Vehicle

Abstract

To provide a vehicle which can enhance cooling efficiency of a cooling object further.SOLUTION: A vehicle comprises a grill opening 10, a grill shutter 12 which is configured so as to make it possible to open and close the grill opening 10, a Fr spoiler 20 which is configured so as to make it possible to change its posture to a storage posture and a development posture, and a controller 50. The controller 50 is configured so as to open the grill shutter 12 if a vehicle speed Vv is below a first threshold value V1 or if evaluation indexes Te, Pc of temperature of a cooling object 28 are reference values Tst, Pst or more, respectively. The controller 50 is configured so as to make the Fr spoiler 20 take the development posture if the vehicle speed Vv is a second threshold value V2 higher than the first threshold value V1 or more and at the same time to make the Fr spoiler 20 take the development posture by synchronizing with opening of the grill shutter 12 if the vehicle speed Vv is the first threshold value V1 or more and is below the second threshold value V2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This specification discloses a vehicle having a grill shutter and a movable front spoiler.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, vehicles having a grill shutter that opens and closes a grill opening and a movable front spoiler are known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle having a grill shutter and a movable front spoiler.

[0003] Normally, the grill opening is an opening for sending air to cooling objects arranged at the front of the vehicle. The cooling objects are, for example, a power source of the vehicle (such as an engine, etc.), or a heat exchanger (such as a radiator, a condenser, etc.), or both. And the grill shutter is opened, for example, when the vehicle speed is low or when the temperature of the cooling object is high. This is to achieve both an improvement in the cooling efficiency of the cooling object and a reduction in air resistance.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Here, when the grill shutter is opened and the front spoiler is also deployed, the amount of air flowing into the grill opening can be increased. Therefore, by opening the grill shutter and deploying the front spoiler, the cooling object can be cooled more efficiently.

[0006] However, conventionally, the drive control of the front spoiler has been performed independently of the drive control of the grille shutter. As a result, conventionally, even when it is necessary to cool the object to be cooled, the front spoiler has often not been deployed. As a result, in the case of conventional vehicles, the object to be cooled could not be efficiently cooled.

[0007] Therefore, this specification discloses a vehicle capable of further improving the cooling efficiency of the object to be cooled.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0008] The vehicle disclosed in this specification includes a grille opening formed at the front end of the vehicle to send air to the object to be cooled, a grille shutter configured to be able to open and close the grille opening, a front spoiler disposed at the front and lower part of the vehicle and configured to be changeable between a retracted position and a deployed position protruding below the vehicle compared to the retracted position, and a controller. The controller is configured to open the grille shutter when the vehicle speed is less than a first threshold value or when an evaluation index of the temperature of the object to be cooled is equal to or higher than a reference value. The controller is configured to cause the front spoiler to be in the deployed position when the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than a second threshold value higher than the first threshold value, and to cause the front spoiler to be in the deployed position in synchronization with the opening of the grille shutter when the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the first threshold value and less than the second threshold value.

[0009] In this case, the object to be cooled may be an engine, and the evaluation index may be the temperature of the cooling water for cooling the engine. [[ID=E17]]

[0010] [[ID=S19]]Also, the object to be cooled may be a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the refrigerant for air conditioning and the outside air, and the evaluation index may be the pressure of the refrigerant for air conditioning.

[0011] Furthermore, it further includes another aerodynamic device that can be changed between a first posture and a second posture capable of reducing aerodynamic resistance compared to the first posture. The other aerodynamic device includes at least one of a rear spoiler, spats, and side steps. The controller may be configured to change the other aerodynamic device to the second posture in synchronization with the change of the front spoiler to the deployed posture.

Advantages of the Invention

[0012] According to the technology disclosed in this specification, the cooling efficiency of the object to be cooled can be further improved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, the configuration of a vehicle having a grille shutter 12 and a front spoiler (hereinafter referred to as "Fr spoiler") 20 will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle. FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic cross-sectional views of the front part of the vehicle.

