Electronic fan assembly with labyrinth seal gap

Abstract

The invention relates to an electronic fan assembly, in particular to an electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap. The electronic fan comprises a fan motor connected with the fan motor fixing frame and annular fan blades connected with an output shaft of the fan motor. A fan front edge is arranged on the side, close to the radiator, of the outer ring of the annular fan blade, and a fan outer ring sealing belt is arranged on the other side. A fan sealing belt located between the front edge of the fan and the fan outer ring sealing belt is arranged on the inner side wall of the fan protective cover. Labyrinth sealing gaps are formed among the fan front edge, the fan outer ring, the fan outer ring sealing belt, the fan cowl inner wall and the fan sealing belt. By arranging the fan sealing belt, labyrinth sealing gaps are formed among the front edge of the fan, the outer ring, the fan outer ring sealing belt, the inner wall of the fan cowl and the fan sealing belt, and the fan sealing belt is made of high-resilience sponge, so that directional expansion in the radial direction of the fan cowl can be realized, and a blade top gap can be effectively reduced; and air leakage of blade top gaps is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic fan assembly, and particularly to an electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap. Background Art

[0002] Under the dual pressures of environmental protection and energy shortage, both passenger cars and commercial vehicles are gradually shifting towards electrification. With the development of automotive electrification, traditional mechanical fans, electromagnetic clutch fans, and electronically controlled silicone oil fans used in automotive thermal management systems are gradually being replaced by electronic fans. Compared with traditional mechanical fans, although the tip clearance of the fan has been reduced, the return air leakage loss caused by the tip clearance of the electronic fan is still the main type of air volume loss. If the return air leakage loss caused by the tip clearance of the electronic fan can be effectively reduced, it is of great significance for improving the efficiency of the fan and reducing the energy consumption of the whole vehicle.

[0003] For example, the Chinese patent document with the publication number CN110857705B discloses a vehicle-mounted annular fan air guide device, which includes an air guide cover assembly and a sealing device. The two are fixed on the side guard plate of the radiator and form a cooling module assembly with the annular fan, radiator, and intercooler. The air guide cover assembly includes an air guide cover located at its center, which is adapted to the shape of the annular fan. The air guide cover is provided with an annular slot in the area overlapping the fan, and a guide inlet is opened on the annular slot for introducing the sealing device into the annular slot. One end of the guide inlet is provided with a limiting platform for restricting the movement of the sealing device in the annular slot. The sealing device is a T-shaped integrated soft plastic structure composed of a base and blades. The base is an arc adapted to the radian of the annular slot. The base is loaded through the guide inlet, and the base is slid along the annular slot to the limiting platform by rotating the blades. When several sealing devices are loaded into the annular slot, the bases of each sealing device are connected end to end to form a sealing ring to fill the annular slot, and the blades of each sealing device are arranged radially along the annular slot.

[0004] The existing patent document utilizes the air pressure generated during the operation of the fan and relies on the return pressure to overlap the blades of the device, reducing the gap between the air guide cover and the fan, which can effectively improve the efficiency of the fan during operation and thus reduce the fuel consumption of the whole vehicle. This structure effectively reduces the tip clearance of the annular fan in the working state, but there is a risk that the blades of the sealing device may fall off during long-term operation. The fallen blades are likely to damage the fan blades or the engine moving parts, and at the same time, the fallen blades will also greatly weaken the effect of the sealing device.

[0005] Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide an electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap to solve the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to solve the technical problem of serious backflow leakage loss at the tip clearance of the existing electronic fan and low fan efficiency, and to provide an electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap.

[0007] To solve the above technical problem, the technical solution provided by the present invention is as follows:

[0008] An electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap is fixed to the radiator through fasteners, and includes a fan shroud, and an electronic fan installed inside the fan shroud through a fan motor fixing bracket;

[0009] The electronic fan includes a fan motor connected to the fan motor fixing bracket, and an annular fan blade connected to the output shaft of the fan motor; on the side of the outer ring of the annular fan blade close to the radiator, there is a fan leading edge, and on the other side, there is a fan outer ring seal band;

[0010] On the inner side wall of the fan shroud, there is a fan seal band located between the fan leading edge and the fan outer ring seal band;

[0011] A labyrinth seal gap is formed between the fan leading edge, the outer ring, the fan outer ring seal band and the inner wall of the fan shroud and the fan seal band.

