Patent Application
20120240876
The present disclosure relates to engine cooling systems, and more specifically radiator bypass arrangements in engine cooling systems.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Internal combustion engines may combust a mixture of air and fuel in cylinders and thereby produce drive torque. Combustion of the air-fuel mixture generates heat. An engine cooling system provides fluid flow to dissipate engine heat.
An engine assembly may include a coolant pump, an engine structure, a radiator supply feed and a radiator bypass feed. The coolant pump may be in communication with a coolant fluid and may include a pump inlet and a pump outlet. The engine structure may define a first set of cylinders, a first coolant return gallery and a first cooling jacket. The first coolant return gallery may extend in a longitudinal direction from a first longitudinal end of the engine structure to a second longitudinal end of the engine structure. The first cooling jacket may be associated with the first set of cylinders and may include a first cooling jacket inlet in communication with the pump outlet and a first cooling jacket outlet in communication with the first coolant return gallery. The radiator supply feed may be in communication with the first coolant return gallery and may be configured to provide the coolant fluid to a radiator. The radiator bypass feed may be in communication with the first coolant return gallery and a pump inlet. The first coolant return gallery may form a radiator bypass passage providing the coolant fluid to the coolant pump and bypassing the radiator during a first operating condition and may form a radiator supply passage providing the coolant fluid to the radiator during a second operating condition.
In another arrangement, an engine assembly may include a coolant pump, an engine structure, a radiator supply feed and a radiator bypass feed. The coolant pump may be in communication with a coolant fluid and may include a pump inlet and a pump outlet. The engine structure may define a first set of cylinders, a first coolant return gallery and a first cooling jacket. The first coolant return gallery may extend longitudinally within the engine structure and may define a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end opposite the first longitudinal end. The first cooling jacket may be associated with the first set of cylinders and may include a first cooling jacket inlet in communication with the pump outlet and a first cooling jacket outlet in communication with the first coolant return gallery. The radiator supply feed may be located at the second longitudinal end of the first coolant return gallery. The radiator bypass feed may be located at the first longitudinal end of the first coolant return gallery.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Examples of the present disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
An engine assembly 10 is illustrated in
While illustrated in combination with a V6 engine, the present disclosure applies to any number of piston-cylinder arrangements and a variety of reciprocating engine configurations including, but not limited to, V-engines, inline engines, and horizontally opposed engines, as well as both overhead cam and cam-in-block configurations.
With additional reference to
The engine structure 12 may additionally define a radiator supply feed 60, a radiator bypass feed 62, a thermostat housing 64, a heater core supply feed 66, a heater core return feed 68 and a heater core return gallery 70. The radiator bypass feed 62 and the thermostat housing 64 may each be located at the first longitudinal end 56 of the engine structure 12. The radiator supply feed 60, the heater core supply feed 66 and the heater core return feed 68 may each be located at the second longitudinal end 58 of the engine structure 12.
More specifically, in the present non-limiting example, the radiator bypass feed 62 and the thermostat housing 64 are each in fluid communication with and located at first longitudinal ends 72, 74 of the first and second coolant return galleries 46, 54 and the radiator supply feed 60 and the heater core supply feed 66 are each in fluid communication with and located at second longitudinal ends 76, 78 of the first and second coolant return galleries 46, 54. The first cooling jacket outlet 44 may extend to a central region of the first coolant return gallery 46 longitudinally between the first longitudinal end 72 and the second longitudinal end 76. Similarly, the second cooling jacket outlet 52 may extend to a central region of the second coolant return gallery 54 longitudinally between the first longitudinal end 74 and the second longitudinal end 78.
The heater core return feed 68 may be in communication with the heater core return gallery 70. The heater core return gallery 70 may be defined in the engine block 16 below the first and second coolant return galleries 46, 54 and may extend in the longitudinal direction from the heater core return feed 68 (second longitudinal end 58) toward the first longitudinal end 56 of the engine structure 12.
The cooling system 14 may include a coolant pump 80 in fluid communication with a coolant fluid, a thermostat 82, a radiator 84 and a heater core 86. The coolant pump 80 may be located at the first longitudinal end 56 of the engine structure 12 and defines a pump inlet 88 and a pump outlet 90. The pump inlet 88 may be in fluid communication with and located at the first longitudinal ends 72, 74 of the first and second coolant return galleries 46, 54. More specifically, the radiator bypass feed 62 may be in communication with the pump inlet 88. The pump inlet 88 may also be in fluid communication with the heater core return gallery 70. The simplified casting arrangement provided by the first and second coolant return galleries 46, 54 and the heater core return gallery 70 allows for more gradual transitions in the passages to minimize pump cavitation.
The thermostat 82 may be located at the first longitudinal end of the engine structure 12 within the thermostat housing 64 and in communication with the radiator 84 and the pump inlet 88. More specifically, the thermostat 82 may be in fluid communication with and located at the first longitudinal ends 72, 74 of the first and second coolant return galleries 46, 54.
The radiator 84 may be in communication with the radiator supply feed 60 and the thermostat 82. The heater core 86 may be in communication with the heater core supply feed 66 and the heater core return feed 68.
In the present non-limiting arrangement, the first and second cooling jackets 40, 48 may define parallel flow paths laterally across the engine structure 12. The first and second cooling jackets 40, 48 may be similar to one another. Therefore, the first cooling jacket 40 will be described for simplicity with the understanding that the description applies equally to the second cooling jacket 48.
The first cooling jacket 40 may include a first region 92 associated with the first cylinder 18, a second region 94 associated with the second cylinder 20 and a third region 96 associated with the third cylinder 22. The first region 92 may define a first coolant inlet 98 in communication with the pump outlet 90 via a first coolant supply gallery 100 and a first outlet 102 in communication with the first coolant return gallery 46. The second region 94 may define a second coolant inlet 104 in communication with the pump outlet 90 via the first coolant supply gallery 100 and a second outlet 106 in communication with the first coolant return gallery 46. The third region 96 may define a third coolant inlet 108 in communication with the pump outlet 90 via the first coolant supply gallery 100 and a third outlet 110 in communication with the first coolant return gallery 46. The first, second and third regions 92, 94, 96 may define a parallel flow arrangement laterally across the engine structure 12 from the pump outlet 90 to the first coolant return gallery 46.
The first, second and third regions 92, 94, 96 may also be similar to one another. Therefore, the first region 92 will be described for simplicity with the understanding that the description applies equally to the second and third regions 94, 96. The cylinder head 30 may define a first set of ports including intake and exhaust ports 32, 34 in communication with the first cylinder 18. The first region 92 may include a first cylinder cooling jacket 112 defined in the engine block 16 at an outer periphery of the first cylinder 18 and a first port cooling jacket 114 defined in the cylinder head for the first set of ports. The first port cooling jacket 114 may define a first head coolant flow path in a parallel flow arrangement with a coolant flow path defined by the first cylinder cooling jacket 112.
During operation, the first coolant return gallery 46 and the second coolant return gallery 54 may each form a radiator bypass passage providing the coolant fluid to the coolant pump 80 and bypassing the radiator 84 during a first operating condition. The first coolant return gallery 46 and the second coolant return gallery 54 may each form a radiator supply passage providing the coolant fluid to the radiator 84 during a second operating condition. In the present non-limiting example, the first operating condition includes the thermostat 82 being in a closed position preventing coolant fluid flow through the radiator 84 and the second operating condition includes the thermostat 82 being open and allowing coolant fluid flow through the radiator 84. The coolant fluid may flow in a first direction (D1) within the first and second coolant return galleries 46, 54 during the first operating condition to bypass the radiator 84 (
