Patent Application
20110030929
The present disclosure relates to cooling liquid with a heat exchanger.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. Devices for cooling liquids are known; however, such devices are not without their share of limitations. Traditional refrigeration systems may be used to cool a liquid, which may need to be cooled for any one of a variety of reasons. In one example of a traditional refrigeration system, an external source or supply of energy, such as electricity, must be utilized to drive a compressor, for example, of the refrigeration system that circulates a refrigerant such as R-132. In another example of a traditional refrigeration system, the compressor may be mechanically driven instead of electrically driven. In such a mechanically driven system, a belt or a gear mechanism may be used to transfer power from a driving shaft an internal combustion engine to the compressor. What is needed then is a cooling device that that does not suffer from the above limitations.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features. An apparatus for transferring heat may employ a heat exchanger with a heat exchanger inlet that receives a fluid into a radiator and a heat exchanger outlet that discharges the fluid from the radiator. The device may further employ a power exchange unit that employs a driving fan fluid inlet, a plurality of inner fan blades to receive the fluid from the driving fan fluid inlet, and a rotable driving fan unit. Moreover, the inner fan blades may be attached to the rotable driving fan unit along with a plurality of driving magnets. A rotatable driven fan unit may have numerous outer fan blades attached to it along with a series of driven magnets. The heat exchanger may be attached to the power exchange unit so as to be able to transfer fluid. The fluid drives the inner fan blades and flows into the heat exchanger. The outer fan blades may force air through the heat exchanger by pushing the air in a first direction, or by pulling air through the heat exchanger in an opposite direction.
The power transfer wall may be cylindrical or drum-shaped and be located between the inner driving magnets and the outer opposing magnets. When the inner driving magnets rotate in the driving fan unit, the polarity arrangement of the inner driving magnets relative to the outer opposing magnets transfer a magnetic field to impart rotation in the driven fan unit within which the outer opposing magnets reside. That largest outside diameter of the driven fan may be larger than the largest outside diameter of the power transfer wall. The heat exchanger inlet may be located in a geometric center or other location of the heat exchanger to facilitate an overall package size that is as small as possible.
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 of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to
Turning now to
Turning now with reference including
Upon fuel entering power exchange unit and heat exchanger 36 at fuel inlet 40, the fuel contacts inner fan blades 44, also known as internal fan blades, which are angled relative to the direction of fuel striking blades 44, causing inner fan blades 44 to rotate in clockwise direction 46, for example, which imparts clockwise rotation in circular driving fan unit 48 within which inner driving magnets 50 (inner driving members) are located. Inner fan blades 44 of driving fan unit 48 may each have a leading edge and a trailing edge so that blades 44 rotate when struck with a moving fluid. Thus, driving fan unit 48 and inner fan blades 44 rotate at the same speed that is directly proportional to the speed of the return liquid fuel flowing in pre heat exchanger line 32. That is, the faster the fuel flows in pre heat exchanger line 32, the faster inner fan blades 44 spin because inner fan blades 44 and driving fan unit 48, which holds magnets 50, are in the flow path of liquid fuel and contact liquid fuel. Because magnets emit or create a magnetic field about them, a magnetic field is created through power transfer wall 52, which is stationary and does not rotate. The magnetic field created by inner driving magnets 50 reaches outer opposing magnets 56 (outer opposing members) residing within the inside diameter of driven fan 54. In one example, inner driving magnets 50 have a different polarity than outer opposing magnets 56 to cause their attraction to each other such that one or more outer opposing magnets 56 will move in the same direction when one or more inner driving magnets 50 move. Because the driven fan 54 is free to float (not contact) and rotate around the power transfer wall 52, outer opposing magnets 56 are repelled by the magnetic force of inner driving magnets 50 which imparts rotation in driven fan 54. Outer opposing magnets 56 may be imbedded within a driven fan unit 58 that rotates around and next to power transfer wall 52.
In a variation of the structure presented above, inner driving magnets 50 may instead be attracted to steel or iron plates substituted in locations of outer opposing magnets 56 in driven fan 54. Thus, inner driving magnets 50 may magnetically couple to steel or iron plates, in place of outer opposing magnets 50, to drive driven fan 54. Such an arrangement presents a lower cost option than using outer opposing magnets 56 and inner driving magnets 50.
