Abstract:
The invention relates to the cooling system of an internal combustion engine ( 10 ) which comprises a combustion engine ( 12 ) having at least two cylinder banks ( 14, 16 ) and a number of exhaust gas exchangers ( 18, 20 ) identical to the number of cylinder banks, as well as a retarder connection, wherein the cooling system can be flown through by a fluid serving as coolant in a preferred flow direction and comprises a cooling system trunk section ( 30 ) and a number of cooling system branch sections identical to the number of the cylinder banks ( 14, 16 ) of the combustion engine ( 12 ), said cooling system branch sections comprising each a cylinder bank branch section ( 22, 24 ), an exhaust gas exchanger branch section ( 36, 38 ) and a combining branch section ( 44, 46 ). The invention further relates to an internal combustion engine ( 10 ) corresponding thereto.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to German Patent Application 10 2009 052 151.8 filed on Nov. 6, 2009 and PCT/EP2010/006723 filed on Nov. 4, 2010, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. 
       TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure concerns a cooling system for an internal combustion engine. Furthermore, the disclosure concerns a combustion engine according to claim  9 . 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Combustion engines are used in many fields, among them, for example the field of vehicle technology. Besides combustion engines that have a cylinder bank, combustion engines are also known wherein two cylinder banks are arranged in a V-shape pattern to each other (so-called V-motors). In order to be able to avoid damage to the combustion engine of a vehicle by overheating, these generally have a cooling system through which coolant flows and which provides temperature control for the combustion engine, and if applicable, also for additional vehicle components, such as a passenger compartment. For cylinder banks arranged in V-shape pattern, a coolant flows through the cylinder banks, each in parallel, and they are thereby cooled. 
         [0004]    A significant issue in the field of vehicle manufacturing is presented in a vehicle&#39;s emission values. An important role for good emission values, besides an air-fuel ratio that is adjusted correctly and optimally for each operating situation, is also attributed to the fact that the combustion process should be as steady as possible in the same marginal conditions. One of the marginal conditions that play a role in the exhaust gas quality is an even and possibly steady temperature control or cooling of the motor or the individual cylinder banks of a combustion engine. 
         [0005]    Another improvement of the emission values can be achieved by so-called exhaust gas heat exchangers, wherein a part of the exhaust gas from combustion engines is cooled before it is mixed into the air that is aspired by the combustion engine and led into the combustion process once again. A heat exchanger as well requires possibly steady marginal conditions, especially steady marginal conditions regarding the cooling of the exhaust gas, in order to be able to influence the emission values to the desired extent. 
         [0006]    Besides the aforestated components, the combustion engines in the state of the art, however also have additional equipment, which requires at least a temporary cooling. As an example for such, the document DE 10 2006 012 847 A1 should be mentioned, disclosing a device for heating a cooling circuit of a combustion engine, wherein a retarder is connected to the drive of the combustion engine and wherein exhaust heat of the retarder is at least temporarily fed into a cooling circuit. The retarder comprises a fixed stator and a rotor that is movable relative to the stator, while the rotor is connected with the drive of the combustion. Both the stator as well as the rotor has paddle wheels. When the vehicle&#39;s combustion engine is in motion, so will be the rotor of the retarder. As soon as a fluid is led into the retarder housing, the rotor will set the fluid in rotation and press it against the paddle wheels of the stator, whereby kinetic energy is converted to heat and the vehicle brakes. Oils, but also water or the coolant flowing through the cooling system of the combustion engine come into consideration as fluids that can be led into the retarder housing. 
         [0007]    A purpose of present disclosure is to provide a cooling system for a combustion engine with at least two cylinder banks, which ensures a possibly even temperature control or cooling of the individual cylinder banks and an identical number of exhaust gas heat exchanger as the number of cylinder banks, whose temperature also has to be controlled, while at the same time also other coolant consumers can be supplied reliably. It is furthermore a purpose of present disclosure to provide an appropriate combustion engine. 
