Heat exchanger support structure and heat exchanger supporting method
A heat exchanger support structure has a first heat exchanger, a second heat exchanger, and a radiator core support for supporting the first heat exchanger. The first heat exchanger has a lower supporting pin projecting downward from a lower portion of the first heat exchanger. The second heat exchanger arranged in front of the first heat exchanger and having an upper portion and a lower portion The upper portion is supported by the radiator core support and the lower portion is supported by the lower supporting pin of the first heat exchanger so that the lower supporting pin restricts a horizontal movement of the second heat exchanger and allows a vertical movement of the second heat changer.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger support structure, which is useful for a motor vehicle, which supports a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger, and also relates to a heat exchanger supporting method of the same support structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional heat exchanger support structure having a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. Jikkaihei 4-35017. In this conventional support structure, the first and second heat exchangers are supported by a radiator core support secured to a vehicle body. The second heat exchanger is fixed to the radiator core support by additional brackets.
However, the conventional radiator core support structure has disadvantages in that its manufacturing process and cost increase in their assembly due to the additional brackets for fixing the second heat exchanger to the radiator core support or due to a complicated-shaped radiator core support.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a heat exchanger support structure which can decrease manufacturing process and manufacturing cost.
It is, therefore, another object of the present invention to provide a heat exchanger support structure assembly method which can decrease manufacturing process and manufacturing cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a heat exchanger support structure comprising heat exchanger support structure comprising: a first heat exchanger; a second heat exchanger; and a radiator core support for supporting the first heat exchanger. The first heat exchanger has a lower supporting pin projecting downward from a lower portion of the first heat exchanger. The second heat exchanger arranged in front of the first heat exchanger and having an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portion is supported by the radiator core support and the lower portion is supported by the lower supporting pin of the first heat exchanger so that the lower supporting pin restricts a horizontal movement of the second heat exchanger and allows a vertical movement of the second heat changer.
This heat exchanger support structure can decrease manufacturing process and manufacturing cost.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a heat exchanger supporting method in which a radiator core support supports a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger, the method comprising: supporting an upper portion of the second heat exchanger by the radiator core support; and supporting a lower portion of the second heat exchanger by a lower supporting pin projecting downward from a lower portion of the first heat exchanger so that the lower supporting pin restricts a horizontal movement of the second heat exchanger and allows a vertical movement of the second heat exchanger.
This heat exchanger supporting method can decrease manufacturing process and manufacturing cost.
Preferably, the lower supporting pin is made of resin.
Therefore, it provides easy fracture of the supporting pin in a light bump, such as a bump where an impact applied to a bumper pushes and moves the second heat exchanger slightly rearward, thereby preventing the first heat exchanger from fatal damage.
Preferably, the lower supporting pin is coupled with a bracket of the second heat exchanger so that the second heat exchanger is supported by the first heat exchanger.
Therefore, manufacturing process and manufacturing cost can be decreased.
Preferably, the lower supporting pin supports the second heat exchanger through an elastic member.
Therefore, vibration applied to the second heat exchanger and attachment errors between the lower supporting pin and the second heat exchanger can be absorbed.
Preferably, the first heat exchanger is a radiator and the second heat exchanger is an oil cooler.
Therefore, they are suitable for a motor vehicle.
Preferably, the heat exchanger support structure further comprises a third heat exchanger, and the third heat exchanger is arranged in front of the radiator and supported by the radiator.
Therefore, three heat exchangers can be arranged in compact.
Preferably, the first heat exchanger is a radiator, the second heat exchanger is an oil cooler, and the third heat exchanger is a condenser.
Therefore, they are suitable for a motor vehicle.
Preferably, the first heat exchanger has a lower portion under the radiator core support when the first heat exchanger is attached to the radiator core support.
Therefore, it can provide easy installation of the second heat exchanger to the first heat exchanger.
Preferably, the upper portion of the second heat exchanger is supported by a welded bolt fixed on the radiator core support.
Therefore, it decreases manufacturing process and manufacturing cost.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Throughout the following detailed description, similar reference characters and numbers refer to similar elements in all figures of the drawings, and their descriptions are omitted for eliminating duplication.
A heat exchanger support structure of an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this description, the terms “right”, “left”, “front” and “rear” are those identified with respect to a vehicle body, not to those in the drawings.
Referring to
The heat exchanger support structure includes a radiator core support 1 fixed to the front portion of the vehicle body, a radiator 2 arranged at a rear side of the radiator core support 1, a condenser 3 arranged between the radiator core support 1 and the radiator 2, and an oil cooler 4 arranged at a front of the radiator 2 and the condenser 3 and under the radiator core support 1.
