Patent Application
20060076120
The invention relates to cooling systems for work vehicles operating in atmospheres with relatively high particulate contents. More specifically, it relates to a system and method for pre-cleaning ambient air with a relatively high particulate content to produce pre-cleaned air with a reduced particulate content and supplying the pre-cleaned air to a heat exchanger for heat exchange purposes.
Heat exchangers have, traditionally, been designed to accommodate the environment in which they operate. Thus, the heat exchangers for automobiles have tended to be compact with dense fin counts where the fins tend to have louvers. This allows such heat exchangers to be designed with a much needed compactness. Blocking of the louvers is unlikely under automobiles operating conditions then as the air in the environments in which automobiles operate tends to have relatively low particulate content. However, the heat exchangers for work vehicles tend to have simple, non-louvered fins and very low fin counts to minimize a relatively high degree of plugging with dirt, debris, chaff, pine needles, etc. often contained in the surrounding air in which these vehicles tend to operate as plugging tends to block air flow through the heat exchanger and, thus, to reduce the net heat exchanged.
As stated above, the heat exchangers for work vehicles tend to have very low counts of simple non-louvered fins in order to avoid plugging. Thus, in order to achieve equivalent heat transfer, the heat exchangers for work vehicles must be somewhat larger than automotive heat exchangers. As a result, the heat exchangers for work vehicles are substantially larger than automotive heat exchangers. However, in reality, the heat exchangers for the work vehicles often become plugged despite their larger size and greater simplicity.
Described herein is a system and method of supplying a heat exchanger with air having a low particulate content in an overall environment of air with a high particulate content. Thus, the system and method described allow for greater compactness as well as improved overall efficiency in heat exchangers for work vehicles. With such a system and method, downtime of the vehicle for cleaning, i.e., unplugging the heat exchanger, may be significantly reduced and, under some circumstances, eliminated.
Embodiments of the invention will be described in detail, with references to the following figures, wherein:
As illustrated in
The pre-cleaners 410a-410h may be conventional and could include any of a number of pre-cleaners currently available on the market or they may be fabricated by anyone skilled in the art. The pre-cleaners have inlets 411a-411h and outlets 412a-412h, respectively. They are passive in this particular embodiment but may be powered.
A chamber 440 isolates the heat exchanger 460 and comprises a first portion 441 and a second portion 445. The first portion 441 includes the first wall 442 containing eight holes 442a-442h with eight mating integrated cylinders 443a-443h and the heat exchanger 460. The second portion 445 includes the second wall 446 containing two holes 446a, 446b and the heat exchanger 460. Every joined portion of the chamber 440 is joined via nuts and bolts and sealed with caulking or rubber (not shown).
The pre-cleaners 410a-410h are attached to the first portion by slipping the pre-cleaner outlets 412a-412h over the mating integrated cylinders 443a-443h and holding them in place via friction with the help of tightened hose clamps 413a-413h. The tightened hose clamps 413a-413h also serve to provide a seal that allows only pre-cleaned air to enter the chamber 440.
The integrated fan housings 421, 431 of this embodiment are attached, via nuts and bolts (not shown), to the second wall 446 to form fan inlets 422 and 432 at each of the holes 446a and 446b respectively. Airtight seals of caulking or rubber (not shown) are formed between the second wall 446 and the fan housings 421, 431 along the periphery of the fan housings 421, 431.
In operation, the fans 420, 430 draw atmospheric air having particulate content into the pre-cleaners 410a-410h, via the pre-cleaner inlets 411a-411h, where pre-cleaned air is produced via a mechanical action of the pre-cleaners 410a-410h, separating a portion of the particulate content from the atmospheric air to produce the pre-cleaned air. In this particular embodiment of the invention, the mechanical action of the pre-cleaners 410a-410h is generated by the movement of the atmospheric air over mechanical components of the pre-cleaners 410a-410h. The pre-cleaned air is then drawn from the pre-cleaner outlets 412a-412h and into the chamber 440 via the holes 442a-442h in the first wall 442. The fans 420, 430 then draw the pre-cleaned air: through or over the heat exchanger 460 where a cooling of fluid in the heat exchanger 460 occurs; out of the chamber via the holes 446a, 446b in the second wall 446; and into the fan housings 421, 431 via the fan inlets 422, 432. Finally, the fans 420, 430 push the pre-cleaned air out of the fan housings 421, 431 and into the surrounding atmosphere via the fan outlets 423, 424 and 433 and 434.
Having described the illustrated embodiment, it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims. Further, the work vehicle on which the invention may be used is not limited to the exemplary work vehicle illustrated and described herein but may be applied to other vehicles such as, for example, skid steers.
