The present disclosure relates to a cylinder block.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2021-195934 discloses a cylinder block for an internal combustion engine. The cylinder block includes cylinder bores, a coolant passage, a coolant inlet, and a coolant outlet. The cylinder bores are linearly arranged. The coolant passage surrounds the cylinder bore.
The coolant inlet and the coolant outlet communicate with the coolant passage, and are located at an outer peripheral portion of the cylinder bore provided at one end in the arrangement direction of the cylinder bores. The coolant inlet and the coolant outlet face each other in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction.
The coolant that has entered the coolant passage from the coolant inlet branches into two directions in the coolant passage and flows to the coolant outlet.
In one general aspect, a cylinder block includes a water jacket surrounding a cylinder of an internal combustion engine, a water jacket spacer disposed inside the water jacket, an inlet that conduct coolant into the water jacket, and a discharge section that discharges the coolant from the water jacket. The water jacket includes a first passage connecting the inlet to the discharge section, and a second passage connecting the inlet to the discharge section. The first passage is shorter than the second passage. The water jacket spacer includes a spacer plate and a restricting portion provided on the spacer plate. The restricting portion is located in the first passage. A width dimension of the restricting portion is larger than a width dimension in a cylinder-radial direction of the spacer plate. The cylinder-radial direction is a radial direction of the cylinder. The width dimension of the restricting portion is smaller than a width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of the water jacket.
In the above configuration, the restricting portion has a width dimension larger than the width dimension of the spacer plate. Thus, the passage cross-sectional flow area of the portion of the first passage in which the restricting portion is provided is smaller than the cross-sectional flow area of the second passage. Therefore, the coolant is less likely to flow to the first passage. As a result, the amount of the coolant flowing to the first passage becomes smaller than the amount of the coolant flowing to the second passage. Therefore, the decrease in the cooling efficiency of the internal combustion engine is reduced.
The restricting portion has a width dimension smaller than the width dimension of the water jacket. Thus, when the water jacket spacer is inserted into and disposed in the water jacket, a gap is provided between the restricting portion and each of a radially outer partition wall and a radially inner partition wall of the water jacket. Therefore, it is possible to prevent wear of the restricting portion and the water jacket due to friction between the restricting portion and the water jacket.
In the structure described in the above document, the coolant inlet and the coolant outlet are located in the outer peripheral portion of the cylinder bore located at one end in the arrangement direction of the cylinder bores. Thus, the lengths of the two passages of the coolant, which are branched in the two directions, are different from each other. Hereinafter, the shorter passage is referred to as a first passage and the longer passage is referred to as a second passage.
Since the length of that part of the second passage that is adjacent to the cylinder bores is longer than that of the first passage, the coolant flowing through the second passage absorbs a larger amount of heat from the cylinder bores than the coolant flowing through the first passage. Further, since the pressure loss of the coolant flowing through the second passage is larger than the pressure loss of the coolant flowing through the first passage, the amount of the coolant flowing through the second passage can be smaller than the amount of the coolant flowing through the first passage in the structure of the above document. This reduces the cooling efficiency of the internal combustion engine. The configuration described above suppresses such a decrease.
In the above-described cylinder block, the restricting portion includes a thick portion formed integrally with the spacer plate. A width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of the thick portion is partially increased in the spacer plate.
With the above-described configuration, the restricting portion is easily implemented.
In the above-described cylinder block, in the first passage, a direction toward the inlet is an upstream direction, and a direction toward the discharge section is a downstream direction. The width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of the thick portion decreases toward a downstream side.
With the above-described configuration, by increasing the width dimension of the upstream section of the thick portion, it is possible to reduce the cross-sectional flow area of the section of the first passage, in which the restriction portion is provided. Further, by narrowing the width dimension of the downstream section of the thick portion, the downstream portion of the thick portion is further less likely to come into contact with the partition wall of the water jacket when the water jacket spacer is disposed by being inserted into the water jacket.
In the above-described cylinder block, an interior of the thick portion is hollow.
With the above configuration, when the water jacket spacer is disposed by being inserted into the water jacket, the load acting on the thick portion is dispersed even if the thick portion comes into contact with the partition wall of the water jacket. Therefore, wear of the thick portion and the water jacket is further suppressed.
