Method of cooling high temperature vehicle coolant

Abstract

A method of rapidly cooling a high temperature vehicle coolant is disclosed. The method includes determining a coolant temperature lowering entry condition by detecting information on the coolant temperature, an engine speed, and a gear state and determining whether the coolant temperature needs to be rapidly lowered on the basis of the detected information; and changing a number of gear stages by adjusting the number of gear stages of a transmission to be reduced to a specific number of gear stages when the coolant temperature needs to be rapidly lowered in the determining of the coolant temperature lowering entry condition, so that the cooling fan is driven by driving the fan belt through a crank damper pulley using the increased engine speed according to the reducing adjustment of the number of gear stages.

Claims

1. A method of rapidly cooling a coolant when a coolant temperature of a vehicle in which a cooling fan is driven using a fan belt exceeds a predetermined temperature value, the method comprising: determining a coolant temperature lowering entry condition (S110) by detecting information on the coolant temperature, an engine speed, and a gear state and determining whether the coolant temperature needs to be rapidly lowered on the basis of the detected information; and changing a number of gear stages (S120) by adjusting the number of gear stages of a transmission to be reduced to a specific number of gear stages when the coolant temperature needs to be rapidly lowered in the determining of the coolant temperature lowering entry condition (S110), so that the cooling fan is driven by driving the fan belt through a crank damper pulley using the increased engine speed according to the reducing adjustment of the number of gear stages.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein in the determining of the coolant temperature lowering entry condition (S110), when the detected coolant temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature, the engine speed is higher than a predetermined RPM, the gear state is set to a stage D, and the vehicle is driven in a driver pattern that meets a predetermined pattern mode switch-on condition, the coolant temperature lowering entry condition is determined to be met.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination step (S110) is performed by detecting a vehicle outside temperature and determining that the coolant temperature lowering entry condition is met only when the vehicle outside temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the changing of the number of gear stages (S120) comprises calculating a number of gear stages to be reduced from the current number of gear stages on the basis of the detected coolant temperature information and engine speed information (S121).

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the number of gear stages to be reduced in the calculating of the number of gear stages to be reduced (S121) is selected by a predetermined number of gear stages in a map in which the coolant temperature value is set to an X axis and the engine rotation speed value is set to a Y axis.

6. The method of claim 5, after the changing of the number of gear stages (S120), further comprising: restoring the number of gear stages to a state before the changing when the engine speed exceeds a predetermined critical revolutions per minute (RPM).

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the changing of the number of gear stages (S120) comprises: calculating a time to be maintained in a state of the number of gear stage to be reduced, on the basis of the detected coolant temperature information and information on the number of gear stages to be reduced (S122).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the time to be maintained in the calculating of the time to be maintained (S122) is selected by a predetermined time value in a map in which a coolant temperature value when entering coolant temperature lowering is set to an X axis and the number of gear stages to be changed is set to a Y axis.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the number of gear stages to be reduced in the calculating the number of gear stages to be reduced (S121) is selected by a predetermined number of gear stages in a map where an outdoor temperature value is set to an X axis and an engine speed value is set to a Y axis.

10. The method of claim 1, after the changing of the number of gear stages (S120), further comprising: restoring the number of gear stages to a state before the changing (S130), when the coolant temperature is equal to or less than a predetermined reference temperature.

11. The method of claim 1, after the changing of the number of gear stages (S120), further comprising: restoring the number of gear stages to a state before the changing, when the engine speed exceeds a predetermined critical revolutions per minute (RPM).

12. The method of claim 1, wherein an air intake amount is changed by adjusting a pitch angle of an air intake blade according to a vehicle speed and a vehicle outside temperature.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above and other objectives, features, and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a cooling fan mounted on a vehicle and a flow of a cooling fluid according to the related art;

(3) FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system for cooling a high temperature vehicle coolant according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

(4) FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of cooling a high temperature vehicle coolant according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

(5) FIG. 4 is a map in which the number of gear stages to be reduced may be calculated in a gear stage number-calculation step, in which a coolant temperature value is set to an X axis and an engine rotation speed value is set to a Y axis;

(6) FIG. 5 is a map in which a time to be maintained in the maintenance time calculation step may be selected, in which a coolant temperature value when entering the coolant temperature lowering is set to an X axis and the number of gear stages to be changed is set to a Y axis;

(7) FIG. 6 is a map in which the number of gear stages to be reduced may be selected in the gear stage number-calculation step, in which an outdoor temperature value is set to an X axis and an engine rotation speed value is set to a Y axis;

(8) FIG. 7 is a graph showing a general state change of an engine revolutions per minute (RPM) and a general state change of a coolant temperature when the number of gear stages is changed;

(9) FIG. 8 is a graph showing a process of calculating the number of gear stages to be reduced using a method of cooling a high temperature vehicle coolant according to the present embodiment; and

(10) FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a case in which the engine rotation speed exceeds a predetermined RPM value in a process of calculating the number of gear stages to be reduced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(11) Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

(12) In describing the present disclosure, terms used in the following specification are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(13) In addition, it is to be understood that terms such as “include” or “have” in the present specification are intended to designate the existence of features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, but not to preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features or numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

(14) In addition, terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. These terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component.