[0012] Further, a first narrow air flow channel is formed between the fan leading edge, the outer ring and the inner wall of the fan shroud;

[0013] A second narrow air flow channel is formed between the outer ring and the fan seal band;

[0014] A third narrow air flow channel is formed between the outer ring, the fan outer ring seal band and the inner wall of the fan shroud;

[0015] The first narrow air flow channel, the second narrow air flow channel and the third narrow air flow channel are connected in sequence to form the labyrinth seal gap.

[0016] Further, the material of the fan seal band is a highly elastic sponge that can expand when heated.

[0017] Further, the thermal expansion coefficient of the highly elastic sponge is 260×10 -6 / K;

[0018] When the vehicle is not started at room temperature, the cross-sectional width of the fan seal band is 4 mm, and the height is 6 mm; the radial distance w between the fan seal band and the outer ring of the annular fan blade is 8 mm; the axial distance d between the fan seal band and the fan outer ring seal band is 6 mm.

[0019] Further, on the inner side wall of the fan shroud, there are two seal band fixing rings distributed on both sides of the fan seal band;

[0020] The sealing belt fixing ring is attached to the side wall of the fan sealing belt, which is used to restrict the axial expansion of the fan sealing belt along the fan shroud and make it expand radially along the fan shroud.

[0021] Furthermore, the cross-section of the sealing belt fixing ring is a right trapezoid, and the height of the right trapezoid is 4 mm; the distance between two sealing belt fixing rings is 4 mm.

[0022] Furthermore, a radiator sealing belt is provided between the fan shroud and the radiator.

[0023] Furthermore, the fan shroud is a hollow structure, and the side connected to the radiator is a square opening, and the side connected to the fan motor fixing bracket is a circular opening.

[0024] Furthermore, the fastener includes a plurality of fixing plates and fixing clamping plates fixed to the side of the fan shroud;

[0025] A connection hole is provided on the fixing plate, a bolt is inserted into the connection hole, and the fixing plate is connected to the radiator through the bolt;

[0026] A fixing card slot adapted to the fixing clamping plate is provided on the radiator, and the fixing clamping plate of the fan shroud is snapped into the fixing card slot of the radiator.

[0027] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0028] 1. For the electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap provided by the present invention, by setting the fan sealing belt, a labyrinth seal gap is formed between the fan leading edge, the outer ring, the fan outer ring sealing belt and the inner wall of the fan shroud and the fan sealing belt, making full use of the space between the fan shroud assembly and the tip of the electronic fan assembly, effectively reducing the air return leakage of the tip clearance.

[0029] 2. For the electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap provided by the present invention, by using a high-elastic sponge with a thermal expansion coefficient of 260×10 -6 / K for the fan sealing belt and using two sealing belt fixing rings to fix the fan sealing belt, enabling it to expand only radially along the fan shroud; it can further reduce the labyrinth seal gap and reduce the air return leakage of the tip clearance. Description of the Drawings

[0030] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 2 For Figure 1 side view;

[0032] Figure 3 For Figure 1Schematic cross-sectional structure diagram along section line A-A;

[0033] Figure 4 is Figure 3 Enlarged schematic diagram of the structure at B in;

[0034] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the structure of the fan shroud in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 6 is Figure 5 Side view of;

[0036] Figure 7 Side view of the electric fan in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the structure of the electric fan in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] Explanation of reference numerals: 1 - radiator, 2 - fan shroud, 3 - electric fan, 31 - annular fan blade, 32 - fan leading edge, 33 - fan outer ring sealing band, 4 - fan motor fixing bracket, 5 - fan sealing band, 6 - labyrinth sealing gap, 61 - first narrow air flow channel, 62 - second narrow air flow channel, 63 - third narrow air flow channel, 7 - sealing band fixing ring, 8 - radiator sealing band, 9 - fixing plate, 10 - bolt, 11 - fixing clamping plate, 12 - fixing clamping groove. Detailed implementation manners

[0039] Next, the technical solutions in the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without making creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0040] As Figure 1 、 Figure 2 and Figure 3 shown, an electric fan assembly with a labyrinth sealing gap is fixed to the radiator 1 through fasteners, and includes a fan shroud 2 and an electric fan 3 installed inside the fan shroud 2 through a fan motor fixing bracket 4;

[0041] As Figure 4 、 Figure 7 and Figure 8 shown, the electric fan 3 includes a fan motor connected to the fan motor fixing bracket 4 and an annular fan blade 31 connected to the output shaft of the fan motor; on one side of the outer ring of the annular fan blade 31 close to the radiator 1, there is a fan leading edge 32, and on the other side, there is a fan outer ring sealing band 33;

[0042] AsFigure 4 and Figure 6 As shown in Figure 6 , a fan sealing belt 5 is provided on the inner side wall of the fan shroud 2 between the leading edge 32 of the fan and the outer ring sealing belt 33 of the fan.