In the above-described the cylinder block, a direction toward a center of the cylinder in the cylinder-radial direction is an inward direction, and a direction away from the center in the cylinder-radial direction is an outward direction. In each of the first passage and the second passage, a direction toward the inlet is an upstream direction, and a direction toward the discharge section is a downstream direction. The restricting portion is an elastic member separate from the spacer plate. The elastic member includes an attachment portion attached to the spacer plate, and a movable piece. The movable piece includes a connection portion connected to an inner side or an outer side of the attachment portion. The movable piece extends upstream from the connection portion so that the movable piece is wider in the cylinder-radial direction than the width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of the spacer plate with reference to the connection portion.
With the above configuration, the coolant flowing from the upstream side to the downstream side may enter between the movable piece and the attachment portion. Therefore, the movable piece spreads away from the attachment portion in the cylinder-radial direction with respect to the connection portion. As a result, the width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of the restricting portion becomes larger than the width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of the spacer plate. Therefore, the amount of the coolant flowing through the first passage can be made smaller than the amount of the coolant flowing through the second passage.
Further, the movable piece is an elastic member. Thus, when the water jacket spacer is disposed by being inserted into the water jacket, a load is less likely to act on the water jacket even if the movable piece comes into contact with the radially outer partition wall and the radially inner partition wall of the water jacket. Therefore, it is possible to suppress wear of the water jacket.
Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims.
Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements. The drawings may not be to scale, and the relative size, proportions, and depiction of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity, illustration, and convenience.
This description provides a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described. Modifications and equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described are apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Sequences of operations are exemplary, and may be changed as apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, except for operations necessarily occurring in a certain order. Descriptions of functions and constructions that are well known to one of ordinary skill in the art may be omitted.
Exemplary embodiments may have different forms, and are not limited to the examples described. However, the examples described are thorough and complete, and convey the full scope of the disclosure to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In this specification, “at least one of A and B” should be understood to mean “only A, only B, or both A and B.”
Hereinafter, a cylinder block 10 according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to
As shown in
Hereinafter, the long-side direction of the cylinder block 10 is referred to as a length direction X, and the short-side direction of the cylinder block 10 is referred to as a width direction Y. A direction orthogonal to the length direction X and the width direction Y is referred to as a height direction Z.
As shown in
Hereinafter, in a radial direction of each cylinder 11, a direction toward the center 12 of the cylinder 11 is referred to as an inward direction, and a direction away from the center 12 in the radial direction of the cylinder 11 is referred to as an outward direction. The radial direction of the cylinder 11 may be referred to as a cylinder-radial direction. In particular, the radial direction of the cylinder 11 at the left end in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The water jacket 20 includes a first passage 21 connecting the inlet 13 and the discharge section 14 to each other, and a second passage 22 connecting the inlet 13 and the discharge section 14 to each other. The first passage 21 and the second passage 22 are defined by the radially outer partition wall 23, the radially inner partition wall 24, and the bottom wall 25. The first passage 21 is shorter than the second passage 22. The lengths of the first passage 21 and the second passage 22 are lengths in a direction along the side surface of the cylinder 11 when the cylinder block 10 is viewed from the height direction Z as shown in
Hereinafter, the direction toward the inlet 13 in the first passage 21 is referred to as an upstream direction, and the direction toward the discharge section 14 is referred to as a downstream direction.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
An upstream thickness width dimension L1, which is the width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of an upstream section of the thick portion 35, is greater than a downstream width dimension L2, which is the width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of a downstream section of the thick portion 35. That is, the width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of the thick portion 35 gradually decreases from the upstream side to the downstream side. The upstream thickness width dimension L1 is greater than a spacer width dimension L3, which is the width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of the spacer plate 33. The upstream thickness width dimension L1 is shorter than a jacket width dimension L4, which is the width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of the water jacket 20. The jacket width dimension L4 of the water jacket 20 represents a width dimension of a passage defined by the water jacket 20. That is, the jacket width dimension L4 of the water jacket 20 represents the distance between the radially outer partition wall 23 and the radially inner partition wall 24.
As shown in
Operation of the present embodiment will now be described.
When the internal combustion engine is operated, coolant is supplied to the water jacket 20 from the inlet 13 shown in
The restricting portion 34 of the first water jacket spacer 31 is located in the first passage 21. The restricting portion 34 has the upstream thickness width dimension L1, which is greater than the spacer width dimension L3 of the spacer plate 33. For this reason, the cross-sectional flow area in the section of the first passage 21 in which the restricting portion 34 is provided is smaller than the cross-sectional flow area of the second passage 22. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the coolant to flow through the first passage 21.
Advantages of the present embodiment will now be described.
