Patent Application
20190063381
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-166507 filed on Aug. 31, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to an intake apparatus provided with: an intake manifold including a plurality of branch pipes; and a gas distributor for distributing auxiliary gas, such as EGR gas and PCV gas, to each of the branch pipes.
As the above type of techniques, for example, there has been known an intake manifold disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent application publication No. 2005-155448 (JP 2005-155448A). This intake manifold is provided with a plurality of intake pipes (branch pipes) each configured to distribute intake air to one of cylinders and an EGR gas chamber (a gas distributor) configured to distribute EGR gas to each of the intake pipes. The EGR gas chamber is provided on an upper side of the intake pipes and in an orientation traversing and straddling each intake pipe. The EGR gas chamber is formed integrally with the intake manifold. Further, the EGR gas chamber is constituted of a chamber body formed integrally with an upper wall of the intake manifold and a cover body that covers an opening formed on an upper surface side of the chamber body. The chamber body is also formed, in its bottom wall, with an EGR gas inflow port. The intake manifold is formed with an EGR gas passage communicated with the EGR gas inflow port. The chamber body is further formed with communication holes each communicated with one of the intake pipes. The cover body is formed, in its inside, with a recess for allowing EGR gas to stay therein. On the outside of the recess, a hot water passage is provided adjacent to the recess to allow engine cooling water (hot water) to flow. Accordingly, part of the EGR gas having flowed in the EGR gas chamber through the EGR gas inflow port can stay in the recess. This greatly promotes a heat exchange action between the EGR gas staying in the recess and the hot water flowing through the hot water passage, so that the EGR gas in the entire EGR gas chamber can be efficiently kept warm and the occurrence of condensed water in that EGR gas chamber and the freezing of such a condensed water can be suppressed.
Meanwhile, in JP 2005-155448A, it is conceived that the above intake manifold is made as a rein molded component even though not specified. Herein, since the EGR gas chamber is constituted of: the chamber body formed integrally with the intake manifold; and the cover body covering the chamber body, the chamber body is assumed to be made of resin by molding integrally with the intake manifold. However, the rein molded component has a limitation in shape in terms of a demolding work. Thus, while keeping a hollow shape of each of the EGR gas passage and the plurality of intake pipes, it is difficult to form each communication hole in a direction intersecting the passage direction. Such an EGR gas chamber formed integrally with the intake manifold could lack general versatility for different types of intake manifolds.
In the above EGR gas chamber, in contrast, keeping the EGR gas warm can suppress the generation of condensed water, but it is conceivable that a little condensed water may be generated. However, each communication hole provided in the chamber body simply communicates with each corresponding intake pipe and thus a leakage flow of the condensed water from each communication hole to each intake pipe may flow down to an upstream side of each intake pipe depending on the placement of the communication holes. Since a surge tank is usually provided on the upstream side of the intake pipes, the condensed water may be accumulated in the surge tank.
This disclosure has been made to address the above problems and has a purpose to provide an intake apparatus provided with a gas distributor for distributing auxiliary gas, such as EGR gas, to each branch pipe of an intake manifold and configured to suppress the generation of condensed water in the gas distributor and further realize the general versatility of the gas distributor to different types of intake manifolds.
To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, one aspect of the present disclosure provides an intake apparatus comprising: an intake manifold including a surge tank and a plurality of branch pipes each branching off from the surge tank; a gas distributor provided separately from the intake manifold and configured to distribute auxiliary gas to each of the plurality of branch pipes, the gas distributor including a gas inlet configured to introduce the auxiliary gas, a gas chamber configured to collect the auxiliary gas introduced through the gas inlet, and a plurality of gas distribution pipes each branching off from the gas chamber and each configured to connect to one of the branch pipes; a plurality of connecting holes each provided in one of the branch pipes and each configured to connect to a corresponding one of the gas distribution pipes; and a hot water passage provided separately from the intake manifold and placed adjacently to the gas chamber to warm an inside wall of the gas chamber, the hot water passage being configured to flow hot water, wherein the gas chamber and the hot water passage are arranged to traverse the plurality of branch pipes, the gas distribution pipes are each connected to one of the connecting holes, and at least one of the gas distributor and the hot water passage is attached to the intake manifold.