         [0008]    This purpose is fulfilled by the cooling system with the characteristics of Claim  1 . Regarding the combustion engine, the purpose is fulfilled by a combustion engine with the characteristics of Patent Claim  9 . 
       SUMMARY 
       [0009]    A cooling system, through which fluid serving as coolant flows in a preferred flow direction (flow direction during operation of the combustion engine), comprises a cooling system&#39;s primary section and an identical number of cooling system secondary sections as the number of cylinder banks and the exhaust air heat exchangers of the combustion engine&#39;s CI motor. The cooling system&#39;s branch sections each have one cylinder branch section, one branch section for the exhaust gas heat exchanger, and a merging branch section. The cooling system&#39;s primary section ends in the cylinder bank branch sections, which each have one outlet for the cylinder bank&#39;s branch section, which can be provided for possible contact with fluid by a cylinder bank inlet. The exhaust air exchanger&#39;s branch sections each have a branch section inlet for the exhaust gas heat exchanger and a branch section outlet for the exhaust heat exchanger, each of which can be provided with a designated cylinder bank outlet and a designated inlet of the exhaust air heat exchanger for possible contact with fluid. The merging branch sections each have one merging branch section inlet, which can be respectively provided with a designated outlet for the exhaust gas heat exchanger for possible contact with fluid. The merging branch sections are furthermore in contact with the fluid in the preferred flow direction in downstream of the merger inlets for the merging branch sections with the cooling system&#39;s primary section, or they end in it, meanwhile a connection device is provided for a retarder in the cooling system&#39;s primary section (a retarder flow-line connection and a retarder feedback connection.) 
         [0010]    Thereby that the connection device for the retarder is intended in the cooling system&#39;s primary section, the retarder can be supplied with the total coolant flow, while the components that are responsible for the emission values and which are to be cooled can be supplied with partial coolant flows that are as steady as possible. A hook-up of a connected retarder additionally also only minimally affects the coolant&#39;s even distribution in the cooling system&#39;s branch sections, since the flows occur in the cooling system&#39;s primary section and the flow conditions in the coolant&#39;s branch sections are thus not affected differently. By this method an even cooling of the components that are relevant for exhaust gas is ensured. 
         [0011]    Additional characteristics and advantages of the disclosure are shown in the following description of possible embodiments of the disclosure, by means of the enclosed drawing showing the details that are relevant for the disclosure and in the claims. The individual characteristics can each be embodied by themselves or in several optional combinations in a variant of the disclosure. 
         [0012]    A possible embodiment of the disclosure is explained in more detail in the following by means of the enclosed drawing. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  as an example for a possible embodiment of the disclosure&#39;s cooling system, implemented in an exemplified embodiment of a combustion engine. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    The schematic design of a possible embodiment of the disclosure&#39;s cooling system is shown as example in  FIG. 1  and is presented schematically in interaction with a combustion engine  10 . 
         [0015]    The combustion engine  10  has a compression ignition (CI) motor  12  (hereinafter also referred to as motor  12 ) with a first and second cylinder bank  14 ,  16 , whereas alternatively also motors with more than two cylinder banks could be feasible. The motor  10  described as an example is a motor wherein the two cylinder banks  14 ,  16  are arranged in a V-shape pattern to each other (V-motor) while also motors with other cylinder bank design could be feasible (e.g. in-line motors sectioned in several in-line cylinder banks etc.) Besides motor  12 , the combustion engine  10  furthermore has a first and a second exhaust air heat exchanger  18 ,  20 , which are both components of an exhaust air cooler (not shown.) 
         [0016]    The first exhaust air exchanger  18  is attributed to the first cylinder bank  14  and serves for the cooling of a part (preferably 30% to 40%) of the exhaust gas created in the first cylinder bank  14 , while the second exhaust gas heat exchanger  20  is attributed to the second cylinder bank  16  and cools part of the exhaust gas (preferably 30% to 40%) that is created there. The cooled parts of the exhaust gas are subsequently led into an additional combustion process through an air inlet of motor  12 , whereby the emission values of motor  12  or combustion engine  10  are affected positively. 
