An active grille shutter system

Abstract

An active grille shutter system (100) includes a frame (10), at least one support member (20), a plurality of vanes (30) and an actuator (40). The support member (20) extend between opposite walls (10a) and (10b) of the frame (10). The vanes (30) are disposed within the frame (10) and supported by the support member (20) against deformation in a direction "A" of ram air. Each vane (30) adapted to rotate. The actuator (40) functionally coupled to at least one of the vane (30) to exert torque at one end of the vane (30) to angularly move the vane (30) between a blocking and an unblocking configuration. At least one of the vanes (30) comprising at least one stiffener member adapted to limit twisting of the vane without interfering with adjacent vanes (30) and the support members (20) as the vane (30) rotates.

Description

[0001] TITLE - AN ACTIVE GRILLE SHUTTER SYSTEM

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present invention relates to a front module of a vehicle, more particularly, the present invention relates to an active grille shutter system for a vehicle.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Generally, an active grille shutter system controls the airflow to at least one heat exchanger disposed downstream of the active grill shutter system.

[0006] The conventional active grille shutter system 1 includes a frame 2 and a plurality of vanes 3. The vanes 3 are rotatably connected to the frame 2, particularly, the extreme ends of the vanes 3 are rotatably connected to the frame 2 so that the vanes 3 rotate about the longitudinal axis “a” thereof when actuated by a drive to define a blocking and unblocking configuration of the vanes 3. Specifically, either one of a side actuator 6 or a central actuator exerts torsion on at least one of the drive vanes 3d to cause angular movement of the at least one drive vane 3d. The at least one drive vane 3d is functionally coupled to the driven vanes 3e by interconnecting linkages 7 to cause angular movement of all the driven vanes 3e together with the at least one drive vane 3d. In the unblocking configuration, the vanes 3 allow air-flow across the active grille shutter system 1 to a heat exchanger disposed downstream the active grille shutter system 1 in direction of ram air “r”. In the blocking configuration illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the vanes 3 block air-flow across the active grille shutter system 1 to the heat exchanger.

[0007] The ram air “r” impinging on the vanes 3 of the active grille shutter system 1 may cause deflection of the vanes 3, particularly, bending of the vanes 3, causing gaps between the adjacent vanes 3, thereby leading to leakage of the air through the gaps. Particularly, as the vanes 3 being flexible and in case of long vanes, the vane 3 are prone to deflection, particularly, at the center of the vanes 3 due to frontal loads. The deflection causes gaps and uncontrolled air-flow through the gaps between adjacent vanes 3 defeat the purpose of the active grill shutter system 1 . The frame 2 of the active grille shutter system 1 is formed with at least one support member 8. The support members 8 are disposed on the side of vanes 3 opposite to the side facing the ram air “r”. The support members 8 extend between opposite walls of the frame 2 to support the vanes 3 against deformation in a direction of the ram air “r”.

[0008] Generally, the actuator is coupled to one end of the vane3. In case of the long vanes 3, torque transmitted to the distal end of the vane 3, i.e. portion of the vane farther from the actuator is limited. Particularly, the torque transmitted by the actuator 6 to the vane portion decreases with increase in distance of the vane portion from the actuator 6 causing twisting of the vane. In case, the actuator is applying closing torque to move the vane 3 from unblocking configuration to the blocking configuration, the distal end of the vane 3 farther from the actuator 6 do not reach the closed position and gap is created between adjacent vanes at distal ends thereof. The gaps between adjacent vanes 3 defeat the purpose of the active grill shutter system 1 .

[0009] SUMMARY

[0010] An active grille shutter system is disclosed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The active grille shutter system includes a frame, at least one support member, a plurality of vanes and an actuator. The frame is defining a closed structure. The at least one support member extend between opposite walls of the frame. The vanes are disposed within the frame and supported by the support member against deformation in a direction “A” of ram air. Each vane adapted to angularly move about a longitudinal axis “XX” thereof by virtue of rotatable connection between the vane and the frame. The actuator functionally coupled to at least one of the vane to exert torque at one end of the vane to angularly move the vane between a blocking and an unblocking configuration. At least one of the vanes comprising at least one stiffener member adapted to limit twisting of the vane without interfering with adjacent vanes and the support members as the vane angularly moves between the blocking and unblocking configuration thereof. Generally, each support member configured with multiple bearing portions. Each bearing portion adapted to rotatably receive a connector portion disposed between adjacent portions of a corresponding vane, the adjacent portions being disposed on opposite sides of the support member.

