Method for checking the leak tightness of a combustion engine having an exhaust gas turbocharger, and exhaust gas turbocharger

Abstract

An exhaust gas turbocharger includes a housing having an exhaust gas inlet and an exhaust gas outlet. The exhaust gas turbocharger also has a turbine wheel rotatably mounted in the housing. The exhaust gas turbocharger includes a shut-off device that can adopt both an open and a closed state, a fluid connection existing in the open state and allowing exhaust gas which enters via the exhaust gas inlet to flow to the exhaust gas outlet, bypassing the turbine wheel. When the housing is supplied with compressed air, the exhaust gas turbocharger is at least substantially airtight.

Claims

1. A method for testing leak-tightness of an internal combustion engine before initial commencement of operation, the internal combustion engine being equipped with an exhaust-gas turbocharger, the method comprising the acts of: sealing off an exhaust tract of the internal combustion engine at a location upstream of the exhaust-gas turbocharger; placing a seal inside of a housing of the exhaust-gas turbocharger, at an actuator of the exhaust-gas turbocharger such that no air can escape from the housing into surroundings of the actuator; generating a positive pressure in the exhaust-gas turbocharger; and comparing an occurring pressure loss or leakage volume flow with a predefined pressure loss or leakage volume flow, wherein the seal is configured to: i) remain in place during the testing leak-tightness of the internal combustion engine before initial commencement of operation of the internal combustion engine, and ii) be burned-off during the operation of the internal combustion engine.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predefined pressure loss or the leakage volume flow defines an acceptable amount of pressure loss or leakage volume flow for the leak-tightness of the internal combustion engine.

3. An exhaust-gas turbocharger, comprising: a housing of the exhaust-gas turbocharger, the housing having an exhaust-gas inlet and an exhaust-gas outlet; a turbine wheel mounted rotatably in the housing; and a wastegate configured to adopt both an open and a closed state, wherein in the open state a fluid connection exists via which exhaust gas passing from the exhaust-gas inlet can flow to the exhaust-gas outlet while bypassing the turbine wheel; and wherein a sealing device is placed inside the housing when the housing is charged with compressed air, wherein the sealing device is configured to: i) remain in place during testing a leaktightness of the exhaust-gas turbocharger before initial commencement of operation of the exhaust-gas turbocharger, and ii) be burned off during the operation of the exhaust-gas turbocharger.

4. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 3, wherein the exhaust-gas turbocharger is sealed with respect to an exterior of the housing of the exhaust gas turbocharger when the housing is charged with compressed air.

5. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 3, wherein the wastegate comprises an actuator, at least one component of the actuator is arranged within the housing and at least one component is arranged outside the housing, and the sealing device is provided on the actuation device, the sealing device being configured to seal off in an air-tight manner an interior of the housing with respect to an exterior of the housing.

6. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 5, wherein the wastegate comprises a wastegate valve or wastegate flap that is actuatable via actuation of the actuator that extends through an opening providing in the housing.

7. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 6, wherein the sealing device bears against the acutation element and against at least one of the housing, and a bearing element fixedly connected to the housing.

8. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 7, wherein the bearing element is formed by a bushing fixedly connected to the housing.

9. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 7, wherein the bearing element is pressed into the housing.

10. The exahust-gas turbocharger according to claim 8, wherein the bearing element is pressed into the housing.

11. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 7, wherein the bearing element and the acutation element each have an encircling groove depression, and the sealing device is inserted into the groove depressions.

12. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 7, wherein the bearing element and the actuation element are spaced apart from one another by a gap width, and the gap width forms a groove depression wherein the sealing device is inserted into the groove depression formed by the gap width.

13. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 7, wherein the sealing device is arranged between an outer circumference of the at least one component of the actuator arranged outside the housing and an inner circumference of a passage opening provided on the bearing element.

14. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 5, wherein the sealing device has an annular seal.

15. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 14, wherein the annular seal is an O-ring seal.

16. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 7, wherein the sealing device is arranged on or between a face side of the actuation element and the housing, or on or between a face side of a radially protruding shoulder of the actuation element and a face side of a bearing element fixedly connected to the housing, wherein the sealing device comprises a sealing foil, an O-ring seal, or an elastomer disc.

17. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 16, wherein the actuation element is braced via a clamping element such that the shoulder of the actuation element is pressed against the sealing device.

18. The exhaust-gas turbocharger according to claim 5, wherein the sealing device comprises a seal provided on a new, unused, exhaust-gas turbocharger, the seal being configured to be burned-off due to high temperatures of the exhaust-gas.

