The present disclosure relates to an exhaust device, and in particular to an exhaust device for a vehicle and a method of manufacturing the exhaust device.
Exhaust silencing devices, such as resonators and/or mufflers, are commonly used in vehicular exhaust systems to reduce some of the raspy and high-pitched noises from the exhaust gas. Typically, in an exhaust silencing device, a sound absorbing material, such as glass wool, is filled in between an exhaust conduit and a casing (e.g., a resonator shell) for the purpose of deadening an exhaust sound by the sound absorbing function of the sound absorbing material. For assembling purposes, the sound absorbing material is rolled onto the exhaust conduit and the exhaust conduit is then fitted or stuffed inside the casing.
The stuffing of the exhaust conduit into the casing is generally performed vertically in a downward direction. During the stuffing of the exhaust conduit into the casing, the sound absorbing material rolled onto the exhaust conduit can slip off axially. As a result, the sound absorbing material may not be placed and disposed at a desirable location. The axial slip off of the sound absorbing material along an outer surface of the exhaust conduit can cause the exhaust silencing device to operate ineffectively. Therefore, due to sliding movement of the sound absorbing material, the exhaust silencing device may not be able to efficiently cancel out irritating buzzes and hums, as well as provide a smoother exhaust note.
According to a first aspect, an exhaust device is provided. The exhaust device includes a casing including an inlet configured to receive an exhaust gas, an outlet configured to discharge the exhaust gas, and a chamber disposed therein between the inlet and the outlet. The casing defines a longitudinal axis along its length. The exhaust device further includes an exhaust conduit at least partially received within the chamber of the casing along the longitudinal axis. The exhaust conduit includes an inner surface, an opposing outer surface, a plurality of perforations extending through the exhaust conduit from the inner surface to the outer surface, and at least one protrusion extending outwardly from the outer surface. The exhaust device further includes an absorptive material disposed on the outer surface of the exhaust conduit. The absorptive material includes a first end facing the inlet of the casing and an opposing second end facing the outlet of the casing. The plurality of perforations of the exhaust conduit are disposed between the inlet of the casing and the second end of the absorptive material relative to the longitudinal axis. The at least one protrusion of the exhaust conduit engages with the absorptive material in order to form an interference fit between the absorptive material and the exhaust conduit. The interference fit prevents a relative movement between the absorptive material and the exhaust conduit at least along the longitudinal axis.
According to a second aspect, a method for manufacturing an exhaust device is provided. The method includes providing a casing including an inlet configured to receive an exhaust gas, an outlet configured to discharge the exhaust gas, and a chamber disposed therein between the inlet and the outlet. The casing defines a longitudinal axis along its length. The method further includes at least partially receiving an exhaust conduit within the chamber of the casing along the longitudinal axis. The exhaust conduit includes an inner surface, an opposing outer surface, a plurality of perforations extending through the exhaust conduit from the inner surface to the outer surface, and at least one protrusion extending outwardly from the outer surface. The method further includes disposing an absorptive material on the outer surface of the exhaust conduit. The absorptive material includes a first end facing the inlet of the casing and an opposing second end facing the outlet of the casing. The plurality of perforations of the exhaust conduit are disposed between the inlet of the casing and the second end of the absorptive material relative to the longitudinal axis. The method further includes engaging the at least one protrusion of the exhaust conduit with the absorptive material in order to form an interference fit between the absorptive material and the exhaust conduit. The interference fit prevents a relative movement between the absorptive material and the exhaust conduit at least along the longitudinal axis.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, there as shown in
The system 100 can include a number of downstream exhaust components 104 fluidly coupled to the engine 102. The exhaust components 104 can include a number of systems/components (not shown), such as a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC), a Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) unit, a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) unit, a particulate filter, an exhaust pipe, an active valve, a passive valve, an Exhaust Gas Heat Recovery System (EGHR), and the like. The exhaust components 104 can be mounted in various different configurations and combinations based on application requirements and/or available packaging space. The exhaust components 104 are adapted to receive the exhaust gas from the engine 102 and direct the exhaust gas to the external atmosphere via a tailpipe 106. The exhaust components 104 are adapted to reduce emissions and can also be used for thermal management.
In another embodiment, the engine 102 can be part of a hybrid system, i.e., the engine 102 can be operatively coupled with an electric motor and a battery. Further, the exhaust components 104 of the system 100 can be operational only when the engine 102 is burning fuel and not operational when the engine 102 is not running.
The system 100 also includes an exhaust device 108 provided in fluid communication with the exhaust components 104 and the tailpipe 106. In some embodiments, the exhaust device 108 is an acoustic damping exhaust device 108, such as a muffler or a resonator. In some other embodiments, the exhaust device 108 can additionally perform exhaust treatment functions. In the illustrated embodiment, the exhaust device 108 is disposed downstream of the exhaust components 104 and upstream of the tailpipe 106. In other embodiments, the exhaust device 108 can be disposed in any sequence with respect to each of the exhaust components 104 and/or the tailpipe 106, based on application requirements. In some cases, the exhaust device 108 is adapted to dampen resonance frequencies generated during operation of the engine 102 and the system 100. In some embodiments, the exhaust device 108 can include catalyst substrates for exhaust gas purification in addition to exhaust gas noise attenuation. In another embodiment, the system 100 can include hybrid design that combines the exhaust components 104 and the exhaust device 108 to include both emissions and acoustics tuning elements.
