ENGINE COOLANT THERMOSTAT HOUSING

Abstract

A casted thermostatic housing for an engine coolant system. The housing has a plurality of exterior heat dissipating projections. An interior post for contacting a thermostatic element is circular and preferably tapered. The housing is casted metal and is preferably aluminum.

Claims

1. A casted metallic thermostatic housing for an internal-combustion engine coolant system, the thermostatic housing comprising: a first body portion that has an open interior surrounded by a flange, configured for mounting the first body portion to an existing engine, and dependent thermostatic element holders; a second body portion that overlies the first body portion and defines an interior cavity over the open interior of the first body portion, the second body portion includes a dependent post of a predetermined length that tapers along the predetermined length; a third body portion that is in fluid communication with the second body portion and defines a coolant transport conduit; and a plurality of heat dissipating projections supported on the first body portion.

2. The thermostatic housing of claim 1, wherein there are different sizes of heat dissipating projections among the plurality of heat dissipating projections.

3. The thermostatic housing of claim 1, wherein the plurality of heat dissipating projections are distributed about an external surface of the housing.

4. (canceled)

5. The thermostatic housing of claim 1, wherein the dependent post has a free end and the free end has a recess that receives a stem associated with a thermostatic element.

6. (canceled)

7. The thermostatic housing of claim 1, wherein the dependent post is circular in cross-section.

8. The thermostatic housing of claim 1, wherein the dependent post has a free end and the free end has a recess that receives a stem associated with a thermostatic element.

9. The thermostatic housing of claim 1, wherein the thermostatic housing is casted aluminum.

10. The thermostatic housing of claim 9, wherein the second body portion supports a dependent post that extends toward the first body portion for a predetermined length that terminates in a free end.

11. The thermostatic housing of claim 10, wherein the dependent post is circular and tapers outwardly from the free end to the second body portion.

12. (canceled)

13. A casted metallic housing for assembling a thermostat to an internal combustion engine, the housing comprising: a first body portion configured for supporting a thermostatic element, a second body portion configured for mounting the first body portion on an engine, and a third body portion that is in fluid communication with the second body portion and defines a conduit for transporting coolant to a radiator, wherein the housing includes a plurality of heat dissipating projections and a dependent post with a circular cross-section and a recess for receiving a portions of a thermostatic element.

14. The housing of claim 13 on wherein the least one projection of the plurality of heat dissipating projections is connected to the third body portion.

15. The housing of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of heat dissipating projections extends between the second body portion and the third body portion.

16. A thermostatic housing for an internal-combustion engine coolant system, the thermostatic housing comprising: a first body portion that has an open interior surrounded by a flange configured for mounting the first body portion to an existing engine; a second body portion that overlies the first body portion and supports a tapered post that extends toward the first body portion and includes a free end having a recess for receiving a portion of a thermostatic element; and, a third body portion that is in fluid communication with the second body portion and defines a coolant transport conduit.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The following detailed description will be better understood when read in conjunction with the drawings. In the drawings:

[0012] FIG. 1 is an illustration of a known thermostat housing assembly;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a coolant thermostat housing according to the present invention;

[0014] FIG. 3 is a top view of the coolant thermostat housing in FIG. 2;

[0015] FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective of an assembly of a thermostatic element with the coolant thermostat housing shown in FIG. 2;

[0016] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the coolant thermostat housing of FIG. 2 assembled with a thermostatic element;

[0017] FIG. 6 is a cross-section view illustrating the assembled connection between a thermostatic element and the thermostat housing assembly of FIG. 2; and

[0018] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the taper in the dependent post the housing of FIG. 2, without a thermostatic element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] A detailed description of the inventions will be made to the drawings wherein like reference numerals identify similar structural features or aspects of the subject disclosure.

[0020] A side view of the present housing 100 is shown in FIG. 2. The housing 100 has an outlet 114 that terminates in a lip or flared end 115 that is dimensioned for a hose to connect with a radiator or other cooling feature. This configuration will be known to those skilled in the art. The housing 100 has a base or outer flange 106 configured for assembly with an existing engine. The base 106 has an open interior 107 and opposed dependent grippers 136 configured for holding a thermostatic element 138 beneath the open interior 107. A plurality of cooling fins or heat sinks 120,124, and 128 are spaced about the lower section of housing 100 or generally circular wall 101. Circular wall 101 supports an upper domed portion 102 which is connected to the generally horizontal fluid outlet 114. The circular wall 101, domed portion 102, conduit 114 and a bleeder 110 are all in fluid communication.

[0021] With refence to FIGS. 3 to 5, the bleeder 110 has a threaded end 112 that receives an internal closer 112. The bleeder 110 is supported by the domed portion 102 and is used for purging the internal fluid communications. With reference to FIG. 4, this figure illustrates an assembly of a thermostat and a housing 100 prior to connection with an existing engine. As shown in the section of FIGS. 4 to 7, the thermostatic element 138 is support by the dependent holders 136 so that the upstanding stem 139 from thermostatic element 138 is in contact with the downwardly dependent post 134 in the domed portion 102 of the housing 100. The end of the stem 139 is received within the recess 135 formed at the end of the post 134. The length ‘L” of post 134 is selected according to the specific application so that there is contact between the bottom of post 134 and the top of thermostatic element 138, see FIGS. 5-7.

[0022] The plurality of projections around the circular wall 101 are generally rectangular in shape and extend outwardly from the base 106 up along the circular wall 101. The projections 124 have a greater height than the projections 118, 120 and 128. The projections 130 and 132 on outlet 114 generally have a three side configuration, i.e. 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3, see FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0023] The housing 100 is casted in metal as a single unit and the preferred metal is aluminum. Aluminum is a good heat conductor and is known to surrender heat to the surrounding atmosphere more quickly than other metals.

[0024] The above described and illustrated thermostatic housing is believed to provide superior heat management and thermal cycling.