Cooling system for in-wheel motor vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12434550-B2
Application number	US-202318360428-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 27, 2023
Priority date	May 30, 2023
Publication date	Oct 7, 2025
Grant date	Oct 7, 2025

Abstract

An embodiment cooling system for in-wheel motor vehicles includes first coolant flow paths provided in in-wheel motors mounted in wheels of a vehicle, second coolant flow paths provided in inverters configured to drive and control the in-wheel motors, a radiator configured to pass therethrough a coolant having cooled the inverters and the in-wheel motors to dissipate heat from the coolant, a coolant circulation line connecting the first and second coolant flow paths and the radiator, wherein a portion of the coolant circulation line located at upstream sides of the inverters based on a coolant circulation path is branched off into secondary coolant circulation lines respectively connected to the inverters, and water pumps disposed on the coolant circulation line and configured to pump the coolant, wherein the coolant pumped by the water pumps is distributed and passes through the inverters in parallel by way of the secondary coolant circulation lines.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cooling system for in-wheel motor vehicles, the cooling system comprising:
first coolant flow paths provided in a plurality of in-wheel motors mounted in wheels of a vehicle;
second coolant flow paths provided in a plurality of inverters configured to drive and control the plurality of in-wheel motors;
a radiator configured to pass therethrough a coolant having cooled the plurality of inverters and the plurality of in-wheel motors so as to dissipate heat from the coolant;
a coolant circulation line connecting the second coolant flow paths, the first coolant flow paths, and the radiator and configured to circulate the coolant through the second coolant flow paths, the first coolant flow paths, and the radiator, wherein a portion of the coolant circulation line located at upstream sides of the plurality of inverters based on a coolant circulation path is branched off into secondary coolant circulation lines connected to respective inverters of the plurality of inverters; and
water pumps disposed on the coolant circulation line, the water pumps being configured to pump the coolant in the coolant circulation line so as to circulate the coolant along the coolant circulation line, wherein the coolant pumped by the water pumps is distributed and passes through the plurality of inverters in parallel by way of the secondary coolant circulation lines.

2. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein:
the secondary coolant circulation lines are joined back into the coolant circulation line at downstream sides of the plurality of inverters; and
the plurality of in-wheel motors is connected in series by the coolant circulation line such that the coolant having passed through the plurality of inverters in parallel sequentially passes through the plurality of in-wheel motors mounted in the wheels of the vehicle while being circulated along the coolant circulation line.

3. The cooling system of claim 2 , wherein:
the coolant circulation line connecting the plurality of in-wheel motors in series is connected to the radiator; and
the radiator is disposed at downstream sides of the plurality of in-wheel motors based on the coolant circulation path.

4. The cooling system of claim 2 , wherein:
the plurality of in-wheel motors comprises an in-wheel motor of a left wheel of the vehicle and an in-wheel motor of a right wheel of the vehicle,
the plurality of inverters comprises a left wheel inverter configured to drive and control the in-wheel motor of the left wheel, and a right wheel inverter configured to drive and control the in-wheel motor of the right wheel.

5. The cooling system of claim 2 , wherein:
the wheels of the vehicle comprise front wheels and rear wheels;
the plurality of in-wheel motors comprises in-wheel motors of the front wheels and in-wheel motors of the rear wheels; and
the plurality of inverters comprises a front wheel inverter configured to drive and control the in-wheel motors of the front wheels and a rear wheel inverter configured to drive and control the in-wheel motors of the rear wheels.

6. The cooling system of claim 5 , wherein:
the front wheels comprise a front left wheel and a front right wheel;
the in-wheel motors of the front wheels comprise an in-wheel motor of the front left wheel and an in-wheel motor of the front right wheel;
the rear wheels comprise a rear left wheel and a rear right wheel; and
the in-wheel motors of the rear wheels comprise an in-wheel motor of the rear left wheel and an in-wheel motor of the rear right wheel.

7. The cooling system of claim 5 , wherein the water pumps comprise:
a first water pump disposed at upstream sides of the plurality of inverters; and
a second water pump disposed on the coolant circulation line between the in-wheel motors of the front wheels and the in-wheel motors of the rear wheels.

8. The cooling system of claim 2 , wherein the water pumps comprise:
a first water pump disposed at upstream sides of the plurality of inverters; and
a second water pump disposed at downstream sides of the plurality of inverters and configured to pump the coolant having passed through the plurality of inverters.

9. The cooling system of claim 2 , further comprising a water cooling-type heat exchanger configured to perform heat exchange between the coolant circulated along the coolant circulation line and a refrigerant circulated along a refrigerant circulation line of an air conditioning system and a heat pump system.

10. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the water pumps comprise:
a first water pump disposed at upstream sides of the plurality of inverters; and
a second water pump disposed on the coolant circulation line at an upstream side of the water cooling-type heat exchanger.

11. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the water cooling-type heat exchanger is disposed at an upstream side of the radiator.

12. The cooling system of claim 11 , wherein the water pumps comprise:
a first water pump disposed at upstream sides of the plurality of inverters; and
a second water pump disposed on the coolant circulation line at an upstream side of the water cooling-type heat exchanger.

13. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the water cooling-type heat exchanger is disposed at a downstream side of the radiator.

14. The cooling system of claim 13 , wherein the water pumps comprise:
a first water pump disposed at upstream sides of the plurality of inverters; and
a second water pump disposed on the coolant circulation line at an upstream side of the radiator.

15. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the water pumps are provided on the secondary coolant circulation lines, respectively.

16. A cooling system for in-wheel motor vehicles, the cooling system comprising:
first coolant flow paths provided in a plurality of in-wheel motors mounted in wheels of a vehicle;
second coolant flow paths provided in a plurality of inverters configured to drive and control the plurality of in-wheel motors;
a radiator configured to pass therethrough a coolant having cooled the plurality of inverters and the plurality of in-wheel motors so as to dissipate heat from the coolant;
a coolant circulation line connecting the second coolant flow paths, the first coolant flow paths, and the radiator and configured to circulate the coolant through the second coolant flow paths, the first coolant flow paths, and the radiator, wherein a portion of the coolant circulation line located at upstream sides of the plurality of inverters based on a coolant circulation path is branched off into secondary coolant circulation lines connected to respective inverters of the plurality of inverters;
water pumps disposed on the coolant circulation line, the water pumps being configured to pump the coolant in the coolant circulation line so as to circulate the coolant along the coolant circulation line, wherein the coolant pumped by the water pumps is distributed and passes through the plurality of inverters in parallel by way of the secondary coolant circulation lines;
a connection line branched off from the coolant circulation line at an upstream side of the radiator, wherein the connection line is connected to a chiller;
a three-way valve provided at a branch point where the connection line is branched off from the coolant circulation line, wherein the three-way valve is configured to allow the coolant to flow in one direction towards the radiator or the chiller; and
a refrigerant line connected to the chiller and configured to allow an air conditioner refrigerant to pass through the chiller, wherein the chiller is configured to pe

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Corp

Inventors

• Kim Yeon Ho
• Kim Su Whan
• Jeong Ho Young
• Park Hwang Hi
• Kim Jae Yeon
• Cho Sang Moon

Classifications

• B60K11/04

  Arrangement or mounting of radiators, radiator shutters, or radiator blinds · CPC title

• Y02T10/64

  Electric machine technologies in electromobility · CPC title

• B60Y2306/05

  Cooling · CPC title

• B60Y2200/91

  Electric vehicles · CPC title

• B60K2001/005

  the electric storage means · CPC title