The radiator 2 acts as a first heat exchanger of the present invention, the oil cooler 4 acts as a second heat exchanger of the present invention, and the condenser 3 acts as a third heat exchanger of the present invention.
The radiator core support 1 comprises a radiator core upper member 11, a radiator core lower member 12, a radiator core left side member 13A, a radiator core right side member 13B, a hood lock stay 14, a radiator core upper left side member 15A, and a radiator core upper right side member 15B.
As shown in
The radiator core left side member 13A connects left edge portions of the upper member 11 and the lower member 12 with each other, and the radiator core right side member 13B connects right edge portions of the upper member 11 and the lower member 12 with each other so that the members 11, 12, 13A and 13B form a rectangular frame.
The hood lock stay 14 connects center portions of the upper member 11 and the lower member 12.
The radiator core upper left side member 15A is connected with the left edge portion of the upper member 11, and the radiator core upper right side member 15B is connected with the right edge portion of the upper member 1. The upper left and right side members 15A and 15B are formed to project outward and rearward from the edge portions, respectively. These upper side members 15A and 15B are bolted to a front left portion and a front right portion of the vehicle body, respectively, to act as a front part of the vehicle body.
The upper member 11 is provided with an upper left bracket 16A formed with a left mounting hole 16a on its upper left portion between the hood lock stay 14 and the left side portion 13A. The upper member 11 is also provided with an upper right bracket 16B formed with a right mounting hole 16b on its upper right portion between the hood lock stay 14 and the right side portion 13B. The upper left and right brackets 16A and 16B are fixed to an upper surface of the upper member 11 to project rearward therefrom for supporting an upper portion of the radiator 2.
In the left and right mounting holes 16a and 16b, a left elastic member 5A with a hole and a right elastic member 5B with a hole are inserted, respectively.
The lower member 12 is provided with a lower left bracket 17A and a lower right bracket 17B at its rear side, both of which project rearward for supporting a lower portion of the radiator 2.
The lower member 12 has a left welded bolt 18A, a right welded bolt 18B and a center welded bolt 18C on its front side. The welded bolts 18A to 18C project forward for supporting an upper portion of the oil cooler 4 by using a left nut 18a, a right nut 18b and a center nut 18c.
The radiator core support 1, including members 11, 12, 13A, 13B, 14, 15A and 15B, the brackets 16A, 16B, 17A and 17B, and the bolts 18A to 18C, is entirely made of metal.
As shown in
The upper tank 21 is formed with an upper left mounting pin 23A on its left upper surface and an upper right mounting pin 23B on its right upper surface, both of which project upward from the upper surfaces. The upper tank 21 has a pipe at its rear side. The pipe, the left and right mounting pins 23A and 23B and the upper tank 21 are integrally formed of resin.
The lower tank 22 is formed with a lower left bracket 25A and a lower right bracket 25B on its front portion, both of which project forward from the front portion. The left and right brackets 25A and 25B are formed with a lower left supporting pin 26A and a lower right supporting pin 26B on their bottom portions, respectively. The left and right supporting pins 26A and 26B project downward from bottom portions to support a lower portion of the oil cooler 4. The lower tank 22 has a pipe at its rear side. The pipe, the left and right brackets 25A and 25B, the left and right supporting pin 26A and 26B and the lower tank 22 are integrally formed of resin.
Incidentally, one of the pipes of the upper and lower tanks 21 and 22 is set to be an inlet pipe of the coolant, and the other of them is set to be an outlet pipe of the coolant. The pipes are connected with a not-shown engine through not-shown communicating pipes.
The upper and lower tanks 21 and 22 are connected at their both edge portions by a left side member 29A and a right side member 29B, respectively. The upper and lower tanks 21 and 22, the left and right side members 29A and 29B contain the radiator core 20.
The left and right side members 29A and 29B are provided with an upper left bracket 27A and an upper right bracket 27B on their upper sides, respectively. The upper left and right brackets 27A and 27B project outward in a lateral direction of the radiator 2 and in directions opposite to each other for supporting an upper portion of the condenser 3.
The left and right side members 29A and 29B are also provided with an intermediate left bracket 24A and an intermediate right bracket 24B on their intermediate sides. The intermediate left and right brackets 24A and 24B project outward in the lateral direction of the radiator 2 and in directions opposite to each other to be supported by the lower left and right brackets 17A and 17B of the lower member 12 of the radiator core support 1.
The left and right side members 29A and 29B are further provided with a lower left bracket 28A and a lower right bracket 28B on their lower sides, respectively. The lower left and right brackets 28A and 28B project forward for supporting a lower portion of the condenser 3 and are formed with a left hole 28a and a right hole 28b, respectively.
