COOLER

Abstract

Described is a cooler having: a heat exchanger for dissipating heat from a medium, for example oil, a fan having a fan housing, a fan wheel and a motor, a control unit for controlling the motor, a sensor unit for detecting an operating parameter of the heat exchanger and/or of the fan, the sensor unit being connected to the control unit in order to set an operating state of the cooler, the fan housing having a recess in which the control unit is arranged together with the sensor unit.

Claims

1. A cooler, comprising: a heat exchanger for dissipating heat from a medium, for example oil, a fan having a fan housing, a fan wheel and a motor, a control unit for controlling the motor, a sensor unit for detecting an operating parameter of the heat exchanger and/or of the fan, the sensor unit being connected to the control unit in order to set an operating state of the cooler, wherein the fan housing comprises a recess in which the control unit is arranged together with the sensor unit.

2. The cooler according to claim 1, wherein the recess is delimited by a rear wall and/or a bottom wall and/or a ceiling wall and/or side walls (19) of a compartment of the fan housing.

3. The cooler according to claim 2, wherein the rear wall and/or the bottom wall and/or the ceiling wall and/or the side walls of the compartment are/is formed integrally with a shell enclosing the fan blades and/or with a fan hub enclosing the motor and/or with a front covering the fan blades and/or with an outer housing of the fan housing, the outer housing comprising a rectangular outer contour.

4. The cooler according to claim 1, wherein the recess is located in an outer edge region of the fan housing.

5. The cooler according to claim 1, wherein the control unit comprises a printed circuit board on which the sensor unit is arranged.

6. The cooler according to claim 1, wherein the recess for the control unit and the sensor unit is open towards the heat exchanger.

7. The cooler according to claim 1, wherein a control line (20) from the control unit in the recess to the motor in a fan hub comprises a first portion along a cylindrical shell of the fan housing and/or a second portion in the axial direction of the fan housing and/or a third portion in the radial direction of the fan housing.

8. The cooler according to claim 1, wherein a display for displaying sensor information is provided on the fan housing.

9. The cooler according to claim 1, wherein the sensor unit comprises a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the medium.

10. The cooler according to claim 9, wherein the temperature sensor is connected to a fastening screw between the fan and the heat exchanger.

11. The cooler according to claim 1, wherein a sensor for detecting the flow velocity of air along the fan is provided.

12. The cooler according to claim 1, wherein a sensor for detecting an air pressure in the fan housing is provided.

13. A fan, for a cooler according to claim 1, comprising: a fan housing and a fan wheel, a control unit for controlling a motor, a sensor unit for detecting an operating parameter of a heat exchanger connected to the fan and/or of the fan, the sensor unit being connected to the control unit, wherein the fan housing comprises a recess in which the control unit is arranged together with the sensor unit.

14. The cooler according to claim 4, wherein the recess is located in an outer corner region of the fan housing.

15. The cooler according to claim 8, wherein the display for displaying sensor information is provided on the side of the real wall of the recess facing away from the control unit.

Description

[0031] The invention is explained below with reference to a preferred exemplary embodiment, which is illustrated in the drawings.

[0032] FIG. 1 shows a cooler according to the invention with a heat exchanger and a fan, the fan housing of which has a recess for a control and sensor unit.

[0033] FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the fan shown in FIG. 1, wherein a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the medium in the heat exchanger is arranged on the printed circuit board of the control unit.

[0034] FIG. 3 shows a front view of the fan of FIG. 2.

[0035] FIG. 4 shows a section along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3.

[0036] FIG. 5 shows detail A of FIG. 4.

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a cooler 1 with a heat exchanger 2 which has multiple medium channels and air channels separated therefrom. A medium, for example oil, flows in the medium channels. The cooler 1 also has an (axial) fan 3 which generates an air flow through the air channels of the heat exchanger 2. The medium is cooled by heat exchange with the air. The fan 3, also referred to as a ventilator, has a fan housing 4 and a fan wheel 5 with individual fan blades 6. The fan housing 4 has a fan hub 7 in which a motor for rotating the fan wheel 5 is accommodated. Furthermore, the fan housing 4 has a shell 8 surrounding the fan blades 6, a front 9 for covering the fan blades 6 on the side facing away from the heat exchanger 2, and an outer housing 10 with a rectangular outer contour.

[0038] In the embodiment shown, the cooler 1 also has a control unit 11 for controlling the motor. Furthermore, a sensor unit 12 for detecting at least one operating parameter of the heat exchanger 2 and/or of the fan 3 is provided. The sensor unit 12 transmits sensor data to the control unit 11. In the embodiment shown, the control unit 11 has a printed circuit board 13 on which the sensor unit 12 is arranged. The sensor unit 12 has a temperature sensor 14 which is configured to measure the temperature of the medium in one of the medium channels of the heat exchanger 2. Moreover, a second sensor can be provided which is configured to measure the flow velocity of the air along the fan 3 (not shown). Finally, a third sensor can be provided which is arranged to detect an air pressure in the fan housing 4 (not shown). Depending on the sensor data of the sensor unit 12, an operating state of the cooler 1 is set by controlling the motor for the fan wheel 5, in particular by switching the motor on or off or by changing the rotational speed of the fan wheel 5.

[0039] In the embodiment shown, the fan housing 4 has a recess 15 in which the control unit 11 is accommodated together with the sensor unit 12. The recess 15 is delimited by a rear wall 16 (cf. FIG. 5), a bottom wall 17, a ceiling wall 18 and side walls 19 of a compartment of the fan housing 4. The recess 15 for the control unit 11 and the sensor unit 12 is open towards the heat exchanger 2. The rear wall 16, the bottom wall 17, the ceiling wall 18 and the side walls 19 of the compartment of the fan housing 4 are formed integrally, i.e., in one piece, with the shell 8, the fan hub 7, the front 9 and the outer housing 10 of the fan housing 4. The recess 15 is located in an outer corner region of the fan housing 4 between the rectangular outer contour of the outer housing 10 and the cylindrical shell 8 of the fan housing 4.

[0040] For controlling the motor, a control line 20 is provided which connects the control unit 11 in the recess 15 to the motor in the fan hub 7 (cf. FIG. 3). The control line 20 has a first portion along the cylindrical shell 8, a second portion in the axial direction of the fan housing 4 and a third portion in the radial direction of the fan housing 4. Furthermore, the control unit 11 and sensor unit 12 is connected to a power supply cable 21.

[0041] Moreover, the fan 3 has a display 22 on which sensor information, for example the temperature of the medium detected by the temperature sensor 14 is displayed. In the embodiment shown, the display 22 is provided on the rear side of the recess 15, the rear side facing away from the control unit 11.