Straddled Vehicle Air Cleaner Vertical Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Straddled vehicles with turbochargers face challenges in positioning the air cleaner to avoid intake of heated air from the turbocharger and catalyst unit during idling without increasing the vehicle's size.
Innovation Solution
The air cleaner is positioned higher than the turbocharger and catalyst unit, with a configuration that ensures it is not directly over these components, and is placed in a way that it is covered by the rider's leg from a frontward-backward view, maintaining a compact size in the leftward-rightward direction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the air cleaner is positioned higher than the turbocharger and catalyst unit, then the air cleaner is unlikely to intake heated air, but the vehicle size may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The air cleaner is positioned in the vertical dimension (upward direction) relative to the turbocharger and catalyst unit, rather than only in the horizontal dimension. This vertical placement utilizes unused space above these components, preventing heated air intake while avoiding horizontal expansion that would increase vehicle width.
Solution Approach 2:
The air cleaner is nested within the existing vehicle structure by positioning it above the turbocharger and catalyst unit, utilizing the vertical space already occupied by these components. This nesting approach integrates the air cleaner into the existing component arrangement without requiring additional horizontal space.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the air cleaner is positioned to avoid heated air intake, then air quality is improved, but the vehicle width may increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of positioning the air cleaner in the horizontal plane (which would increase vehicle width), the solution moves to the vertical dimension by placing the air cleaner above the turbocharger and catalyst unit. This dimensional transition resolves the contradiction by utilizing vertical space rather than horizontal space.
3Productivity
If the air cleaner is positioned higher, then airflow efficiency is improved, but the vehicle structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The air cleaner is nested within the existing vertical arrangement of components (above the turbocharger and catalyst unit), utilizing already-present structural space. This nesting approach improves airflow efficiency by positioning the air cleaner in an optimal location while avoiding the need for complex additional structural modifications.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present teaching provides a straddled vehicle that is kept from increasing in size while including an air cleaner positioned in a place where the air cleaner is unlikely to suck in air that is heated by the heat emitted from the turbocharger and the catalyst unit during idling of the straddled vehicle. The air cleaner is positioned more upward than the catalyst unit, the rotation axis of the turbine wheel and the rotation axis of the compressor wheel. From a view in the leftward-rightward direction of the straddled vehicle, the air cleaner is positioned in line with at least one of the catalyst unit, the turbine wheel of the turbocharger or the compressor wheel of the turbocharger in an upward-downward direction of the straddled vehicle. The air cleaner is positioned entirely more leftward or rightward than the catalyst unit, the turbine wheel and the compressor wheel of the turbocharger. When a rider is sitting on the seat and has his or her left and right feet placed on the pair of left and right footrests, the air cleaner is positioned entirely more frontward than the left and right leg of the rider. When a rider is sitting on the seat and has his or her left and right feet placed on the pair of left and right footrests, from a view in the frontward-backward direction of the straddled vehicle, at least part of the air cleaner covers or is covered by the left or right leg of the rider.