Control plate for cooling circuit

Abstract

Provided is a temperature management medium distributor for an internal combustion engine. The temperature management medium distributor comprises first connection openings for at least one engine temperature management circuit for temperature management of the internal combustion engine, at least one lubrication temperature management circuit for temperature management of a lubricant of the internal combustion engine, and at least one further medium circuit for removing from or supplying thermal energy to the internal combustion engine. The temperature management medium distributor also comprises second connection openings for heat exchangers. Using the heat exchangers, heat can be exchanged in a pairwise manner between each of the at least one engine temperature management circuit, the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit and the at least one further medium circuit. Also, channel sections are provided to produce fluid connections between the first connection openings and the second connection openings.

Claims

1. A temperature management medium distributor for an internal combustion engine comprising: first connection openings for at least one engine temperature management circuit for temperature management of the internal combustion engine; at least one lubrication temperature management circuit for temperature management of a lubricant of the internal combustion engine; at least one further medium circuit for removing from or supplying thermal energy to the internal combustion engine; second connection openings for heat exchangers, with the heat exchangers heat can be exchanged in a pairwise manner between each of the at least one engine temperature management circuit, the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit, and the at least one further medium circuit; and channel sections to produce fluid connections between the first connection openings and the second connection openings; wherein a first group of the channel sections is provided for the at least one further medium circuit, which, if the heat exchangers are connected, leads a flow of the at least one further medium circuit at first to a heat exchange with the at least one engine temperature management circuit and then to a heat exchange with the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit, and a second group of the channel sections is provided for the at least one further medium circuit, which, if the heat exchangers are connected, leads the flow of the at least one further medium circuit at first to a heat exchange with the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit and then to a heat exchange with the at least one engine temperature management circuit.

2. A temperature management medium distributor for an internal combustion engine comprising: first connection openings for at least one engine temperature management circuit for temperature management of the internal combustion engine; at least one lubrication temperature management circuit for temperature management of a lubricant of the internal combustion engine; at least two further medium circuits for removing from or supplying thermal energy to the internal combustion engine; second connection openings for heat exchangers, with the heat exchangers heat can be exchanged in a pairwise manner between each of the at least one engine temperature management circuit, the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit, and the at least two further medium circuits; and channel sections to produce fluid connections between the first connection openings and the second connection openings; wherein a first group of the channel sections is provided for at least one of the at least two further medium circuits, which, if the heat exchangers are connected, leads a flow of at least one of the at least two further medium circuits at first to a heat exchange with the at least one engine temperature management circuit and then to a heat exchange with the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit, a second group of the channel sections is provided for at least one of the at least two further medium circuits, which, if the heat exchangers are connected, leads the flow of at least one of the at least two further medium circuits at first to a heat exchange with the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit and then to a heat exchange with the at least one engine temperature management circuit, and a third group and a fourth group of the channel sections are provided for at least one first and at least one second of the at least two further medium circuits, which, if the heat exchangers are connected, leads the flows of the at least one first and at least one second of the at least two further medium circuits in parallel to the heat exchanges with the at least one engine temperature management circuit and the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit.

3. The temperature management medium distributor for the internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the first and the second group of channel sections have common channel sections.

4. The temperature management medium distributor for the internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 2, wherein at least two of the first, the second, the third and the fourth group of channel sections have common channel sections.

5. The temperature management medium distributor for the internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the temperature management medium distributor is formed in one piece or formed out of a set of components.

6. The temperature management medium distributor for the internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the channel sections are configured as cavities.

7. The temperature management medium distributor for the internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the temperature management medium distributor comprises a first manifold and a second manifold each comprising a plurality of channel sections, wherein the channel sections of the first manifold and the channel sections of the second manifold can be connected to form a fluid connection through an interface.

8. The temperature management medium distributor for the internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 7, wherein a baffle plate can be inserted at the interface, by which baffle plate at least one of the fluid connections between the channel sections of the first manifold and the second manifold can be blocked or at least partially be connected.

9. The temperature management medium distributor for the internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow through the channel sections can be defined by plugs attached to individual connection openings and/or attached at channel sections between individual connection openings.

10. The temperature management medium distributor for the internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the temperature management medium distributor is designed by at least two separate parts.

11. The temperature management medium distributor for the internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 10, wherein the at least two separate parts have at least one flange side, which comprises flange openings to the channel sections, wherein the at least two separate parts can be connected with each other at the at least one flange side.