[0015] At the front of the vehicle, a power unit chamber 26 is formed. In this power unit chamber 26, a heat exchanger 30 and a power source 40 are arranged. The heat exchanger 30 exchanges heat between the refrigerant and the outside air. Such a heat exchanger 30 includes, for example, a radiator 32 that exchanges heat between the cooling water of the engine 42 and the outside air, and a condenser 34 that exchanges heat between the refrigerant for air conditioning and the outside air.

[0016] Near the heat exchanger 30, a temperature sensor 36 and a pressure sensor 38 are provided. The temperature sensor 36 detects the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 42 (hereinafter referred to as "engine coolant temperature Te"). The pressure sensor 38 detects the pressure of the refrigerant for air conditioning. That is, the refrigerant for air conditioning is compressed according to the required air conditioning capacity. The pressure sensor 38 detects the pressure of the refrigerant for air conditioning after compression as the refrigerant pressure Pc. The detected engine coolant temperature Te and refrigerant pressure Pc are both transmitted to the controller 50.

[0017] The power source 40 outputs power for driving the vehicle. The power source 40 includes, for example, at least one of an engine 42 and a motor. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the power source 40 is an engine 42.

[0018] On the front end face of the vehicle, a grille opening 10 is formed. The grille opening 10 is an opening for guiding the running wind to the power unit chamber 26. The heat exchanger 30 and the power source 40 arranged in the power unit chamber 26 are cooling objects 28 that are directly or indirectly cooled by the running wind. And the engine coolant temperature Te and the refrigerant pressure Pc are evaluation indexes representing the temperature of the cooling object 28.

[0019] Behind the grille opening 10, a grille shutter 12 is arranged. The grille shutter 12 opens or closes the grille opening 10. In FIGS. 2 and 3, the grille shutter 12 is open. An actuator 14 for opening and closing the grille shutter 12 is controlled by the controller 50. The actuator 14 is, for example, an electric actuator including a motor or an electromagnetic cylinder.

[0020] A front spoiler 20 is disposed at the lower part of the vehicle. The front spoiler 20 is a movable aerodynamic device that can be changed between a retracted position and a deployed position. In the retracted position, as shown in FIG. 2, the front spoiler 20 generally follows the bottom surface of the vehicle. On the other hand, in the deployed position, as shown in FIG. 3, the front spoiler 20 protrudes downward from the vehicle as compared with the retracted position.

[0021] An actuator 22 for changing the position of the front spoiler 20 is controlled by a controller 50. The actuator 22 is, for example, an electric actuator including a motor or an electromagnetic cylinder. This actuator 22 is controlled independently of the actuator 14.

[0022] In the example of FIG. 1, the vehicle further has a rear spoiler (hereinafter referred to as “Rr spoiler”) 60, spats 62, and side steps 64. The Rr spoiler 60, the spats 62, and the side steps 64 are all movable aerodynamic devices. These movable aerodynamic devices 60, 62, 64 can be changed by an actuator (not shown) between a first position and a second position where the aerodynamic resistance can be reduced as compared with the first position.

[0023] The controller 50 controls the driving of the actuators 14 and 22, and thus controls the driving of the grill shutter 12 and the front spoiler 20. Such a controller 50 is physically a computer including a processor 52 and a memory 54. In FIG. 1, the controller 50 is illustrated as a single computer, but the controller 50 may be physically configured by combining a plurality of computers separated from each other.

[0024] The controller 50 controls the driving of the grill shutter 12 and the front spoiler 20 based on the engine coolant temperature Te, the refrigerant pressure Pc, and the vehicle speed Vv. Hereinafter, the control by this controller 50 will be described.

