ELECTRIC-MOTOR RADIATOR FAN OF A MOTOR VEHICLE

Abstract

An electric-motor radiator fan of a motor vehicle has a fan shroud with a motor holder. An electric motor is inserted in the motor holder. A heat shield plate is arranged on the end side of the electric motor. The heat shield plate is placed onto a projection of the motor holder by way of a cut-out, and the heat shield plate is pivoted around the projection, which forms an axis of rotation, in such a way that the heat shield plate is forced at least in sections into at least one holding contour of the motor holder in a positive locking and/or friction-locking manner.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. An electric-motor radiator fan of a motor vehicle, the radiator fan comprising: a fan shroud with a motor holder, said motor holder being formed with at least one holding contour and with a projection; an electric motor inserted in said motor holder; and a heat protection plate arranged on an end side of said electric motor; said heat protection plate being formed with a cutout for placement on said projection of said motor holder; and said heat protection plate, with said projection in said cutout, being pivotable about an axis of rotation defined by said projection, to rotate said heat protection plate, at least in certain portions thereof, into said at least one holding contour of said motor holder with at least one of a form-fit or a force-fit.

12. The radiator fan according to claim 11, wherein said at least one of a form-fit or force-fit is a bayonet connection.

13. The radiator fan according to claim 11, wherein said heat protection plate is mechanically prestressed upon being rotated into said holding contour.

14. The radiator fan according to claim 11, wherein, after having been rotated into said holding contour, said heat protection plate is force-fittingly fixed on said motor support by a single screw connection.

15. The radiator fan according to claim 11, wherein said at least one holding contour is configured as a hook and is arranged on said motor support in a tangential orientation.

16. The radiator fan according to claim 11, wherein said at least one holding contour is formed with a ramp guide, and said ramp guide is configured such that, when said heat protection plate is rotated into said at least one holding contour, said heat protection plate slides, at least in certain portions, axially on said ramp guide to produce inner mechanical prestressing.

17. The radiator fan according to claim 11, wherein said heat protection plate is formed with at least one radially directed and axially angled lug.

18. The radiator fan according to claim 17, wherein said at least one lug has a radially projecting lug extension which, upon a rotation of said heat protection plate, said lug extension is rotated into said holding contour.

19. The radiator fan according to claim 17, wherein: said at least one lug is one of three circumferentially distributed lugs on said heat protection plate; a first lug of said three lugs is formed with said cutout; a second lug of said three lugs is formed with a screw opening for guiding through a fastening screw; and a third lug of said three lugs has a radial lug extension.

20. A heat protection plate for the radiator fan according to claim 11, wherein the heat protection plate: is formed with a cutout to be placed on a projection of a motor holder; and with said projection being inserted in said cutout rendering the heat protection plate pivotable about an axis of rotation defined by the projection to rotate at least a given portion of the heat protection plate into at least one holding contour of the motor holder and engaging there with a form-fit and/or a force-fit.

Description

[0040] The invention is explained in more detail below by way of a drawing, in which:

[0041] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a detail of a radiator fan with a view of a heat protection plate fastened to a motor holder,

[0042] FIG. 2 is an exploded illustration showing the motor holder and the heat protection plate,

[0043] FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the radiator fan when mounting the heat protection plate, and

[0044] FIG. 4 is a perspective illustration showing a detail of a lug of the heat protection plate and a holding contour of the motor holder.

[0045] Mutually corresponding parts and sizes are always provided with the same reference signs in all of the figures.

[0046] FIG. 1 shows a detail of an electric-motor radiator fan 2 of a motor vehicle (not shown more specifically). The radiator fan 2 has a fan shroud 4 (FIG. 2) with a central cutout in which an electric motor 6 (FIG. 3) is centrally supported by means of an annular motor holder 8 (motor ring).

[0047] The motor holder 8 is held in the cutout by means of six struts 10 arranged in a circumferentially distributed manner. The struts 10 are provided with reference signs in the figures only by way of example. The motor holder 8 and the struts 10 and also the fan shroud 4 are preferably configured integrally, that is to say in one piece or monolithically, for example as a common injection-molded part.

[0048] The electric motor 6 is— as can be seen for example in FIG. 3—mechanically fixedly joined to the motor holder 8 by means of three circumferentially distributed fastening screws 12. As heat protection of the electric motor 6 there is provided a heat protection plate 14 as heat shield in the form of a cover or hood that is arranged on an end side 16 of the electric motor 6.

[0049] The heat protection plate 14 has an approximately circular shape which substantially completely conceals the end side 16. The heat protection plate 14 is configured, for example, as a stamped and bent metal part. The heat protection plate 14 has, as can be seen in particular in FIG. 2, a cambering or curvature approximately in the form of an impeller wheel, that is to say a deformation or depression 18a, 18b, for improving the stability, which is drawn in axially in the direction of the electric motor 6. Here, the cambering has a central circular depression 18a and three approximately wing-shaped, elongate depressions 18b which are arranged in a circumferentially distributed manner around said depression along the tangential direction.

