JP5131037B2 - Outside air introduction duct and its mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an outside air introduction duct for introducing outside air into an intake system of an internal combustion engine.

As is well known, an outside air introduction duct for introducing outside air to an intake system such as an air cleaner of an internal combustion engine is provided in the engine room at the front of the vehicle. In Patent Document 1, a rectifying plate for rectifying a flow is provided in an outside air introduction duct so that outside air is smoothly supplied to an intake system of an internal combustion engine.
JP 2008-31987

  In terms of the rectifying effect, the rectifying plate may have a shape that connects the upper surface and the lower surface so as to partition the duct flow channel, or a shape that substantially crosses the duct flow channel even if not completely connected. preferable.

  By the way, the outside air introduction duct is generally provided between the radiator core and the hood, and the inside surface of the hood is closed to the outside air introduction duct when the hood is closed so that hot air from behind the radiator does not enter the outside air introduction duct. And a seal member elastically contacting the upper surface of the outside air introduction duct is attached to the inner surface of the hood. Such an outside air introduction duct has weakness (vulnerability) to absorb impact from the aspect of safety and occupant protection against input of force from the hood side, that is, the upper surface of the duct at the time of a vehicle collision or the like. Desired. However, when the rectifying plate is set so as to cross the duct flow path as described above, the rectifying plate functions as a support column, that is, the rectifying plate in the outside air introduction duct is stretched, and this outside air introduction The reaction force generated by the duct is increased, and the rigidity of the outside air introduction duct, particularly the vertical rigidity is increased. For this reason, there exists a possibility of producing the malfunction that sufficient vulnerability cannot be ensured in terms of pedestrian protection and safety. Therefore, if the rectifying plate is not shaped so as to straddle the flow path in the duct, for example, if the rectifying plate is simply shorter in the vertical direction than the flow path in the duct, the sealing property and rectifying effect by the rectifying plate are significantly hindered. End up.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and suppresses an increase in rigidity due to the rectifying plate without significantly hindering the rectifying effect in the outside air introduction duct, thereby improving occupant protection and safety. This is the main purpose.

  Accordingly, in the present invention, a vehicle upper hood, and a vehicle upper duct upper and a vehicle that are joined to each other in an outside air introduction duct that is disposed below the hood and takes outside air from the front of the vehicle and guides it to the intake system of the internal combustion engine. A rectifying plate is erected in the duct internal flow path between the lower duct lower, the rectifying plate is formed on the duct upper, the rectifying plate upper rising from the duct upper, and formed on the duct lower, from the duct lower It has a rectifying plate dividing portion divided into standing rectifying plate lowers, and the rectifying plate upper and the rectifying plate lower are offset in a direction along the flow path in the duct.

  Here, “upper and lower” in “downward”, “upper” and the like corresponds to the vertical direction in the in-vehicle state. Basically, the front and rear directions are defined with the vehicle traveling direction in front.

  Typically, a seal member that elastically contacts the upper surface of the duct upper of the outside air introduction duct when the hood is closed is attached to the inner surface of the hood, and the portion of the rectifying plate that corresponds to the seal member, that is, the closest to the hood The rectifying plate dividing portion is set in a portion to be performed.

  According to the present invention, a part of the rectifying plate is a rectifying plate dividing portion divided into the rectifying plate upper and the rectifying plate lower, and the rectifying plate upper and the rectifying plate lower are in a direction along the flow path in the duct. In this rectifying plate dividing portion, the rectifying plate is separated without connecting the duct flow path up and down, and the rigidity of the outside air introduction duct, particularly the vertical rigidity, becomes excessively high. Absent. Accordingly, it is possible to secure an appropriate vulnerability for absorbing an impact against an input of force from the hood side, that is, the upper surface of the duct at the time of a vehicle collision or the like, thereby improving pedestrian protection and safety.

  Further, such a rectifying plate dividing portion is limited to a part of the rectifying plate, and the offset amount between the rectifying plate upper and the rectifying plate lower in the rectifying plate dividing portion is made small, and the two are arranged close enough. As a result, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the rectifying effect.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an outside air introduction duct 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an intake system of a V-type internal combustion engine including the outside air introduction duct 1. It should be noted that “R” is appropriately added to the components of the right bank and “L” is appropriately added to the components of the left bank after the reference numerals.

