Cooling system for vehicle and vehicle

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a cooling system for a vehicle, the cooling system comprising: a heat exchanger (10) configured to allow at least one part of an intake airflow (F) to flow through the heat exchanger (20) to exchange heat with a medium flowing in the heat exchanger (10); an electric drive unit (20) arranged downstream of the heat exchanger (10) in the direction of the intake airflow (F); and a deflector (30) arranged between the heat exchanger (10) and the electric drive unit (20) in the direction of the intake airflow (F) to guide the at least one part of the intake airflow (F) flowing through the heat exchanger (10) towards the electric drive unit (20). The present disclosure further relates to a vehicle, comprising the cooling system described above.

Description

[0001] COOLING SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE AND VEHICLE

[0002] Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a cooling system for a vehicle. In particular, the cooling system is provided with a deflector for guiding an intake airflow flowing through a heat exchanger towards an electric drive unit. The present disclosure further relates to a vehicle comprising such a cooling system.

[0004] Background

[0005] The electric drive unit of a vehicle is used to convert electric energy into mechanical energy for the vehicle to run, and may comprise an electric motor, a gearbox, and a power electronic device. Due to the limitations of objective physical laws and actual manufacturing processes, energy transfer by various components in the electric drive unit cannot reach the efficiency of 100% and is always accompanied by heat generation. Therefore, the electric drive unit needs to be cooled to avoid performance degradation or system failure caused by heat accumulation.

[0006] The heat generated during the running of the vehicle can be taken away by airflow blowing 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 a heat transfer medium circulating in the heat exchanger. It is known that the electric drive unit of the vehicle may be arranged behind the heat exchanger, and the airflow flowing through the heat exchanger continues to flow through the electric drive unit and dissipate heat from the electric drive unit. However, the positions of the heat exchanger and the electric drive unit at the front end of the vehicle may not be completely aligned, and the cross-sectional area of the heat exchanger in the airflow direction is usually much larger than that of the electric drive unit, and a considerable part or even most of the airflow flowing through the heat exchanger does not flow through the electric drive unit. This causes insufficient heat dissipation of the electric drive unit, especially when the vehicle is running at a low speed. The power of the electric drive unit is therefore limited and cannot meet the performance requirements of the vehicle.

[0007] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a cooling system capable of fully dissipating heat from the electric drive unit of a vehicle through airflow.

[0008] Summary of the Invention

[0009] Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to provide a cooling system for a vehicle, which is capable of guiding the airflow of the heat exchanger of the vehicle towards the electric drive unit to improve the heat dissipation capacity of the electric drive unit.

[0010] One aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a cooling system for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cooling system comprising: a heat exchanger configured to allow at least one part of an intake airflow to flow through the heat exchanger to exchange heat with a medium flowing in the heat exchanger; an electric drive unit arranged downstream of the heat exchanger in the direction of the intake airflow; a deflector arranged between the heat exchanger and the electric drive unit in the direction of the intake airflow, guiding the at least one part of the intake airflow flowing through the heat exchanger towards the electric drive unit.

[0011] The cooling system for a vehicle is capable of guiding the airflow of the heat exchanger of the vehicle towards the electric drive unit to improve the heat dissipation capacity of the electric drive unit. According to the present disclosure, the cooling system comprises the deflector arranged between the heat exchanger and the electric drive unit, which guides the at least one part of the intake airflow flowing through the heat exchanger towards the electric drive unit. By means of the deflector, the intake airflow that originally would not flow through the electric drive unit after flowing through the heat exchanger can now flow through the electric drive unit. Therefore, the flow rate of the airflow flowing through the electric drive unit increases, which can take away more heat and improve the heat dissipation effect of the electric drive unit.

[0012] The cooling system for the vehicle according to the present disclosure may further have one or more of the following features individually or in combination.

[0013] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the intake airflow further comprises an additional airflow flowing below the heat exchanger, the additional airflow flowing directly towards the electric drive unit without passing through the deflector. That is, the heat exchanger is offset upwards with respect to the electric drive unit in the direction of the intake airflow, and a part of the intake airflow, i.e., the additional airflow, can be blown directly to the electric drive unit without passing through the heat exchanger and the electric drive unit, thereby directly cooling the electric drive unit.