The exhaust device 108 includes a casing 202 including an inlet 204 configured to receive an exhaust gas, an outlet 206 configured to discharge the exhaust gas, and a chamber 208 disposed therein between the inlet 204 and the outlet 206. The casing 202 is shown as transparent in
Referring to
The exhaust conduit 210 includes an inner surface 212, an opposing outer surface 214, a plurality of perforations 216 extending through the exhaust conduit 210 from the inner surface 212 to the outer surface 214, and at least one protrusion 218 extending outwardly from the outer surface 214. In some embodiments, the at least one protrusion 218 is formed by punching the exhaust conduit 210. In some embodiments, the at least one protrusion 218 is welded to the outer surface 214 of the exhaust conduit 210. In the illustrated embodiment of
The exhaust device 108 further includes an absorptive material 224 disposed on the outer surface 214 of the exhaust conduit 210. The absorptive material 224 is shown as transparent in
Referring to
The absorptive material 224 includes the first end 226 facing the inlet 204 of the casing 202 and an opposing second end 228 facing the outlet 206 of the casing 202. The plurality of perforations 216 of the exhaust conduit 210 are disposed between the inlet 204 of the casing 202 and the second end 228 of the absorptive material 224 relative to the longitudinal axis LA. In the illustrated embodiment of
The at least one protrusion 218 is disposed at least partially between the first end 226 and the second end 228 of the absorptive material 224 relative to the longitudinal axis LA. The first protrusion 220 is disposed between the first end 226 and the second end 228 of the absorptive material 224. Further, the first protrusion 220 is proximal to the first end 226 of the absorptive material 224 and distal to the second end 228 of the absorptive material 224.
The second protrusion 222 is disposed at the second end 228 of the absorptive material 224. Specifically, the second protrusion 222 is disposed at least partially between the first end 226 and the second end 228 of the absorptive material 224 relative to the longitudinal axis LA. A portion of the second protrusion 222 is further disposed between the second end 228 of the absorptive material 224 and the outlet 206 of the casing 202 relative to the longitudinal axis LA.
The at least one protrusion 218 of the exhaust conduit 210 engages with and contacts the absorptive material 224 in order to form an interference fit between the absorptive material 224 and the exhaust conduit 210. In some examples, a height of the protrusion 218 can project into the absorptive material 224 or can compress the absorptive material 224 against an inner wall of the casing 202 to form the interference fit between the absorptive material 224 and the exhaust conduit 210. The interference fit prevents a relative movement between the absorptive material 224 and the exhaust conduit 210 at least along the longitudinal axis LA.
As the interference fit prevents the relative movement between the absorptive material 224 and the exhaust conduit 210 at least along the longitudinal axis LA, the absorptive material 224 may not slip off axially while performing the vertically downward stuffing of the exhaust conduit 210 within the casing 202. Therefore, the interference fit provided by including the at least one protrusion 218 can lead to a precise fitting of the exhaust conduit 210 and the absorptive material 224 within the casing 202 of the exhaust device 108.
Further, as the absorptive material 224 can be disposed and held firmly in its place around the exhaust conduit 210 during the stuffing of the exhaust conduit 210 within the casing 202, the exhaust device 108 can efficiently serve the purpose of deadening the exhaust sound generated by the engine 102 (shown in
The interference fit can be formed by including only one protrusion 218 (i.e., the first protrusion 220 or the second protrusion 222) on the exhaust conduit 210. However, by including the two protrusions (i.e., the first protrusion 220 and the second protrusion 222), the absorptive material 224 can be firmly held in its place around the exhaust conduit 210 against gravity. Therefore, with an increase in number of protrusions, an ability of the exhaust conduit 210 to firmly hold the absorptive material 224 around the exhaust conduit 210 can be significantly improved thereby preventing the relative movement between the absorptive material 224 and the exhaust conduit 210 at least along the longitudinal axis LA.
The plate 232 and the outer surface 214 of the exhaust conduit 210 defines a slot 234 therebetween, such that the slot 234 includes at least one open end 236 disposed in fluid communication with the chamber 208. The exhaust conduit 210 further includes an opening 238 extending from the inner surface 212 to the outer surface 214 and disposed in fluid communication with the slot 234. Therefore, a portion of the exhaust gas can flow from the exhaust conduit 210 to the chamber 208 via the slot 234 defined between the plate 232 and the outer surface 214 of the exhaust conduit 210. Such flow of the exhaust gas from the exhaust conduit 210 to the chamber 208 can enhance sound attenuation.
At step 504, the method 500 further includes at least partially receiving the exhaust conduit 210 within the chamber 208 of the casing 202 along the longitudinal axis LA. At step 506, the method 500 further includes disposing the absorptive material 224 on the outer surface 214 of the exhaust conduit 210. At step 508, the method 500 further includes engaging the at least one protrusion 218 of the exhaust conduit 210 with the absorptive material 224 in order to form the interference fit between the absorptive material 224 and the exhaust conduit 210.
In some embodiments, the method 500 further includes punching the exhaust conduit 210 to form the at least one protrusion 218. In some other embodiments, the method 500 further includes welding the at least one protrusion 218 to the outer surface 214 of the exhaust conduit 210. In some embodiments, engaging the at least one protrusion 218 of the exhaust conduit 210 with the absorptive material 224 further includes engaging each of the first protrusion 220 and the second protrusion 222 with the absorptive material 224.
While aspects of the present disclosure have been particularly shown and described with reference to the embodiments above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various additional embodiments can be contemplated by the modification of the disclosed machines, systems and methods without departing from the spirit and scope of what is disclosed. Such embodiments should be understood to fall within the scope of the present disclosure as determined based upon the claims and any equivalents thereof.