Cooling system for vehicle and vehicle

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a cooling system for a vehicle, comprising: a heat exchanger (10) configured such that at least a portion of an intake airflow (F) flows from the heat exchanger (20) to exchange heat with a medium flowing in the heat exchanger (10); an electric drive (20) arranged downstream of the heat exchanger (10) in the direction of the intake air flow (F); and a deflector (30) arranged between the heat exchanger (10) and the electric drive (20) in the direction of the intake air flow (F), guiding the at least part of the intake air flow (F) flowing through the heat exchanger (10) towards the electric drive (20). The invention further relates to a vehicle which comprises the cooling system.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a cooling system for a vehicle. In particular, the cooling system is provided with a flow director for guiding an intake airflow flowing through a heat exchanger towards an electric drive device. The present disclosure also relates to a vehicle comprising such a cooling system. BACKGROUND

[0002] An electric drive device of a vehicle is used to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy for driving the vehicle, which can include an electric motor, a gear box and power electronics. Due to the limitation of objective physical laws and actual manufacturing process, the energy transfer efficiency of each component in the electric drive device cannot reach 100%, and is always accompanied by heat generation. Therefore, the electric drive device needs to be cooled to avoid performance degradation or system failure caused by heat accumulation.

[0003] The heat generated during the driving of the vehicle can be taken away by the airflow blown onto and around the vehicle. For example, the cooling system of the vehicle can guide the airflow to flow through a heat exchanger (e.g. an air conditioning condenser) arranged at the front end of the vehicle to cool the heat transfer medium circulating in the heat exchanger. It is known that the electric drive device of the vehicle can be arranged behind the heat exchanger, and the airflow flowing through the heat exchanger continues to flow through the electric drive device to dissipate heat from the electric drive device. However, the positions of the heat exchanger and the electric drive device at the front end of the vehicle can not be completely aligned, and the cross-sectional area of the heat exchanger in the direction of the airflow is usually much larger than that of the electric drive device. A considerable part, even a majority, of the airflow flowing through the heat exchanger will not flow through the electric drive device. This results in insufficient heat dissipation of the electric drive device, especially when the vehicle is driving at low speed. The power of the electric drive device is therefore limited and cannot meet the performance requirements of the vehicle.

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a cooling system that can sufficiently dissipate heat from the electric drive device of a vehicle through the airflow. SUMMARY

[0005] Therefore, the present disclosure aims to solve the above problems, and the purpose is to provide a cooling system for a vehicle, which can guide the airflow of a heat exchanger of the vehicle towards an electric drive device to improve the heat dissipation capacity of the electric drive device.

[0006] The purpose is achieved by a cooling system for a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, which comprises: a heat exchanger configured such that at least a part of an intake airflow flows through the heat exchanger to exchange heat with a medium flowing in the heat exchanger; an electric drive device arranged downstream of the heat exchanger in the direction of the intake airflow; and a flow director arranged between the heat exchanger and the electric drive device in the direction of the intake airflow, which guides the at least part of the intake airflow flowing through the heat exchanger towards the electric drive device.

[0007] It is one of the objectives of the present disclosure to provide a cooling system for a vehicle, which is capable of guiding the airflow of a heat exchanger of the vehicle towards an electric drive device to improve the heat dissipation capacity for the electric drive device. The cooling system according to the present disclosure comprises a flow director arranged between the heat exchanger and the electric drive device, which guides at least a portion of the intake airflow flowing through the heat exchanger towards the electric drive device. By means of the flow director, the intake airflow which originally does not flow through the electric drive device after flowing through the heat exchanger can now flow through the electric drive device. Therefore, the flow rate of the airflow flowing through the electric drive device is increased, which can take away more heat and improve the heat dissipation effect for the electric drive device.

