U.S. patent application number 13/231292 was filed with the patent office on 2012-04-12 for cooling system for hybrid vehicle.
This patent application is currently assigned to Kia Motors Corporation. Invention is credited to Yongwoong Cha, Hyunbae Goh, Jaeyeon Kim, Manhee Park.
Application Number | 20120085511 13/231292 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45872496 |
Filed Date | 2012-04-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120085511 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Park; Manhee ; et
al. |
April 12, 2012 |
COOLING SYSTEM FOR HYBRID VEHICLE
Abstract
A cooling system for a hybrid vehicle in which power from an
engine and a motor can be transmitted to driving wheels through a
clutch and a transmission mechanism may include a heater core
fluid-connected to the engine to heat the interior of the hybrid
vehicle, using cooling water from the engine, and a heat exchanger
which may be arranged in parallel with the heater core and
fluid-connected to the engine to receive the cooling water from the
engine together with the heater core, and through which ATF
(Automatic Transmission Fluid) that has cooled the motor and the
transmission mechanism exchanges heat with the cooling water from
the engine.
Inventors: |
Park; Manhee; (Suwon-si,
KR) ; Cha; Yongwoong; (Yongin-si, KR) ; Goh;
Hyunbae; (Suwon-si, KR) ; Kim; Jaeyeon;
(Hwaseong-si, KR) |
Assignee: |
Kia Motors Corporation
Seoul
KR
Hyundai Motor Company
Seoul
KR
|
Family ID: |
45872496 |
Appl. No.: |
13/231292 |
Filed: |
September 13, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/51 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F01P 2060/045 20130101;
F01P 2050/24 20130101; B60K 11/02 20130101; B60K 2001/006 20130101;
F01P 2060/08 20130101; F01P 7/165 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/51 |
International
Class: |
F01P 9/00 20060101
F01P009/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 7, 2010 |
KR |
10-2010-0097845 |
Claims
1. A cooling system for a hybrid vehicle in which power from an
engine and a motor can be transmitted to driving wheels through a
clutch and a transmission mechanism, the cooling system comprising:
a heater core fluid-connected to the engine to heat the interior of
the hybrid vehicle, using cooling water from the engine; and a heat
exchanger which is arranged in parallel with the heater core and
fluid-connected to the engine to receive the cooling water from the
engine together with the heater core, and through which ATF
(Automatic Transmission Fluid) that has cooled the motor and the
transmission mechanism exchanges heat with the cooling water from
the engine.
2. The cooling system as defined in claim 1, wherein: the heater
core is fluid-connected with the engine through a cooling water
connection pipe, the heat exchanger is connected to a diverging
connection pipe that diverges from the cooling water connection
pipe, and the diverging connection pipe has a diameter smaller than
cooling water connection pipe.
3. The cooling system as defined in claim 2, wherein the diverging
connection pipe has a diameter smaller by approximately 20% to
approximately 60% than the diameter of the cooling water connection
pipe.
4. The cooling system as defined in claim 2, further comprising: an
engine radiator that cools the cooling water from the engine; a
water pump that pumps up the cooling water to the engine; and a
thermostat that switches a supply state of the cooling water to the
engine radiator in accordance with a temperature of the cooling
water.
5. The cooling system as defined in claim 4, further comprising an
ETC (Electronic Throttle Control) through which the cooling water
passing through the heat exchanger is selectively controlled to
pass, wherein the ETC is disposed in parallel with the heater core
and in series with the heat exchanger on the diverging connection
pipe.
6. The cooling system as defined in claim 2, further comprising an
ETC (Electronic Throttle Control) through which the cooling water
passing through the heat exchanger is selectively controlled to
pass, wherein the ETC is disposed in parallel with the heater core
and in series with the heat exchanger on the diverging connection
pipe.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority to Korean Patent
Application Number 10-2010-0097845 filed Oct. 7, 2010, the entire
contents of which application is incorporated herein for all
purposes by this reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a cooling system for a
hybrid vehicle, and more particularly, to a technology that cools a
motor and a transmission in a hybrid vehicle that uses power from
an engine and a motor as a driving force and does not use a torque
converter of the related art in the power transmission path from
the engine to the transmission.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Hybrid vehicles are designed to be driven by power from an
internal combustion engine and power from an electric motor and
require a cooling system to appropriately remove heat that is
generated while the engine, the motor, and the transmission
generate power and keep supplying the power to the driving
wheels.