  The intake system in the V-type internal combustion engine includes an outside air introduction duct 1, a pair of left and right air cleaners 4L and 4R, a pair of left and right intake pipes 5L and 5R, and a pair of intake pipes 5L and 5R. And a single intake collector (not shown) connected via the (not shown). This collector can introduce intake air independently for each bank in order to improve output mainly by increasing the amount of intake air. For this reason, the air cleaners 4L, 4R and electric throttles (illustrated) (Omitted) is provided for each bank.

  The outside air introduction duct 1 allows outside air necessary for combustion of the internal combustion engine to flow from the front of the vehicle, and also provides outside air (intake air) to the left air cleaner 4L and the right air cleaner 4R connected to the opposite rear and downstream sides. leak. The intake air flowing out from the outside air introduction duct 1 is filtered by the left air cleaner 4L and the right air cleaner 4R, and then collected to the intake collector via the left intake pipe 5L and the right intake pipe 5R, and then left and right banks through the intake manifold. Is supplied to the intake port of each cylinder.

  With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the outside air introduction duct 1 is provided in the engine room ER at the front of the vehicle, and more specifically, is mounted on a radiator core 7 below the hood 6. The hood 6 is configured by joining a hood inner 6A and a hood outer 6B. A seal member 8 that elastically contacts the upper surface of the outside air introduction duct when the hood is closed is attached to the hood inner 6A. The outside air introduction duct 1 is a box in which a duct upper 2 having a halved shape and a duct lower 3 having a halved shape are joined to each other at a mating surface portion, whereby a duct internal flow path 11 is formed therein. It is a molded body of structure.

  The duct upper 2 and the duct lower 3 are each integrally formed of a synthetic resin material. The duct upper 2 and the duct lower 3 are mainly formed by thin plate-like base plates 12 and 13, and side wall portions 15 and 16 rising from the peripheral portions of the base plates 12 and 13. The tips of the two are fitted together to form the outer wall portion of the duct internal flow path 11. The base plate 12 of the duct upper 2 is set larger than the base plate 13 of the duct lower 3 and is flat for improving the appearance quality when the hood 6 is opened. The duct upper 2 and the duct lower 3 are fixed by bolts (not shown) at a plurality of boss portions 17 and holes 18 provided on the base plates 12 and 13, and are also clipped at the clip mounting portion 19 by a clip (not shown). Fixed. Further, the side wall portions 15 and 16 and rectifying plates 31 to 33 described later are provided with a claw portion 20 and a fitting recess 21 which are fitted to each other. The fixing method is not limited to this, and a fixing structure such as vibration welding can also be adopted in order to improve the fixing strength.

  A recess 22 for operating a hood lock (not shown) is formed on the front side of the outside air introduction duct 1, that is, on the upstream side of the flow path, and one duct inlet for introducing outside air to the internal duct internal flow path 11 23 is open. That is, the side wall portions 15 and 16 are formed so as to surround three sides of the duct internal flow passage 11 except the duct inlet 23, and the side wall portions 15 and 16 are not provided at the front portion of the outside air introduction duct 1. One duct inlet 23 is greatly opened. Duct outlets 24L and 24R connected to air cleaners 4L and 4R, which are intake system components, are formed at the rear side of the duct lower 3, that is, on the downstream side of the flow path, respectively. Outside air is introduced into the duct internal flow path 11 from the duct inlet 23, flows through the duct internal flow path 11, and then supplied to the air cleaners 4L and 4R from the left and right duct outlets 24L and 24R, respectively.

  In order to rectify the flow in the duct internal flow path 11, the outside air introduced from the duct inlet 23 is branched into a pair of duct outlets 24 </ b> L and 24 </ b> R provided at both ends on the downstream side and smoothly led. Current plates 31 to 33 are provided. These rectifying plates 31 to 33 include a main rectifying plate 31 having a V-shape that gradually increases in diameter from the upstream duct inlet 23 toward the duct outlets 24L and 24R on the left and right sides, and the main rectifying plate. A pair of sub rectifying plates 32 and 33 are arranged substantially in front of each side surface so as to form a flow path between both side surfaces of 31. The sub rectifying plates 32 and 33 may be omitted.