(15) In addition, terms such as “ . . . part”, “ . . . unit”, and “ . . . module” described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, and the unit may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

(16) In the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same drawing reference numerals are assigned to the same elements, and duplicate descriptions of the same elements will be omitted. In addition, in describing the present disclosure, when it is determined that a detailed description of a related known technology may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present disclosure, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

(17) FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system 100 for cooling a high temperature vehicle coolant according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method S100 of cooling a high temperature vehicle coolant according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

(18) Referring to these drawings, the system 100 for cooling a high temperature vehicle coolant according to the present embodiment is configured to include a vehicle information detection unit 110, a coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination unit 120, and a gear stage number change unit 130. In some cases, as shown in FIG. 2, an intake blade pitch angle variable device 140 may be further included.

(19) Specifically, the vehicle information detection unit 110 according to the present embodiment plays a role of detecting coolant temperature information, engine speed information, and gear state information, and then transmitting the detected state information to the coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination unit 120.

(20) The coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination unit 120 determine whether the coolant temperature needs to be rapidly lowered on the basis of the state information detected through the vehicle information detection unit 110.

(21) Specifically, the coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination unit 120 determines that the coolant temperature lowering entry condition is met when the detected coolant temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature, the engine speed is higher than a predetermined RPM, the gear state is set to the stage D, and a vehicle is driven in a driver pattern that meets a predetermined pattern mode switch On condition.

(22) In some cases, the coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination unit 120 may detect a vehicle outside temperature and determine that the coolant temperature lowering entry condition is met when the vehicle outside temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature.

(23) In addition, when it is necessary to rapidly lower the temperature of the coolant in the coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination step S110, the gear stage number change unit 130 adjusts the number of gear stages of the transmission to be reduced to a specific number of gear stages, so that the cooling fan is driven by driving the fan belt through the crank damper pulley using the increased engine speed according to the reducing adjustment of the number of gear stages.

(24) The intake blade pitch angle variable device 140 according to the present embodiment may change an air intake amount by adjusting a pitch angle of an air intake blade according to the vehicle speed and the vehicle outside temperature.

(25) The intake blade pitch angle variable device 140 is configured to be mounted at a position where a central axis of each blade constituting the intake blade is bound to the rotor to rotate the central axis of the blade by a predetermined angle in one direction, thereby changing a pitch angle of the blade. Herein, a link structure, an actuator, and a combination of a link structure and an actuator may be adopted, as a configuration for rotating the central axis of the blade by a predetermined angle, but the structure is not limited thereto.

(26) Hereinafter, a method S100 of rapidly cooling a vehicle coolant by using the system 100 for cooling the high temperature vehicle coolant according to the present disclosure will be described.

(27) The method S100 of cooling a high temperature vehicle coolant according to the present embodiment includes a coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination step S110 and a gear stage number changing step S120.

(28) Specifically, the coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination step S110 includes detecting vehicle information and determining whether the temperature of the coolant should be rapidly lowered on the basis of the detected vehicle information.

(29) Vehicle information including current vehicle coolant temperature information, engine speed information, gear state information, driver pattern mode information, and outside temperature information is detection information used in the coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination step S110. When the detected coolant temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature, the engine speed is higher than a predetermined revolutions per minute (RPM), and the gear state is set to the stage D, it is determined that the coolant temperature lowering entry condition is met. In addition, the pattern mode to use is set, and herein, as illustrated in FIG. 3, when the pattern mode switch is in an On state, it may be determined that the coolant temperature lowering entry condition is met.

(30) More preferably, after a vehicle outside temperature is further detected, it may be determined that the coolant temperature lowering entry condition is met only when the vehicle outside temperature is higher than a predetermined reference temperature. Meanwhile, when the vehicle outside temperature is less than a predetermined reference temperature, it is determined that the cooling effect may be exhibited only by an current operating state of a cooling system of the vehicle so that the coolant temperature lowering entry condition is not met.

(31) Meanwhile, when it is determined to rapidly lower the temperature of the coolant in the coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination step S110, the number of gear stages of the transmission is adjusted to be reduced to a specific number of gear stages and the cooling fan may be driven by driving the fan belt through the crank damper pulley using the increased engine speed according to the reducing adjustment of the number of gear stages, in the gear stage number changing step S120.