The radiator core 20 has a plurality of core tubes and fins, not shown, arranged to extend in the lateral direction of the radiator 2. The core tubes and fins are made of alminum and alternately disposed so that coolant can flow down along the core tubes, exchanging heat between the coolant and the air.
A height of the radiator 2 is set to be larger than that of the radiator core support 1, a distance between the upper member 11 and the lower member 12 thereof. Accordingly, the lower portion of the radiator 2 emerges under the radiator core support 1 when they are assembled with each other.
As shown in
The left and right tanks 31A and 31B are provided with a left bracket 32A and a right bracket 32B at their top portions, respectively. The left and right brackets 32A and 32B project outward in a lateral direction of the condenser 3 and in directions opposite to each other to be supported by the radiator 2.
The left and right tanks 31A and 31B are also provided with a left supported pin 33A and a right supported pin 33B on their bottom surfaces, respectively. The left and right supported pins 33A and 33B project downward from the bottom surfaces to be insertable into the left and right holes 28a and 28b of the lower left and right brackets 28A and 28B of the radiator 2, respectively.
As shown in
The upper right and center brackets 6B and 6C are constructed similarly to the upper left bracket 6A to have holes with slits 41b and 41c, the holes being insertable by elastic members 6B and 6C with a hole for receiving the right welded bolt 18B and a hole for receiving the center welded bolt 18C, respectively.
The upper right and center brackets 41B and 41C are constructed similarly to the upper left bracket 41A to have holes with slits 41b and 41c, the holes being insertable by elastic members 6B with a hole for receiving the right welded bolt 18B and a hole for receiving the center welded bolt 18C of the radiator core support 1, respectively.
The lower portion of the oil cooler 4 is provided with a lower left bracket 42A and a lower right bracket 42B, which project rearward to be supported by the lower left and right supporting pins 26A and 26B as shown in
The lower right bracket 42B is constructed similarly to the lower left bracket 42A to have a hole with a slit, the hole being insertable by an elastic member 7B with a hole for receiving the lower right supporting pin 26B of the radiator 2.
In this embodiment, the elastic members 5A, 5B, 6A to 6C, 7A and 7B are insulators made of synthetic rubber so as to absorb vibration and attachment errors.
Next, how to build the heat exchanger support structure of the embodiment will be described.
First, the radiator core support 1, the radiator 2, the condenser 3 and the oil cooler 4 are provided.
The condenser 3 is mounted on the radiator 2 by inserting the left and right supported pins 33A and 33B into the holes 28a and 28b of the lower left and right brackets 28A and 28B of the radiator 2 through not-shown elastic members, respectively. The upper left and right brackets 32A and 32B of the condenser 3 are arranged in front of the upper left and right brackets 27A and 27B of the radiator 2 so that the holes 32a and 32b of the condenser 3 can lap on the holes 27a and 27b of the radiator 2, respectively. The condenser 3 is fixed on the radiator 2 by not-shown nuts and not-shown bolts penetrating the holes 27a, 27b, 32a and 32b.
Next, the radiator 2 and condenser 3 are attached to the radiator core support 1, as shown in
Then, the oil cooler 4 is attached to the radiator core support 1 and the radiator 2, as shown in
As shown in
Note that the oil cooler 4 is supported by the radiator 2 so that the lower left and right supporting pins 26A and 26B of the radiator 2 restrict a horizontal movement of the oil cooler 4, allowing a vertical movement thereof.
The radiator core support 1 with the radiator 2, the condenser 3 and the oil cooler 4 is attached to the front part of the vehicle body.
The heat exchanger structure of the embodiment has the following advantages.
The oil cooler 4 can be supported by the radiator core support 1 by bolts 18A to 18C and nuts 18a to 18c without additional brackets fixed to the radiator core support 1, decreasing the manufacturing process and manufacturing cost.
The lower portion of the oil cooler 4 is supported by the lower left and right supporting pins 26A and 26B of the radiator 2 so that the lower left and right supporting pins 26A and 26B restrict the horizontal movement of the oil cooler 4, allowing the vertical movement thereof. This can decrease stress applied to the lower tank 22 of the radiator 2. In addition, their assembly does not need a fastening process using bolts and nuts. Therefore, the manufacturing process and manufacturing cost can be reduced.
The lower left and right supporting pins 26A and 26B of the radiator 2 are made of resin, which provides easy fracture of the supporting pins 26A and 26B in a light bump, such as a bump where an impact applied to a bumper pushes and moves the oil cooler 4 slightly rearward. Therefore, it can prevent the lower tank 22 of the radiator 2 from fatal damage.
These supporting pins 26A and 26B and the lower tank 22 of the radiator 2 are integrally formed of resin, which can decrease the manufacturing process and manufacturing cost.
