Patent Application
20180051662
The present disclosure relates to engines, engine components, and more particularly, an intake manifold assembly.
An internal combustion engine is used to transfer the fuel (e.g. air and gasoline) to mechanical energy to operate an engine. A complete process of transferring the fuel to mechanical energy is called engine cycle. The operation of the engine commonly includes a plurality of engine cycles.
An engine cycle generally includes four strokes: intake, compression, power transformation and exhaust. Intake is for generating vacuum by the pressure difference to the atmosphere. Air is filtered, and the filtered air is pulled in by the vacuum; then the filtered air is mixed with a gasoline jetted by a nozzle in a cylinder block. Compression is for compressing; the mixed gasoline in the cylinder block. Power transformation is for burning the mixed gasoline to expand the volume thereof, thereby pushing the piston to generate mechanical energy. Exhaust is for exhaling the waste gasoline from the cylinder block. For increasing the performance of the cylinder block, the burning efficiency of the gasoline should be increased. Therefore, it is very important to control or increase the air flow.
In a conventional injection type internal combustion engine, the open level of the intake throttle valve is increased with the pressing amount of the accelerator pedal. Greater depression of the accelerator pedal, promotes higher open level of the intake throttle valve, and therefore larger amounts of air pulled in. When the amount of air pulled in is greater, an air flow sensor is used to detect the air flow, and the detecting results will be transferred to a gasoline-injecting controlling system, then more amount of gasoline will be injected to increase air-fuel ratio, thereby the efficiency of the internal combustion engine will be increased. However, the conventional air flow sensor has time error from detecting to sensing so that the detecting data is not accurate. Thus, the amount of real air flow will be smaller than the amount that is required to be mixed with the gasoline. Moreover, a time error will also be occurred when the air flows in, thereby lowering air-fuel ratio.
The aforementioned situations usually occur when the vehicle starts from rest state or starts from a lower vehicle speed to a higher vehicle speed. When the accelerator pedal is pressed to increase the vehicle speed, the vehicle may tremble or the vehicle will be stuck. Furthermore, in an environment having thin air, the amount of the air flow is not enough, therefore air-fuel ratio is low, and thus the power of the inner combustion engine is low, thereby lowering the climbing ability of the vehicle.
A turbo boosted type internal combustion engine which uses a turbocharger 56 may now be used in vehicles in the marketplace. The operation principle for turbo boost engines is that the boost type internal combustion engine is to use the exhaust air to drive a turbine blade, and the air compressor disposed in one end of the turbine axis is used to compress the air that enters the compressed air, and is provided to the inner combustion engine for burning. However, when compressing the incoming air for use in the combustion system, the air temperature is greatly increased causing less combustion efficiencies.
Intercooler 42 shown in
The mounting of a traditional intake manifold assembly 36 to an engine typically is comprised of several steel brackets, fasteners, or other joining structures such as hooks or clamps as shown in
The air intake manifold which directs incoming air to the respective engine cylinders of a combustion engine has historically been fabricated from metal. More recently, various molded materials including thermoplastics, resins, and polymers have been used to manufacture intake manifolds. Preferred materials may include nylon or other polyamides which may further include filler materials such as glass fibers. A switch to plastic materials has achieved a reduction in weight, but reliance on brackets and fasteners with a high parts count have continued which enhances cost and assembly time.
The present disclosure provides a manifold assembly for an internal combustion engine for vehicle use. The manifold assembly may, but not necessarily be a manifold assembly. The manifold assembly includes a clevis-style mounting structure, a first manifold section, a second manifold section, an optional accessory disposed between the first and second manifold sections, and a plurality of threaded fasteners. The clevis-style mounting structure includes an upper clevis structure and a lower clevis structure. The clevis-style mounting structure may be operatively configured to be mounted on a cylinder head. The first manifold section has distal and proximal ends. The first manifold section is integral to the clevis style mounting structure. The plurality of threaded fasteners operatively configured to affix the clevis-style mount structure to a cylinder head via a plurality of corresponding passageways defined in the cylinder head.
The invention and its particular features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered with reference to the accompanying drawings.
These and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, and best mode, appended claims, and accompanying drawings in which:
Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the description of several views of the drawings.
