Muffler

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9644509-B2
Application number	US-201615001820-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 20, 2016
Priority date	Feb 5, 2015
Publication date	May 9, 2017
Grant date	May 9, 2017

Abstract

The present invention in one or more embodiments provides a muffler, where the muffler includes a housing extending along a longitudinal direction, and a resonator device supported on the housing and including a body, the body including a first portion and a second portion spaced apart from and to be in fluid communication with the first portion, the fluid communication being positioned in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, at least one of the first portion and second portion being of a closed-loop in cross-section. The muffler of the present invention may effectively enhance reduction of low frequency noise without having to necessarily increase package volume.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A muffler comprising:
a housing extending along a longitudinal direction;
a resonator device supported on the housing and including a body, the body including a first portion and a second portion spaced apart from and to be in fluid communication with the first portion, the fluid communication being positioned in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, at least one of the first and second portions being of a closed-loop in cross-section, wherein a neck of the resonator device including the first and second portions wraps around the longitudinal direction at least once, wherein the neck is inside the housing.

2. The muffler of claim 1 , further comprising an aperture to receive an outlet pipe extending along the longitudinal direction and being positioned between the first and second portions of the resonator device, wherein the first portion and the second portion are radially spaced so as to be diametrically opposed.

3. The muffler of claim 1 , wherein the resonator device further includes inlet and outlet necks extending from the body in opposite directions, the housing including a first partition wall defining and separating a first chamber and a second chamber.

4. The muffler of claim 2 , wherein the body includes a third portion spaced apart from the first portion and being opposite to the second portion relative to the outlet pipe.

5. The muffler of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes an anterior end and a posterior end along the longitudinal direction, the body of the resonator device being positioned closer to one of the anterior and posterior ends than the other.

6. The muffler of claim 1 , wherein the body of the resonator device includes fourth and fifth portions spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal direction.

7. The muffler of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a first partition wall defining and separating a first chamber and a second chamber, the resonator device contacting the first partition wall, the muffler further comprising an aperture to receive an outlet pipe extending along the longitudinal direction, wherein the resonator neck is positioned within the first chamber with one end thereof being connected to the outlet pipe and another end thereof being connected to the first chamber.

8. The muffler of claim 7 , wherein a cross-section of the body of the resonator device along the longitudinal direction is defined by two cross-section ends, one of which being a part of the first partition wall.

9. The muffler of claim 7 , wherein the body of the resonator device contacts the first partition wall.

10. The muffler of claim 7 , further comprising a second partition wall defining a third chamber, the second chamber being positioned between the first and third chambers along the longitudinal direction.

11. The muffler of claim 10 , further comprising a third partition wall defining a fourth chamber, the third chamber being positioned between the second and fourth chambers along the longitudinal direction.

12. The muffler of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first, second and third partition walls includes an aperture to receive and support a portion of a number of pipes.

13. The muffler of claim 1 , further comprising an outlet pipe, wherein the resonator device contacts the outlet pipe.

14. A vehicle system, comprising:
a muffler coupled in an engine exhaust system, the muffler including a housing extending along a longitudinal direction of a vehicle, a resonator device supported on the housing and including a body, a neck of the body including a first portion and a second portion spaced apart from and in fluid communication with the first portion, the first and second neck portions both forming a wrap fully around the longitudinal direction and inside the housing, the fluid communication being positioned in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction and around an exhaust pipe having an outlet exiting the muffler, each of the first and second neck portions being closed-loop in cross-section.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the muffler further comprises an aperture to receive the outlet pipe extending along the longitudinal direction and being positioned between the first and second neck portions of the resonator device, wherein the outlet pipe includes a ring of perforations.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the resonator device further includes inlet and outlet necks extending from the body in opposite directions.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the body includes a third portion spaced apart from the first portion and being opposite to the second portion relative to the outlet pipe.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the housing includes an anterior end and a posterior end along the longitudinal direction, the body of the resonator device being positioned closer to one of the anterior and posterior ends than the other.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the body of the resonator device includes fourth and fifth portions spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal direction.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the housing includes a first partition wall defining and separating a first chamber and a second chamber, the resonator device contacting the first partition wall, wherein a cross-section of the body of the resonator device along the longitudinal direction is defined by two cross-section ends, one of which being a part of the first partition wall, wherein the body of the resonator device contacts the first partition wall.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Huang Robben

Classifications

• F01N2470/20

  Dimensional characteristics of tubes, e.g. length, diameter · CPC title

• F01N2470/18

  the axis of inlet or outlet tubes being other than the longitudinal axis of apparatus · CPC title

• F01N1/083

  using transversal baffles defining a tortuous path for the exhaust gases or successively throttling exhaust gas flow · CPC title

• F01N1/089 Primary

  using two or more expansion chambers in series (F01N1/083, F01N1/084, F01N1/086 take precedence) · CPC title

• F01N1/023

  Helmholtz resonators · CPC title