Exhaust system for a combustion engine of a motor vehicle and motor vehicle

Abstract

An exhaust system for a combustion engine of a motor vehicle comprises a support plate on which at least one exhaust line or at least one exhaust silencer is provided. The support plate is made of a plastic material. A motor vehicle comprises a combustion engine and an exhaust system which is arranged in an underfloor tunnel of the motor vehicle.

Claims

1. An exhaust system for a combustion engine of a motor vehicle, comprising: a support plate on which at least one exhaust line or at least one exhaust silencer is provided; wherein the support plate is made of a plastic material; wherein the exhaust system is formed to be arranged in an underfloor tunnel of the motor vehicle; and wherein at least a portion of the underfloor tunnel, together with the support plate, forms an exhaust system housing, and wherein the underfloor tunnel forms an upper shell of the exhaust system housing and the support plate forms a lower shell of the exhaust system housing.

2. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein the support plate is made of a fiber-reinforced plastic material.

3. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the exhaust silencer and the exhaust line is made at least in portions of a plastic material.

4. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein the at least one exhaust silencer and/or the at least one exhaust line are formed integral, at least in portions, with the support plate.

5. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein the support plate has at least one fastener to fasten the support plate to an underfloor of the motor vehicle.

6. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein the support plate is formed in multiple parts and is segmented along an exhaust flow direction.

7. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein the support plate comprises at least one aeration opening and/or at least one de-aeration opening.

8. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein the support plate has regions of differing rigidity and/or strength.

9. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein the support plate has a service opening.

10. The exhaust system of claim 9 wherein the support plate comprises a sealing flap which is formed to seal the service opening selectively.

11. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein, when mounted, the support plate has a drive-increasing and/or air-resistance-reducing surface on a floor side.

12. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein the support plate is formed as a thermal insulation element that thermally shields the exhaust system from an environment.

13. The exhaust system of claim 3 wherein the plastic material comprises a fiber-reinforced plastic material.

14. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein the support plate is capable of sealing the underfloor tunnel at least in portions on a floor side.

15. The exhaust system of claim 8 wherein the support plate includes a vibration damping region.

16. The exhaust system of claim 12 wherein the thermal insulation element comprises a heat shield.

17. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein the at least one exhaust line or at least one exhaust silencer receives combustion engine exhaust gases generated by the combustion engine.

18. The exhaust system of claim 1 wherein the support plate seals portions of the underfloor tunnel on a floor side.

19. A motor vehicle comprising: a combustion engine; an exhaust system that includes a support plate on which at least one exhaust line or at least one exhaust silencer is provided; wherein the support plate is made of a plastic material; and wherein the exhaust system is arranged in an underfloor tunnel of the motor vehicle, wherein at least a portion of the underfloor tunnel, together with the support plate, forms an exhaust system housing, and wherein the underfloor tunnel forms an upper shell of the exhaust system housing and the support plate forms a lower shell of the exhaust system housing.

20. The motor vehicle of claim 19 wherein the support plate seals the underfloor tunnel at least in portions on a floor side.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Hereinafter, the invention is described with reference to various embodiments, which are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a motor vehicle according to the invention comprising an exhaust system according to the invention,

(3) FIG. 2 shows an exhaust system according to the invention comprising an exhaust silencer (FIG. 2a) and an exhaust system according to the invention comprising an exhaust line (FIG. 2b), each in a sectional drawing,

(4) FIG. 3 shows further exhaust systems according to the invention, an exhaust line (FIG. 3b) and an exhaust silencer (FIG. 3a) being made integral with a support plate, and

(5) FIG. 4 is a plan view of the exhaust systems according to the invention from the preceding drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) FIG. 1 shows a motor vehicle 10 comprising a combustion engine 12 and an exhaust system 16 which is arranged in an underfloor tunnel 14 of the motor vehicle 10.

(7) The exhaust system 16 comprises a support plate 18 on which an exhaust silencer 22 (see FIGS. 2a and 3a) or an exhaust line 20 (see FIGS. 2b and 3b) is provided.

(8) In addition, the support plate 18 seals the underfloor tunnel 14 at least in portions on the floor side.

(9) The underfloor tunnel 14, together with the support plate 18, thus forms an exhaust system housing 23. In this connection, the underfloor tunnel 14 forms an upper shell of the exhaust system housing 23, and the support plate 18 forms a lower shell of the exhaust system housing 23.

(10) In the present case, the support plate 18 is made of a fibre-reinforced plastics material.

(11) When mounted, the support plate 18 further has a drive-increasing and/or air-resistance-reducing surface 24 on the floor side. This reduces the air resistance of the motor vehicle 10, and increases the drive, in other words the contact pressure of the vehicle on a roadway, during travel of the motor vehicle 10.

(12) The support plate 18 further serves as a thermal insulation element. In the embodiment shown, the support plate 18 thermally shields the exhaust system 16 from an environment 26 as a heat shield 25.

(13) For fastening the support plate 18 to the underfloor of the motor vehicle 10, the support plate 18 has fasteners 28 which in the present case are configured as fastening links (see FIG. 4). These are fastened to the underfloor via screws 30 (cf. FIGS. 2 and 3).

(14) To make air exchange possible between the volume delimited by the underfloor tunnel 14 and support plate 18 and the environment 26, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 of the exhaust system 16, two aeration openings 32 and four de-aeration openings 34 are provided.

(15) By way of example, the aeration openings 32 are arranged further forwards in a direction of travel of the motor vehicle 10 than the de-aeration openings 34. The region delimited by the support plate 18 and the underfloor tunnel 14 can thus be flowed through by the headwind.

(16) The support plate 18 also has a service opening 36, which can be sealed selectively by a sealing flap 38. The service opening 36 and the sealing flap 38 make it possible to inspect components of the exhaust system 16 without having to dismount the exhaust system 16 from the motor vehicle 10.

(17) The support plate 18 of the exhaust system 16 according to FIG. 4 additionally has regions of differing rigidity and/or strength. In this context, in particular a region 40 of reduced rigidity is provided, which is configured as a vibration-damping region. It provides oscillation-decoupled mounting of the support plate 18 on the underfloor of the motor vehicle 10.

(18) In addition, the exhaust system 16 of FIG. 4 is formed in multiple parts. In this context, the support plate 18 is segmented into the segments 18a, 18b and 18c along an exhaust flow direction.

(19) In the embodiments of FIG. 3, unlike in the embodiments of FIG. 2, the exhaust line 20 and the exhaust silencer 22 are made integral with the support plate 18. The support plate 18 and the exhaust line 20 or the support plate 18 and the exhaust silencer 22 are thus merely a single component.

(20) In addition, in the embodiments shown, the exhaust silencer 22 and the exhaust line 20 are made of a plastic material. A fiber-reinforced plastic material can also be used at this point.

(21) In the embodiments shown, the exhaust system 16 always has either an exhaust line 20 or an exhaust silencer 22. Naturally, it is also possible to combine these embodiments, resulting in an exhaust system 16 comprising both an exhaust line 20 and an exhaust silencer 22.

(22) Although an embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this disclosure. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this disclosure.