[0050] A lug 20a, 20b, 20c of the heat protection plate 14 is in each case integrally formed between the depressions 18b. The lugs 20a, 20b, 20c have a step-shaped shoulder or offset along the axial direction A in the direction of the electric motor 6. In other words, the lugs 20a, 20b, 20c are bent out of the plane of the heat protection plate 14 so as to be axially angled toward the electric motor 6, with the result that the lugs 20a, 20b, 20c project from the heat protection plate 14 axially in the direction of the electric motor 6. The lugs 20a, 20b, 20c are arranged uniformly distributed on the heat protection plate 14 along the circumference or the tangential direction and thus have approximately a 120° angular offset from one another.

[0051] Here, the lug 20a has a circular cutout 22 and a radially projecting lug extension 24 on the free end side. The lug 20b is provided with a circular screw opening 26. The lug 20c has— in a similar manner to the lug 20a— a radially projecting lug extension 24 on its free end.

[0052] The motor holder 8 has an axially projecting projection 28 in the region of the lug 20a. The approximately dome-shaped or stud-shaped or pin-shaped projection 28 tapers with a bevel on its free end side or is configured to be approximately conical or frustoconical. The projection 28 is integrally formed on the motor support 8. The motor holder 8 further has, in the region of the lug 20b, a threaded bore 30 into which a fastening screw (not shown more specifically) can be axially screwed. In the region of the lugs 20a and 20c, furthermore, two hook-shaped holding contours 32 are integrally formed on the motor holder 8. As can be seen in particular in FIG. 3, the hook contours 32 here radially project on an outer circumference of the motor holder 8.

[0053] The mounting and fastening of the heat protection plate 14 on the motor holder 8 is explained in more detail below with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4.

[0054] To fasten or mount the heat protection plate 14 on the motor holder 8, the heat protection plate 14 is— as shown in FIG. 2—placed onto the motor holder 8 along the axial direction A. Here, the lug 20a is placed or plugged with the cutout 22 onto the axial projection 28 of the motor holder 8.

[0055] The heat protection plate 14 is then, as shown in FIG. 3, pivoted about the projection 28, which acts as a pivot point or as an axis of rotation, along a screwing-in direction or pivoting direction B. As a result of the pivoting movement, the heat protection plate 14 is moved in a covering manner over the ring opening of the motor holder 8 or over the end side 16 of the electric motor 6. The pivoting or rotational movement causes the lugs 20a and 20c or their respective radial lug extensions 24 to be screwed into the holding contours 32 of the motor holder 8 in the manner of a bayonet connection and to be held by them in a form-fitting and/or force-fitting manner.

[0056] In the screwed-in state of the heat protection plate 14 that is shown in FIG. 1, the screw opening 26 of the lug 20b is arranged axially in alignment with the threaded bore 30 of the motor holder 8 such that the heat protection plate 14 can be screw-fastened axially to the motor holder 8. In the mounted state, the heat protection plate 14 is here fixed axially to the motor holder 8 in a force-fitting manner by means of a fastening screw (not shown more specifically).

[0057] When screwing the lug extensions 24 into the holding contours 32, the heat protection plate 14 is mechanically braced such that, in the screwed-in state, inner mechanical prestressing is imparted to the heat protection plate 14. For this purpose, the holding contours 32 have— as shown in FIG. 4 — an axially inclined ramp guide 34 which runs along the tangential direction and on which the lug extensions 24 slide in the course of being screwed in or pivoted.

[0058] The ramp guide 34 is formed as an axial slope, that is to say as a surface inclined at an angle with respect to the axial direction A, of the holding contour 32. Here, the ramp guide A has, with respect to the heat protection plate 14, a downward axial profile, that is to say oriented away therefrom or toward the electric motor 6.

[0059] During screwing in, the heat protection plate 14 is the lug extensions 24 are guided along on the ramp guides 34, and thus moved axially in the direction of the electric motor 6. Consequently, the heat protection plate 14 is axially braced in certain portions, as a result of which the mechanical prestressing is imparted. Here, the heat protection plate 14 expediently has at least a certain degree of bending flexibility such that the heat protection plate 14 is held clamped or jammed by the ramp guide 34 when screwing into the holding contours 32.

[0060] As a result of the prestressing, the lug extensions 24, and hence the heat protection plate 14, are held in the holding contours 32 in a force-fitting manner. Furthermore, the approximately hook-shaped geometry of the holding contours 32 produces a form fit along the tangential direction and along the axial direction A.

[0061] The invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiments described above. Rather, other variants of the invention may also be derived therefrom by a person skilled in the art without departing from the subject matter of the invention. In particular, furthermore, all of the individual features described in connection with the exemplary embodiments may also be combined with one another in some other way without departing from the subject matter of the invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0062] 2 Radiator fan [0063] 4 Fan shroud [0064] 6 Electric motor [0065] 8 Motor holder [0066] 10 Strut [0067] 12 Fastening screw [0068] 14 Heat protection plate [0069] 16 End side [0070] 18a, 18b Depression [0071] 20a, 20b, 20c Lug [0072] 22 Cutout [0073] 24 Lug extension [0074] 26 Screw opening [0075] 28 Projection [0076] 30 Threaded bore [0077] 32 Holding contour [0078] 34 Ramp guide [0079] A Axial direction [0080] B Pivoting direction