12. The temperature management medium distributor for the internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 11, wherein the channel sections at least partially merge into one another at the flange side.

13. The temperature management medium distributor for the internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 10, wherein a baffle plate is provided between the at least two separate parts-by which one or more flange openings of the channel sections can be blocked or at least partially be connected.

14. An internal combustion engine comprising: a temperature management medium distributor as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the first connection openings are connected with at least one engine temperature management circuit, with at least one lubrication temperature management circuit and with at least one further medium circuit and wherein the second connection openings are connected to heat exchangers.

15. A method for manufacturing an internal combustion engine comprising: providing at least one engine temperature management circuit for temperature management of the internal combustion engine; providing at least one lubrication temperature management circuit for temperature management of a lubricant of the internal combustion engine; providing at least one further medium circuit for removing from or supplying thermal energy to the internal combustion engine; providing one or more heat exchangers for exchanging heat between each of the at least one engine temperature management circuit, the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit, and the at least one further medium circuit; and assembling a temperature management medium distributor with the at least one engine temperature management circuit, the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit, and the at least one further medium circuit and/or the one or more heat exchangers in one configuration of a plurality of different assembly configurations, wherein each of the plurality of different assembly configurations defines a different flow path of the at least one further medium circuit relative to the at least one engine temperature management circuit and the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit.

16. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein the one configuration can be changed between the plurality of different assembly configurations by at least one of the following steps: blocking or connecting channel sections in one or more manifolds of the temperature management medium distributor via one or more plugs and/or one or more baffle plates; assembling differently the temperature management medium distributor, if the temperature management medium distributor is built by a set of components; and connecting differently the temperature management medium distributor to the at least one engine temperature management circuit, the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit, and the at least one further medium circuit and/or the one or more heat exchangers by changing inlet and outlet connections at the one or more manifolds.

17. A method of using a temperature management medium distributor as set forth in claim 1 or 2.

18. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein the plurality of different assembly configurations define different flow directions through the at least one further medium circuit and/or different sequences of heat exchange via the one or more heat exchangers relative to the at least one engine temperature management circuit and the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit.

19. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein the plurality of different assembly configurations comprises at least two of: a first assembly configuration defining a first flow path through the at least one further medium circuit to facilitate heat exchange in series with the at least one engine temperature management circuit followed by the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit; a second assembly configuration defining a second flow path through the at least one further medium circuit to facilitate heat exchange in series with the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit followed by the at least one engine temperature management circuit; or a third assembly configuration defining third and fourth flow paths through the at least one further medium circuit to facilitate heat exchange in parallel with the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit and the at least one engine temperature management circuit.

20. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein the temperature management medium distributor comprises: a manifold assembly comprising first and second manifolds, wherein the manifold assembly comprises a plurality of channels and a plurality of openings; a baffle plate configured to mount at an interface between the first and second manifolds between the plurality of channels; and one or more plugs configured to selectively mount in one or more of the plurality of openings; wherein the plurality of different assembly configurations comprise one or more of: changes in the baffle plate to alter fluid connections between the plurality of channels, changes in plug locations of the one or more plugs in the one or more openings, and changes in inlet and outlet locations in the one or more openings.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further advantages and details of the disclosure will be apparent from the figures and the related specific description. In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a temperature management medium distributor for an internal combustion engine;

(3) FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a temperature management medium distributor for an internal combustion engine in a mounted situation; and

(4) FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C show different application variants of the temperature management medium distributor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a temperature management medium distributor 1 for an internal combustion engine 2 in an exploded view according to the disclosure. The temperature management medium distributor 1 is designed by two separate parts 9, 10 forming separate manifolds, in this case two casted parts. These separate parts 9, 10 do have a plurality of connection openings 8, wherein in each case between a first connection opening 8 and a section connection opening 8 channel sections 7 are provided. The connection openings 8 are provided to connect the at least one engine temperature management circuit 3 for temperature management of the internal combustion engine 2, the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit 4 for temperature management of a lubricant of the internal combustion engine 2 and the at least one further medium circuit 5 for removing from or supplying thermal energy to the internal combustion engine 2 with the heat exchangers by means of the channel sections 7.