[0011] Particularly, the stiffener member is a bridge member adapted to connect edge portions on same side of the adjacent portions of the vane.

[0012] Preferably, the bridge member is integrally formed with the vane.

[0013] Specifically, the bridge member is adapted to freely move with the vane without interfering with adjacent vanes and support member as the vane moves between the blocking and unblocking configuration thereof.

[0014] More specifically, the bridge member comprises a pair of arms and an intermediate portion. The pair of arms extend from the edge portions of the respective adjacent portions of the vane. The intermediate portion connecting the extreme free ends of the arms.

[0015] Generally, the intermediate portion of the bridge member is substantially parallel to the connector portion.

[0016] More specifically, the pair of the arms are at a spacing more than axial dimension of the support member.

[0017] Further, the arms are of height to avoid interference of the bridge member with at least one of the adjacent vanes and the support members. Generally, the bridge member is either one of inverted U-shaped, V-shaped, C- shaped and trapezoid shaped.

[0018] In accordance with an embodiment, the vanes extend in a substantially horizontal direction, parallel to the opposite walls of the frame.

[0019] In accordance with another embodiment, the vanes extend in a substantially vertical direction, orthogonal to the opposite walls of the frame.

[0020] Generally, bridge member is disposed on a rear side of the vanes opposite to the side of the vanes facing ram air.

[0021] Alternatively, the bridge member is disposed on a front side of the vanes facing ram air.

[0022] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Other characteristics, details and advantages of the invention may be inferred from the description of the invention hereunder. A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures, wherein:

[0024] FIG. 1 illustrates a front isometric view of a conventional active grille shutter system.

[0025] FIG. 2 illustrates a rear isometric view of the conventional active grille shutter system of FIG. 1.

[0026] FIG. 3 illustrates a front isometric view of an active grille shutter system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 illustrates a rear isometric view of the active grille shutter system of FIG. 3 depicting bridge members connecting adjacent portions of the vanes.

[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates an exploded view depicting various components of the active grille shutter system of FIG. 4.

[0028] FIG. 6 illustrates an isometric view of a vane of the active grille shutter system of FIG. 4 in isolation, along with an enlarged view depicting a bridge portion connecting two adjacent portions of the vane, and

[0029] FIG. 7a, 7b, 7c and 7d illustrate enlarged views depicting the bridge members in accordance with different embodiments.

[0030] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] It must be noted that the accompanying figures disclose the invention in a detailed enough way to be implemented, said figures helping to better define the invention, if need be. The invention should however not be limited to the embodiment disclosed in the description.

[0032] The present invention envisages an active grille shutter system, wherein vanes angularly move about an axis thereof for regulating airflow through the active grill shutter. More specifically, the active grille shutter system prevents the leakage of the air through the gaps between adjacent vanes due to deformation of the vanes, particularly, due to twisting of the vanes due to section of vane farther from the actuator experiencing comparatively lesser toque than section of the vane proximal to the actuator driving the vane. The present invention is applicable to any airflow regulating system used in automotive or non-automotive applications and that addresses the problem of air leakage through gaps between adjacent vanes due to different sections of vanes experiencing different magnitude of torque.

[0033] FIG. 1 and 2 illustrate a front and rear isometric view of a conventional active grill shutter having rotatable vanes.

[0034] FIG. 3 illustrates a front isometric view of an active grille shutter system 100 in an assembled configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The active grille shutter system includes a frame 10, a frame 10, a support member 20, a plurality of vanes 30 and an actuator 40. Particularly, FIG. 3 illustrates the active grille shutter system 100 with vanes in blocking configuration thereof. FIG. 4 illustrates a rear isometric view of the active grille shutter system 100, wherein the vanes are depicted in unblocking configuration. Referring to the FIG. 3, the active grille shutter system 100 is depicted without one vane to depict bearing portions 22 configured on support members 20. FIG. 5 illustrates an exploded view of the active grille shutter system 100 depicting placement and interaction between various elements thereof.

[0035] The frame 10 is in the form of a closed structure defined by a pair of opposite and spaced apart opposite walls 10a and 10b and a pair of opposite and spaced apart lateral walls 10c and 10d. The pair of opposite lateral walls 10c and 10d connecting the pair of opposite opposite walls 10a and 10b. The frame 10 is adapted to receive a plurality of vanes 30. The frame 10 is adapted to support an actuator 40 such as an electric motor that provides rotational torque to rotate the vanes 20.

