Cooling air flap and blower control for motor vehicles
First Claim
1. A cooling air control system for motor vehicles of the type having cooling air duct means opening to an engine copartment, comprising:
- controllable cooling airflap means for controlling the size of the flow opening in the cooling air duct means;
controllable speed fan means for controlling the flow of air supplied by the cooling air duct means;
electric motor driven airflap control means for controlling the airflap means in response to detected cooling air requirements to selectively move the same;
to a closed position, a partially open position or a fully open position; and
rotational speed control means for controlling the rotational speed of the fan means in response to detected cooling air requirements starting in the partially open position of said airflap means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
To control the cooling air requirements of an internal combustion engine and additional assemblies on a motor vehicle, a combination of cooling air flaps adjustable by an electric motor and a ventilator blower whose rpm is adjustable and which are powered by electric motors is used. One closed, one partially open, and one fully open position of the cooling air flaps as well as the rotational speed of the blower are controlled as a function of the cooling requirements of the internal combustion engine and the states of an air conditioner, a temperature of an automatic transmission fluid, a temperature of an intake manifold of the internal combustion engine, and the position of an ignition switch and an engine hood contact switch in such fashion that a cooling air stream which changes nearly continuously with the cooling requirements is created in the cooling air duct. Advantageously, in addition to the optimum protection of the system and a favorable fuel consumption, a shortened warmup phase of the internal combustion engine and improved aerodynamics of the motor vehicle are achieved by limiting the throughflow of the internal combustion engine chamber with the cooling air flaps closed or partially open.
119 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A cooling air control system for motor vehicles of the type having cooling air duct means opening to an engine copartment, comprising:
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controllable cooling airflap means for controlling the size of the flow opening in the cooling air duct means; controllable speed fan means for controlling the flow of air supplied by the cooling air duct means; electric motor driven airflap control means for controlling the airflap means in response to detected cooling air requirements to selectively move the same;
to a closed position, a partially open position or a fully open position; androtational speed control means for controlling the rotational speed of the fan means in response to detected cooling air requirements starting in the partially open position of said airflap means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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- 4. Cooling air flap and blower control for motor vehicles whose engine compartment is exposable to a cooling air stream by at least one opening terminating in a cooling air duct in the body, whereby the cooling air duct is closable by cooling air flaps whose position can be controlled and at least one heat exchanger and at least one blower with a controllable rotational speed (rpm) are disposed in the cooling air duct, and the position of the cooling air flaps and the rpm of the blower are controllable by a contorl means as a function of a cooling requirement of systems of the motor vehicle such that when the cooling requirement increases the cooling air flaps are intially moved into an open position and as the cooling air requirement rises further, the blower is additionally controlled, wherein said control means controls an electric motor to move said cooling air flaps, depending on the cooling requirements, to a closed position (zk=kz0), a partially open position (sk--zk2) and a fully open position, and controls the rpm of said blower, starting in the partially open position of said cooling air flaps so that a cooling air stream which changes approximately continuously proportionally with the cooling requirements is obtained in a cooling air duct.
Specification