Vehicle Battery Cooling Fan Control for Low Temperature Protection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Cooling fans in vehicles fail due to lubricating oil viscosity issues at extremely low temperatures, leading to bearing damage when attempting to cool batteries.
Innovation Solution
An electronic control unit is integrated with a cooling fan system to monitor intake air temperature and prevent fan operation at low temperatures, ensuring the lubricating oil film remains intact and preventing bearing damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the cooling fan is operated to cool the battery, then the battery cooling efficiency is improved, but the cooling fan bearing portion is damaged due to metal touch from broken oil film at extremely low temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The electronic control unit performs preliminary temperature detection of the intake air before allowing cooling fan operation. By detecting the intake air temperature in advance and comparing it with a predetermined threshold, the system prevents operation at extremely low temperatures before bearing damage can occur, thus protecting the bearing portion while enabling cooling when conditions are appropriate
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback control by continuously monitoring the intake air temperature sensor output and using this information to control the cooling fan operation state. The electronic control unit adjusts fan operation based on real-time temperature feedback, ensuring the fan only operates when the intake air temperature is above the threshold, thereby preventing bearing damage while maintaining cooling efficiency
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Prevents cooling fan failure by prohibiting operation at extremely low temperatures, thereby extending its lifespan and maintaining battery cooling efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
An oil film of lubricating oil is formed between the rotary shaft and the bearing portion. This oil film prevents the rotary shaft and the bearing portion from coming into contact (metal touch) with each other, thus protecting the bearing portion.
Implementation Method 2
with the periphery of (the atmosphere around) the cooling fan at an extremely low temperature, the lubricating oil in the cooling fan exhibits high viscosity, so a sufficient amount of lubricating oil may not be supplied to the bearing portion of the cooling fan
Data Source
AI summary
A cooling device for a battery that is mounted in a vehicle includes: a cooling fan that is configured to suck air in a vehicle interior, and to blow the sucked air to the battery; an intake air temperature sensor that is configured to detect a temperature of the air sucked by the cooling fan; and an electronic control unit that is configured (i) to control the cooling fan, and (ii) to prohibit the cooling fan from being operated when a detected value of the intake air temperature sensor is lower than a first temperature.