According to the present disclosure, an inside wall of a gas chamber of a gas distributor can be efficiently warmed with hot water in the gas chamber, thus enabling prevention of generation and freezing of condensed water on the inside wall of the gas chamber. Furthermore, standardization of the gas distributor and a hot water passage can lead to general versatility for different types of intake manifolds.
A detailed description of an embodiment of an intake apparatus which is one of typical embodiments of this disclosure will now be given referring to the accompanying drawings.
The upper and lower sides and right and left sides of the intake apparatus 1 are specified as shown in
In the present embodiment, the intake manifold 11 includes a surge tank 21 and a plurality of branch pipes 22A, 22B, and 22C each branching off from the surge tank 21. The branch pipes 22A to 22C are formed to curve in parallel to each other from the surge tank 21 and extend in the same direction. In the present embodiment, the intake manifold 11 includes three branch pipes 22A to 22C for a 3-cylinder engine 2. The surge tank 21 is formed with an intake inlet 23 to introduce intake air into the surge tank 21. An inlet flange 24 surrounds the outer circumference of the intake inlet 23. The inlet flange 24 is adapted to allow attachment of a well-known throttle device. At a downstream end of each of the branch pipes 22A to 22C, an intake outlet 25 is provided to introduce intake air toward each intake port 3 (see
In the present embodiment, the EGR gas distributor 12 is made of a resin material as a separate component from the intake manifold 11 and is retrofitted to the intake manifold 11. In the present embodiment, for the purpose of enhancing the heat transfer of the EGR gas distributor 12, this distributor 12 is made of a resin material containing carbon. The EGR gas distributor 12 serves to distribute EGR gas to each of the branch pipes 22A to 22C. As shown in
In the present embodiment, the EGR cooler 13 internally contains the hot water passage 36 and the gas passage 37 and is formed integrally with the EGR gas distributor 12. Specifically, the EGR cooler 13 is formed integrally with the EGR gas distributor 12 but is formed separately from the intake manifold 11. The EGR cooler 13 is provided adjacently to and integrally with the EGR gas distributor 12 to warm the inside wall of this distributor 12. The EGR cooler 13 is provided with a casing 38 made of a resin material in an integral form with the EGR gas distributor 12. Within this casing 38, there are placed the hot water passage 36 to flow engine cooling water (hot water) and the gas passage 37 to flow EGR gas. A cooler flange 39 is provided at one end of the EGR cooler 13. This cooler flange 39 is provided with a gas introduction part 40 configured to introduce EGR gas, a water inflow pipe joint 41 configured to introduce engine cooling water, and a water outflow pipe joint 42 configured to discharge out the engine cooling water. Further, at the other end of the EGR cooler 13, a communication passage 43 is provided to connect the gas passage 37 to the gas inlet 29 of the EGR gas distributor 12. The EGR valve 14 is placed in this communication passage 43. The EGR cooler 13 further includes two brackets 44A and 44B configured to attach the EGR unit 15 to the intake manifold 1.
Next, a structure for attaching the EGR unit 15 to the intake manifold 11 will be described below. The branch pipes 22A to 22C of the intake manifold 11 are each provided with a connecting hole 46 configured to connect to a corresponding one of gas distribution pipes 31A to 31C of the EGR gas distributor 12. The connecting holes 46 are open near and toward the corresponding intake outlets 25. The intake manifold 11 includes two connecting rods 47A and 47B protruded and connected respectively to the brackets 44A and 44B of the EGR cooler 13. In the present embodiment, the EGR gas distributor 12 and the EGR cooler 13 are placed in parallel to each other in a longitudinal direction. Thus, the gas chamber 30 of the EGR gas distributor 12 and the hot water passage 36 of the EGR cooler 13 are arranged adjacent to each other through a partition wall 38a in the longitudinal direction. As shown in
Herein, the gas chamber 30 of the EGR gas distributor 12 and the hot water passage 36 of the EGR cooler 13 are arranged in an orientation extending in the longitudinal direction so as to traverse the plurality of branch pipes 22A to 22C. The gas distribution pipes 31A to 31C are each connected to the corresponding connecting holes 46. The two brackets 44A and 44B of the EGR cooler 13 are connected respectively to the two connecting rods 47A and 47B of the intake manifold 11. In this manner, the EGR unit 15 is attached to the intake manifold 11.