  A rectifying plate dividing portion 34 projecting to the front and upstream sides is provided at the top of the main rectifying plate 31 on the front side and the upstream side. As shown in FIG. 3, the general portion 35 of the rectifying plates 31 to 33 excluding the rectifying plate dividing portion 34 is a plate-like portion 35 </ b> A that stands from one of the duct upper 2 and the duct lower 3, as with the side walls 15 and 16. Is fitted in a channel-like / bifurcated fitting portion 35B formed on the other of the duct upper 2 and the duct lower 3, that is, substantially in the duct so as to partition the duct internal flow passage 11. It spans from the upper surface to the lower surface in the flow path 11 and crosses over the entire height of the flow path 11 in the duct, and is excellent in rectification effect and sealing performance.

  Next, characteristic structures and operational effects of the present embodiment will be listed below.

  (1) The rectifying plate dividing section 34 is formed in the duct upper 2 and is divided into a rectifying plate upper 37 that stands up from the duct upper 2 and a rectifying plate lower 38 that is formed in the duct lower 3 and stands up from the duct lower 3. It is configured. The rectifying plate upper 37 and the rectifying plate lower 38 are slightly separated from each other, that is, slightly offset in the direction along the duct flow path 11, that is, in the front-rear and left-right directions.

  In this way, a part of the rectifying plates 31 to 33 is used as the rectifying plate dividing portion 34 divided into the rectifying plate upper 37 and the rectifying plate lower 38, and the rectifying plate upper 37 and the rectifying plate lower 38 are connected to each other. Due to the offset, it is possible to prevent the rigidity of the outside air introduction duct 1 in the portion where the current plate dividing portion 34 is provided, particularly the rigidity in the vertical direction, from becoming excessively high. Therefore, by providing such a rectifying pair dividing portion 34 at an appropriate position, an external air introduction duct made of synthetic resin with respect to an input of force F (see FIG. 3) from the hood side, that is, the upper surface of the duct at the time of a vehicle collision or the like. When 1 itself is crushed, it is possible to secure an appropriate vulnerability for absorbing an impact, and to improve pedestrian protection and safety.

  Further, by reducing the offset amount between the rectifying plate upper 37 and the rectifying plate lower 38 in the rectifying plate dividing portion 34, that is, by arranging both 37 and 38 sufficiently close to each other, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the rectifying effect. it can. Further, such a rectifying plate dividing portion 34 is made a part of the rectifying plates 31 to 33, and most of the remaining rectifying plates 31 to 33 are substantially partitioned vertically in the duct flow path 11 as described above. By crossing over the entire height of the duct internal flow passage 11, the sealing performance can be improved and the original rectifying effect can be sufficiently obtained.

  (2) As shown in FIG. 5, the rectifying plate lower 38 is set longer (higher) in the vertical direction than the rectifying plate upper 37. The duct upper 2 is integrally molded with a synthetic resin material including the rectifying plate upper 37, and a so-called sink 39 is formed near the rectifying plate upper 37 on the upper surface of the duct upper 2 exposed to the outside at the time of molding. Although it may occur, the occurrence of the sink marks 39 can be suppressed and avoided by sufficiently shortening the rectifying plate upper 37 as described above. In addition, the flow in the duct internal flow path 11 is caused by the fact that the front side of the duct internal flow path 11 is inclined downward and the duct outlets 24L and 24R are formed on the lower surface side of the duct internal flow path 11. Flows relatively downward, so that the rectifying plate lower 38 is formed long enough to effectively suppress the reduction of the rectifying action.

  (3) As shown also in FIG. 3, only the lower wall portion 23 </ b> B formed in the duct lower 3 among the upper wall portion 23 </ b> A and the lower wall portion 23 </ b> B forming the duct inlet 23 for introducing outside air into the duct internal flow passage 11. Has a bell mouth shape that expands toward the upstream tip. In this case, the outside air is particularly easy to flow through the lower portion of the duct internal flow passage 11, and the effect of suppressing the reduction of the rectification effect by lengthening the rectifying plate lower 38 can be obtained even better.

