US20140360704A1

US20140360704A1 - Radiator for vehicle

Info

Publication number: US20140360704A1
Application number: US14/140,351
Authority: US
Inventors: Jae Yeon Kim
Original assignee: Hyundai Motor Co
Current assignee: Hyundai Motor Co
Priority date: 2013-06-05
Filing date: 2013-12-24
Publication date: 2014-12-11
Also published as: CN104228552A; DE102013114128A1; KR101405234B1

Abstract

A radiator apparatus for a vehicle may include a main radiator supplying cooled cooling water to an engine through heat exchange with outdoor air, and a subordinate radiator disposed in parallel in front of the main radiator and supplying the cooled cooling water to an intercooler or an electronic unit through heat exchange with the outdoor air, wherein, in the main radiator, respective header tanks have different sizes and an oil cooler is incorporated in the header tank having the larger size among the respective header tanks and cools a transmission oil, wherein in the subordinate radiator, respective header tanks have different sizes and a condenser is incorporated in the header tank having the larger size among the respective header tanks and condenses refrigerant, and wherein the header tanks of the main radiator and the subordinate radiator are disposed to be opposite to each other according to the sizes.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0064912 filed on Jun. 5, 2013, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiator for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a radiator for a vehicle that cools cooling water supplied to each of an engine, a motor, an electric unit, and an intercooler of an internal combustion engine through heat-exchange with outdoor air while traveling and supplies the cooling water.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, an automobile injects mixed gas of fuel and air to an engine cylinder to transfer explosive force by compression of a piston to a driving wheel to travel, and as a result, an engine that acquires an output by explosion as above has a cooling device such as a water jacket in order to cool high heat by the explosion and a radiator performs a function to cool cooling water circulated in the water jacket again.
The radiator having such a function is an air-cooled type cooled by outdoor air according to a cooling method and is divided into a cross-flow radiator and a down-flow radiator according to a configuration format.
The cross-flow and down-flow radiators which are divided according to the configuration format are decided according to a flow direction of the cooling water, and the radiator in the related art has a structure in which inlet and outlet tanks in which the cooling water is introduced and discharged are spaced apart from each other, tubes connecting the inlet and outlet tanks to each other are mounted so as to be stacked, and as a result, the cooling water flows and the cooling water that flows is cooled by the heat exchange with outdoor air.
Herein, the cross-flow type radiator is a type in which the inlet and outlet tanks are disposed at left and right sides and the tubes are thus mounted so as to be stacked in a lateral direction, and as a result, the cooling water is cooled while being circulated in the lateral direction.
In addition, the down-flow type radiator is a type in which the inlet and outlet tanks are disposed at upper and lower sides and the tubes connecting the respective tanks are thus mounted so as to be stacked in a vertical direction, and as a result, the cooling water is cooled while being circulated in the vertical direction.
The radiator configured as above is disposed toward the front in an engine room of a general vehicle so that cool outdoor air introduced while traveling and the cooling water exchanges heat with each other.
Meanwhile, in recent years, an intercooler is adopted, which cools air compressed by a turbine of a turbo charger adopted to improve an output of the engine and supplies to the engine.
The intercooler is generally divided into an air-cooled type or a water-cooled type, and there is a tendency that application of the water-cooled type is extended rather than the air-cooled type so as to improve fuel efficiency through improvement of cooling performance and enhancement of a turbo rack.
In the case of the water-cooled type intercooler, cooling water cooled through an intercooler radiator other than a radiator that supplies the cooling water to the engine is introduced into the intercooler to cool compressed air.
However, in the conventional radiator for a vehicle adopting the water-cooled type intercooler is constituted by an engine radiator and an intercooler radiator to be adopted in parallel at a front side or a rear side in front of the vehicle and header tanks having the same size are adopted, and as a result, an installation requirement space is increased, and a space between a back beam and the engine room is decreased, and as a result, it is difficult to secure collision performance.
Further, tube heights of the respective radiators that are disposed in parallel in forwards and backwards of the vehicle are disposed to be different from each other, and as a result, when outdoor air introduced from the front of the vehicle passes though each radiator, ventilation resistance becomes excessive and heat dissipating performance of the radiator deteriorates.
The deterioration of the heat dissipating performance of the radiator causes the cooling water not to be cooled at a required temperature, and as a result, overall cooling efficiency of the radiator deteriorates and when cooling water which is not normally cooled is supplied to the engine and the intercooler, the engine and the intercooler cannot be appropriately cooled. Therefore, overall cooling performance of the vehicle also deteriorates.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing a radiator for a vehicle in which respective header tanks are configured to have different sizes, an oil cooler cooling transmission oil of an automatic transmission and a condenser condensing refrigerant are integrated in header tanks having the larger size, respectively, to secure an installation space by reducing a vehicle package, and tubes disposed at a front side and a rear side, respectively, are positioned on the same line to reduce ventilation resistance when outdoor air is introduced.