[0014] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the deflector comprises a plurality of air guide vanes, wherein the air guide vanes deflect the flow direction of the at least one part of the intake airflow to guide same towards the electric drive unit.

[0015] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a deflection angle at which the air guide vane deflects the flow direction of the at least one part of the intake airflow varies depending on the position of the air guide vane. For example, the deflection angle of the air guide vane that is farther from the electric drive unit is larger, so that the intake airflow flowing through the deflector at different positions can be deflected towards the electric drive unit, achieving the function of converging the intake airflow.

[0016] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cooling system further comprises a fan, and at least part 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 a low speed.

[0017] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the fan is arranged between the heat exchanger and the deflector.

[0018] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the heat exchanger comprises an air-conditioning condenser for an air-conditioning system of a vehicle.

[0019] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a heat dissipation structure is provided on a housing of the electric drive unit. Thus, the intake airflow guided towards the electric drive unit may also flow through the heat dissipation structure to cool the electric drive unit.

[0020] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the heat dissipation structure comprises a plurality of heat dissipation fins. These heat dissipation fins can increase the heat dissipation area of the electric drive unit and increase the heat dissipation capacity of the electric drive unit.

[0021] The present disclosure further relates to a vehicle comprising the cooling system as described above.

[0022] Brief Description of the Drawings

[0023] The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the description and the accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. The drawings below are not scaled drawings according to actual dimensions but rather focus on showing the main purpose of the present disclosure.

[0024] Fig. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of a cooling system for an electric motor according to the present disclosure, wherein an electric drive unit and a heat exchanger are partially offset from each other.

[0025] Fig. 2 schematically shows another embodiment of the cooling system for the electric motor according to the present disclosure, wherein the electric drive unit is arranged completely behind the heat exchanger.

[0026] Detailed Description of Embodiments

[0027] To clarify the objective, technical solutions and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure are described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] Unless defined otherwise, the technical or scientific terms used herein shall have the common meanings as understood by those of ordinary skill in the field to which the present disclosure belongs. Words such as "one", "a" or "the" used in the description and the claims of the patent application disclosed herein do not indicate a quantity limit, but mean that there is at least one. "Comprising" or "including" and similar words mean that the element or object appearing before the word encompasses the elements or objects and their equivalents listed after the word. Although expressions such as "first" and "second" are used to describe various components of the present disclosure, they are only intended to distinguish one component from another, rather than limiting the sequence or importance of the corresponding components. Without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, "first element" may be written as "second element", and, similarly, "second element" may be written as "first element". Words such as "connected" or "linked" are not restricted to a physical or mechanical connection, and may comprise an electrical connection, whether direct or indirect. The terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right” and the like are only used to indicate a relative positional relationship, and when the absolute position of a described object changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly. The terms "upstream" and "downstream" are defined with respect to the direction of an intake airflow through a cooling system.

[0029] In order to facilitate description, the drawings of the present disclosure accordingly simplify or omit components commonly used in the art, such as external connection lines and other components that are irrelevant 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 a person skilled in the art.

[0030] Fig. 1 schematically shows an exemplary embodiment of a cooling system 100 for a vehicle according to the present disclosure.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 1, the cooling system 100 comprises a heat exchanger 10, an electric drive unit 20, a deflector 30 and a fan 40. The cooling system 100 is preferably arranged at the front end of the vehicle. An air inlet leading to the cooling system 100, such as an air inlet in the form of an air intake grille, is provided on the front end of the vehicle. In the running process of the vehicle, the relative speed between the vehicle body and the air generates an intake airflow F, which enters the air inlet and flows towards the cooling system 100. A part of the intake airflow F flows through the heat exchanger 20 and exchanges heat with a 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 an air-conditioning system of the vehicle, a refrigerant of the air-conditioning system is radiated, cooled and condensed in the condenser 11, and the heat released by the refrigerant is taken away by the intake airflow F flowing through the condenser 11. The cooled refrigerant may be used to adjust the ambient temperature inside the vehicle compartment later.