[0043] As Figure 4 shown in Figure 4 , a first narrow air flow channel 61 is formed between the leading edge 32 of the fan, the outer ring and the inner wall of the fan shroud 2; a second narrow air flow channel 62 is formed between the outer ring and the fan sealing belt 5; a third narrow air flow channel 63 is formed between the outer ring, the outer ring sealing belt 33 of the fan and the inner wall of the fan shroud 2; the first narrow air flow channel 61, the second narrow air flow channel 62 and the third narrow air flow channel 63 are connected in sequence to form a labyrinth seal gap 6.

[0044] In order to further reduce the tip clearance of the annular fan blade 31, the fan sealing belt 5 is made of a highly elastic sponge that can expand when heated, and the thermal expansion coefficient of the highly elastic sponge is 260×10 -6 / K; when the vehicle is not started at room temperature (at 20°C), the cross-sectional width of the fan sealing belt 5 is 4 mm and the height is 6 mm; the radial distance w between the fan sealing belt 5 and the outer ring of the annular fan blade 31 is 8 mm; the axial distance d between the fan sealing belt 5 and the outer ring sealing belt 33 of the fan is 6 mm.

[0045] As Figure 4 shown in Figure 4 , in order to install and fix the fan sealing belt 5 on the inner side wall of the fan shroud 2, two sealing belt fixing rings 7 are provided on the inner side wall of the fan shroud 2 on both sides of the fan sealing belt 5; the sealing belt fixing rings 7 are attached to the side walls of the fan sealing belt 5 for restricting the axial expansion of the fan sealing belt 5 along the fan shroud 2 and enabling it to expand radially along the fan shroud 2.

[0046] As Figure 4 shown in Figure 4 , in order to enable the fan sealing belt 5 to expand directionally, the cross-section of the sealing belt fixing ring 7 is a right trapezoid, and the height of the right trapezoid is 4 mm; the distance between the two sealing belt fixing rings 7 is 4 mm for restricting the axial expansion of the fan sealing belt 5 so that the fan sealing belt 5 can only expand radially along the fan shroud 2.

[0047] As Figure 3 shown in Figure 3 , in order to prevent air leakage between the fan shroud 2 and the radiator 1, a radiator sealing belt 8 is provided between the fan shroud 2 and the radiator 1.

[0048] As Figure 5 shown in Figure 5 , the fan shroud 2 is a hollow structure, and the side connected to the radiator 1 is a square opening, and the side connected to the fan motor fixing bracket 4 is a circular opening.

[0049] As Figure 1As shown, in order to fix the fan shroud 2 to the radiator 1, the fastener includes a plurality of fixing plates 9 fixed to the side of the fan shroud 2 and a fixing card 11; a connection hole is provided on the fixing plate 9, a bolt 10 is inserted into the connection hole, and the fixing plate 9 is connected to the radiator 1 through the bolt 10; a fixing slot 12 adapted to the fixing card 11 is provided on the radiator 1, and the fixing card 11 of the fan shroud 2 is snapped into the fixing slot 12 of the radiator 1.

[0050] As Figure 3 shown, after the electric fan 3 is powered on and operates, the annular fan blade 31 rotates driven by the fan motor, thereby pushing the air flow to move from left to right. The specific air flow movement direction is indicated by the Figure 3 arrow in; the cooling air sequentially passes through the radiator 1, the fan shroud 2 and the electric fan 3 from left to right. After the air flows through the radiator 1, it enters the fan shroud 2 and finally flows out through the electric fan 3.

[0051] As Figure 4 shown, when starting at room temperature, when the annular fan blade 31 operates driven by the fan motor, the air flow movement direction is shown by the Figure 4 arrow in. The air flow is discharged from left to right through the radiator 1, the fan shroud 2 and the electric fan 3 in sequence, forming a low-pressure area on the left side of the annular fan blade 31 and a high-pressure area on the right side of the annular fan blade 31 at the same time. Due to the existence of the tip clearance, the air flow in the high-pressure area on the right side will flow back to the low-pressure area on the left side through the gap between the outer ring of the annular fan blade 31 and the fan shroud 2, resulting in return air leakage loss; since the fan leading edge 32 and the fan shroud 2, the outer ring and the fan sealing strip 5, and the fan outer ring sealing strip 33 and the inner wall of the fan shroud 2 form three interconnected narrow air flow channels, the three interconnected narrow air flow channels combine to form a labyrinth sealing gap 6, which can increase the resistance of air return and effectively reduce the loss of air volume.