In yet another variation of the structures presented above, steel or iron plates may be substituted in locations of inner driving magnets 50. With such an arrangement, outer opposing magnets 56 may instead be attracted to such steel or iron plates as driving fan unit 48 rotates. Thus, outer opposing magnets 56 may magnetically couple to steel or iron plates in place of inner driving magnets 50 to drive driven fan 54. Such an arrangement presents a lower cost option than using outer opposing magnets 56 and inner driving magnets 50.
When driven fan 54 begins to rotate clockwise, in accordance with arrow 46, because driving fan unit 48 is rotating clockwise, fan blades 60 also rotate clockwise. Fan blades may have a leading edge 61 and a trailing edge 63 to force air into heat exchanger 66. As driven fan 54 rotates clockwise, because fan blades are angled, air is drawn between fan blades 60, such as in gaps 62 defined between neighboring or adjacent fan blades 60 and completely through driven fan 54, as depicted in
In an alternate embodiment, instead of airflow 64 passing in the direction noted in
With reference to
As depicted in
Turning now to
Continuing with
While air tube 92 may have an end 104 which may be governed in accordance with the degree of cooling to be provided to the liquid fuel 102 flowing within inner fuel tube 98. Upon air tube 92 ending, post heat exchanger line 34 will proceed to deliver cooled liquid fuel to tank 16. Air cone 82, air tube 92, inner fuel tube 98 and holes 100 form and act as a heat exchanger 67.
Another structural feature that may reside within air cone 82, is a turbulence producing device. One example of a turbulence producing device are air nodules 83 (e.g. raised semi-hemispherical pieces) located on an inside diameter of air cone 82. Air nodules 83 may change airflow from laminar to turbulent or make turbulent airflow even more turbulent. Making airflow 94 turbulent through air tube 94 and around inner fuel tube 98 will hasten cooling of the liquid within inner fuel tube 98. Another example of a device to hasten turbulent airflow is deflector 85 within air cone 82. Deflector 85 may be a ring welded or otherwise connected or attached to an outside diameter of tube 98. Alternatively deflector 85 may be a bent or straight bar or flange to interrupt airflow 90 through air cone 94 and hasten turbulent airflow through tube 98.
Stated in slightly different terms, an apparatus for transferring heat may have a heat exchanger 66, such as a radiator, having a heat exchanger inlet 76 that receives a fluid into the heat exchanger and a heat exchanger outlet 78 that discharges the fluid from the radiator. The apparatus may also have a power exchange unit 70 with a driving fan fluid inlet 40, a plurality of inner fan blades 44 to receive fluid from the driving fan fluid inlet 40, a rotable driving fan unit 48, the plurality of inner fan blades 44 attached to the rotable driving fan unit 48, a plurality of driving magnets 50 attached to or imbedded in the rotatable driving fan unit 48; a rotatable driven fan unit 58 may employ a plurality of outer fan blades 60 attached to the rotatable driven fan unit 58 while a quantity of driven magnets 56 (outer opposing members) may be attached to or imbedded in the rotatable driven fan unit 58. The heat exchanger 66 is attached to the power exchange unit 70, such as with traditional fasteners or by welding. The apparatus may also employ a power transfer wall, which may be cylindrical or tubular and be located between the plurality of inner driving magnets and the plurality of outer opposing magnets.
Power transfer wall 52 may serve to transfer power, or magnetic fields, from the inner driving magnets 50 to the plurality of outer opposing magnets 56. The overall outside diameter of the driven fan 54 may be larger than the outside diameter of the power transfer wall 52 (
Power exchange unit and heat exchanger 36 is applicable to a variety of applications in which heat transfer from one fluid (liquid or gas) to another fluid (liquid or gas) is desired. Thus, the teachings of the present invention are not limited to an automotive application; however, an automotive application is presented in conjunction with the teachings. In an automotive or truck application for cooling liquid fuel, the power exchange unit and heat exchanger 36 may be located under the vehicle (e.g. between a road surface and floorboards of a vehicle) in the return fuel line 32, 34 between the vehicle's front engine firewall and fuel tank 16.
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.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the invention, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention.