  (4) Since the rectifying plate lower 38 is disposed upstream and forward of the flow path from the rectifying plate upper 37 as shown in FIG. 5, for example, as shown in [5] of FIG. Compared with the structure in which 37 is arranged on the upstream side of the flow path from the rectifying plate lower 38, the sealing performance is excellent and the flow is smooth.

  (5) The rectifying plates 31 to 33 are formed of the main rectifying plate 31 that expands in a V shape toward the two duct outlets 24L and 24R at both ends on the downstream side from one duct inlet 23 on the upstream side of the duct 11 in the duct. Have. The main rectifying plate 31 can smoothly guide the outside air flowing from the duct inlet 23 into the duct internal flow path 11 to the left and right duct outlets 24L and 24R. The rectifying plate dividing portion 34 is formed so as to protrude further upstream from the top portion on the upstream side of the main rectifying plate 31.

  (6) A resonance chamber 40 is formed between the main rectifying plate 31 and the rear wall of the outside air introduction duct 1. That is, the inlet 41 to the resonance chamber 40 is opened between both ends of the main rectifying plate 31 and the rear wall of the outside air introduction duct 1, and the main rectifying plate 31 forms a part of the resonance chamber 40. It also has a function. In order to improve the sealing performance in the resonance chamber 40, in the above embodiment, the top portion 42 which is a part of the V-shaped main rectifying plate 31 is left behind the rectifying plate dividing portion 34, that is, A rectifying plate dividing portion 34 is incidentally formed in front of the top portion 42 of the V-shaped main rectifying plate 31, and this portion is double sealed.

  (7) [1] to [7] in FIG. 6 show some modified examples of the rectifying plate dividing portion 34, and the sealing property is higher in the example on the left side of the figure. As shown in [1] to [5] in the figure, the sealability can be improved by overlapping the current plate upper 37 and the current plate lower 38 in the vertical direction. Further, as shown in [4], by arranging the rectifying plate lower 38 on the upstream side of the flow path from the rectifying plate upper 37, the rectifying plate lower 38 is arranged in the flow path more than the rectifying plate upper 37 as shown in [5]. As compared with the case where it is arranged on the downstream side, the sealing performance is improved. Furthermore, as shown in [1] and [2], by adopting a bifurcated fitting structure in which one of the rectifying plate upper 37 and the rectifying plate lower 38 sandwiches the other from the front and rear, the sealing performance is further improved. can do. In addition, as shown in [3], [6], and [7], in consideration of the rectification effect and the like, the shapes of the tip portions of the rectifying plate upper 37 and the rectifying plate lower 38 that are close to each other are tapered. 44A, a tapered shape 44B, and a curved shape 44C that curves in a semicircular cross section may be used.

  (8) As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a seal member 8 is attached to the inner surface of the hood 6 to elastically contact the upper surface of the duct upper 2 of the outside air introduction duct 1 when the hood 6 is closed. The seal member 8 is disposed above the radiator core 7 and extends in the vehicle width direction, and prevents hot air from the rear of the radiator where the internal combustion engine or the like is disposed from entering the outside air introduction duct 1. Yes. For this reason, the upper surface of the outside air introduction duct 1 and the inner surface of the hood 6 are closest to each other at the position of the seal member 8. Therefore, if the rectifying plate has a shape that spans the upper surface and the lower surface of the duct flow path 11 at the portion corresponding to the seal member 8, these rectifying plates function as support columns and the rigidity thereof increases. Therefore, there is a possibility that the impact cannot be effectively absorbed when the vehicle collides. Therefore, in this embodiment, the current plate dividing portion 34 is provided on a portion of the current plate corresponding to the seal member closest to the inner surface of the hood 6 when closed, that is, a portion intersecting with the seal member 8 in a top view. It is set. In this way, by setting the rectifying plate dividing portion 34 to an appropriate part, it is possible to minimize an increase in the rectifying action by the rectifying plate dividing portion 34 while suppressing the excessive increase in rigidity and ensuring the desired vulnerability. It can actually be suppressed.