In an aspect of the present invention, a radiator for a vehicle may include a main radiator configured in front of the vehicle and supplying cooled cooling water to an engine of an internal combustion engine through heat exchange with outdoor air; and a subordinate radiator disposed in parallel in front of the main radiator and supplying the cooled cooling water to an intercooler or an electronic unit through heat exchange with the outdoor air, and in the main radiator, respective header tanks have different sizes, and an oil cooler is incorporated in the header tank having the larger size, and cools the transmission oil through heat exchange with the cooling water, in the subordinate radiator, the respective header tanks have different sizes, and a condenser is incorporated in the header tank having the larger size, and condenses refrigerant in the header tank having the larger size among the respective header tank, and the header tanks of the main radiator and the subordinate radiator are disposed to be opposite to each other according to the sizes.
The main radiator may include: a first header tank having the oil cooler therein and having the large size; a second header tank having a smaller size than the first header tank and disposed to be spaced apart from the first header tank by a predetermined gap; a plurality of first tubes mounted on an inner surface where the first header tank and the second header tank face each other in a height direction; and first heat dissipating fins mounted among the first tubes.
The first header tank may have a first outlet through which the cooling water introduced into the first header tank is discharged, which is formed at a lower rear portion.
The second header tank may have a first inlet through which the cooling water is introduced, which is formed at an upper rear portion of the second header tank.
The subordinate radiator includes a third header tank disposed in front of the first header tank; a fourth header tank that has a larger size than the third header tank and has the condenser incorporated therein, and is disposed to be spaced apart from the third header tank by a predetermined gap to be disposed in front of the second header tank; a plurality of second tubes mounted on an inner surface where the third header tank and the fourth header tank face each other in a height direction; and second heat dissipating fins mounted among the first tubes.
The third header tank may have a second inlet through which cooling water is introduced, which is formed at an upper side portion and a second outlet through which the cooling water is discharged, which is formed at a lower side portion to correspond to the second inlet.
The second tube may have a different width from the first tube according to required performance an engine or an intercooler based on a forward/backward direction of the vehicle.
The first tubes and the second tubes may be disposed on the same line in height direction of the main radiator and the subordinate radiator.
The first and second heat dissipating fins may be disposed so that positions where the first and second heat dissipating fins are bent are same as each other between the first tubes and among the second tubes.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the respective header tanks are configured to have different sizes, the oil cooler that cools the transmission oil of the automatic transmission and the condenser that condenses the refrigerant are respectively incorporated in the larger header tanks to secure an installation space by reducing a vehicle package and manufacturing cost may be saved by reducing weight and an overall size.
The reduction of the package, weight and the entire size may improve spatial utilization in the engine room and secure a sufficient space between the back beam and the engine room to improve collision performance.
The first and second tubes of the engine radiator and the intercooler radiator that are arranged in parallel in the forward/backward direction of the vehicle are positioned on the same line to improve heat dissipating performance by reducing ventilation resistance when the outdoor air is introduced.
The cooling water is cooled up to a required temperature through the improvement of the heat dissipating performance to improve the cooling performance of the engine and the intercooler without an increase in size and capacity.
The cooling water is cooled up to a required temperature through the improvement of the heat dissipating performance to improve the cooling performance of the engine and the intercooler without an increase in size and capacity.
The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other features and advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and the following Detailed Description, which together serve to explain certain principles of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a rear projection perspective view of a radiator for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating the radiator for a vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a rear view illustrating the radiator for a vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating the radiator for a vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a layout state of a tube and a heat dissipating fin in the radiator for a vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment.
In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. While the invention(s) will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will be understood that the present description is not intended to limit the invention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, the invention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Prior to this, configurations illustrated in the embodiments and the drawings described in the present specification are only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical spirit of the present invention, and thus it is to be understood that various modified examples, which may replace the configurations, are possible when filing the present application.
In addition, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word “comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements.
Further, terms such as “-unit”, “-means”, “-part”, “-member”, etc. mean units of comprehensive configurations that performs at least one function or operation.