1) The restricting portion 34 makes it difficult for the coolant to flow through the first passage 21. As a result, the amount of the coolant flowing through the first passage 21 is made smaller than the amount of the coolant flowing through the second passage 22. Therefore, a decrease in the cooling efficiency of the internal combustion engine is suppressed.
The upstream thickness width dimension L1 of the thick portion 35 is shorter than the jacket with dimension L4 in the cylinder-radial direction of the water jacket 20. Therefore, when the first water jacket spacer 31 is disposed by being inserted into the water jacket 20, a gap can be provided between the restricting portion 34 and each of the radially outer partition wall 23 and the radially inner partition wall 24 of the water jacket 20. As a result, the restricting portion 34 and the water jacket 20 are prevented from rubbing against each other, so that the restricting portion 34 and the water jacket 20 are prevented from wearing.
(1-2) The restricting portion 34 is the thick portion 35, which is formed integrally with the spacer plate 33. Therefore, the restricting portion 34 is implemented easily.
3) The width dimension in the cylinder-radial direction of the thick portion 35 decreases toward the downstream side.
With the above-described configuration, by increasing the upstream thickness width dimension L1 of the thick portion 35, the cross-sectional flow area of the section of the first passage 21 in which the restricting portion 34 is provided is reduced. Further, by narrowing the downstream width dimension L2 of the thick portion 35, the downstream section of the thick portion 35 is further less likely to come into contact with the radially outer partition wall 23 and the radially inner partition wall 24 of the water jacket 20 when the first water jacket spacer 31 is disposed by being inserted into the water jacket 20.
(1-4) The inside of the thick portion 35 is hollow.
With the configuration described above, when the first water jacket spacer 31 is disposed by being inserted into the water jacket 20, the load acting on the thick portion 35 is dispersed even if the thick portion 35 comes into contact with the radially outer partition wall 23 and the radially inner partition wall 24 of the water jacket 20. Therefore, wear of the thick portion 35 and the water jacket 20 is further suppressed.
Hereinafter, a cylinder block 10 according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to
As shown in
A gripping portion 50 is provided at the downstream end of the spacer plate 33. The attachment portion 41 is attached to the spacer plate 33 by gripping the upstream section of the attachment portion 41 with the gripping portion 50. Further, the attachment portion 41 has a plate shape extending downstream from the spacer plate 33. An inner connection portion 42 is provided at an inner portion of the downstream end of the attachment portion 41. An outer connection portion 43 is provided at an outer portion of the downstream end of the attachment portion 41.
The inner movable piece 44 extends upstream from the inner connection portion 42 so as to be wider in the cylinder-radial direction than the spacer plate 33 with respect to the inner connection portion 42. A gap is provided between the inner movable piece 44 and the attachment portion 41. The outer movable piece 45 extends upstream from the outer connection portion 43 so as to be wider in the cylinder-radial direction than the spacer plate 33 with respect to the outer connection portion 43. A gap is provided between the outer movable piece 45 and the attachment portion 41.
Operation of the present embodiment will now be described.
As shown in
Advantages of the present embodiment will now be described.
1) The inner movable piece 44 and the outer movable piece 45 spread in the cylinder-radial direction. Therefore, the cross-sectional flow area of the second of the first passage 21 in which the restricting portion 34 is provided is smaller than the cross-sectional flow area of the second passage 22. Therefore, the amount of the coolant flowing through the first passage 21 is made smaller than the amount of the coolant flowing through the second passage 22.
The above-described embodiments can be modified as follows. The above-described embodiments and the following modifications can be implemented in combination with each other as long as there is no technical contradiction.
In the second embodiment, one of the inner movable piece 44 and the outer movable piece 45 may be omitted.
In the first embodiment, the inside of the thick portion 35 may be filled with the same plastic as the plastic of the spacer plate 33.
As shown in
As shown in
In the first embodiment, the thick portion 35 may be provided at any position on the spacer plate 33 as long as the thick portion 35 is provided in the first passage 21. That is, the thick portion 35 is not limited to being positioned at the downstream end of the spacer plate 33, but may be provided at a middle section of the spacer plate 33.
Various changes in form and details may be made to the examples above without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents. The examples are for the sake of description only, and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of features in each example are to be considered as being applicable to similar features or aspects in other examples. Suitable results may be achieved if sequences are performed in a different order, and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined differently, and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents. The scope of the disclosure is not defined by the detailed description, but by the claims and their equivalents. All variations within the scope of the claims and their equivalents are included in the disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2022-078376 | May 2022 | JP | national |