While there have been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various modifications may be made therein, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
In this heat exchanger support structure of the embodiment, the lower left and right supporting pins 26A and 26B of the radiator 2 are made of resin, but they may be made of metal. In this case, they are preferably set to be long ones so that they can be easily deformable in a light bump.
The number of lower supporting pins of the radiator 2 are not limited.
In this embodiment, the first heat exchanger is the radiator 2 and the second heat exchanger is the oil cooler 4, but the heat exchangers may be not limited to these ones.
The entire contents of Japanese Patent Application (Tokugan) No. 2005-085779 filed Mar. 24, 2005 is incorporated herein by reference.
Claims
1. A heat exchanger support structure comprising:
- a first heat exchanger;
- a second heat exchanger; and
- a radiator core support for supporting the first heat exchanger, wherein
- the first heat exchanger has a lower supporting pin projecting downward from a lower portion of the first heat exchanger, and wherein
- the second heat exchanger arranged in front of the first heat exchanger and having an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion being supported by the radiator core support and the lower portion being supported by the lower supporting pin of the first heat exchanger so that the lower supporting pin restricts a horizontal movement of the second heat exchanger and allows a vertical movement of the second heat changer.
2. The heat exchanger support structure of claim 1, wherein
- the lower supporting pin is made of resin.
3. The heat exchanger support structure of claim 2, wherein
- the lower supporting pin and a lower tank of the first heat exchanger are integrally formed of resin.
4. The heat exchanger support structure of claim 1, wherein
- the lower supporting pin is coupled with a bracket of the second heat exchanger so that the second heat exchanger is supported by the first heat exchanger
5. The heat exchanger support structure of claim 1, wherein
- the lower supporting pin supports the second heat exchanger through an elastic member.
6. The heat exchanger support structure of claim 1, wherein
- the first heat exchanger is a radiator and the second heat exchanger is an oil cooler.
7. The heat exchanger support structure of claim 1, further comprising
- a third heat exchanger, and wherein
- the third heat exchanger is arranged in front of the radiator and supported by the radiator.
8. The heat exchanger support structure of claim 7, wherein
- the first heat exchanger is a radiator, the second heat exchanger is an oil cooler, and the third heat exchanger is a condenser.
9. The heat exchanger support structure of claim 1, wherein
- the first heat exchanger has a lower portion under the radiator core support when the first heat exchanger is attached to the radiator core support.
10. The heat exchanger support structure of claim 1, wherein
- the upper portion of the second heat exchanger is supported by a welded bolt fixed on the radiator core support.
11. A heat exchanger supporting method in which a radiator core support supports a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger, the method comprising:
- supporting an upper portion of the second heat exchanger by the radiator core support; and
- supporting a lower portion of the second heat exchanger by a lower supporting pin projecting downward from a lower portion of the first heat exchanger so that the lower supporting pin restricts a horizontal movement of the second heat exchanger and allows a vertical movement of the second heat exchanger.
12. The heat exchanger supporting method of claim 11, wherein
- the lower supporting pin is made of resin.
13. The heat exchanger supporting method of claim 12, wherein
- the lower supporting pin and a lower tank of the first heat exchanger are integrally formed of resin.
14. The heat exchanger supporting method of claim 11, wherein
- the lower supporting pin and a lower tank of the first heat exchanger are integrally formed of resin.
15. The heat exchanger supporting method of claim 11, wherein
- the lower supporting pin is coupled with a bracket of the second heat exchanger so that the second heat exchanger is supported by the first heat exchanger.
16. The heat exchanger supporting method of claim 11, wherein
- the first heat exchanger is a radiator and the second heat exchanger is an oil cooler.
17. The heat exchanger supporting method of claim 11, further comprising
- a third heat exchanger, wherein
- the third heat exchanger is arranged in front of the radiator and supported by the radiator.
18. The heat exchanger supporting method of claim 17, wherein
- the first heat exchanger is a radiator, the second heat exchanger is an oil cooler, and the third heat exchanger is a condenser.
19. The heat exchanger supporting method of claim 11, wherein
- the first heat exchanger has a lower portion under the radiator core support when the first heat exchanger is attached to the radiator core support.
20. The heat exchanger supporting method of claim 11, wherein
- the upper portion of the second heat exchanger is supported by a welded bolt fixed on the radiator core support.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 20, 2006
Publication Date: Sep 28, 2006
Applicant:
Inventors: Iwao Matsuoka (Tokyo), Tatsuhiko Uchiyama (Tokyo), Tadahiro Hirai (Tokyo)
Application Number: 11/378,310
International Classification: F28F 9/007 (20060101);