vehicle body

Abstract

In a vehicle body with a wheel arch (1) and a dust collector (20) for collecting dust from the wheel arch (1), the dust collector (20) is arranged in a first air duct (14) which extends inside the body from the wheel arch (1) against the normal direction of travel to an outlet opening (15) on an outer surface of the body.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle body, in particular to measures for reducing particle emissions during driving.

[0002] DE 10 2026 200 936 A1 discloses a motor vehicle with a dust collector at the rear of the vehicle, to which dust, particularly from the rear wheels, is fed via a hanging skirt. By being exposed to the wind, the hanging skirt generates an airflow that flushes particles released by the wheel, such as brake dust, but especially dust from the road surface, into the dust collector. The resulting increased flow resistance leads to increased drive energy requirements and a correspondingly reduced vehicle range; moreover, large amounts of collected dust necessitate frequent interventions.If these can or must be carried out by the user himself, there is a risk of improper disposal, thus failing to achieve the objective of protecting the environment from particulate matter emissions from the vehicle; if disposal requires the user to visit a specialist company, this will incur costs and loss of time, and it is to be expected that the user will attempt to circumvent these.

[0003] An object of the invention is to provide a vehicle body which allows particle emissions to be minimized with low energy consumption.

[0004] The object is achieved according to one aspect of the invention in that, in a vehicle body having a wheel housing and a dust collector for collecting dust from the wheel housing, the dust collector is arranged in a first air duct which extends inside the body from the wheel housing opposite to the normal direction of travel to an outlet opening on an outer surface of the body.

[0005] By exposing the exhaust port to the airflow sweeping across the exterior surface while driving, it acts like a jet pump. By extracting particle-laden air from the wheel housing, particles can be extracted where their concentration is highest – if necessary by placing an inlet of the first air duct in the wheel housing in the immediate vicinity of a particle source such as a disc or drum brake. Therefore, a significantly lower air flow is sufficient to achieve a significant reduction in emissions than if the particles could only be captured outside the wheel housing, where they are already highly diluted with ambient air. Naturally, a low air flow also requires little drive energy.Therefore, no apron extending into the airstream or other attachments that increase the vehicle's air resistance are required; ideally, the energy required to drive the airflow can be harvested from pressure differences that already occur on the body due to the airstream.

[0006] In order to maximize the jet pump effect, in a vehicle body in which the outer surface has an outer flank extending in the direction of travel and an inner flank adjoining the outer flank in the opposite direction of travel and offset inwards from the outer flank, the outlet opening should be arranged between the outer and the inner flank.

[0007] The outer flank may in particular be formed by a front fender, which usually surrounds the wheel arch on at least part of its circumference.

[0008] The inner flank is conveniently formed by a door.

[0009] If the door is offset inward relative to the fender, a projecting sill may be provided below the door. The exhaust opening may be limited at the bottom by a sill.

[0010] The front fender is preferably flush with an outer edge of the sill in its lower area.

[0011] Above the exhaust opening, the door can be flush with the fender. Thus, a triangular exhaust opening can be defined downwards by the sill, inward by the door, and outward by the fender.

[0012] In order to supplement the air extracted via the first air duct or to flush the wheel arch, a second air duct may be provided which extends from a front side of the body into the wheel arch.

[0013] In order to increase the air flow through the second duct, its inlet opening on the front side can be designed as a dam funnel exposed to the airstream.

[0014] In order to achieve flushing of the wheel housing with minimal deflection of the air flow and correspondingly low flow resistance, each air duct can be aligned with a space between a flank of the wheel oriented radially to an axis of the wheel and an opposite inner wall of the wheel housing.

[0015] Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures. They show: Fig. 1 is a side view of a front wheel arch on a vehicle according to the invention; Fig. 2 the vehicle from the front; and Fig. 3 a side flank of the vehicle, seen obliquely from behind.

[0016] Fig. 1 shows a side view of a left front wheel housing 1 of a motor vehicle with a wheel 2 accommodated therein, a front fender 3 surrounding the wheel 2 on approximately three-quarters of its circumference and part of a door 4 adjoining a rear edge of the fender 3.

[0017] The vehicle is electrically powered, therefore its Fig. 2, the front side is the usual radiator grille; instead, the front side between the front edge 5 of a front hood 6 and a front bumper 7 is essentially completely occupied by a closed front panel 8. Only between a lower edge 9 of the front panel 8 and the bumper 7 extends a narrow gap 10, through which cooling air reaches an engine compartment under the front hood 6.

