Oil cooler for vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9863524-B2
Application number	US-201514943978-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 17, 2015
Priority date	Nov 21, 2014
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

An oil cooler for a vehicle may include a header tank partitioned by a diaphragm formed at an inside of a center in a length direction thereof, and adapted to take in a working fluid at a first side and to take out the working fluid at a second side with respect to the diaphragm, a connection tank disposed to be spaced apart from the header tank by a predetermined interval, a plurality of tubes mounted along a length direction at an interior surface of the header tank to connect with the connection tank such that the working fluid flows therethrough, and a bypass valve integrally mounted at an outside of the header tank and connected to the inside of the header tank so as to bypass or flow the working fluid flowing therein into the inflow tank by selectively opening/closing according to a temperature of the working fluid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An oil cooler for a vehicle comprising:
a header tank partitioned by a diaphragm formed at an inside of a center in a length direction thereof, and adapted to take in a working fluid at a first side and to take out the working fluid at a second side with respect to the diaphragm;
a connection tank disposed to be spaced apart from the header tank by a predetermined interval;
a plurality of tubes mounted along a length direction at an interior surface of the header tank to connect with the connection tank such that the working fluid flows therethrough; and
a bypass valve integrally mounted at an outside of the header tank and connected to the inside of the header tank so as to bypass or flow the working fluid flowing therein into the inflow tank by selectively opening/closing according to a temperature of the working fluid.

2. The oil cooler for a vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the header tank and the connection tank are adapted to have the tubes therebetween, and are fixed by a side plate which is mounted to connect insides of both ends of the header tank with insides of both ends of the connection tank in a state of being disposed apart from each other.

3. The oil cooler of claim 1 , wherein the working fluid is transmission oil introduced from a transmission.

4. The oil cooler of claim 1 , wherein the working fluid is configured such that when the bypass valve is opened, the working fluid flows into the first side of the header tank with respect to the diaphragm, flows into the connection tank through each tube, flows from the connection tank through each tube, and flows into the second side of the header tank with respect to the diaphragm.

5. The oil cooler of claim 1 , wherein the working fluid flows in a U-turn flow direction to be discharged from the header tank via the connection tank and then flows into the header tank again, and is cooled by passing through each of the tubes so as to be heat exchanged with outside air.

6. The oil cooler of claim 1 , wherein the bypass valve comprises:
a valve housing integrally mounted at the outside of the header tank; and
a controller mounted at an inside of the valve housing and adapted to flow the working fluid having flowed therein into the inflow tank or to bypass it by performing expansion or contraction according to the temperature of the inflowed working fluid.

7. The oil cooler of claim 6 , wherein the valve housing comprises:
a first inflow hole formed at a first side thereof, which is an opposite side of the header tank, such that an inflow port is mounted thereto;
a bypass hole formed at a second side thereof which is positioned apart from the first inflow hole such that a bypass port is mounted thereto;
a second inflow hole formed to correspond with the first inflow hole at one surface which contacts the header tank and communicated with the first side of the inside of the header tank with respect to the diaphragm; and
a discharge hole formed apart from the second inflow hole so as to be communicated with the second side of the inside of the header tank with respect to the diaphragm.

8. The oil cooler of claim 7 , wherein the valve housing forms a mounting space where the first and second inflow holes, the bypass hole, and the discharge hole communicate therewith.

9. The oil cooler of claim 7 , wherein the controller comprises:
a sliding member of which a first end is open and a mounting part is formed at a center of a second end, at least one first opening hole is formed on a first side corresponding to the first inflow hole and the bypass hole along the length direction, and at least one second opening hole is formed on a second side corresponding to the second inflow hole and the discharge hole along the length direction, and which is inserted to be slidable inside the valve housing;
an end cap adapted to be mounted to a mounting hole which is formed at the valve housing such that the sliding member is inserted into the mounting hole, to close the mounting hole, and to form a fixing groove at the center thereof;
a fixing rod adapted such that a first end thereof is fixed to the fixing groove;
a deformable member inserted into the sliding member and adapted to forwardly or backwardly move on the fixing rod by extending or contracting according to a temperature of the working fluid that is changed such that the sliding member is selectively moved; and
a first elastic member interposed between the valve housing and the sliding member and compressed or pulled so as to provide elastic force while the sliding member moves.

10. The oil cooler of claim 9 wherein the first opening hole and the second opening hole are separately formed at a first side and a second side in the length direction of the sliding member, respectively, and in the first and second opening holes positioned at the first side, a size of the first opening hole is formed to be greater than a size of the second opening hole.

11. The oil cooler of claim 9 wherein the sliding member is configured such that when the deformable member is not deformed, the first opening hole is positioned in the first inflow hole and the bypass hole, and of the second opening holes, the second opening hole positioned at the first side is positioned below the second inflow hole, and the second opening hole positioned at the second side is positioned in the discharge hole.

12. The oil cooler of claim 9 , wherein the sliding member is configured such that when the deformable member is deformed, the fixing rod ascends and maintains the bypass hole and the discharge hole in an open state at a time of deformation of the deformable member, and the first and second opening holes positioned at the first side are positioned in the first and second inflow holes to open the first and second inflow holes.

13. The oil cooler of claim 9 , wherein the sliding member is fixed to the deformable member through a fixing ring mounted between the mounting part and the deformable member below the deformable member inserted to the mounting part.

14. The oil cooler of claim 9 , wherein a seal ring that prevents the working fluid flowing into the valve housing from leaking to an outside of the valve housing is mounted between the valve housing and the end cap.

15. The oil cooler of claim 9 , wherein the end cap is fixed to the valve housing through a mounting ring that is fixedly mounted to an interior circumferential surface of mounting hole.

16. The oil cooler of claim 15 , wherein the mounting ring is fixedly mounted through a ring groove formed along a periphery of the interior circumferential surface of the mounting hole.

17. The oil cooler of claim 9 , wherein the sliding member includes at least one relief hole that is formed at a position spaced apart from the mounting part at the second end in which the mounting part is formed.

18. The oil cooler of claim 17 , wherein a plurality of the relief holes is formed at positions spaced apart from each other at a predetermined angle along a circumferential direction around the mounting part.

19. The oil cooler of claim 18 , wherein a pressure controller which is configured to selectively open and close the relief hole when a differential pressure occurs by the working fluid having flowed inside the valve housing is provided between the sliding member and the deformable member.

20. The oil cooler of claim 19 , wherein the pressure controller comprises:
an opening and closing member disposed inside the second end of the sliding member to correspond to the relief hole

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Inzi Controls Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Jae Yeon
• Lee Sang Won
• Rhee Sangyong

Classifications

• B60K11/02

  with liquid cooling · CPC title

• F16H41/30 Primary

  relating to venting, lubrication, cooling, circulation of the cooling medium · CPC title

• F16H57/0417 Primary

  Heat exchangers adapted or integrated in the gearing · CPC title

• F28F9/02

  Header boxes; End plates · CPC title

• F16H57/0416

  Air cooling or ventilation · CPC title