[0025] Generally, when the grill shutter 12 is opened, a larger amount of oncoming air is sent to the object 28 to be cooled than when it is closed. Therefore, when the grill shutter 12 is opened, the cooling efficiency of the object 28 to be cooled is improved compared to when it is closed. On the other hand, when the grill shutter 12 is opened, the air resistance increases compared to when it is closed. The amount of improvement in cooling efficiency and the amount of increase in air resistance vary depending on the vehicle speed Vv.

[0026] When the vehicle is traveling at a low speed, even if the grill shutter 12 is opened, the air resistance is small. In other words, when the vehicle is traveling at a low speed, there is almost no demerit in opening the grill shutter 12. Therefore, when the vehicle speed Vv is less than a preset first threshold value V1, the controller 50 opens the grill shutter 12. The first threshold value V1 is a value at which the air resistance is presumed to be small. The first threshold value V1 is, for example, any value that satisfies a vehicle speed of 15 km / h or more and less than 50 km / h.

[0027] When the vehicle is traveling at a very high speed, the load on the power source 40 (for example, the engine 42) is large. In this case, even if the energy consumption increases with the increase in aerodynamic resistance, it is required to efficiently cool the power source 40. Therefore, when the vehicle speed Vv is equal to or higher than a preset third threshold value V3, the controller 50 also opens the grill shutter 12. The third threshold value V3 is a value at which the load on the power source 40 is presumed to be large. The third threshold value V3 is, for example, any value that satisfies a vehicle speed of 120 km / h or more.

[0028] When the temperature of the object 28 to be cooled (for example, the power source 40 or the heat exchanger 30) is high, it is required to quickly cool the object 28 to be cooled. Therefore, when the evaluation index indicating the temperature of the object 28 to be cooled is equal to or higher than the reference value, the controller 50 also opens the grill shutter 12. Specifically, when the engine coolant temperature Te is equal to or higher than a specified temperature reference value Tst, or when the refrigerant pressure Pc is equal to or higher than a specified pressure reference value Pst, the controller 50 opens the grill shutter 12.

[0029] On the other hand, when the controller 50 does not satisfy the above conditions, the grill shutter 12 is closed. That is, when V1 ≤ Vv < V3, Te < Tst, and Pc < Pst, the controller 50 closes the grill shutter 12. Note that each of the various threshold values V1, V3, Tst, and Pst described above may be an invariant fixed value or a variable value that changes according to the situation. Also, the various threshold values V1, V3, Tst, and Pst may have hysteresis. For example, the first threshold value V1 may include a lower first threshold value V1_L and an upper first threshold value V1_U that is higher than the lower first threshold value V1_L. Then, when the vehicle speed Vv crosses the lower first threshold value V1_L during the process of decreasing, the controller 50 may open the grill shutter 12, and when the vehicle speed Vv crosses the upper first threshold value V1_U during the process of increasing, the controller 50 may close the grill shutter 12. The same applies to the other threshold values V2, Tst, and Pst.

[0030] Next, the change control of the posture of the Fr spoiler 20 will be described. As described above, the Fr spoiler 20 can be changed between a storage posture along the bottom surface of the vehicle and a deployed posture protruding downward from the vehicle. When the Fr spoiler 20 is in the deployed posture, the aerodynamic resistance of the vehicle is reduced compared to the case of the storage posture. However, when the vehicle is traveling at a low speed, the aerodynamic resistance is small, so the merit of deploying the Fr spoiler 20 is small. Therefore, in principle, the controller 50 deploys the Fr spoiler 20 when the vehicle speed Vv is equal to or higher than the second threshold value V2. Here, the second threshold value V2 is a speed that is higher than the first threshold value V1 and lower than the third threshold value V3, and is a speed at which a certain amount of aerodynamic resistance is predicted to occur. The second threshold value V2 is, for example, an arbitrary value that satisfies the condition of 30 km / h to 60 km / h.