19. A method for texting leak-tightness of an internal combustion engine before initial commencement of operation, the internal combustion engine being equipped with an exhaust-gas turbocharger, the method comprising the acts of: sealing off an exhaust tract of the internal combustion engine at a location upstream of the exhaust-gas turbocharger; placing a seal inside of a housing of the exhaust-gas turbocharger, in an area of the housing that is adjacent to a wastegate valve, such that no air can escape from the housing into the surroudings, the area of the housing being an area in which the seal is exposed to exhaust gas generated by the internal combusion engine during operation thereof; generating a positive pressure in the exhaust-gas turbocharger; and comparing an occurring pressure loss or leakage volume flow with a predefined pressure loss or leakage volume flow, wherein the seal is configured to: i) remain in place during the testing leak-tightness of the internal combustion engine before initial commencement of operation of the internal combustion engine, and ii) be burned-off during the operation of the internal combustion engine.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of an exhaust-gas turbocharger according to an embodiment of the invention in the region of the wastegate; and

(2) FIG. 2 shows a section through an exhaust-gas turbocharger in the region of the pivot spindle of the wastegate flap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(3) FIG. 1 shows, in a perspective illustration, a subsection of an exhaust-gas turbocharger 1 which has a housing 2. A turbine wheel (not shown here) is arranged in a subregion 2a of the housing 2. The turbine wheel is arranged on a common axis with a compressor wheel (not illustrated).

(4) Hot exhaust gas passing from the internal combustion engine (not illustrated) flows through and drives the turbine wheel. In order to prevent a situation in which the turbine wheel exceeds a predefined rotational speed limit in the presence of high engine speeds of the internal combustion engine, a bypass valve, also referred to as wastegate valve 3, is provided.

(5) The wastegate valve 3 has a pivotably arranged flap 4. In FIG. 1, the wastegate valve 3 is closed. The wastegate valve 3 is opened by virtue of the flap 4 being pivoted. When the wastegate valve 3 is open, a partial volume flow of the hot exhaust gas passing from the internal combustion engine can be conducted directly into the exhaust system (not illustrated) of the vehicle, bypassing the turbine wheel.

(6) The flap 4 of the wastegate 3 is fastened to a flap holder 5. The flap holder 5, in turn, has a pivot spindle 13 (cf. FIG. 2) which extends out of the housing through a bearing bushing 6 which is inserted into the housing 2. The bearing bushing 6 may, for example, be pressed into a corresponding passage bore of the housing 2.

(7) On a section of the pivot axis which projects out of the housing 2, there is arranged a lever 7 which is connected via a linkage 8 to an actuator 9 (for example, an electric positioning motor). By displacement of a positioning member 10 of the actuator 9 in the longitudinal direction 11 of the positioning member 10, the pivot spindle and the flap holder 5 fastened thereto, and the flap 4, which is fastened to said flap holder, of the wastegate, can be pivoted between the closed position shown in FIG. 1 and an open position.

(8) In the case of conventional exhaust-gas turbochargers, the pivot spindle 13 has a certain degree of play with respect to the bearing bushing 6. In the event of a leak-tightness test in which the interior of the housing 2 of the exhaust-gas turbocharger 1 is charged with compressed air, a certain leakage air flow can escape from the housing via said play, which is undesirable, because this impairs the measurement result of the leak-tightness test.

(9) To prevent this, the flap holder 5 or the spindle 13 is sealed off as far as possible, or approximately, in an air-tight (if possible absolutely air-tight) fashion with respect to the bearing bushing 6 or with respect to the housing 2. For this purpose, a seal may be clamped between a face side 6a of the bearing bushing 6 and a face side or a shoulder 5a of the flap holder 5 or a shoulder of the pivot spindle.

(10) The seal may, for example, be a sealing foil. As an alternative to this, it would also be possible for an O-ring, an elastomer disk (for example, a rubber disk) to be provided as a seal. To apply an adequate clamping force, it is for example possible for a clamping element, for example a wedge, a clamping clip or the like to be fitted between the lever 7 and a face side, projecting out of the housing 2, of the bearing bushing 6.

(11) Alternatively or in addition to this, an O-ring 12 may be arranged in the region of the face side 6a of the bearing bushing 6 and the face side 5a of the flap holder 5 or of the pivot spindle, which O-ring is intended to prevent, or substantially prevents, an escape of compressed air during the leak-tightness test.

(12) To ensure a defined seat of the O-ring, an encircling groove-like depression or the like may be provided on the shoulder 5a and/or on the shoulder 6a in the region of contact between the shoulder 5a and the shoulder 6a, into which depression the O-ring is engaged.

(13) FIG. 2 shows a cross section through an exhaust-gas turbocharger in the region of the pivot spindle already mentioned above, which is visible and denoted by the reference sign 13 in the sectional illustration shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively to the O-ring 12 already shown in FIG. 1, or in addition thereto, an O-ring 12a may be inserted between an outer circumference of the pivot spindle 13 and an inner circumference of the bearing bushing 6, the latter O-ring sealing off the pivot spindle 13 with respect to the bearing bushing 6 or the housing 2 in air-tight fashion.

(14) The seals 12 and 12a may be designed so as to be burned off during the operation of the exhaust-gas turbocharger owing to the high temperatures prevailing there. The seals 12 and 12a are not required for the function of the exhaust-gas turbocharger itself, but merely ensure, during the leak-tightness test, that is to say before the initial commencement of operation of the exhaust-gas turbocharger 1, that no leakage air flow can escape into the surroundings between the pivot spindle 13 and the bearing bushing 6 or the housing 2.

(15) The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.