[0052] As Figure 4 shown, when the vehicle is operating under high temperature and high load, the air flowing into the radiator 1 is heated by the radiator 1. When the hot air flows through the fan sealing strip 5, the fan sealing strip 5 will undergo thermal expansion. Due to the restriction of the sealing strip fixing ring 7 on the fan sealing strip 5, the fan sealing strip 5 undergoes directional thermal expansion along the radial direction of the fan shroud 2, reducing the radial distance w between the fan sealing strip 5 and the outer ring and further reducing the air return.

[0053] The above is only the specific implementation manner of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any change or replacement within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention should be covered by the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap is fixed to a radiator (1) by fasteners, and is characterized in that: It includes a fan shroud (2), and an electric fan (3) installed inside the fan shroud (2) through a fan motor fixing bracket (4); The electric fan (3) includes a fan motor connected to the fan motor fixing bracket (4), and an annular fan blade (31) connected to the output shaft of the fan motor; on one side of the outer ring of the annular fan blade (31) close to the radiator (1), there is a fan leading edge (32), and on the other side, there is a fan outer ring sealing band (33); On the inner side wall of the fan shroud (2), there is a fan sealing band (5) located between the fan leading edge (32) and the fan outer ring sealing band (33); A labyrinth sealing gap (6) is formed between the fan leading edge (32), the outer ring, the fan outer ring sealing band (33) and the inner wall of the fan shroud (2), and the fan sealing band (5); 2. The electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap according to claim 1, wherein: A first narrow air flow channel (61) is formed between the fan leading edge (32), the outer ring and the inner wall of the fan shroud (2); A second narrow air flow channel (62) is formed between the outer ring and the fan sealing band (5); A third narrow air flow channel (63) is formed between the outer ring, the fan outer ring sealing band (33) and the inner wall of the fan shroud (2); The first narrow air flow channel (61), the second narrow air flow channel (62) and the third narrow air flow channel (63) are connected in sequence to form the labyrinth sealing gap (6).

3. The electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap according to claim 2, wherein: The material of the fan sealing band (5) is a highly elastic sponge that can expand when heated.

4. The electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap according to claim 3, characterized in that: The coefficient of thermal expansion of the high-resilience sponge is 260×10 -6 / K; When the vehicle is not started at room temperature, the cross-sectional width of the fan sealing band (5) is 4 mm, and the height is 6 mm; the radial distance w between the fan sealing band (5) and the outer ring of the annular fan blade (31) is 8 mm; the axial distance d between the fan sealing band (5) and the fan outer ring sealing band (33) is 6 mm.

5. The electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap according to claim 1, characterized in that: On the inner side wall of the fan shroud (2), there are two sealing band fixing rings (7) distributed on both sides of the fan sealing band (5); The sealing band fixing ring (7) fits with the side wall of the fan sealing band (5), and is used to limit the axial expansion of the fan sealing band (5) along the fan shroud (2), and make it expand radially along the fan shroud (2).

6. The electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap according to claim 2, wherein: The cross-section of the sealing band fixing ring (7) is a right trapezoid, and the height of the right trapezoid is 4 mm; the distance between the two sealing band fixing rings (7) is 4 mm.

7. The electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap according to claim 1, characterized in that: A radiator sealing band (8) is provided between the fan shroud (2) and the radiator (1).

8. The electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fan shroud (2) is a hollow structure, and the side connected to the radiator (1) is a square opening, and the side connected to the fan motor fixing bracket (4) is a circular opening.

9. The electronic fan assembly with a labyrinth seal gap according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fasteners include a plurality of fixing plates (9) fixed to the side of the fan shroud (2) and fixing clamping plates (11); A connection hole is opened on the fixing plate (9), and a bolt (10) is inserted into the connection hole. The fixing plate (9) is connected to the radiator (1) through the bolt (10); A fixing card slot (12) adapted to the fixing clamping plate (11) is provided on the radiator (1), and the fixing clamping plate (11) of the fan shroud (2) is snapped into the fixing card slot (12) of the radiator (1).

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