(32) Specifically, the gear stage number changing step S120 is configured to include a gear stage number-calculation step S121 and a maintaining time calculation step S122, as shown in FIG. 3.

(33) In the gear stage number-calculation step S121, the number of gear stages to be reduced from the current number of gear stages is calculated on the basis of the detected coolant temperature information and engine speed information. Herein, the number of gear stages to be reduced in the gear stage number-calculation step S121 may be selected by a predetermined number of gear stages in a map in which a coolant temperature value is set to an X axis and an engine speed value is set to a Y axis, as shown in FIG. 4.

(34) In addition, when the outside temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature value, the cooling efficiency of the fan belt may be reduced, so that the number of gear stages to be reduced may be further added using a map shown in FIG. 6. Specifically, the map shown in FIG. 6 is a map in which an outdoor temperature value is set to an X axis and an engine rotation speed value is set to a Y axis. Finally, the number of gear stages to be changed is calculated by adding a value selected through the map shown in FIG. 6 to the number of the gear stages selected through the map shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 8 shows a map according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 8, when the number of gear stages needs to be reduced in a situation where the current number of gear stages is seven, the number of gear stages to be reduced is selected using the map, and finally the number of gear stages to be reduced is calculated using an offset map. Specifically, the number of gear stages to be reduced is selected using the coolant temperature value and the engine rotation speed value ((b) of FIG. 8). Hereinafter, the number of gear stages to be further reduced is selected using the outside temperature value and the engine rotation speed value, and finally the number of gear stages to be reduced is calculated ((c) of FIG. 8).

(35) Herein, after the gear stage number changing step S120, when the engine speed exceeds a predetermined critical revolutions per minute (RPM), it is desirable to restore the number of gear stages to a state before the changing. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, when an RPM value at the reduced number of gear stages is higher than a predetermined RPM value, the transmission is restored to the original gear stage through a logic release.

(36) In the maintaining time calculation step S122, an amount of time for which the number of gear stages to be reduced should be maintained may be calculated on the basis of information on the detected coolant temperature and the number of gear stages to be reduced. Herein, in the maintaining time calculation step S122, the time to be maintained may be selected by a predetermined time value in a map in which the coolant temperature value when entering the coolant temperature lowering is set to an X axis and the number of gear stages to be changed is set to a Y axis, as shown in FIG. 5.

(37) In some cases, the method S100 of cooling a high temperature vehicle coolant according to this embodiment may change an air intake amount by adjusting a pitch angle of an air intake blade according to the vehicle speed and vehicle outside temperature by using the intake blade pitch angle variable device 140 of the system 100 for cooling a high temperature vehicle coolant.

(38) FIG. 7 is a graph showing a general state change of an engine revolutions per minute (RPM) and a general state change of a coolant temperature when the number of gear stages is changed.

(39) As shown in FIG. 7, when the number of gear stages of the transmission is adjusted to be reduced to a specific number of gear stages through the gear stage number changing step S120, the engine speed (RPM) increases according to the reducing adjustment of the number of gear stages. Herein, the cooling fan may be driven by driving the fan belt more quickly through the crank damper pulley using the increased engine speed, and as a result, it may be seen that the coolant temperature decreases. Actual measured data shown in the graph shown in FIG. 7 represents general changes in engine revolutions per minute and coolant temperature. When the same aspect as the graph is shown even though it is not the exactly same as the actual measured data in FIG. 7, the technical features of the present disclosure can be applied.

(40) The method S100 of cooling a high temperature vehicle coolant according to the present embodiment includes a gear stage restoring step S130 of restoring the number of gear stages to the state before the change is performed when the temperature of the coolant is less than or equal to a predetermined reference temperature, after the gear number changing step S120 is performed, as shown in FIG. 3.

(41) As mentioned above, in the case of a vehicle according to the related art, when the coolant is maintained at a high temperature, the cooling fan operation and the cluster display are output. However, there is a limit to a control method for cooling efficiency improvement.

(42) According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, since the coolant temperature lowering entry condition determination step, the gear stage number changing step, the reduced stage number calculation step, the maintaining time calculation step, and the gear stage restoring step are included, when the coolant temperature of the vehicle in which the cooling fan is driven using the fan belt exceeds the predetermined temperature value, the coolant temperature can be cooled rapidly, thereby maximizing the cooling efficiency. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a method and system for cooling a coolant, the method and system being configured to be capable of mitigating damage to the engine to secure the operability of the engine and prevent failures, such as thermal deformation, occurring at a high temperature in advance to secure an effective life.

(43) In the above detailed description of the present disclosure, only specific embodiments according thereto have been described. However, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the special form mentioned in the detailed description, but to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.