         [0017]    For cooling of the two cylinder banks  14 ,  16 , channels or material recesses are provided on the cylinder banks  14 ,  16  through which a coolant flows during the operation of combustion engine  10 . In the described embodiment, the channels or material recesses, which function as motor heat exchangers, are integral components of the motor  12 . In alternative to these, however, also motor heat exchangers are feasible, which comprise an independent device and might possibly not be attributed to the motor  12 , but instead to the cooling system of the combustion engine  10 . 
         [0018]    When combustion engine  10  is in operation, a coolant flows through both cylinder banks  14 ,  16  for cooling of motor  12  (in a preferred operating flow direction, indicated by arrows  21 .) For this purpose, the first cylinder bank  14  is supplied evenly with coolant through a first cylinder bank&#39;s branch section  22  and the second cylinder bank  16  through a second cylinder bank&#39;s branch section  24  that is attributed to it in the cooling system for the combustion engine  10 . 
         [0019]    The two cylinder bank branch sections  22 ,  24  of the cooling system are for this purpose in contact with fluid by means of the respectively designated first cylinder bank  14 ,  16  through a first cylinder bank inlet  26 , which is arranged on the first cylinder bank  14 , and through a second cylinder bank inlet  28 , which is arranged on the second cylinder bank  16 , and through corresponding branch section outlets of the cylinder banks (not shown) that are arranged on the cylinder bank branch sections  22 ,  24 . For this purpose, a first cylinder bank connection device (not shown) is provided on the first cylinder inlet  26  and a second cylinder bank connection device (not shown either) on the second cylinder bank inlet  28 . The two cylinder bank branch sections  22 ,  24  are supplied with coolant by a cooling system&#39;s primary section  30 , which ends in the two cylinder bank branch sections  22 ,  24  upstream (relative to the preferred flow direction) from the motor  10 . 
         [0020]    The two exhaust gas heat exchangers  18 ,  20  as well must be appropriately cooled during the operation of the combustion engine  10 . For this purpose, the first exhaust gas heat exchanger  18  has a first exhaust heat exchanger inlet  32  and the second exhaust gas heat exchanger  20  has a second exhaust gas heat exchanger inlet  34 . The first exhaust gas heat exchanger  18  is supplied with coolant through a first branch section of the exhaust gas heat exchanger  36  of the cooling system, which (through a exhaust gas heat exchanger&#39;s branch section inlet) is in contact with fluid by a cylinder bank outlet  31  and (through a branch section outlet of the exhaust gas heat exchanger designated for it) by the first inlet  32  of the exhaust gas heat exchanger, meanwhile the second exhaust gas heat exchanger  20  is supplied with coolant through a first branch section of the exhaust gas heat exchanger  38  of the cooling system, which (again through a branch section inlet of the exhaust gas heat exchanger) is in contact with fluid by a second cylinder bank outlet  33  and (through a branch section outlet of the exhaust gas heat exchanger designated for it) by the first inlet  34  of the exhaust gas heat exchanger. 
         [0021]    For outflow of the coolant, the first exhaust gas heat exchanger  18  has a first exhaust gas heat exchanger outlet  40  and the second exhaust gas heat exchanger  20  has a second exhaust gas heat exchanger outlet  42 . The first exhaust gas heat exchanger  18  is in contact with fluid through the first exhaust gas heat exchanger outlet  40  designated for it with a first merging branch section  44  of the cooling system (through an inlet for the merging branch section that is designated for it), meanwhile the second exhaust gas heat exchanger  20  is in contact with fluid through the second exhaust gas heat exchanger outlet  42  designated for it with a second merging branch section  46  of the cooling system (through an inlet for the merging branch section that is designated for it.) 
         [0022]    Both merging branch sections  44 ,  46  end downstream from the exhaust gas heat exchanger outlets  40 ,  42  in a merge point or merge section  48  in the cooling system&#39;s primary section  30 . Serving for purposes of merging the two coolant flows  21   a,    21   b  in the described embodiment is, e.g. a connecting pipe  50 , which is component of the second merging branch section  46 . The merging of the partial flows takes place in a coolant elbow  52 , which merges coolant partial flows  21   a,    21   b  in the cooling system&#39;s primary section  30 . 