[0036] Generally, the frame 10 comprises a plurality of support members 20 extending between two opposite walls 10a and 10b of the frame 10. Each support member 20 comprises a plurality of bearing portions 22 adapted to rotatably support the vanes 30. The vanes 30 are held in place in the bearing portions 22 of the support member 20. More specifically, the bearing portion 22 adapted to rotatably receive a connector portion 32 disposed between adjacent portions 30a and 30b of a corresponding vane 30. The adjacent portions 30a and 30b being disposed on opposite sides of the support member 20. Further, corresponding to each support member 20 there is provided a closing member 24. The closing member 24 is adapted to be inserted in a slot formed on one of the opposite walls 10a and 10b and urge the connector portion 32 against the bearing portion 22. Generally, the ram air impinges on the vanes 30 from the front direction of the active grill shutter system 100, depicted substantially by direction “A” in FIG 5. The vanes 30 are prevented from deforming, in the direction “A” of the oncoming ram air, by the support members 20 and the closing member 24. The vanes 30 are provided rotational torque using the actuator 40 which is an electrically driven motor, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The actuator 40 is secured in a cradle 28 of the frame 10 of the active grill shutter system 100. The rotational torque of the actuator 40 rotates at least one of the plurality of vanes 30 along an axis XX of each of the vanes 30 between a blocking and unblocking position. The at least one vane 30 driven by actuator 40 is functionally coupled to the other vanes through kinematic linkages to cause rotation of the other vanes 10. In the blocking position, the vanes 30 prevent the ram air from passing there through, while in the unblocking position, the vanes 30 allow the ram air to pass there through.

[0037] In an embodiment of the current invention, the opposite walls 10a and 10b extend substantially in a horizontal direction and the support members 20 extend substantially in the vertical direction.

[0038] Fig. 6 illustrates an isometric view of an individual vane 30 in isolation and depicts the structure of the vane 30 in greater detail. The vane 30 comprises at least one stiffener member adapted to limit twisting of the vane 30 without interfering with adjacent vanes 30 and support members 20 as the vane 30 angularly moves between the blocking and unblocking configuration thereof. The vane 30 includes adjacent portions 30a and 30b.

[0039] Particularly, the stiffener member is a bridge member 50 adapted to connect edge portions on same side of the adjacent portions 30a and 30b of the vane 30. Preferably, the bridge member 50 is integrally formed with the vane 30. Specifically, the bridge member 50 is adapted to freely move with the vane 30 without interfering with adjacent vanes 30 and support member 20 as the vane 30 moves between the blocking and unblocking configuration thereof. More specifically, the bridge member 50 comprises a pair of arms 52a and 52b and an intermediate portion 54. The pair of arms 52a and 52b extend from the edge portions of the respective adjacent portions 30a and 30b of the vane 30. The intermediate portion 54 connects the extreme free ends of the arms 52a and 52b. The intermediate portion 54 of the bridge member 50 is substantially parallel to the connector portion 32. The bridge portion 50 connects the adjacent portions 30a and 30b of the vane 30 and causes the adjacent portions 30a and 30b of the vane 30 to angularly move together, thereby preventing twisting of the vane 30. The bridge portion 50 rotates with the vane 30 without interfering with adjacent vanes 30 and the support members 20. More specifically, the pair of the arms 52a and 52b are at a spacing more than axial dimension of the support member 20. Further, the arms 52a and 52b are of height to avoid interference of the bridge member 50 with at least one of the adjacent vanes 30 and the support members 20.

[0040] Generally, the bridge member 50 is either one of inverted U-shaped, V-shaped, C-shaped and trapezoid shaped. However, the present invention is not limited to any particular configuration of the bridge member 50 as long as the bridge portion 50 is capable of preventing twisting of the corresponding vane 30 without interfering with the adjacent vanes 30 and support members 20. By preventing the twisting of the vanes 30, the bridge portion 50 prevents gaps between adjacent vanes, thereby preventing air leakage through the gap between adjacent vanes. In accordance with an embodiment, the vanes 30 are oriented in a substantially horizontal direction parallel to the opposite walls 10a and 10b of the frame 10. In accordance with another embodiment, the vanes 30 are oriented in a substantially vertical direction and orthogonal to the opposite walls 10a and 10b of the frame 10. In one embodiment, the bridge member 50 is disposed on a rear side of the vanes 30 opposite to the side of the vanes 30 facing ram air. Alternatively, the bridge member 50 is disposed on a front side of the vanes 50 facing ram air