[0032] The electric drive unit 20 of the cooling system 100 is arranged downstream of the heat exchanger 10 in the direction of the intake airflow F. The intake airflow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 may flow through the electric drive unit 20 again and cool the electric drive unit 20. To increase the heat exchange area in the vehicle, the heat exchanger 10 usually has a larger area in the direction perpendicular to the intake airflow F and may be significantly larger than the electric drive unit 20. This causes a considerable part of the intake airflow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 to not be directed towards the electric drive unit 20, and thus it does not flow through the electric drive unit 20 again. Thus, the flow rate of airflow blowing towards the electric drive unit 20 is insufficient and cannot meet the heat dissipation needs of the electric drive unit 20.

[0033] To this end, the cooling system 100 according to the present disclosure is provided with a deflector 30 arranged between the heat exchanger 10 and the electric drive unit 20 in the direction of the intake airflow F. The intake airflow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 first flows through the deflector 30 and is guided by the deflector 30 towards the electric drive unit 20, thereby increasing the flow rate of airflow flowing through the electric drive unit 20 and improving the heat dissipation capacity of the electric drive unit 20. Illustratively, the deflector 30 comprises a plurality of air guide vanes 31, which deflect the flow direction of the intake airflow F flowing through the deflector 30 towards the electric drive unit 20, so that the intake airflow F originally deviated from the electric drive unit 20 can be blown towards the electric drive unit 20. Preferably, an angle at which the air guide vane 31 deflects the intake airflow F may vary depending on the position of the air guide vane 31. The positions of the air guide vanes 31 located above the deflector 30 are farther from the electric drive unit 20, and the airflow flowing through these air guide vanes needs to be deflected at a larger angle to blow towards the electric drive unit 20. Correspondingly, as shown in Fig. 1, the air guide vane 31 away from the electric drive unit 20 can deflect the intake airflow F at a larger deflection angle so that it flows towards the electric drive unit 20. It is conceivable that the deflector 30 may also have other structures capable of guiding the intake airflow F towards the electric drive unit 20. For example, the deflector 30 may be designed as a duct leading from the heat exchanger 10 to the electric drive unit 20, or the deflector 30 may have the form of a wind shield.

[0034] In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the heat exchanger 10 does not completely occupy the flow passage of the intake airflow F, but occupies the upper part of the flow passage. A part of the intake airflow F, namely an additional airflow F', flows from the lower part of the heat exchanger 10, and does not pass through the heat exchanger 10 and the deflector 30. Correspondingly, the electric drive unit 20 is also partially offset with respect to the heat exchanger 10 in the direction of the intake airflow F, and is not completely located behind the heat exchanger 10. The additional airflow F' flows directly to the electric drive unit 20 and cools the electric drive unit 20. In Fig. 1, the electric drive unit 20 is only partially offset from the heat exchanger 10. A part of the intake airflow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 may also flow to the electric drive unit 20 without being guided by the deflector 10. In an embodiment not shown in the figure, the electric drive unit 20 may be completely offset from the heat exchanger 10. The intake airflow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 must be guided by the deflector 10 before flowing to the electric drive unit 20.

[0035] In addition to a passive airflow generated by the running of the vehicle, the cooling system 10 may also generate an active intake airflow F through the fan 40. As shown in Fig. 1, the fan 40 is arranged between the heat exchanger 10 and the deflector 30. When in operation, the fan 40 may draw external air into the cooling system 10 to increase the flow rate of the intake airflow F. In particular, when the vehicle is running at a low speed or idling, the passive intake airflow generated by the running of the vehicle is insufficient, and the fan 40 may supplement the flow rate of the intake airflow F to maintain the cooling capacity of the cooling system 10 for the heat exchanger 10 and the electric drive unit 20.

[0036] Illustratively, the electric drive unit 20 is provided with a heat dissipation structure 21 on a housing. Illustratively, the heat dissipation structure 21 comprises a plurality of heat dissipation fins 21a, which can increase the contact area between the electric drive unit 20 and the intake airflow F flowing through the electric drive unit 20, so as to enhance the cooling capacity of the electric drive unit 20. It should be understood that the heat dissipation structure 21 may have other structures capable of increasing the contact area with the airflow F.