FIG. 1 is a rear projection perspective view of a radiator for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2 and 3 are a front view and a rear view of the radiator for a vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating the radiator for a vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a layout state of a tube and a heat dissipating fin in the radiator for a vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to the figures, the radiator 100 for a vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention has a structure in which respective header tanks 111, 113, 121, and 123 are configured to have different sizes, an oil cooler 130 cooling transmission oil of an automatic transmission and a condenser 140 condensing refrigerant are incorporated in header tanks 111 and 123 having the larger size, respectively, to secure an installation space by reducing a vehicle package, and tubes disposed at a front side and a rear side, respectively are positioned on the same line to reduce ventilation resistance when outdoor air is introduced.
To this end, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, the radiator 100 for a vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is configured to include a main radiator 110 configured in front of the vehicle and supplying cooled cooling water to an engine of an internal combustion engine through heat exchange with outdoor air and a subordinate radiator 120 disposed in parallel at a position spaced apart from the main radiator 110 by a predetermined gap in front of the main radiator 110 and supplying the cooled cooling water to an intercooler or an electronic unit through heat exchange with the outdoor air.
The radiator 100 cools cooling water that flows therein through wind that is blown from a cooling fan mounted at an engine room side.
Herein, in the main radiator 110, the respective header tanks 111 and 113 have different sizes, and an oil cooler 130 is incorporated in the header tank 111 having the larger size between the respective header tanks 111 and 113, in which the oil cooler 130 is connected with an automatic transmission through an oil pipe 131 to circulate transmission oil and cools the transmission oil through heat exchange with the cooling water.
The main radiator 110 may be configured to include the first header tank 111 that has the oil cooler 130 incorporated therein and has a large size, a second header tank 113 that has a smaller size than the first header tank 111 and is disposed to be spaced apart from the first header tank 111 by a predetermined gap, a plurality of first tubes 115 mounted on inner surfaces where the first header tank 111 and the second header tank 113 face each other in a height direction, and first heat dissipating fins P1 respectively mounted among the first tubes 115.
In the exemplary embodiment, the first header tank 111 has a first outlet 119 formed at a lower rear portion thereof, through which the cooling water introduced into the first header tank 111 is discharged.
In addition, the second header tank 113 has a first inlet 117, through which the cooling water is introduced, which is formed at an upper rear portion to correspond to the first outlet 119 of the first header tank 111.
That is, in the main radiator 110, when cooling water that completes cooling of the engine is introduced into the second header tank 113 through the first inlet 117, the cooling water moves to the first header tank 111 through the first tubes 115 and is cooled through heat exchange with the outdoor air, and the cooled cooling water is discharged through the first outlet 119 and supplied to the engine again.
Herein, the oil cooler 130 is connected with an automatic transmission through the oil pipe 131 in the first header tank 111 having the large size, and as a result, transmission oil is circulated therein, and the transmission oil is cooled through heat exchange with the cooling water that passes through the first header tank 111.
The transmission oil cooled through the oil cooler 130 is supplied to the automatic transmission to complete cooling of the automatic transmission and thereafter, is introduced into the oil cooler 130 again to be circulated.
In the exemplary embodiment, in the subordinate radiator 120, the respective header tanks 121 and 123 have different sizes similarly as the main radiator 110, and in the header tank 123 having the large size between the respective header tanks 121 and 123, a compressor and an evaporator are connected with each other through a refrigerant pipe 141, and as a result, refrigerant is circulated, and a condenser 140 that condenses the refrigerant through heat exchange with the cooling water is incorporated.
The subordinate radiator 120 may be configured to include a third header tank 121 disposed in front of the first header tank 111, a fourth header tank 123 that has a larger size than the third header tank 121, has the condenser 140 therein, is disposed to be spaced apart from the third header tank 121 by a predetermined gap and disposed in front of the second header tank 113, a plurality of second tubes 125 mounted on inner surfaces where the third header tank 121 and the fourth header tank 123 face each other in a height direction, and second heat dissipating fins P2 mounted among the second tubes 125.
Herein, the third header tank 121 may have a second inlet 127 formed at an upper side portion through which the cooling water is introduced and a second outlet 129, through which the cooling water is discharged, formed at an upper side portion of the fourth header tank 123 to correspond to the second inlet 127.
That is, in the subordinate radiator 120, when cooling water that completes cooling of the intercooler or the electronic unit is introduced into the third header tank 121 through the second inlet 127, the cooling water moves to the fourth header tank 123 through the second tubes 125 and is cooled through heat exchange with the outdoor air, and the cooled cooling water is discharged through the second outlet 129 and supplied to the intercooler or the electronic unit again.
Meanwhile, the condenser 140 is provided in the fourth header tank 123 having the large size and the refrigerant supplied from the compressor is circulated through the refrigerant pipe 141, and the refrigerant is condensed through heat exchange with the cooling water that passes through the fourth header tank 123.
Herein, the condenser 140 condenses the refrigerant which if circulated in the condenser 140 by using the cooled cooling water which is heat-exchanged with the outdoor air while being introduced from the third header tank 121 and passing through the second tubes 125, and is introduced into the fourth header tank 123.
The refrigerant cooled and condensed through the condenser 140 is supplied to the evaporator and introduced again into the condenser 140 from the evaporator through the compressor to be circulated.