As shown in
Herein, the intake manifold 11 is first installed onto the engine 2 before the intake apparatus 1 is attached to the engine 2. Specifically, the outlet flange 26 of the intake manifold 11 is secured with bolts tightened to the engine 2 in a position corresponding to the plurality of intake ports 3 of the engine 2. At that time, the EGR unit 15 does not exist near the outlet flange 26 and therefore the EGR unit 15 itself does not interfere with a work of tightening the bolts. Successively, the EGR unit 15 is attached to the intake manifold 11. This attaching procedure is conducted as follows. Firstly, the gas distribution pipes 31A to 31C of the EGR gas distributor 12 are connected by press-fitting into the corresponding connecting holes 46. Secondly, the two brackets 44A and 44B are connected respectively to the connecting rods 47A and 47B. This connecting method may be performed by bonding or welding the brackets 44A and 44B to the connecting rods 47A and 47B or by securing them with bolts or the like.
According to the configuration of the intake apparatus 1 in the present embodiment described as above, the hot water passage 36 is provided adjacently to the gas chamber 30 of the EGR gas distributor 12, so that the heat of hot water flowing through the hot water passage 36 transfers to the inside wall of the gas chamber 30, thereby warming this inside wall. Accordingly, the inside wall of the gas chamber 30 of the EGR gas distributor 12 can be efficiently warmed by the hot water, thus enabling preventing condensed water from being generated and frozen on the inside wall of the gas chamber 30.
According to the configuration in the present embodiment, the gas chamber 30 and the hot water passage 36 are placed so as to traverse or extend across the plurality of branch pipes 22A to 22C, the gas distribution pipes 31A to 31C are connected to the corresponding connecting holes 46, and also the EGR gas distributor 12 and the EGR cooler 13 are attached to the intake manifold 11. Therefore, when the EGR unit 15 provided with the EGR gas distributor 12 and the EGR cooler 13 is standardized, this EGR unit 15 can also be used in any other type intake manifold. Thus, by standardizing the EGR gas distributor 12 and the EGR cooler 13 (including the hot water passage 36), general versatility for different types of intake manifolds can be achieved.
According to the configuration in the present embodiment, furthermore, the partition wall 38a interposed between the gas chamber 30 and the hot water passage 36 is made of a resin material containing carbon. This configuration exhibits high heat transfer, so that the heat of the hot water can be easily transferred to the inside wall of the gas chamber 30. In the EGR gas distributor 12, therefore, the inside wall of the gas chamber 30 can be more efficiently warmed by the hot water.
According to the configuration in the present embodiment, a portion of the gas chamber 30 having a nearly triangular cross-sectional shape, the portion corresponding to one side of the triangular shape, forms a rectangular partition wall 38a extending in the longitudinal direction. Thus, a heat transfer area between the gas chamber 30 and the hot water passage 36 is relatively large, resulting in an increase in quantity of heat to be transferred to the inside of the gas chamber 30. Also in this regard, in the EGR gas distributor 12, the inside wall of the gas chamber 30 can be more efficiently warmed by the hot water.
According to the configuration in the present embodiment, while the intake manifold 11 is attached to the engine 2 mounted in the proper position, the pipe section 48 defined by a part of each of the branch pipes 22A to 22C in which the connecting holes 46 and the intake outlets 25 are provided is placed to be directed, or inclined, downward relative to the horizontal direction PL. Thus, in the EGR gas distributor 12 attached to the intake manifold 11, the outlets of the gas distribution pipes 31A to 31C are also directed toward the intake port 3 of the engine 2 through the intake outlets 25. According to this configuration, if condensed water is unexpectedly generated in the gas chamber 30 and flows out through the gas distribution pipes 31A tot 31C, the condensed water is allowed to flow down into the intake port 3 of the engine 2 through each intake outlet 25. In other words, the condensed water flowing out from the gas distribution pipes 31A to 31C to the branch pipes 22A to 22C does not flow down into the surge tank 21. Accordingly, the intake apparatus 1 configured as above can suppress the generation of condensed water in the EGR gas distributor 12 and, even if the condensed water unexpectedly occurs and flows out of the EGR gas distributor 12, the intake apparatus 1 can also prevent such the condensed water from staying in the intake manifold 11. Herein, the unexpectedly generated condensed water is small in quantity; therefore, even if flowing into the engine 2, such a condensed water is less likely to lead to any defects, such as combustion deterioration.