[0006] The hybrid vehicles can be equipped with various types of
power trains, one of which is to make it possible to transmit power
from an engine and power from a motor to the driving wheels through
a mechanism similar to an automatic transmission of the related
art, and another one is to implement a configuration (hereafter,
referred to as `transmission mechanism`) without using a torque
converter that generates a relatively large amount of heat and
consumes a lot of energy from the configuration of an automatic
transmission of the related art.
[0007] That is, as shown in FIG. 1, power from an engine 500 is
transmitted to a transmission mechanism 504 through a clutch 502,
transmission mechanism 504 can transmit even the power from a motor
506 disposed between clutch 502 and the transmission, and
obviously, transmission mechanism 504 is composed of only
components corresponding to a gear train, a friction element, and a
hydraulic controller, without a torque converter, in the
configuration of an automatic transmission of the related art.
[0008] For cooling in the hybrid vehicle equipped with the power
trains described above, engine 500 is cooled by a water-cooling
type using cooling water circulating in engine 500, as in the
related art, in which the cooling water is circulated by a water
pump 508 and cools engine 500 while passing through engine 500, the
heat is used for heating the interior through a heater core 510,
and some of the heat prevents a throttle body from freezing through
an ETC (Electronic Throttle Control) device 512 and cools the
cooling water through an engine radiator 514.
[0009] Meanwhile, motor 506 and transmission mechanism 504 are also
required to be cooled, such that, in the related art, as described
above, engine radiator 514 is equipped with an oil cooler 516 and
ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) circulating through motor 506
and transmission 504 circulates through oil cooler 516, thereby
implement cooling.
[0010] However, in the configuration described above, the
temperature of the ATF is difficult to rapidly rise to the normal
level in cold-start of a vehicle, in which a loss of power is large
because the viscosity of the ATF is large, such that it is
disadvantageous in fuel efficiency.
[0011] For reference, an electronic device radiator 522 and a water
pump 524 for cooling an electric part 518 and an ISG 520
(Integrated Starter Generator) for operating motor 506 are shown at
the right side in FIG. 1.
[0012] 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
[0013] Various aspects of the present invention are directed to
providing a cooling system for a hybrid vehicle that improves fuel
efficiency with reduction of a frictional loss by rapidly
increasing ATF to a normal level of temperature in cold start, and
smoothly removes heat of a motor and a transmission mechanism while
minimizing reduction in heating performance for the interior of a
vehicle in normal traveling, in a hybrid vehicle in which power
from an engine and a motor is transmitted to driving wheels through
a clutch and the transmission mechanism.
[0014] A cooling system for a hybrid vehicle in which power from an
engine and a motor can be transmitted to driving wheels through a
clutch and a transmission mechanism, may include a heater core
fluid-connected to the engine to heat the interior of the hybrid
vehicle, using cooling water from the engine, and a heat exchanger
which may be arranged in parallel with the heater core and
fluid-connected to the engine to receive the cooling water from the
engine together with the heater core, and through which ATF
(Automatic Transmission Fluid) that may have cooled the motor and
the transmission mechanism exchanges heat with the cooling water
from the engine.
[0015] The heater core may be fluid-connected with the engine
through a cooling water connection pipe, the heat exchanger may be
connected to a diverging connection pipe that diverges from the
cooling water connection pipe, and the diverging connection pipe
may have a diameter smaller than cooling water connection pipe,
wherein the diverging connection pipe may have a diameter smaller
by approximately 20% to approximately 60% than the diameter of the
cooling water connection pipe.
[0016] The cooling system may further include an engine radiator
that cools the cooling water from the engine, a water pump that
pumps up the cooling water to the engine, and a thermostat that
switches a supply state of the cooling water to the engine radiator
in accordance with a temperature of the cooling water.
[0017] The cooling system may include an ETC (Electronic Throttle
Control) through which the cooling water passing through the heat
exchanger may be selectively controlled to pass, wherein the ETC
may be disposed in parallel with the heater core and in series with
the heat exchanger on the diverging connection pipe.