In the exemplary embodiment, the first tubes 115 and the second tubes 125 are mounted to be spaced apart from each other at a regular gap among the respective header tanks 111, 113, 121, and 123 that face each other as illustrated in FIG. 5 in a height direction of the vehicle.
Herein, a width of the second tube 125 may be different from a width of the first tube 115 according to required performance of the engine or the intercooler based on a forward/backward direction of the vehicle and in the exemplary embodiment, the width of the second tube 125 may be larger than the width of the first tube 11.
When the cooling water flows from the second header tank 113 to the first header tank 111 and when the cooling water flows from the third header tank 121 to the fourth header tank 123, the first tubes 115 and the second tubes 125 dissipate to the outside heat transferred from the cooling water that flows.
In the exemplary embodiment, the width of the first tube 115 may be configured to be approximately 14 mm and the width of the second tube 125 may be configured to be approximately 18 mm. As a result, the cooling water that passes through the second tube 125 flows at a larger flow amount than that of the cooling water that flows through the first tube 115.
Meanwhile, in the exemplary embodiment, it is described as one exemplary embodiment that the width of the second tube 125 is larger than the width of the first tube 115, and as a result, the flow amount of the cooling water is different, but the present invention is not limited thereto and the changed lengths of the respective tubes 115 and 125 may be applied according to the performance of the engine and the intercooler, and as a result, the flow amount of the cooling that flows may be controlled.
Herein, the first tubes 115 and the second tubes 125 connect the first and second header tanks 111 and 113 to each other, which face each other in height directions of the main radiator 110 and the subordinate radiator 120, and connect the third and fourth header tanks 121 and 123 so as to be disposed on the same line.
In addition, the first and second heat dissipating fins P1 and P2 may be disposed so that the positions where the first and second heat dissipating pins P1 and P2 are bent between the first tubes 115 and between the second tubes 125 are the same as each other.
In the main radiator 110 and the subordinate radiator 120 configured as above, the respective header tanks 111, 113, 121, and 123 may be disposed in opposite directions to each other according to the sizes thereof.
That is, the first header tank 111 and the fourth header tank 123 that have the large size are positioned at opposite sides to each other in a width direction of the vehicle and the second header tank 113 and the third header tank 121 that have the small size are also positioned at opposite sides to each other in the width direction of the vehicle.
As a result, the main radiator 110 and the subordinate radiator 120 may be disposed so as to minimize an arrangement space, and as a result, the thickness thereof may be decreased, thereby improving spatial utilization.
Further, in the radiator 100, the respective tubes 115 and 125 are disposed on the same line in the height direction of the vehicle and the positions where the first and second heat dissipating fins P1 and P2 are bent are the same as each other, and as a result, when the outdoor air is introduced to pass, ventilation resistance of the outdoor air is decreased and the outdoor air flows more smoothly, while the vehicle travels. Accordingly, the radiator 100 has improved overall heat dissipating performance to increase cooling efficiency of the cooling water.
In this case, the subordinate radiator 120 is connected through the second tube 125 which has the larger width than the first tube 115, and as a result, the flow amount of the cooling water that flows is increased, thereby improving cooling efficiency of the condenser 140 that is incorporated in the fourth header tank 123.
Meanwhile, in describing the radiator 100 for a vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment, it is described as one exemplary embodiment that the radiator 100 is constituted by the main radiator 110 that supplies the cooled cooling water to the engine and the subordinate radiator 120 that supplies the cooled cooling water to the intercooler, but the present invention is not limited thereto and the cooling water is supplied to the engine and a driving part which substitutes for the engine, and an electronic unit which substitutes for the intercooler in an environment-friendly vehicle such as an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle.
Accordingly, when the radiator 100 for a vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention configured as above is adopted, the respective header tanks 111, 113, 121, and 123 are configured to have different sizes, the oil cooler 130 that cools the transmission oil of the automatic transmission is incorporated in the first header tank 111 having the large size, and the condenser 140 that condenses the refrigerant is incorporated in the fourth header tank 123 to secure an installation space by reducing a vehicle package and reduce manufacturing cost by reducing weight and an overall size.
The reduction of the package, weight and the entire size may improve spatial utilization in the engine room and secure a sufficient space between the back beam and the engine room to improve collision performance
The first and second tubes 115 and 125 of the main radiator 110 and the subordinate radiator 120 that are arranged in parallel in the forward/backward direction of the vehicle are positioned on the same line to improve heat dissipating performance by reducing ventilation resistance when the outdoor air is introduced.
The cooling water is cooled up to a required temperature through the improvement of the heat dissipating performance to improve the cooling performance of the engine and the intercooler without an increase in size and capacity.
The oil cooler 130 and the condenser 140 are incorporated in the first and fourth header tanks 111 and 123 of the respective radiators 110 and 120, respectively to be configured as the water-cooled type, thereby improving cooling efficiency of the refrigerant and the transmission oil.
For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “inner” and “outer” are used to describe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions of such features as displayed in the figures.
The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings as well as various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A radiator apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

