25 and over all the width of the curved section 27.
The width or depth, that is to say the radial dimension of the ribs 31, may also be modified. The thickness of the ribs 31 may also be modified.
According to the examples shown in
As before, the size of these ribs 31 may be modified. For example, the ribs 31 may extend over all of the height h25 of the axial section 25 or in a variant that is not shown over a chosen portion of the axial section 25.
The width or depth, that is to say the radial dimension, of the ribs 31 may also be modified. In the examples from
According to the examples from
In the example shown in
In the example shown in
Moreover, by way of nonlimiting example and referring to
The radial depth pr of the rib 31, to be more precise its axial extent, may be of the order of 0.5% to 2% of the diameter of the impeller 9, preferably of the order of 1% of the diameter of the impeller 9. For example, the radial depth pr is of the order of 4.4 mm for an impeller 9 of approximately 440 mm diameter.
Moreover, for a rib 31 at least a part of which extends radially the axial clearance ja between the peripheral shroud 17 and the radial extent of the rib 31 may be of the order of 0.5% to 4% of the diameter of the impeller 9, preferably of the order of 2% of the diameter of the impeller 9. For example, for an impeller of approximately 440 mm diameter the axial clearance ja may be of the order of 8.8 mm.
The axial depth pa of the rib 31, to be more precise its radial extent, may be of the order of 0.5% to 4% of the diameter of the impeller 9, preferably of the order of 2% of the diameter of the impeller 9. For example, the axial depth pa is of the order of 8.8 mm for an impeller 9 of approximately 440 mm diameter.
In the example from
In addition or alternatively to the various examples described above, there may be provided in the recirculation channel 28 (see
Thus the internal surface of the nozzle 11 is adapted in a particular way to ensure aerodynamic guiding of the recirculating flow of air coming from the downstream side and recirculating outside the peripheral shroud 17. The flow of air retuning from the downstream side of the impeller 9 to the upstream side is therefore guided by the ribs 31 so that it flows substantially axially, in the flow direction F of the flow of air generated by the impeller 9, at least in part within the thickness of the boundary layer cl of the peripheral shroud 17.
The recirculating flow of air is then separated from the main flow of air circulating in the upstream to downstream direction. In fact, this flow of air does not disturb the upstream to downstream flow of air in the direction of the arrow F. This therefore eliminates the turbulence that would otherwise be associated with the mixing of the clearance flow with the upstream flow, which makes possible a significant variation of pressure and of output.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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1752834 | Apr 2017 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/FR2018/050804 | 3/30/2018 | WO | 00 |