Engine assemblies and methods of manufacturing the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10132270-B2
Application number	US-201615225066-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2016
Priority date	Aug 1, 2016
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

Vehicle assemblies, such as engine assemblies, including an integrated cylinder head and plurality of liners as well as a polymeric composite housing are provided. Methods of making such vehicle assemblies are also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An engine assembly comprising:
a plurality of metal liners each defining an open void cylindrical region for each receiving a piston;
a metal cylinder head integrally joined to the plurality of metal liners, wherein the metal cylinder head is integrally joined to the plurality of metal liners as a single component or the metal cylinder head and the plurality of metal liners are separate components each respectively integrally joined by fasteners, threading present on the metal cylinder head and metal liners, an adhesive, and/or a weld;
a polymeric composite housing disposed around at least a portion of an exterior surface of the metal liners and adjacent to the metal cylinder head, wherein the polymeric composite housing comprises a polymer and a plurality of reinforcing fibers and at least one of:
(i) a plurality of microchannels for receiving a fluid for heating and/or cooling the engine assembly, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of microchannels are interconnected; or
(ii) at least one wire for heating the engine assembly; and

a polymeric composite layer disposed around at least a portion of an exterior surface of the polymeric composite housing.

2. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein when the metal cylinder head and the plurality of metal liners are separate components each respectively integrally joined by fasteners, threading present on the metal cylinder head and metal liners, an adhesive, and/or a weld, the engine assembly further comprises a metal plate integrally joined to the metal liners and adjacent to the cylinder head.

3. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the polymer in the polymeric composite housing comprises a thermoplastic resin or a thermoset resin and the plurality of reinforcing fibers are fibers selected from the group consisting of: carbon fibers, glass fibers, aramid fibers, polyethylene fibers, organic fibers, metallic fibers, and a combination thereof.

4. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric composite layer extends around at least a portion of the metal cylinder head.

5. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric composite layer comprises discontinuous carbon fibers.

6. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the exterior surfaces of the plurality of metal liners comprise one or more mechanical interlock features and/or an adhesive to couple with the polymeric composite housing.

7. The engine assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a coolant channel defined between at least a portion of the plurality of metal liners, the polymeric composite housing and metal cylinder head.

8. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of microchannels in the polymeric composite housing are oriented axially, radially, branched, intersecting, criss-crossing or in a spiral direction.

9. A method for manufacturing an engine assembly, wherein the method comprises:
arranging an assembly in a mold, the assembly comprising:
a plurality of metal liners each defining an open void cylindrical region for each receiving a piston; and
a metal cylinder head integrally joined to the plurality of metal liners;

arranging a component precursor in the mold adjacent to at least a portion of the assembly;
introducing a resin into the mold;
curing the resin and forming a polymeric composite housing disposed around at least a portion of an exterior surface of the metal liners and adjacent to the metal cylinder head, wherein the polymeric composite housing comprises a polymer and a plurality reinforcing fibers; and
forming a polymeric composite layer around at least a portion of an exterior surface of the polymeric composite housing.

10. The method of claim 9 , prior to the arranging of the assembly, further comprising:
(i) casting the metal cylinder head and the plurality of metal liners to form a single component; or
(ii) joining together the plurality of metal liners and the metal cylinder head by welding.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the resin comprises a thermoplastic resin or a thermoset resin and the plurality of reinforcing fibers are fibers selected from the group consisting of: carbon fibers, glass fibers, aramid fibers, polyethylene fibers, organic fibers, metallic fibers, and a combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the component precursor further comprises a plurality of sacrificial fibers.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprises removing the plurality of sacrificial fibers to form a plurality of microchannels in the polymeric composite housing.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the polymeric composite layer comprises discontinuous carbon fibers.

15. An engine assembly comprising:
a plurality of metal liners each defining an open void cylindrical region for each receiving a piston;
a metal cylinder head integrally joined to the plurality of metal liners, wherein the metal cylinder head is integrally joined to the plurality of metal liners as a single component or the metal cylinder head and the plurality of metal liners are separate components each respectively integrally joined by fasteners, threading present on the metal cylinder head and metal liners, an adhesive, and/or a weld;
a polymeric composite housing disposed around at least a portion of an exterior surface of the metal liners and adjacent to the metal cylinder head, wherein the polymeric composite housing comprises a polymer and a plurality of reinforcing fibers and at least one of:
(i) a plurality of microchannels for receiving a fluid for heating and/or cooling the engine assembly, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of microchannels are interconnected; or
(ii) at least one wire for heating the engine assembly;

a polymeric composite layer disposed around at least a portion of an exterior surface of the polymeric composite housing and extended around at least a portion of the metal cylinder head.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Coppola Anthony M
• Kia Hamid G
• Najt Paul M
• Durrett Russell P
• Potter Michael A

Classifications

• F02F1/16

  Cylinder liners of wet type · CPC title

• F05C2253/16

  Fibres · CPC title

• F02F1/40

  cylinder heads with means for directing, guiding, or distributing liquid stream · CPC title

• F02F7/0085 Primary

  Materials for constructing engines or their parts · CPC title

• F05C2251/048

  Heat transfer · CPC title