The invention relates to a motor vehicle exhaust system.
The invention relates more particularly to a motor vehicle exhaust system comprising at least one pollution-reducing member, notably a catalytic converter or a particle filter, comprising a first outlet connected to an exhaust line of an associated vehicle and a second outlet intended to tap off exhaust gases in order to recirculate them, said second outlet being connected to an inlet pipe of an exhaust gas cooler, an outlet pipe of which is connected to a casing housing an exhaust gas control valve.
Numerous examples of exhaust systems of this type are known.
In such a circuit, the casing housing the exhaust gas control valve is generally fixed to the engine block of the vehicle equipped therewith, via at least one strut and is connected to the outlet pipe of the cooler by a flexible pipe.
This design is relatively fragile because the vibrations to which the casing housing the control valve is subjected and the high temperature caused by the close proximity of the pollution-reducing member may cause the flexible pipe to degrade, thus leading to leaks that are detrimental to the correct operation of the vehicle engine.
Moreover, this design entails a relatively complex assembly operation because the cooler has first of all to be mounted on the pollution-reducing member, then the casing housing the control valve has to be mounted on the engine block and then the two of them have to be connected using the flexible pipe.
The invention overcomes this disadvantage by proposing a simplified method of assembly in which the casing housing the control valve is fixed directly to the body of the cooler.
To this end, the invention proposes an exhaust circuit of the type described hereinabove, characterized in that the casing housing the control valve comprises a flange intended to be fixed to an end flange of the outlet pipe of the cooler, and in that said casing is fixed directly to a body of the cooler.
According to other features of the invention:
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from reading the detailed description which follows, for an understanding of which reference will be made to the attached drawings in which:
In the description that follows, identical reference numerals denote components that are identical or that have similar functions.
The system 10 is, for example, intended to be associated with an engine (not depicted) of a motor vehicle.
In the known way, the system 10 comprises at least one pollution-reducing member 12, notably a catalytic converter or a particle filter, comprising an exhaust gas inlet pipe 14, a first outlet 16 connected to an exhaust line (not depicted) of an associated vehicle, and a second outlet 18 intended to tap off exhaust gases so that they can be recirculated.
The second outlet 18 is connected by an intermediate pipe 20 to an inlet pipe 22 of an exhaust gas cooler 24. An outlet pipe 26 of the cooler 24 is connected to a casing 28 housing an exhaust gas control valve, by a flexible pipe 27.
The flexible pipe 27 comprises, for example, a collar clamp 30 to fix it to the outlet pipe 26 and a flange 32 to fix it to a flange 34 of the casing 28 of the control valve.
The casing 28 of the control valve is fixed by screws 36 to a strut 38 intended to be fixed to the vehicle engine.
With this design, the vibrations to which the casing 28 of the control valve, jutting out beyond the end of strut 38, is subjected and the high temperature induced by the close proximity of the pollution-reducing member 12, may cause the flexible pipe 27 to degrade. This degradation may cause leaks or the ingress of air, all of which are detrimental to the correct operation of the exhaust gas recirculation, thus disrupting the operation of the vehicle engine.
Moreover, this design entails a complicated and awkward assembly because it is necessary first of all to mount the cooler 24 on the pollution-reducing member 12, and then to mount the casing 28 housing the control valve on the strut 38 and the strut 38 on the engine block, before finally connecting them using the flexible pipe 27.
The invention overcomes this disadvantage by proposing the simplified assembly in which the casing 28 housing the control valve is fixed directly to the body 40 of the cooler 24.
To this end, and as
Advantageously, the body 40 of the cooler is fixed to the pollution-reducing member 12.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the pollution-reducing member 12 comprises a body 42 oriented substantially axially and notably substantially cylindrical and a first end 44 of which comprises the inlet pipe 14 for the exhaust gases, of which at least one side wall 46 comprises the first outlet 16 of transverse orientation, and of which a second end 48 comprises the second outlet 16 of axial orientation and at least one transverse fixing wall 50 intended to take the body 40 of the cooler.
To complement this, the body 40 of the cooler 24 is substantially parallelepipedal and extends in the transverse direction.
The body 40 of the cooler 24 notably comprises a horizontal lower face 52. It also comprises a rear face from which the inlet pipe 22 projects, which is curved so that it extends under the horizontal lower face, and one end of which comprises a coupling flange 56 providing connection with the second outlet 18 of the pollution-reducing member.
The body 40 of the cooler 24 also comprises a first transverse face for fixing to the transverse fixing wall of the body of the pollution-reducing member, comprising at least one first fixing lug 58 for fixing to the transverse fixing wall 50 of the body of the pollution-reducing member 24.
An inlet pipe 60 and an outlet pipe 62 for the coolant project from an opposite second transverse face 64. These pipes 60, 62 are intended to be connected to a vehicle cooling circuit in order to cool the exhaust gases.
Finally, the body 40 of the cooler 24 comprises a horizontal upper face 66 comprising at least a second lug 68 in the form of angle bracket for fixing to the transverse fixing wall of the body of the pollution-reducing member, a third lug 70 in the form of an angle bracket for fixing the casing housing the control valve, and the outlet pipe 26 of the cooler 24.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the second outlet 16 of the pollution-reducing member 24 is connected to the inlet pipe 22 of the cooler by a bent intermediate pipe 72 comprising a flange 74 of axial orientation intended to be coupled to the second outlet 16 of the pollution-reducing member and a flange 76 of transverse orientation intended to be connected to the coupling flange 56 of the inlet pipe 22 of the cooler 24.
In this configuration, assembly is performed as follows:
The invention allows a considerable simplification of the assembly of an exhaust gas recirculation system.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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0951819 | Mar 2009 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/FR2010/050339 | 2/26/2010 | WO | 00 | 10/20/2011 |