[0008] The cooling system for a vehicle according to the present disclosure can also have one or more of the following features, alone or in combination.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the intake airflow further comprises an additional airflow flowing below the heat exchanger, which directly flows to the electric drive device without passing through the flow director. That is, the heat exchanger is upwardly biased relative to the electric drive device in the direction of the intake airflow, and a portion of the intake airflow, i.e. the additional airflow, can directly blow to the electric drive device without passing through the heat exchanger and the electric drive device, directly cooling the electric drive device.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the flow director comprises a plurality of air deflectors, which deflect the flow direction of the at least a portion of the intake airflow to guide it towards the electric drive device.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the deflection angle of the air deflectors deflecting the flow direction of the at least a portion of the intake airflow varies according to the position of the air deflectors. For example, the deflection angle of the air deflectors which are farther away from the electric drive device is larger, so that the intake airflow flowing through the flow director at different positions can all be deflected towards the electric drive device, playing a role of converging the intake airflow.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the cooling system further comprises a fan, and the at least a portion of the intake airflow is generated by the fan. The fan can increase the flow rate of the intake airflow of the cooling system, which is particularly advantageous when the vehicle is running at low speed.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the fan is arranged between the heat exchanger and the flow director.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the heat exchanger comprises an air conditioning condenser of an air conditioning system for the vehicle.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a heat dissipation structure is arranged on the housing of the electric drive device. Thereby, the intake air flow guided towards the electric drive device can also flow through the heat dissipation structure to cool the electric drive device.

[0016] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the heat dissipation structure comprises a plurality of fins. These fins can increase the heat dissipation area of the electric drive device and increase the heat dissipation capacity of the electric drive device.

[0017] The present disclosure also relates to a vehicle comprising a cooling system as described above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] The above and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings. The following drawings are provided by way of illustration only and therefore are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The following drawings are not drawn to scale and emphasis instead is placed upon illustrating the principles of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 1 One embodiment of a cooling system for an electric machine according to the present disclosure is schematically shown, wherein the electric drive device and the heat exchanger are arranged partially staggered.

[0020] Figure 2 Another embodiment of a cooling system for an electric machine according to the present disclosure is schematically shown, wherein the electric drive device is arranged completely behind the heat exchanger. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] In order to make the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0022] Unless otherwise defined, technical terms or scientific terms used herein shall have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. As used in the specification and the claims, the phrase "one," "an" or "the" along with other similar phrases means "at least one," unless otherwise specified. The phrases "includes," "including," "has," "having" or "has" or variants thereof are intended to encompass non-exclusive in clusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Although the terms "first" and "second" can be used to describe various elements or components, these terms are used only to distinguish one element or component from another element or component, and do not imply a particular order or order of importance. The "first element" can be written as the "second element," and similarly, the "second element" can be written as the "first element" without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The terms "connect," "connected," "connection" or similar terms are not limited to a physical or mechanical connection or linkage, and can include an electrical connection, whether direct or indirect. The terms "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and the like are used only to indicate relative positions for the purpose of description and illustration, and can change according to the position of the described object. The terms "upstream" and "downstream" are defined with respect to the direction of the intake air flow through the cooling system.

[0023] For ease of description, the drawings of the present disclosure correspondingly simplify or omit components commonly used in the art, such as external connecting lines and other components unrelated to the description of the present disclosure. These omitted or simplified components do not affect the understanding of the content of the present disclosure by those skilled in the art.

[0024] Figure 1 An exemplary embodiment of a cooling system 100 for a vehicle according to the present disclosure is schematically shown.

[0025] As Figure 1 shown, the cooling system 100 includes a heat exchanger 10, an electric drive device 20, a flow guide 30, and a fan 40. The cooling system 100 is preferably arranged at the front end of the vehicle. An air intake, such as an air intake grille, is provided on the front end of the vehicle to lead into the cooling system 100. During vehicle travel, the relative speed between the vehicle body and the air generates an intake air flow F that enters the air intake and flows towards the cooling system 100. A portion of the intake air flow F flows through the heat exchanger 20 and exchanges heat with the medium flowing in the heat exchanger 10, thereby taking away the heat of the medium and reducing the temperature of the medium. For example, the heat exchanger 10 is an air conditioning condenser 11 of the vehicle air conditioning system, in which the refrigerant of the air conditioning system radiates, cools and condenses, and the heat emitted thereby is taken away by the intake air flow F flowing through the condenser 11. The cooled refrigerant can be subsequently used for adjusting the ambient temperature inside the vehicle cabin.