According to the configuration in the present embodiment, while the intake apparatus 1 is in an attached state to the engine 2, the bottom wall 38b of the gas chamber 30 of the EGR gas distributor 12 is inclined downward toward the gas distribution pipes 31A to 31C. Thus, the condensed water unexpectedly generated in the gas chamber 30 is allowed to flow downward from the bottom wall 38b to the gas distribution pipes 31A to 31C. This configuration can prevent the condensed water generated in the EGR gas distributor 12 from staying in this distributor 12. Also in this case, a small quantity of condensed water unexpectedly generated may flow into the engine 2. However, even if flowing into the engine 2, such a small quantity of condensed water is less likely to any defects, such as combustion deterioration.
According to the configuration in the present embodiment, the hot water passage 36 is formed integrally with the EGR gas distributor 12, that is, the EGR cooler 13 including the hot water passage 36 is formed integrally with the EGR gas distributor 12. Standardization of those components thus enables attachment to the intake manifold 11. This can facilitate a work of attaching the EGR gas distributor 12 and the EGR cooler 13 (including the hot water passage 36) to the intake manifold 11.
According to the configuration in the present embodiment, the intake apparatus 1 is configured such that the intake manifold 11 is attached to the engine 2 and then the EGR unit 15 is retrofitted to the intake manifold 11. This configuration can prevent the existence of the EGR unit 15 from interfering with the work of attaching the intake manifold 11 to the engine 2.
The present disclosure is not limited to the foregoing embodiment and may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof.
In the foregoing embodiment, the EGR cooler 13 internally containing the hot water passage 36 and the gas passage 37 is provided integrally with the EGR gas distributor 12. As an alternative, for example, an additional casing 51 may be provided to surround the gas chamber 30 of the EGR gas distributor 12 so that only the hot water passage 36 is provided integrally with the EGR gas distributor 12, as shown in
In this case, for example, a cooling water passage for supplying engine cooling water to an EGR cooler provided separately from the intake manifold 11 has only to be connected to this hot water passage 36. This configuration can also achieve the same operations and effects as in the foregoing embodiment.
In the foregoing embodiment, the EGR cooler 13 internally containing the hot water passage 36 and the gas passage 37 is provided integrally with the EGR gas distributor 12. As another alternative, as in a similar way to the above example shown in
In the foregoing embodiment, for the purpose of enhancing the heat transfer, the casing 38 integrally constituting the EGR gas distributor 12 and the EGR cooler 13 is entirely made of a resin material containing carbon. As an alternative, only the partition wall that separates the gas chamber of the EGR gas distributor and the hot water passage of the EGR cooler may be made of a resin material containing carbon.
In the foregoing embodiment, the high heat transfer is addressed by the configuration that the partition wall 38a and others are made of a resin material with carbon mixed therein. As an alternative, the partition wall may be made of resin with a metal plate embedded therein by insert molding.
In the foregoing embodiment, the EGR gas distributor 12 and the EGR cooler 13 (including the hot water passage 36) are configured as an integral unit so that the EGR cooler 13 is attached to the intake manifold 11 through the brackets 44A and 44B and the connecting rods 47A and 47B. As alternatives, the EGR gas distributor and the EGR cooler (including the hot water passage) may be configured as an integral unit so that the EGR gas distributor is attached to the intake manifold through a connecting means or so that the EGR gas distributor and the EGR cooler are each connected to the intake manifold through corresponding connecting means.
The foregoing embodiment embodies the intake manifold 11 provided with the three branch pipes 22A to 22C. However, the number of branch pipes may be any values without being limited to three.
In the foregoing embodiment, even though the details of the intake manifold 11 are not specified, the intake manifold may be constituted of an integral unit formed of a plurality of separate pieces joined into one.
In the foregoing embodiment, it is simply arranged to allow the engine cooling water that circulates through an engine cooling water passage to circulate as hot water in the hot water passage 36. As an alternative, it also may be arranged to allow the hot water that has passed through an exhaust heat recovery device further placed in an exhaust passage to circulate from the engine cooling water passage into a hot water passage part.
In the foregoing embodiment, the EGR valve 14 is provided in the EGR unit 15; however, this EGR valve may be omitted.
In the foregoing embodiment, EGR gas is adopted as auxiliary gas but PCV gas (blow-by gas) may also be adopted as auxiliary gas.
The present disclosure is applicable as a component of an intake system in various types of engines.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-166507 | Aug 2017 | JP | national |