a main radiator configured for being disposed in front of the vehicle and supplying cooled cooling water to an engine through heat exchange with outdoor air; and

a subordinate radiator disposed in parallel in front of the main radiator and supplying the cooled cooling water to an intercooler or an electronic unit through heat exchange with the outdoor air,

wherein, in the main radiator, respective header tanks have different sizes and an oil cooler is incorporated in the header tank having the larger size among the respective header tanks and cools a transmission oil,

wherein in the subordinate radiator, respective header tanks have different sizes and a condenser is incorporated in the header tank having the larger size among the respective header tanks and condenses refrigerant, and

wherein the header tanks of the main radiator and the subordinate radiator are disposed to be opposite to each other according to the sizes.

2. The radiator for the vehicle of claim 1, wherein the main radiator includes:

a first header tank having the oil cooler therein and having the larger size;

a second header tank having a smaller size than the first header tank and disposed to be spaced apart from the first header tank by a predetermined gap;

a plurality of first tubes mounted on an inner surface where the first header tank and the second header tank face each other in a height direction; and

first heat dissipating fins mounted among the first tubes.

3. The radiator for the vehicle of claim 2, wherein the first header tank has a first outlet, through which the cooling water introduced into the first header tank is discharged, which is formed at a lower rear portion.

4. The radiator for the vehicle of claim 2, wherein the second header tank has a first inlet, through which the cooling water is introduced, which is formed at an upper rear portion of the second header tank.

5. The radiator for the vehicle of claim 2, wherein the subordinate radiator includes:

a third header tank disposed in front of the first header tank;

a fourth header tank that has a larger size than the third header tank and has the condenser incorporated therein, and is disposed to be spaced apart from the third header tank by a predetermined gap to be disposed in front of the second header tank;

a plurality of second tubes mounted on an inner surface where the third header tank and the fourth header tank face each other in a height direction; and

second heat dissipating fins mounted among the second tubes.

6. The radiator for the vehicle of claim 5, wherein the third header tank has:

a second inlet, through which cooling water is introduced, which is formed at an upper side portion; and

a second outlet, through which the cooling water is discharged, which is formed at a lower side portion of the fourth header tank to correspond to the second inlet.

7. The radiator for the vehicle of claim 3, wherein the second tube has different width from the first tube according to the performance required by the engine, an intercooler or an electronic unit based on a forward/backward direction of the vehicle.

8. The radiator for the vehicle of claim 5, wherein the first tubes and the second tubes are disposed on the same line in height direction of the main radiator and the subordinate radiator.

9. The radiator for the vehicle of claim 5, wherein the first and second heat dissipating fins are disposed so that positions where the first and second heat dissipating fins are bent are the same as each other between the first tubes and between the second tubes.