         [0023]    Furthermore the described embodiment of a combustion engine  10  is comprised of a coolant pump  54  for agitation of the coolant and of an oil heat exchanger  56  for temperature control of motor oils, which serves as grease for the motor  12 . The coolant pump  54  is in contact with fluid with the coolant primary section  30  through a coolant pump inlet  58  that is designated for it, as well as through a coolant pump outlet  60 . The same applies to the oil heat exchanger  56 , which is in contact with fluid by the coolant primary section  30  through an oil heat exchanger inlet  62  and an oil heat exchanger outlet  64 . Both components  54 ,  56  are arranged downstream from the merger section  48 . 
         [0024]    Arranged downstream from the merge point  48  and thus downstream from the coolant elbow  52 , however upstream from coolant pump  54  are a retard inlet connection  66  in the cooling system&#39;s primary section  30  and a retard outlet connection  68 , which are in contact with fluid in the described embodiment by a retard inlet  70  or a retard outlet  72  of a retarder  74  that are arranged in the combustion engine. 
         [0025]    It is ensured by the design in this location (downstream from the merge section  48 ) that the retarder  74  connected to retarder inlet connection  66  and retarder outlet connection  68  has the entire coolant flow available on the one hand and on the other hand it is ensured that the flow conditions in the two partial coolant flows  21   a,    21   b  are not affected unevenly by an extraction of coolant by the retarder inlet connection  66 , which would lead to an unintended worsening of the emission values, since the two cylinder banks  14 ,  16  and the two exhaust gas heat exchangers  18 ,  20  would receive different cooling. Such would entail that the exhaust gas to be cooled by the exhaust gas heat exchangers  18 ,  20  and which is to be led back to combustion (approx. 30% to 40% of the total exhaust gas) would have an undesired temperature and possibly also an undesired composition (in case of differing cooling of cylinder banks.) 
         [0026]    Furthermore, a thermostat  76  is arranged in the cooling system&#39;s primary section  30 , which, depending on the prevalent temperature in the coolant, the coolant flow into a bypass  78  of the cooling system&#39;s primary section (which together with the other aforementioned components defines a so-called small cooling circuit), and thus directly leads to the coolant pump  54  or to a cooling outlet  80  of the cooling system&#39;s primary section  30 , which is in contact with fluid through a motor oil cooler  82  and a hot-circuit radiator  84  for cooling the coolant (so-called large cooling circuit.) For this purpose the motor oil coolers  82  and the hot-circuit radiator  84  comprise corresponding coolant inlets and coolant outlets that are in contact with fluid by the appropriate connection devices of the cooling system&#39;s primary section  30 . In flowing through the large cooling circuit, the coolant is led through a coolant inlet  86  of the cooling system&#39;s primary section  30  to the coolant pump  54 . 
         [0027]    Both the cooling system&#39;s primary section  30  as well as the cooling system&#39;s branch sections are implemented by means of pipes in the present described embodiment; alternatively e.g. hoses are also feasible for this purpose. It should be noted at this juncture that the cooling system in its simplest embodiment merely comprises the cooling system&#39;s primary section  30  and the cooling system&#39;s branch sections, whereas all other mentioned components can be components (as applies, also integral components) of the combustion engine  10 . In alternative, the components mentioned above and in the subclaims, can also be components (as applies, integral component) of the cooling system. The inventive step however is already realized in the simplest embodiment and the technical solution is thereby defined accordingly. 
         [0028]    Although the disclosure is described by means of an embodiment with a fixed combination of characteristics, it nonetheless also includes the feasible additional advantageous combinations as they are presented in particular, yet not exhaustively, by the subclaims. All characteristics disclosed in the application documents are claimed as relevant to the disclosure, insofar as they are new, individually or in combination, compared to the state of the art.