[0026] The electric drive 20 of the cooling system 100 is arranged downstream of the heat exchanger 10 in the direction of the intake air flow F. The intake air flow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 can flow through the electric drive 20 again and cool the electric drive 20. In a vehicle, in order to increase the heat exchange area, the heat exchanger 10 usually has a large area in the direction perpendicular to the intake air flow F and can be significantly larger than the electric drive 20. This causes a considerable part of the intake air flow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 not to flow towards the electric drive 20 and thus not to flow through the electric drive 20 again. In this way, the air flow flowing towards the electric drive 20 is insufficient to meet the heat dissipation needs of the electric drive 20.

[0027] To this end, the cooling system 100 according to the present disclosure is provided with a flow guide 30 arranged between the heat exchanger 10 and the electric drive 20 in the direction of the intake air flow F. The intake air flow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 first flows through the flow guide 30 and is guided by the flow guide 30 towards the electric drive 20, thereby increasing the air flow flowing through the electric drive 20 and improving the heat dissipation capacity of the electric drive 20. Exemplarily, the flow guide 30 comprises a plurality of air deflectors 31 which deflect the flow direction of the intake air flow F flowing through the flow guide 30 towards the electric drive 20, so that the intake air flow F originally deviated from the electric drive 20 can flow towards the electric drive 20. Preferably, the deflection angle of the air deflectors 31 to the intake air flow F can vary according to the position of the air deflectors 31. The air deflectors 31 located above the flow guide 30 are farther away from the electric drive 20, and the air flow flowing through these air deflectors needs to be deflected by a larger angle to flow towards the electric drive 20. Accordingly, as shown in Figure 1 the air deflectors 31 farther away from the electric drive 20 can deflect the intake air flow F by a larger deflection angle to flow towards the electric drive 20. It can be envisaged that the flow guide 30 can also have other configurations capable of guiding the intake air flow F towards the electric drive 20. For example, the flow guide 30 can be designed as a duct leading from the heat exchanger 10 to the electric drive 20, or the flow guide 30 can have the form of a wind scoop.

[0028] In the embodiment shown in Figure 1 , the heat exchanger 10 does not completely occupy the flow channel of the intake air flow F, but occupies the upper part of the flow channel. A part of the intake air flow F, i.e. an additional air flow F', flows through the lower part of the heat exchanger 10 without passing through the heat exchanger 10 and the flow guide 30. Correspondingly, the electric drive 20 is also partially offset relative to the heat exchanger 10 in the direction of the intake air flow F, and is not completely located behind the heat exchanger 10. The additional air flow F' directly flows towards the electric drive 20 and cools the electric drive 20. In Figure 1In this case, the electric drive 20 is only partially staggered with respect to the heat exchanger 10. A portion of the intake air flow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 can also flow to the electric drive 20 without being guided by the flow guide 10. In an embodiment not shown in the figures, the electric drive 20 can be completely staggered with respect to the heat exchanger 10. The intake air flow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 must be guided by the flow guide 10 to flow to the electric drive 20.

[0029] In addition to the passive intake air flow F generated by the vehicle driving, the cooling system 10 can also generate an active intake air flow F by means of the fan 40. As shown in Figure 1 , the fan 40 is arranged between the heat exchanger 10 and the flow guide 30. In operation, the fan 40 can draw external air into the cooling system 10, increasing the flow of the intake air flow F. In particular, when the vehicle is driven at low speed or idles, the passive intake air flow generated by the vehicle driving is insufficient, and the fan 40 can supplement the flow of the intake air flow F to maintain the cooling capacity of the cooling system 10 for the heat exchanger 10 and the electric drive 20.

[0030] Exemplarily, the electric drive 20 is provided with a heat dissipation structure 21 on the housing. Exemplarily, the heat dissipation structure 21 comprises a plurality of heat dissipation fins 21a, which can increase the contact area of the electric drive 20 with the intake air flow F flowing therethrough, to enhance the cooling capacity of the electric drive 20. It should be understood that the heat dissipation structure 21 can have other configurations capable of increasing the contact area with the air flow F.

