UNDERCOVER FOR VEHICLE

Abstract

An undercover for a vehicle, connected to an underbody below a muffler mounted on the underbody, includes: a main body panel in a plate shape, through which insertion holes are formed; a heat absorption plate to be connected to the insertions holes; and a heat radiation plate to be connected to the heat absorption plate, the remote ends of which are exposed below the main body panel. A heat exchange function is added to an undercover that has been used simply as a cover for protecting the muffler from foreign substance, thereby cooling more efficiently the muffler.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority of Korean Patent Application Number 10-2013-0059477 filed May 27, 2013, the entire contents of which application is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to an undercover for a vehicle, and more particularly, to an undercover for a vehicle, which is connected to a center tunnel that forms a floor surface of a vehicle body, and discharges promptly heat energy, which is exhausted from a muffler mounted to the center tunnel, toward an outside of the vehicle.

2. Description of Related Art

Generally, air flows along an outer appearance line of a vehicle and a pressure of the air varies while the vehicle drives.

In a passenger car of a general type, air that passes through an upper part of the car is to be diluted relatively and thus a pressure of the air becomes low, whereas air that passes through a lower part of the car has a high pressure wherein the pressure difference appears differently in accordance with a driving velocity and appearance of a vehicle, etc.

Accordingly, a vehicle with a high performance for a driving at a high speed is designed to have a low air resistance coefficient with reflecting the aerodynamic features and further a rear spoiler, etc., is provided additionally at a rear of a vehicle for applying down-force to the vehicle during a driving.

Meanwhile, various suspension devices and exhaust devices, etc., are mounted on a lower part of a vehicle, and in a case of a vehicle with 4 wheel drive or rear wheel drive, power transmission devices, etc., are mounted thereof, and thus an underbody forming a floor of a vehicle is formed as a curved shape.

Accordingly, the air passing through the lower part of a vehicle may not move promptly to a rear of the vehicle to serve as a factor of increasing air pressure on a lower part of the vehicle, causing to make a handle light and shakes of the vehicle at a high speed driving.

An under panel 5 in a shape of a flat plate to cover the entire underbody is additionally mounted to a lower part of a vehicle with a high performance, as shown in FIG. 1A, in order to prevent a stay of air flow due to the curved underbody.

That is, the under panel to be mounted on a general vehicle is manufactured relatively in a small size to cover only a lower part of an engine room for protect an engine and major components, and an undercover 3 in a plate-shape is mounted separately to a center tunnel 2 to which a muffler 4 is mounted, as shown in FIG. 1B, however, the under panel 5 to be mounted to a vehicle with a high performance (integrated with the undercover or as a separate component) is manufactured in a larger size to cover a rear of a vehicle as well as the engine room at a front of the vehicle.

However, the under panel 5 and the undercover 3 to be mounted on a vehicle with a high performance inhibit cooling of the muffler 4 installed to an underbody 1. That is, the muffler 4 through which exhaust gas passes is heated to a high temperature and cooled naturally with a driving wind when a vehicle drives, but the under panel 5 that is installed on a lower part of the underbody 1 and has a flat shape of a plate guides the driving wind to flow rapidly to a rear of a vehicle, thereby defining the time and wind amount for cooling the muffler 4 with the driving wind.

As a result, according to a related art, a large amount of expensive insulation is applied to the muffler 4 and the surrounding part thereof as a thermal barrier.

However, according to a conventional configuration, even though the expensive insulation material is applied additionally thereto in a vehicle with a high performance in which the under panel is extended to a rear of the vehicle, it can only prevent heat damage to the muffler and the surrounding portion and it is difficult to increase a cooling efficiency of the muffler.

The information disclosed in this Background 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 provide for an undercover for a vehicle, which is mounted to an underbody together with an under panel below an muffler mounted on the underbody, or to an opening on the under panel to expose the muffler, in order to improve further cooling efficiency of the muffler.

Various aspects of the present invention provide for an undercover for a vehicle, which is connected to an underbody below a muffler mounted on the underbody, include: a main body panel in a plate shape, through which insertion holes are formed; a heat absorption plate to be connected to the insertions holes; and a heat radiation plate to be connected to the heat absorption plate, the remote ends of which are exposed below the main body panel.

A plurality of heat absorption protrusions are formed on the heat absorption plate.

A plurality of insertion holes are formed at both sides of the heat absorption plate and the heat radiation pipes are fitted into the insertion holes, respectively, such that the remote ends of the heat radiation pipes are exposed outside.

A middle of the main body panel is bent to be convex downward and the remote ends of the heat radiation pipe are bent upward to be adjacent to the main body panel.

The heat radiation pipe is configured with a heat pipe in which an operation fluid enveloped in a sealed inside thereof is evaporated and condensed repeatedly in accordance with external temperature variations to discharge heat energy absorbed from one side to the other side.

It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similar term as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g. fuels derived from resources other than petroleum). As referred to herein, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has two or more sources of power, for example both gasoline-powered and electric-powered vehicles.