The exemplary embodiments described herein provide detail for illustrative purposes, and are subject to many variations in composition, structure, and design. It is understood that various omissions and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, but these are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims of the present disclosure. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
The terms “first,” “second,” and the like, herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another, and the terms “a” and “an” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced items.
The present disclosure provides for a manifold assembly 10. The manifold assembly may, but not necessarily be an intake manifold assembly. In certain engine configurations, the manifold assembly 10 may be an exhaust manifold assembly. In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a mounting arrangement 22 which eliminates multiple threaded fasteners, straight-line run-down clearance requirements for assembly where the region perpendicular to the mounting surface must generally remain free of any obstructions in order to install the many fasteners for the manifold. The clevis style mounting arrangement 22 for the manifold requires minimal threaded fasteners along its length. The distal region of the cylinder head 20 is operatively configured to engage with a clevis-style structure from the manifold and further defines a passageway 28 which is operatively configured to receive the threaded clevis style fasteners 14.
The upper clevis structure 24 is the portion of the clevis structure which substantially spans the upper side of the cylinder head 20. The lower clevis structure 26 is the portion of the clevis structure which substantially spans the lower side of the cylinder head 20. As shown, clevis-style structure defines 30 near the upper side and lower side of the manifold which are aligned with a corresponding passageway 28 defined in the cylinder head 20 so that the threaded fastener 14 may be received within the corresponding apertures 30 and the aligned passageway 28 for that particular threaded fastener or thread insert.
It is further understood that each opening 30 in the lower clevis structure 26 defines threads 34 which engage with the bottom portion 32 of each corresponding threaded fastener 14. The manifold is formed from polymeric material. The threads 34 implemented in lower clevis structure 26 and the lower clevis structure itself 26 are sufficiently strong and rigid to engage with each threaded fastener 14 as each threaded fastener 14 is rotated and secured within each thread 34. The lower clevis structure 26 can be easily mounted and secured to the distal portion of the cylinder head 20 by assembling the lower clevis structure 26 around and in place on the distal region 18 of the cylinder head 20.
The arrangement of the mounting structure 22 enables an assembly worker to mount the manifold 16 and thread the fasteners 14 into the lower clevis structure 26 from the upper clevis structure 24 area alone given that the lower clevis structure 26 is sufficiently rigid to stay in place while the threaded clevis fastener 14 is rotated into the threads 34. Therefore, this manifold assembly 10 design prevents an assembly worker from having to physically access the underside of the manifold where clearances are otherwise typically limited which increases assembly time and may further require more fasteners.
Accordingly, the number of fasteners may effectively be reduced as much as 50% in that a threaded clevis fastener 14 may be used to secure the manifold at both the upper side and the lower side of the cylinder head 20. As shown, thread inserts 34 are pressed into the lower clevis structure 26. Given that this new mounting arrangement 22 eliminates the need for a user to access the lower clevis structure 26, the manifold may now incorporate additional components such as a charge air cooler, or the like with the manifold 10. These additional incorporated components increase the size of the manifold and therefore, hinder access to the underside of the intake manifold. Thus, the present disclosure eliminates the need to access the underside of the manifold in order to install the manifold thereby which enables increasing the manifold size (which may block the traditional access points on the underside of the intake manifold).
As shown in
With reference to
Accordingly, the intake manifold assembly 10 enables the packaging of components in closer proximity to the intake/cylinder head mating surface, which was traditionally not possible due to the use of conventional mounting system where the threaded fasteners 14 were mounted perpendicular to the mounting plate on both the upper portion 21 of the cylinder head 20 and lower portion 23 of the cylinder head 20. The intake manifold assembly 10 of the present disclosure may include, but not are limited to, a larger air plenum, various air runner shapes, sizes, amounts, indirect charge-air coolers.
Accordingly, an engine 80 (shown in
Given that additional features may be added to the intake manifold assembly 10 in a more direct route, the airflow path to the engine is shortened and therefore more efficient thereby providing an improved throttle response. Moreover, the integration of components results in reduced overall system mass and cost. Cost savings may be achieved in a variety of ways such as but not limited to elimination of fastener componentry, elimination of typical cylinder head multiple mounting bosses, as well as elimination of drill and tap features. Furthermore, in light of the implementation of fewer fasteners, the assembly burden is reduced via shorter assembly times and lower cost
While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that various changes can be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims and the legal equivalents thereof.