[0031] Also, when the Fr spoiler 20 is in the deployed position, the cooling efficiency of the object to be cooled 28 is improved compared to the stored position. That is, when the grill shutter 12 is open, the oncoming air flows from the grill opening 10 toward the object to be cooled 28. And the object to be cooled 28 is cooled by this oncoming air. However, when the Fr spoiler 20 is stored, as shown in FIG. 2, a part of the oncoming air does not flow toward the grill opening 10 and flows through the lower space of the vehicle. On the other hand, when the Fr spoiler 20 is deployed, as shown in FIG. 3, since a part of the oncoming air cannot pass through the lower space of the vehicle, it flows toward the grill opening 10. As a result, when the Fr spoiler 20 is deployed, the amount of air flowing toward the object to be cooled 28 increases compared to when it is stored. As a result, in the deployed position, the cooling efficiency of the object to be cooled 28 is improved compared to the stored position.

[0032] Therefore, when the controller 50 wants to efficiently cool the object to be cooled 28, that is, when the grill shutter 12 is open, even if the vehicle speed Vv is less than the second threshold value V2, the Fr spoiler 20 is deployed. Thereby, the object to be cooled 28 is cooled more efficiently. However, when the vehicle speed Vv is in slow running, it is highly possible that the vehicle is running on a road surface with many obstacles such as a parking lot. And when the Fr spoiler 20 is deployed while running on a road surface with many obstacles, the Fr spoiler 20 may interfere with the obstacles on the road surface. Therefore, the controller 50 does not deploy the Fr spoiler 20 when the vehicle speed Vv is less than the first threshold value V1 even when the grill shutter 12 is open. And when the vehicle speed Vv is equal to or greater than the first threshold value V1 and less than the second threshold value V2, the controller 50 deploys the Fr spoiler 20 in the deployed position in synchronization with the opening of the grill shutter 12. Thereby, the object to be cooled 28 is cooled more efficiently.

[0033] Next, the flow of drive control for the grille shutter 12 and the Fr spoiler 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown in FIG. 4, when the vehicle speed Vv is less than the first threshold value V1 or greater than or equal to the third threshold value V3 (Yes in S10), the controller 50 opens the grille shutter 12 (S20). On the other hand, when V1 ≤ Vv < V3 (No in S10), the controller 50 compares the engine coolant temperature Te with the temperature reference value Tst (S12). As a result of the comparison, when Te ≥ Tst (Yes in S12), the controller 50 outputs an instruction to deploy the Fr spoiler 20 and opens the grille shutter 12 (S18, S20).

[0034] Also, when Te < Tst (No in S12), the controller 50 compares the refrigerant pressure Pc with the pressure reference value Pst (S14). As a result of the comparison, when Pc ≥ Pst (Yes in S14), the controller 50 outputs an instruction to deploy the Fr spoiler 20 and opens the grille shutter 12 (S18, S20). On the other hand, when Te < Tst and Pc < Pst (No in S14), the controller 50 closes the grille shutter 12 (S16).

[0035] Next, the drive control of the Fr spoiler 20 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. The controller 50 executes the flow of FIG. 5 in parallel with the flow of FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 5, when the vehicle speed Vv is greater than or equal to the second threshold value V2 (Yes in S30), the controller 50 sets the Fr spoiler 20 in the deployed position. When the vehicle speed Vv is less than the second threshold value V2, the controller 50 checks whether there is a deployment instruction (S32). Even when the vehicle speed Vv is less than the second threshold value V2 (No in S30), if a deployment instruction has been output in step S18 (Yes in S32), the controller 50 deploys the Fr spoiler 20 (S36). On the other hand, when Vv < V2 and there is no deployment instruction (No in S30 and No in S32), the controller 50 retracts the Fr spoiler 20 (S34).

