Vehicle engine compartment structure and method for introducing cool intake air

• US 5,901,672 A
• Filed: 08/27/1997
• Issued: 05/11/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Suzuki, Makoto, Abe, Shizuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Kamen, Noah P.
• Application Number:
  US08/917,810
• Time in Patent Office: 622 Days
• Field of Search: 123/41.12, 123/41.49, 415/60, 415/61, 415/62, 180/68.1
• US Class Current: 123/41.49
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 11/04 Arrangement or mounting of radiators, radiator shutters, or radiator blinds B60K11/085 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 13/02 concerning intake
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 13/04 concerning exhaust collecting exhaust gases with central suction systems not forming part of vehicles, e.g. in workshops or tunnels B08B15/002, otherwise along carriageways E01C1/005; extensions for melting snow on roads E01H5/00, E01H6/00; exhaust or silencing apparatus for internal combustion engines per se F01N; pipes, joints or supports therefor F16L
• CPC Class Codes: F01P 2001/005 Cooling engine rooms
• CPC Class Codes: F01P 5/02 Pumping cooling-air; Arrangements of cooling-air pumps, e.g. fans or blowers
• CPC Class Codes: F02B 29/0481 Intake air cooling by means others than heat exchangers, e.g. by rotating drum regenerators, cooling by expansion or by electrical means
• CPC Class Codes: F02M 35/04 specially arranged with respect to engine , to intake system or specially adapted to vehicle; Mounting thereon ; Combinations with other devices combined with silencers F02M35/14
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 25/166 using fans

Abstract

An engine compartment structure for introducing cool air into an air intake port without providing a baffle plate is constructed such that air discharged by cooling fans is directed away from the air intake port. A rotational direction of a second cooling fan of a pair of cooling fans can be opposite to the first cooling fan. The first cooling fan is closer to the air intake port than the second cooling fan. Air volume discharged by the first cooling fan can also be larger than that of the second cooling fan. Furthermore, rotational directions of the pair of cooling fans can be selected such that the air discharged by the cooling fans is directed toward a space at the rear side of the opposite headlamp, and each air volume discharged by the respective cooling fan set differently.

Claims

1. An engine compartment construction, comprising:

an engine compartment;

a radiator located in the engine compartment;

an air intake port located at a front corner of the engine compartment;

a first cooling fan mounted at a rear side of the radiator, said first cooling fan having a configuration such that air discharged by the first cooling fan is directed away from the air intake port; and

a second cooling fan mounted at the rear side of the radiator and located farther from the air intake port than the first cooling fan;

wherein

the first cooling fan is configured such that air volume discharged by the first cooling fan is larger than air volume discharged by the second cooling fan.

2. An engine compartment construction as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the first cooling fan and the second cooling fan comprises a plurality of blades, and the blades of the first cooling fan are larger than the blades of the second cooling fan.

3. An engine compartment construction as claimed in claim 1, wherein an absolute value of the rotational speed of the first cooling fan is greater than that of the second cooling fan.

4. An engine compartment construction as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the first cooling fan and the second cooling fan comprises a plurality of blades, and the blades of the first cooling fan are larger than the blades of the second cooling fan.

5. An engine compartment construction as claimed in claim 1, wherein an absolute value of the rotational speed of the first cooling fan is greater than that of the second cooling fan.

6. An engine compartment construction as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first cooling fan and the second cooling fan are rotatable in the same direction and a rotational speed of the first cooling fan is greater than that of the second cooling fan.

7. An engine compartment construction as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first cooling fan and the second cooling fan are rotatable in the same direction and a rotational speed of the first cooling fan is less than that of the second cooling fan.

8. An engine compartment construction as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first cooling fan and the second cooling fan are rotatable in the same direction and each of the first cooling fan and the second cooling fan comprises a plurality of blades, and the blades of the first cooling fan are larger than the blades of the second cooling fan.

9. An engine compartment construction as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first cooling fan and the second cooling fan are rotatable in the same direction and each of the first cooling fan and the second cooling fan comprises a plurality of blades, and the blades of the first cooling fan are smaller than the blades of the second cooling fan.

10. An engine compartment construction as claimed in claim 1, wherein said engine compartment has a longitudinal axis, said air intake port is located at a front air intake corner of the engine compartment, said first cooling fan has a configuration such that air discharged by said first cooling fan is directed away from said air intake port and at an oblique angle with respect to said engine compartment longitudinal axis, and said second cooling fan has a rotational direction that is opposite to a rotational direction of said first cooling fan.

11. A method for cooling an engine compartment, comprising:

providing an air intake port at a front air intake corner on one side of a longitudinal axis of the engine compartment;

providing a first cooling fan and a second cooling fan at a rear side of a radiator located in the engine compartment, wherein the first cooling fan is located closer to the air intake port than the second cooling fan;

configuring the first cooling fan such that air discharged by the first cooling fan is directed away from the air intake port and at an oblique angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the engine compartment, and such that air volume discharged by the first cooling fan is larger than air volume discharged by the second cooling fan.

12. A method for cooling an engine compartment as claimed in claim 11, further comprising rotating the second cooling fan in a direction opposite the rotational direction of the first cooling fan.

13. A method for cooling an engine compartment as claimed in claim 11, further comprising providing one of the first cooling fan and the second cooling fan with blades larger than blades of the other one of the first cooling fan and second cooling fan.

14. A method for cooling an engine compartment as claimed in claim 11, further comprising rotating one of the first cooling fan and the second cooling fan at a speed that has an absolute value that is greater than that of the other one of the first cooling fan and the second cooling fan.