The perspective view which shows the intake system containing the external air introduction duct which concerns on one Example of this invention. The disassembled perspective view which shows the said external air introduction duct. Sectional drawing which follows the AA line of FIG. 4 in the vehicle-mounted state of the said external air introduction duct. The top view which shows the said external air introduction duct alone. Explanatory drawing which shows the baffle plate division part of the said external air introduction duct simply. Explanatory drawing which shows the modification of a rectification | straightening pair division part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Outside air introduction duct 2 ... Duct upper 3 ... Duct lower 6 ... Hood 8 ... Seal member 11 ... Duct internal flow path 23 ... Duct inlet 24L, 24R ... Duct outlet 30 ... Current plate 31 ... Main current plate 34 ... Current plate dividing part 37 ... Rectifying plate upper 38 ... Rectifying plate lower

Claims (7)

In the outside air introduction duct, which is arranged under the hood at the front of the vehicle and takes outside air from the front of the vehicle and leads it to the intake system of the internal combustion engine,
A rectifying plate is erected in the duct flow path between the duct upper on the vehicle upper side and the duct lower on the vehicle lower side, which are joined together,
The rectifying plate is formed in the duct upper and has a rectifying plate dividing portion divided into a rectifying plate upper standing from the duct upper and a rectifying plate lower formed in the duct lower and rising from the duct lower.
These rectifying plate upper and rectifying plate lower are offset in the vehicle longitudinal direction ,
An outside air introduction duct characterized in that the rectifying plate lower is set longer in the vertical direction than the rectifying plate upper . The bell mouth shape in which only the lower portion of the upper portion and the lower portion of the duct inlet for introducing outside air into the flow path has a bell mouth shape that increases in diameter toward the front end on the front side of the vehicle. outside air inlet duct as described in 1. In the outside air introduction duct, which is arranged under the hood at the front of the vehicle and takes outside air from the front of the vehicle and leads it to the intake system of the internal combustion engine,
A rectifying plate is erected in the duct flow path between the duct upper on the vehicle upper side and the duct lower on the vehicle lower side, which are joined together,
The rectifying plate is formed in the duct upper and has a rectifying plate dividing portion divided into a rectifying plate upper standing from the duct upper and a rectifying plate lower formed in the duct lower and rising from the duct lower.
These rectifying plate upper and rectifying plate lower are offset in the vehicle longitudinal direction ,
An outside air introduction duct , wherein the rectifying plate lower is disposed on the vehicle front side of the rectifying plate upper . In the outside air introduction duct, which is arranged under the hood at the front of the vehicle and takes outside air from the front of the vehicle and leads it to the intake system of the internal combustion engine,
A rectifying plate is erected in the duct flow path between the duct upper on the vehicle upper side and the duct lower on the vehicle lower side, which are joined together,
The rectifying plate extends in a V-shape from one duct inlet on the vehicle front side of the flow path in the duct toward two duct outlets at both ends on the vehicle rear side, and from the top of the main rectifying plate. And a current plate dividing portion formed so as to protrude toward the front side of the vehicle,
The rectifying plate dividing portion is formed in the duct upper, and is divided into a rectifying plate upper standing up from the duct upper and a rectifying plate lower formed in the duct lower and rising from the duct lower.
Outside air inlet duct, characterized in that the these rectifying plate upper rectifying plate lower is offset in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. 5. The outside air introduction duct according to claim 4 , wherein a resonance chamber is formed between the main current plate and a rear wall of the outside air introduction duct. In the outside air introduction duct, which is arranged under the hood at the front of the vehicle and takes outside air from the front of the vehicle and leads it to the intake system of the internal combustion engine,
A rectifying plate is erected in the duct flow path between the duct upper on the vehicle upper side and the duct lower on the vehicle lower side, which are joined together,
The rectifying plate is formed in the duct upper and has a rectifying plate dividing portion divided into a rectifying plate upper standing from the duct upper and a rectifying plate lower formed in the duct lower and rising from the duct lower.
These rectifying plate upper and rectifying plate lower are offset in the vehicle longitudinal direction ,
And, on the inner surface of the hood, a seal member that elastically contacts the upper surface of the duct upper of the outside air introduction duct when the hood is closed is attached,
The mounting structure of the outside air introduction duct, wherein the rectifying plate dividing portion is set in a portion of the rectifying plate corresponding to the seal member .   The outside air introduction duct according to claim 1, wherein the rectifying plate upper and the rectifying plate lower are overlapped in the vertical direction.

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