[0036] As is clear from the above description, when the evaluation index Te,Pc indicating the temperature of the object to be cooled 28 is equal to or higher than the reference value Tst,Pst, and thus when the object to be cooled 28 needs to be cooled, the controller 50 deploys the Fr spoiler 20. By deploying the Fr spoiler 20, a larger amount of traveling wind heads toward the object to be cooled 28, so that the object to be cooled 28 can be cooled more efficiently. And if the object to be cooled 28 can be cooled earlier, the grille shutter 12 can be closed earlier by that much. As a result, according to the technology of this example, the closing time of the grille shutter 12 can be increased. Thereby, the total amount of aerodynamic drag received by the vehicle can be reduced, and the energy consumption, and thus the CO2 emission amount, can be reduced.

[0037] In the above description, only the Fr spoiler 20 is deployed in synchronization with the opening of the grille shutter 12. However, the vehicle may have other movable aerodynamic devices. In this case, these other movable aerodynamic devices may also change their postures in synchronization with the opening of the grille shutter 12. For example, consider a case where the vehicle has at least one of an Rr spoiler 60, spats 62, and a side step 64 as other movable aerodynamic devices. These other aerodynamic devices 60, 62, 64 can be changed between a first posture and a second posture that can reduce aerodynamic drag more than the first posture. When the vehicle speed Vv is equal to or higher than the first threshold value V1 and less than the second threshold value V2, the controller 50 may change at least one of the Rr spoiler 60, the spats 62, and the side step 64 to the second posture in synchronization with the opening of the grille shutter 12. When the other movable aerodynamic devices are changed to the second posture, the load on the power source 40 is reduced, and the temperature of the object to be cooled 28 decreases earlier. And thereby, the grille shutter 12 can be closed earlier.

[0038] Also, the configurations described so far are examples. Therefore, if the vehicle includes the configuration described in claim 1, the configuration of the vehicle may be changed as appropriate. For example, in the above description, a vehicle having an engine 42 as a power source 40 was described as an example, but the technology disclosed in this specification may also be applied to an electric vehicle having a motor as the power source 40. Further, in the above description, the grill shutter 12 is opened when the third threshold value V3 or higher is reached. However, if the grill shutter 12 is opened when the evaluation index of the object to be cooled 28 is equal to or higher than the reference value, other opening and closing conditions may be changed.

Explanation of Signs

[0039] 10 Grill opening, 12 Grill shutter, 14 Actuator, 20 Fr spoiler, 22 Actuator, 26 Power unit chamber, 28 Object to be cooled, 30 Heat exchanger, 32 Radiator, 34 Capacitor, 36 Temperature sensor, 38 Pressure sensor, 40 Power source, 42 Engine, 50 Controller, 52 Processor, 54 Memory, 60 Rr spoiler, 62 Spats, 64 Side step.

Claims

1. A grill opening formed at the front end of a vehicle for sending air to an object to be cooled, a grill shutter configured to be able to open and close the grill opening, a front spoiler disposed at the front and lower part of the vehicle and configured to be changeable between a stored position and a deployed position that protrudes below the vehicle compared to the stored position, a controller, The controller is configured to open the grill shutter when the vehicle speed is less than a first threshold value or when an evaluation index of the temperature of the object to be cooled is equal to or higher than a reference value, The controller is configured to set the front spoiler in the deployed position when the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than a second threshold value higher than the first threshold value, and to set the front spoiler in the deployed position in synchronization with the opening of the grill shutter when the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the first threshold value and less than the second threshold value. A vehicle characterized by the above.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the object to be cooled is an engine, and the evaluation index is the temperature of cooling water for cooling the engine. A vehicle characterized by the above.

3. The vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the object to be cooled is a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between an air-conditioning refrigerant and outside air, and the evaluation index is the pressure of the air-conditioning refrigerant. A vehicle characterized by the above.

4. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising another aerodynamic device that can be changed between a first position and a second position where aerodynamic drag can be reduced compared to the first position, wherein the other aerodynamic device includes at least one of a rear spoiler, spats, and side steps, and the controller is configured to set the other aerodynamic device in the second position in synchronization with the change of the front spoiler to the deployed position. A vehicle characterized by the above.

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