[0018] According to the exemplary embodiments of the present
invention, it is possible to improve fuel efficiency with reduction
of a frictional loss by rapidly increasing ATF to a normal level of
temperature in cold start, and smoothly remove heat of a motor and
a transmission mechanism while minimizing reduction in heating
performance for the interior of a vehicle in normal traveling, in a
hybrid vehicle in which power from an engine and a motor is
transmitted to driving wheels through a clutch and the transmission
mechanism.
[0019] 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
[0020] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a cooling system for a
hybrid vehicle according to the related art.
[0021] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a cooling system for a
hybrid vehicle an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0022] 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.
[0023] 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
[0024] 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 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.
[0025] It is assumed that the present invention relates to a hybrid
vehicle in which power from an engine and a motor can be
transmitted to the driving wheels through a clutch and a
transmission mechanism. An exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, as shown in FIG. 2, includes a heater core 3 that heats
the interior, using the cooling water from engine 1 and a heat
exchanger 9 that is arranged in parallel with heater core 3 to
receives the cooling water from engine 1 together with heater core
3 through which ATF that has cooled motor 5 and transmission
mechanism 7 exchanges heat with the cooling water from engine
1.
[0026] Transmission mechanism 7 is a configuration with a torque
converter removed, in the configuration of an automatic
transmission of the related art, as described above.
[0027] Heater core 3 is connected with engine 1 through a cooling
water connection pipe 11, heat exchanger 9 is connected to a
diverging connection pipe 13 that diverges from cooling water
connection pipe 11, and diverging connection pipe 13 has a diameter
smaller than cooling water connection pipe 11.
[0028] That is, the cooling water from engine 1 flows into heater
core 3 and a relatively small amount of cooling water flows into
heat exchanger 9 such that heating performance of heater core 3 is
not largely decreased and the viscosity of ATF is rapidly reduced
to the normal level by rapidly heating the ATF flowing through
motor 5 and transmission mechanism 7 with heat exchanger 9 in cold
start. Accordingly, an effect of improving fuel efficiency is
achieved by reducing a frictional loss and heat generated by motor
5 and transmission mechanism 7 can be smoothly removed through heat
exchanger 9 in a normal driving.
[0029] In this configuration, it is possible to smoothly cool the
ATF that cools motor 5 and transmission mechanism 7 only with a
relatively small amount of cooling water flowing through diverging
connection pipe 13, which is because only motor 5 and transmission
mechanism 7, which generate a relatively small amount of heat, are
cooled, without a torque converter that generates a relatively
large amount of heat and consumes a lot of energy in the power
train of the related art.
[0030] That is, the present invention performs optimization such
that reduction in heating performance of heater core 3 in the power
train of a hybrid vehicle with a torque converter of the related
art removed is minimized while rapid warming-up of motor 5 and
transmission mechanism 7 in cold start and appropriate cooling
performance in normal driving can be ensured.
[0031] Diverging connection pipe 13 may has a diameter smaller by
20 to 60% than the diameter of cooling water connection pipe
11.
[0032] FIG. 2 shows a configuration including an engine radiator 15
that cools the cooling water from engine 1, a water pump 17 that
pumps up the cooling water, and a thermostat 19 that switches the
supply state of the cooling water to engine radiator 15 in
accordance with the temperature of the cooling water, in which an
electronic device radiator 21 is separately disposed at a side
engine radiator 15 to cool an electric part 23 and an ISG 25, which
is required to operate motor 5, and a water pump 27 is separately
disposed to pump up the cooling water from electronic device
radiator 21 to ISG 25 and electric part 23.
[0033] Meanwhile, an ETC 29 through which the cooling water passing
through heat exchanger 9 passes is further disposed in parallel
with heater core 3 and in series with heat exchanger 9 to prevent a
throttle body from freezing.
[0034] ETC 29 is also disposed in series with heat exchanger 9,
such that a relatively small amount of cooling water supplied
through diverging connection pipe 13 passes.
[0035] 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. The exemplary embodiments
were chosen and described in order to explain certain principles of
the invention and their practical application, to thereby enable
others skilled in the art to make and utilize various exemplary
embodiments of the present invention, 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.
* * * * *