[0031] Figure 2 Another embodiment of the cooling system 100 according to the present disclosure is shown. It should be understood that, in addition to the differences described in detail below, all the information related to the Figure 1 embodiment shown in Figure 2 can be applied to the embodiment shown in

[0032] . The same or functionally equivalent parts are given the same reference numerals. Figure 1 As shown in , the heat exchanger 10 substantially completely occupies the flow of the intake air flow F. The intake air flow F entering the cooling system 10 all flows from the heat exchanger 10 to the flow guide 30. Correspondingly, the electric drive 20 is completely arranged behind the heat exchanger 10 in the direction of the intake air flow F with respect to the heat exchanger 10. A portion of the intake air flow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 can be directly blown to the electric drive 20. The flow guide 30 can reduce the deflection angle of this portion of the intake air flow F.

[0033] Figure 1 and Figure 2The air-cooled electric drive device 20 is shown to be cooled entirely by the intake air flow F. It can be appreciated that the cooling of the electric drive device 20 can also be a combination of air cooling and liquid cooling. In such an embodiment (not shown in the drawings), the heat exchanger 10 includes a cooling liquid radiator for the electric drive device 20 in addition to the air conditioning condenser 11 for the air conditioning system of the vehicle. The cooling liquid radiator can be integrated with the air conditioning condenser 11 or can be separate. The electric drive device 20 is connected to the cooling liquid radiator by a pipe. A cooling liquid, such as cooling water or cooling oil, is circulated between the electric drive device 20 and the cooling liquid radiator. The cooling liquid picks up heat generated by the electric drive device 20 when it flows through the electric drive device 20 to cool the electric drive device 20. The intake air flow F passing through the heat exchanger 10 can then be used to cool the cooling liquid when the cooling liquid flows through the cooling liquid radiator. The intake air flow F passing through the cooling liquid radiator can also be directed by the air deflector 30 to blow against the electric drive device 20 to continue to cool the electric drive device 20.

[0034] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle is proposed, which includes the cooling system as described above. The vehicle can be an Electrified Vehicle, such as a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), a Range extended EV, a Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV). The vehicle can also be a Hydrogen Energy Vehicle.

[0035] Some features, structures or characteristics in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure can be properly combined.

[0036] The above is a description of the present disclosure and should not be considered as limiting. Although several exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described, those skilled in the art will readily understand that many modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments without departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure as defined in the claims. It should be understood that the above is a description of the present disclosure and the present disclosure should not be considered as limited to the particular embodiments disclosed and that modifications to the disclosed embodiments, as well as other embodiments, are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A cooling system for a vehicle, characterized in that: The cooling system comprises: A heat exchanger (10) configured such that at least a portion of an intake air flow (F) flows through the heat exchanger (20) to exchange heat with a medium flowing in the heat exchanger (10), an electric drive device (20) arranged downstream of the heat exchanger (10) in the direction of the intake air flow (F), A flow guide (30) is arranged between the heat exchanger (10) and the electric drive device (20) in the direction of the intake air flow (F) and guides at least a portion of the intake air flow (F) flowing through the heat exchanger (10) toward the electric drive device (20).

2. The cooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that The intake air flow (F) further includes an additional air flow (F') flowing below the heat exchanger (10), and the additional air flow (F') flows directly to the electric drive device (20) without passing through the deflector (30).

3. The cooling system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The deflector (30) includes a plurality of air guide blades (31), and the air guide blades (31) deflect the flow direction of at least a portion of the intake air flow (F) to guide it toward the electric drive device (20).

4. The cooling system according to claim 3, characterized in that The deflection angle of the air guide plate (31) that deflects the flow direction of at least a portion of the intake air flow (F) varies according to the position of the air guide plate (31).

5. The cooling system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a fan (40), characterized in that: The intake air flow (F) is at least partially generated by the fan (40).

6. The cooling system according to claim 5, characterized in that The fan (40) is arranged between the heat exchanger (10) and the deflector (30).

7. The cooling system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The heat exchanger (10) includes an air-conditioning condenser (11) for an air-conditioning system of a vehicle.

8. The cooling system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: A heat dissipation structure (21) is provided on the housing of the electric drive device (20).

9. The cooling system according to claim 8, characterized in that The heat dissipation structure (21) comprises a plurality of heat dissipation fins (21a).

10. A vehicle, characterized in that: The vehicle comprises a cooling system according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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