[0018] Separated from the gap 10, inlet openings 11 are formed on the lateral edges of the front panel 8, to which, as in Fig. 1 indicated by dashed lines, a duct 12 running within the body connects to the interior of the wheel arch 1. The inlet openings 11 are each surrounded by areas 13 of the front panel 8 and the bumper 7, which are inclined against the normal direction of travel in such a way that they deflect the airflow towards the inlet openings 11 and thus form a dam funnel that increases the air flow through the duct 12.

[0019] The wheel 2 has two flanks perpendicular to its axis, an outer flank which is Fig. 1 and, when driving straight ahead, lies essentially in a plane with the surrounding fender 3, and an inner flank opposite the outer flank. The inner flank lies - in Fig. 1 not visible - an inner wall of the wheel housing 1. The channel 12 opens into a gap between the inner flank of the wheel 2 and the inner wall of the wheel housing 1. Brakes of the wheel 2 (not shown in the figures) are usually housed in a recess of the wheel 2 that is open towards the inner flank, so that brake wear is released predominantly on the inner flank towards the gap.

[0020] Opposite the channel 11, another channel 14 runs from the intermediate space to the rear and ends at an outlet opening 15. As best seen in Fig. 3, an outer skin of the door 4 is offset slightly inward from a rear edge 16 of the fender 3, and a step resulting from the offset is filled by the outlet opening 15. The offset is at its maximum at the level of a lower edge 17 of the outer door skin; from there, it decreases continuously upwards until, above a tip of the outlet opening 15, the fender 3 and the outer skin of the door 4 are flush with one another.

[0021] Below the lower edge 17 is a sill 18, which extends diagonally downward and outward to an outer edge 19, which in turn is flush with the fender 3. This gives the outlet opening 15, which is delimited by the outer skin of the door 4, the sill 18, and the fender 3, a substantially triangular cross-section.

[0022] The outlet opening 15 is open against the flow direction of the airflow along the fender 3, so that airflow flowing along the fender 3 and passing its rear edge 16 entrains air from the wedge-shaped recess in the outer door skin adjacent to the outlet opening 15, thus creating a negative pressure in front of the outlet opening 15. This negative pressure, in turn, causes air contaminated with brake dust or other fine dust particles to be sucked out of the wheel housing 1 via the duct 14 and, in the process, passes a dust collector 20 inserted into the duct 14. The dust collector 20 can be of any known design, for example an air filter, a centrifugal separator, or an electrostatic precipitator.

[0023] One in Fig.3 The grate, not shown, mounted in the outlet opening 15 may be removable to allow access to the dust collector 19 through the outlet opening 15 so that it can be replaced or cleaned if necessary. Reference symbol 1 front fender 2 wheels 3 fenders 4 Door 5 leading edge 6 Front hood 7 bumpers 8 Front panel 9 Bottom edge 10 gap 11 Inlet opening 12 channel 13 storage funnels 14 channel 15 Outlet opening 16 rear edge 17 Bottom edge 18 sills 19 Outer edge 20 dust collectors QUOTES CONTAINED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents submitted by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the convenience of the reader. This list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] DE 10 2026 200 936 A1

[0002]

Claims

[1] Vehicle body with a wheel housing (1) and a dust collector (20) for collecting dust from the wheel housing (1), characterized by that the dust collector (20) is arranged in a first air duct (14) which extends from the wheel housing (1) opposite to the normal direction of travel to an outlet opening (15) on an outer surface of the body. [2] Vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein the outer surface has an outer flank extending in the direction of travel and an inner flank adjoining the outer flank opposite to the direction of travel and offset inwards from the outer flank, and in that the outlet opening (15) is arranged between the outer and the inner flank. [3] Vehicle body according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the outer flank is formed by a front fender (3). [4] Vehicle body according to one of the preceding claims, in which the inner flank is formed by a door (4). [5] Vehicle body according to claim 4, in which a sill (18) projecting outwards under the door (4) delimits the outlet opening (15) downwards. [6] Vehicle body according to claim 3 and claim 5, wherein the front fender (3) is flush with an outer edge (19) of the sill (18). [7] Vehicle body according to claim 3 and any one of claims 4-6, wherein the door (4) is flush with the fender (3) above the outlet opening (15) of the channel (14) and optionally the outlet opening (15) is triangular. [8] Vehicle body according to one of the preceding claims, in which a second air duct (12) extends from a front side of the body into the wheel house (1). [9] Vehicle body according to claim 8, wherein an inlet opening (11) of the second air duct (12) is designed as a dam funnel (13). [10] Vehicle body according to one of the preceding claims, in which each air duct (12, 14) is aligned with a space between a flank of the wheel (2) oriented radially to an axis of the wheel and an opposite inner wall of the wheel housing (1).

Images