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. 1A is a perspective view showing an under panel mounted to cover an entire underbody of a vehicle;

FIG. 1B is a view showing an undercover according to a related art;

FIG. 2 is a view showing an exemplary undercover that is mounted to an underbody according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a heat absorption plate and heat radiation pipe to be mounted a main body panel through which mounting holes are formed;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along A-A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the heat absorption plate that is separated from the main body panel;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing the heat abruption plate from which the heat radiation pipe is removed to show insertion holes; and

FIG. 7A a longitudinal view of the heat radiation pipe having a heat pipe configuration

FIG. 7B is a cross sectional view of the heat radiation pipe having a heat pipe configuration.

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 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 undercover for a vehicle according to various embodiments of the present invention is mounted below a muffler 4 installed to a center tunnel 2 of an underbody 1, which will be described in detail

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, a main body panel 30 connected with a heat absorption plate 10 and a heat radiation pipe 20 is mounted to the undercover 100 according to the present invention.

The main body panel 30 is shaped to be a plate both ends of which are bent to form steps of predetermined sizes, respectively, similar to the shape of a conventional undercover, wherein through which mounting holes 31 are formed to open upward and downward (viewed in FIG. 4) for the heat radiation plate 10 to be fitted therein.

The heat absorption plate 10 of the present invention is shaped to be a rectangular plate and is thicker than the main body panel 30 wherein a plurality of heat absorption protrusions 11 are formed on an upper surface facing the muffler 4, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The heat absorption protrusions 11 are spaced each other at a constant interval to increase area for absorbing heat radiated from the muffler 4.

Furthermore, insertion holes 12 into which the radiation pipes 20 are fitted, respectively, are arranged at both sides, which are faced each other, of the heat absorption plate. 10. Accordingly, the heat radiation pipe 20 is fitted into the insertion hole 12 of the heat absorption plate 10 below the main body panel 30 such that an end of the heat radiation pipe is exposed outside.

The heat absorption plate 10 to which the heat radiation pipe 20 is connected is fixed to the main body panel 30 through two bands 40 and fastening bolts 41.

As described above, the main body panel 30 is bent to form steps at its ends and be convex downward and the remote both ends of the heat radiation pipe 20 are bent upward to be adjacent to the main body panel 30.

Meanwhile, the heat radiation pipe 20 according to various embodiments of the present invention may be configured as a heat pipe having a configuration as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B.

That is, in the radiation pipe 20 as a heat pipe, the operation fluid (wick), which is enveloped in a sealed inside thereof, absorbs heat (radiated from an muffler at a side where it is fitted into the insertion hole) and is evaporated 1) from liquid to gas, and then moves to the remote end exposed outside from the inside of the heat radiation pipe 20 to be cooled with external air and condensed 2).

Furthermore, the operation fluid, which is condensed in a liquid state, moves toward a side of the heat radiation pipe 20 where it is fitted into the insertion hole 12, with capillary force to repeat the absorption procedures, which are described above.

According to the undercover for a vehicle of the present invention, heat exchange function is added to an undercover that has been used as a simple cover to increase cooling efficiency of the muffler 4, and a heat pipe is applied to the heat radiation pipe 20 to have a circulation-type forcible cooling configuration, thereby increasing further a cooling efficiency of the muffler.

Furthermore, existing heat shielding components mounted around the muffler 4 can be deleted to save cost and improve a discharging performance of the exhaust gas.

According to the present invention, heat exchange function is added to an undercover that has been used simply as a cover for protecting the muffler from foreign substance, thereby cooling more efficiently the muffler.

The heat radiation pipe is exposed to a lower outside and the main body panel is bent so that the undercover can be mounted to a kind of vehicle in which it is difficult to cool a muffler with a driving wind due to a shape of the undercover.

A plurality of heat absorption protrusions are formed on the heat absorption to increase an area to be exposed to heat, and the heat radiation pipe is configured with heat pipe, thereby increasing further heat radiation efficiency.

For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms upper or lower, front or rear, and etc. 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. 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.

Claims

1. An undercover for a vehicle, which is connected to an underbody below a muffler mounted on the underbody, comprising:

a main body panel including a plate shape and insertion holes extending therethrough;

a heat absorption plate to be connected to the insertions holes; and

a heat radiation plate to be connected to the heat absorption plate and including remote ends exposed to an exterior of the vehicle below the main body panel.

2. The undercover for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein a plurality of heat absorption protrusions are formed on an upper surface of the heat absorption plate.

3. The undercover for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein a plurality of insertion holes are formed at both sides of the heat absorption plate and heat radiation pipes are fitted into the insertion holes, respectively, such that the remote ends of the heat radiation pipes are exposed to the exterior of the vehicle.

4. The undercover for a vehicle of claim 3, wherein a middle part of the main body panel is convex downward and the remote ends of heat radiation pipes are bent upward to be adjacent to the main body panel.

5. The undercover for a vehicle of any one of claims 1, a heat radiation pipe is configured with a heat pipe in which an operation fluid enveloped in a sealed chamber is evaporated and condensed repeatedly in accordance with external temperature variations to discharge heat energy absorbed from one side to the other side.