Ram air power valve

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10012186-B2
Application number	US-201615260537-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 9, 2016
Priority date	Sep 9, 2016
Publication date	Jul 3, 2018
Grant date	Jul 3, 2018

Abstract

An air intake assembly configured to direct air into a throttle body of an engine of an automotive vehicle includes an air cleaner enclosure, primary and secondary air intake ducts, a ram air power valve and a downstream air intake duct. The air cleaner enclosure unit has an air cleaner inlet and an air cleaner outlet. The primary air intake duct directs air between a primary air inlet and the air cleaner inlet. The secondary air intake duct directs air between a secondary air inlet and the air cleaner inlet. The ram air power valve is disposed in the secondary air intake duct and is configured to move between an open position and a closed position. In the open position, air is permitted to flow through the secondary intake duct. In the closed position air is inhibited from passing through the secondary air intake duct.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An air intake assembly arranged in an engine compartment of an automotive vehicle and configured for directing air into a throttle body of an engine of the vehicle, the air intake assembly comprising:
an air cleaner enclosure unit having an air cleaner inlet and an air cleaner outlet;
a primary air intake duct that directs air between a primary air inlet and the air cleaner inlet;
a secondary air intake duct that directs air between a secondary air inlet and the air cleaner inlet;
a ram air power valve disposed in the secondary air intake duct and in communication with a controller, the ram air power valve configured to be controlled to move between (i) an open position wherein air is permitted to flow through the secondary intake duct and (ii) a closed position wherein air is inhibited from passing through the secondary air intake duct; and
a downstream air intake duct fluidly connected between and configured to direct air from the air cleaner outlet to the throttle body;
wherein the valve is configured to be controlled to move from the open position to the closed position thereby forcing air entering the primary intake duct to be directed into the air cleaner inlet.

2. The air intake assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a common intake duct that delivers air into the air intake assembly through the air cleaner inlet.

3. The air intake assembly of claim 2 wherein the primary air intake duct and the secondary air intake duct converge into the common intake duct.

4. The air intake assembly of claim 1 wherein the air intake assembly is configured to alternatively operate between the following three conditions:
(A) inlet air is directed into the air cleaner enclosure unit from the secondary air intake duct and routed concurrently (i) through the air cleaner inlet, through the downstream air intake duct and into the throttle body and (ii) through the primary air intake duct out of the primary air inlet based on a higher air pressure at the secondary air inlet compared to the primary air inlet;
(B) inlet air is directed into the air cleaner enclosure unit from the primary air intake duct and routed concurrently (iii) through the air cleaner inlet and into the throttle body and (iv) through the secondary air intake duct and out of the secondary air inlet based on a higher air pressure at the primary air inlet compared to the secondary air inlet; and
(C) inlet air is directed into the air cleaner enclosure unit from the primary intake duct and into the throttle body based on the ram air power valve being closed.

5. The air intake assembly of claim 1 wherein the secondary air intake duct directs air from the secondary air inlet to the air cleaner inlet when the vehicle is stopped and wherein the primary air intake duct directs air from the primary air inlet to the air cleaner inlet when the vehicle is moving, wherein an air pressure is higher at the primary air inlet than the secondary air inlet when the automotive vehicle is in motion.

6. The air intake assembly of claim 1 wherein the valve is configured to be controlled to move from the open position to the closed position upon ram air activating operating conditions being satisfied.

7. The air intake assembly of claim 6 wherein ram air activating operating conditions include a vehicle speed exceeding a speed threshold.

8. The air intake assembly of claim 7 , wherein the speed threshold is 40 miles per hour (MPH).

9. The air intake assembly of claim 6 wherein the ram air activating operating conditions include an ambient temperature threshold.

10. The air intake assembly of claim 9 wherein the ambient temperature threshold is 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

11. The air intake assembly of claim 1 wherein the secondary air inlet is positioned under a hood of the engine compartment.

12. A method of directing intake air into a throttle body of an engine of an automotive vehicle, the method comprising:
arranging an air cleaner enclosure unit into an engine compartment of the automotive vehicle, the air cleaner enclosure unit having an air cleaner inlet and an air cleaner outlet;
routing a primary air intake duct between a primary air inlet and the air cleaner inlet;
routing a secondary air intake duct between a secondary air inlet and the air cleaner inlet, the secondary air intake duct having an electronically controlled ram air power valve disposed therein and configured to be controlled to move between (i) an open position where air is permitted to flow through the secondary air intake duct and (ii) a closed position where air is inhibited from flowing through the secondary air intake duct;
routing a downstream air intake duct between the air cleaner outlet and the throttle body; and
alternatively directing inlet air between the following three conditions:
(A) directing inlet air into the air cleaner enclosure unit in a first condition from the secondary air intake duct and routing the inlet air concurrently (i) through the air cleaner inlet and into the throttle body and (ii) through the primary air intake duct out of the primary air inlet based on a higher air pressure at the secondary air inlet compared to the primary air inlet;
(B) directing inlet air into the air cleaner enclosure unit in a second condition from the primary air intake duct and routing the inlet air concurrently (iii) through the air cleaner inlet and into the throttle body and (iv) through the secondary air intake duct and out of the secondary air inlet based on a higher air pressure at the primary air inlet compared to the secondary air inlet; and
(C) directing inlet air into the air cleaner enclosure unit in a third condition from the primary air intake duct based on the ram air power valve in the closed position.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein directing inlet air into the air cleaner enclosure unit from the secondary air intake duct includes directing the inlet air into the air cleaner enclosure unit when an air pressure is higher at the secondary air inlet than the primary air inlet.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the air pressure is higher at the secondary air inlet than the primary air inlet when the automotive vehicle is at idle.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the air pressure is higher at the primary air inlet than the secondary air inlet when the automotive vehicle is in motion.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein directing inlet air into the air cleaner enclosure unit from the primary and secondary intake ducts both comprise directing inlet air into a common intake duct.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein directing inlet air into the air cleaner enclosure unit in the third condition comprises closing the ram air power valve based on ram air activating operating conditions being satisfied.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein closing the ram air power valve based on ram air activating operating conditions being satisfied comprises a vehicle speed exceeding a speed threshold or an ambient temperature exceeding a temperature threshold.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the speed threshold is 40 miles per hour (MPH) and the ambient temperature is 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Assignees

• Roten Marvin L
• Stempien Michael J
• Acsiniuc Marian
• Luchkovitz Kenneth J
• Fca Us Llc

Inventors

• Roten Marvin L
• Stempien Michael J
• Acsiniuc Marian
• Luchkovitz Kenneth J

Classifications

• F02M35/10209 Primary

  Fluid connections to the air intake system; their arrangement of pipes, valves or the like · CPC title

• B60K13/02

  concerning intake · CPC title

• F02M35/0209

  comprising flexible, resilient, movable or rotatable elements, e.g. with vibrating or contracting movements; Springs; Valves; Flaps (F02M35/06, F02M35/08 take precedence) · CPC title