[0037] Fig. 2 shows another embodiment of the cooling system 100 according to the present disclosure. It should be understood that, except for the differences described in detail below, all information related to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 can be applied to the embodiment shown in Fig. 2. Identical or functionally equivalent components are given identical reference numerals.

[0038] As shown in Fig. 1, the heat exchanger 10 substantially completely occupies the flow passage of the intake airflow F. All the intake airflow F entering the cooling system 10 flows through the heat exchanger 10 and then flows to the deflector 30. Correspondingly, the electric drive unit 20 is completely arranged behind the heat exchanger 10 in the direction of the intake airflow F with respect to the heat exchanger 10. Part of the intake airflow F flowing through the heat exchanger 10 may be directly blown to the electric drive unit 20. The deflector 30 may reduce the deflection angle of this part of the intake airflow F.

[0039] Figures 1 and 2 show an air-cooled electric drive unit 20 that completely dissipates heat through the intake airflow F. It can be understood that the cooling method of the electric drive unit 20 may also be a mixture of air cooling and liquid cooling. In such an embodiment (not shown in the figure), in addition to the air- conditioning condenser 11 for the air-conditioning system of the vehicle, the heat exchanger 10 further comprises a coolant radiator for the electric drive unit 20. The coolant radiator may be integrated with the air conditioning condenser 11 or may be separate. The electric drive unit 20 is connected to the coolant radiator through a pipeline. A coolant such as cooling water or cooling oil circulates between the electric drive unit 20 and the coolant radiator. When the coolant flows through the electric drive unit 20, it takes away the heat generated by the electric drive unit 20 to cool the electric drive unit 20. When the coolant flows through the coolant radiator, the intake airflow F passing through the heat exchanger 10 can dissipate heat from the coolant. The intake airflow F flowing through the coolant radiator may also be guided by the deflector 30 to blow towards the electric drive unit 20, thereby continuing to cool the electric drive unit 20.

[0040] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle is proposed, comprising the cooling system as described previously. The vehicle may be an electrified vehicle, for example, a battery electric vehicle (BEV), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), a range extended EV, or a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). The vehicle may also be a hydrogen-powered vehicle.

[0041] Certain features, structures or characteristics in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure may be combined appropriately.

[0042] The above is a description of the present disclosure and should not be regarded as limiting it. Although several exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, those skilled in the art will easily understand that many modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments without departing from the novel teaching and advantages of the present disclosure. Therefore, all such modifications are intended to be comprised in the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. It should be understood that the above is a description of the present disclosure; the present disclosure should not be considered to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and modifications to the disclosed embodiments and other embodiments are intended to be comprised within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

Claims1. A cooling system for a vehicle, the cooling system comprising: a heat exchanger (10) configured to allow at least one part of an intake airflow (F) to flow through the heat exchanger (20) to exchange heat with a medium flowing in the heat exchanger (10); an electric drive unit (20) arranged downstream of the heat exchanger (10) in the direction of the intake airflow (F); a deflector (30) arranged between the heat exchanger (10) and the electric drive unit (20) in the direction of the intake airflow (F), guiding the at least one part of the intake airflow (F) flowing through the heat exchanger (10) towards the electric drive unit (20).

2. The cooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that the intake airflow (F) further comprises an additional airflow (F') flowing below the heat exchanger (10), the additional airflow (F') flowing directly towards the electric drive unit (20) without passing through the deflector (30).

3. The cooling system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the deflector (30) comprises a plurality of air guide vanes (31) deflecting the flow direction of the at least one part of the intake airflow (F) to guide same towards the electric drive unit (20).

4. The cooling system according to claim 3, characterized in that a deflection angle at which the air guide vane (31) deflects the flow direction of the at least one part of the intake airflow (F) varies depending on the position of the air guide vane (31).

5. The cooling system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: the cooling system further comprises a fan (40), at least part of the intake airflow (F) is 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 thatthe heat exchanger (10) comprises 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 a housing of the electric drive unit (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, comprising the cooling system according to any one of claims

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