[0041] FIG. 7a, in general illustrates the connector portion 32 between two adjacent portion 30a and 30b of the vane 30. The connector portion 32 connects the portions 30a and 30b along the axis of rotation XX of the vane 30. The connector portion 32 is adapted to be rotatably received in the bearing portion 22 of the support member 20 (as shown in FIG. 5). The bridge member 50 connects the adjacent vanes 30a and 30b. Particularly, the bridge portion 50 connects edge portions on same side of the adjacent portions 30a and 30b of the vane 30. FIG. 7a, 7b, 7c and 7d illustrate different embodiments of the bridge member 50. FIG. 7a depicts a preferred embodiment of the bridge portion having a U-shaped configuration. The bridge portion illustrated in FIG. 7a is having two substantially parallel arms 52a and 52b, and a connector portion 54. FIG. 7b depicts the bridge portion 50 of a trapezoidal configuration, wherein the arms 52a and 52b are converging and non-interesting. In the embodiment of FIG 7a and 7b, the intermediate portion 54 is substantially parallel to the connector portion 32. FIG. 7c illustrates the bridge member 50 in accordance further embodiment, wherein the arms 52a and 52b are converging and intersecting for attaining a V-shaped configuration of the bridge member. In a further embodiment, the bridge member 50 can attain an arcuate shape resembling a C-shaped configuration.

[0042] LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0043] 100 - active grille shutter system

[0044] 10 - frame

[0045] 20 - support member

[0046] 22 - bearing portion

[0047] 24 - closing member

[0048] 10a and 10b - opposite walls

[0049] 28 - cradle

[0050] 30 - vane

[0051] 30a and 30b - adjacent portions of the vane

[0052] 40 - actuator

[0053] 50 - bridge member

[0054] 52a - first arm of the bridge member

[0055] 52b - second arm of the bridge member

[0056] 54 - intermediate portion

[0057] 56 - opening

Claims

We Claim:1 . An active grille shutter system (100) comprising:• a frame (10) defining a closed structure comprising two opposite walls (10a, 10b);• at least one support member (20) extending between the opposite walls (10a) and (10b) of the frame (10);• a plurality of vanes (30) disposed within the frame (10) and supported by the support member (20) against deformation in a direction “A” of ram air, each vane (30) adapted to angularly move about longitudinal axis “XX” thereof by virtue of rotatable connection between the vane (30) and the frame (10);• an actuator (40) functionally coupled to at least one of the vane (30) to exert torque at one end of the vane (30) to angularly move the vane (30) between a blocking and an unblocking configuration, characterized in that at least one of the vanes (30) comprising at least one stiffener member adapted to limit twisting of the vane (30) without interfering with adjacent vanes (30) and support members (20) as the vane (30) angularly moves between the blocking and unblocking configuration thereof.

2. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in the previous claim, wherein each support member (20) is configured with multiple bearing portions (22) and each bearing portion (22) is adapted to rotatably receive a connector portion (32) disposed between adjacent portions (30a) and (30b) of a corresponding vane (30), the adjacent portions (30a) and (30b) being disposed on opposite sides of the support member (20).

3. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in any of the previous claim, wherein the stiffener member is a bridge member (50) adapted to connect edge portions on same side of the adjacent portions (30a) and (30b) of the vane (30).

4. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the bridge member (50) is integrally formed with the vane (30).

5. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the bridge member (50) is adapted to freely move with the vane (30) without interfering with adjacent vanes (30) and support members (20) as the vane (30) moves between the blocking and unblocking configuration thereof.

6. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in the claim 3, wherein the bridge member (50) comprises : o a pair of arms (52a) and (52b) extending from the edge portions on same side of the respective adjacent portions (30a) and (30b) of the vane (30); and o an intermediate portion (54) connecting the extreme free ends of the arms (52a) and (52b).

7. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in the previous claim, wherein the intermediate portion (54) of the bridge member (50) is substantially parallel to the connector portion (32).

8. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the pair of arms (52a) and (52b) are at a spacing more than axial dimension of the support member (20).

9. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in claim 6, wherein arms (52a) and (52b) are of height to avoid interference of the bridge member (50) with adjacent vanes (30) and the and support members (20).

10. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the bridge member (50) is either inverted U-shaped, V-shaped, C-shaped or trapezoid shaped.1 1 .The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the vanes (30) extend in a substantially horizontal direction parallel to the opposite walls (10a, 10b) of the frame (10).

12. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the vanes (30) extend in a substantially vertical direction, orthogonal to the opposite walls (10a, 10b) of the frame (10).

13. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the bridge member (50) is disposed on a rear side of the vanes (30) opposite to the side of the vanes (30) facing the ram air.

14. The active grille shutter system (100) as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the bridge member (50) is disposed on a front side of the vanes (30) facing ram air.

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