(6) The two separate parts 9, 10 can be connected together with their flange sides 11. Therefore, on each flange side 11 of the two separate parts 9, 10 flange openings 15 of the channel sections 7 are provided, leading to the channel sections 7. Between the two separate parts 9, 10 a baffle plate 12 is provided by which one or more flange openings 15 of the channel sections 7 can be blocked or at least partially be connected. For a better sealing between the two separate parts 9, 10 and the baffle plate 12which is arranged between the two separate parts 9, 10O-rings 13 are provided surrounding the flange openings 15 of the channel sections 7.

(7) Channel section 7 may not only extend between two connection openings 8, but can at least partially have more than two sections and can also connect more than only two connection openings 8. Therefore a combination or sequence of the flow through the channel sections 7 can be chosen freely by blocking channel sections 7 with plugs 14 or blocking channel sections 7 with baffle plates 12 or by connecting of two connection openings 8 by means of a connecting piece.

(8) FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a temperature management medium distributor 1 according to the disclosure for an internal combustion engine 2 in a mounted situation. In this embodiment heat exchangers 6 are mounted directly at the temperature management medium distributor 1. The temperature management medium distributor 1 is connected to the internal combustion engine 2 using conducts (not shown in this figure for reasons of clarity), by which the at least one engine temperature management circuit 3, the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit 4 and the at least one further medium circuit 5 are lead to the temperature management medium distributor 1. It can be seen by this figure that individual connection openings 8 are blocked by plugs 14. Furthermore, it can be seen from the embodiment of FIG. 2 that for an arrangement with an internal combustion engine 2 very little space is required for a temperature management medium distributor 1 according to the disclosure and a simple and space-saving piping is possible.

(9) FIG. 3A to 3C show how different groups of channel sections 7 can be built for changing the order of the flow through and/or the combination of a heat exchange between the at least one engine temperature management circuit 3, the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit 4 and the at least one further medium circuit 5 by blocking individual connection openings 8 of the temperature management medium distributor 1 (wherein the temperature management medium distributor 1 corresponds to the temperature management medium distributor 1 of FIG. 1) and/or connecting individual connection openings 8 of the temperature management medium distributor 1. It should be noted that the at least one engine temperature management circuit 3 and the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit 4 have the same flow path in each configuration of the FIG. 3A to 3C.

(10) The at least one lubrication temperature management circuit 4 is indicated in FIG. 3A to 3C by a dashed arrow, the at least one engine temperature management circuit 3 by a dotted arrow and the at least one further temperature management medium circuit 5 by an arrow with a solid line.

(11) This means that in each configuration of the FIG. 3A to 3C the at least one engine temperature management circuit 3 and the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit 4 enter the temperature management medium distributor 1 at the same connection openings 8, are forwarded to the heat exchangers 6 at the same connection openings 8, are led back from the heat exchangers 6 to the temperature management medium distributor 1 at the same connection openings 8 and finally leave the temperature management medium distributor 1 at the same connection openings 8.

(12) The heat exchangers 6 are not illustrated in these figures for reasons of clarity. Also the heat exchangers 6 are mounted at the same connection openings 8. This significantly simplifies the piping between the internal combustion engine 2 and the temperature management medium distributor 1, reduces the sources of errors and reduces costs. The FIG. 3A to 3C are differing by the flow path of the at least one further medium circuit 5. The flow path of the at least one further medium circuit 5 can in that way simply be chosen according to the requirements before commissioning by the operator.

(13) FIG. 3A shows a configuration, wherein the at least one further medium circuit 5 firstly experiences a heat exchange with the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit 4 in the heat exchanger 6 and afterward a heat exchange with the at least one engine temperature management circuit 3 in the heat exchanger 6. Thereby the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit 4 can be tempered more effectively than the at least one engine temperature management circuit 3. As already mentioned for reasons of clarity the heat exchangers 6 are not shown in the FIG. 3A to 3C.

(14) In the configuration as shown in FIG. 3B the at least one further medium circuit 5 firstly experiences a heat exchange with the at least one engine temperature management circuit 3 in the heat exchanger 6 and afterwards a heat exchange with the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit 4 in the heat exchanger 6. In this example the at least one engine temperature management circuit 3 can be tempered more effectively than the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit 4.

(15) The configuration illustrated in FIG. 3C shows that at least two further temperature management medium circuits 5 are provided. In this way the at least one lubrication temperature management circuit 4 and the at least one engine temperature management circuit 3 can be tempered independently of each other. The two further temperature management medium circuits 5 are represented with arrows of different line thickness.