Apparatus for compensating for thermal expansion occurring from exhaust manifold

An apparatus for compensating for thermal expansion occurring from an exhaust manifold in an engine may include an anti-thermal deformation member provided between the exhaust manifold and a turbo charger and connecting the exhaust manifold and the turbo charger together and configured to be deformed when the exhaust manifold thermally expands due to hot exhaust gas, compensating for thermal deformation caused by the thermal expansion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0170001, filed Dec. 1, 2014, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates, in general, to an apparatus for compensating for thermal expansion occurring due to high temperature exhaust gas from an exhaust manifold to which a turbo charger is coupled.

Description of Related Art

Exhaust manifolds serve to guide exhaust gas from the inside towards the outside of an engine, and the exhaust gas guided outside of the engine is introduced into a turbo charger for recycling, or is otherwise discharged outside of a vehicle via an exhaust system.

In the former case, the turbo charger serves to compress and supply intake air using the introduced exhaust gas in order to promote an improvement in the output and acceleration performance of an engine and fuel efficiency.

According to the related art, a turbo charger is bolt-connected to an exhaust manifold. In this case, there is no consideration of thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold due to continuous exposure to high temperatures during traveling of a vehicle. Thus, when the exhaust manifold or the turbo charger is subjected to thermal expansion due to hot exhaust gas, a portion connected to the turbo charger suffers from thermal damage.

Particularly, as shown inFIG. 1, as the exhaust manifold10thermally expands, the turbo charger30coupled to the exhaust manifold10is thermally damaged, causing fastening bolts B between the exhaust manifold10and the turbo charger30to be damaged or unfastened.

To solve this problem, large bolts or spacers are to be used in order to increase torque. However, stronger bolting may damage the bolted portion or neighboring parts.

Thus, there is a need to compensate for thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold occurring from hot exhaust gas.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing an apparatus for compensating for thermal expansion occurring due to hot exhaust gas from an exhaust manifold, thereby preventing breakage or deformation of other parts connected to the exhaust manifold.

According to various aspects of the present invention, an apparatus for compensating for thermal expansion occurring from an exhaust manifold in an engine may include an anti-thermal deformation member provided between the exhaust manifold and a turbo charger and connecting the exhaust manifold and the turbo charger together and configured to be deformed when the exhaust manifold thermally expands due to hot exhaust gas, compensating for thermal deformation caused by the thermal expansion.

The anti-thermal deformation member may be deformed in a contracted manner at an opposite end to an end compressed, due to the thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold when the anti-thermal deformation member may be fed with an intense heat source from the exhaust manifold.

The anti-thermal deformation member may be formed of a shape-memory alloy at a specified end thereof with a shape which may be memorized within a predetermined temperature range.

The exhaust manifold may include a plurality of runners into which exhaust gas may be introduced from a combustion chamber of the engine, and an outlet through which introduced exhaust gas may be discharged towards the turbo charger, wherein the outlet extends downwards from a longitudinal end and may be connected to the turbo charger via the anti-thermal deformation member.

The anti-thermal deformation member may be coupled to the outlet of the exhaust manifold so that, when one end thereof is heated as the exhaust gas introduced through the runners flows towards one side and is discharged, another end of the anti-thermal deformation member may be deformed in a contracted manner.

According to the present invention, when the exhaust manifold thermally expands due to hot exhaust gas, the apparatus compensates for the thermal expansion, thereby preventing breakage or deformation of other parts connected to the exhaust manifold.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 2is a view showing an apparatus to compensate for thermal expansion occurring from an exhaust manifold in an engine according to various embodiments of the present invention, andFIG. 3is a view showing an anti-thermal deformation member of the apparatus shown inFIG. 2.

The apparatus of the invention is intended to, when the exhaust manifold thermally expands due to hot exhaust gas generated during driving of an engine, prevent the damage or deformation of other parts connected to the exhaust manifold.

To this end, the apparatus is provided with an anti-thermal deformation member50that is provided between the exhaust manifold10and a turbo charger30so as to connect them together while being deformed when the exhaust manifold10thermally expands due to hot exhaust gas, compensating for thermal deformation caused by the thermal expansion.

The exhaust manifold10is provided with a plurality of runners into which exhaust gas is introduced from a combustion chamber of an engine, and an outlet to which the runners are connected. The exhaust manifold10thermally expands because hot exhaust gas continuously pass through the exhaust manifold during driving of the engine.

The turbo charger30is connected to the exhaust manifold10so that it is fed with the exhaust gas from the outlet and compresses intake air. However, when the exhaust manifold10suffers from thermal expansion due to intense heat generated during driving of an engine, the turbo charger30may also be subjected to thermal deformation due to the thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold, thereby being deformed. Here, the turbo charger30is bolt-coupled to the engine side via a bracket. In this case, when the exhaust manifold30thermally expands, the turbo charger is subjected to the deformation force occurring from the thermal expansion, resulting in the fastening bolts being unfastened or damaged. Further, in addition to the turbo charger30, other parts connected to the turbo charger may also be damaged.

Therefore, the present invention provides the anti-thermal deformation member50that is provided between the exhaust manifold10and a turbo charger30so as to connect them together while being deformed when the exhaust manifold10or the turbo charger30thermally expands due to hot exhaust gas, compensating for thermal deformation caused by the thermal expansion and therefore reducing the deformation force transferred to the turbo charger30.

That is, the anti-thermal deformation member50may be provided to a contact between the exhaust manifold10and the turbo charger30. The anti-thermal deformation member is deformed in response to the thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold10so that thermal deformation is distributed in opposite direction to the portion to which the thermal deformation is applied, compensating for the applied deformation force.

The anti-thermal deformation member50may be deformed in a contracted manner at an opposite end to an end compressed due to the thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold10when being fed with an intense source of heat from the exhaust manifold10.

The anti-thermal deformation member50may be formed of a shape-memory alloy at a specified end thereof whose shape is memorized within a certain temperature range.

That is, the anti-thermal deformation member50is formed of shape-memory alloy by which it expands or contracts due to intense heat so that the shape changes. When fed with intense heat, the anti-thermal deformation member50takes a memorized shape within a certain temperature range. Preferably, deformed states due to thermal expansions of both the exhaust manifold10and the turbo charger30may be all memorized.

When the anti-thermal deformation member50is fed with the intense heat as the exhaust manifold10thermally expands, the anti-thermal deformation member is deformed into a pre-memorized shape so that the deformation force of the exhaust manifold is distributed and compensated for. Here, when the temperature of the exhaust manifold10decreases, temperature to be transferred to the anti-thermal deformation member50also decreases, so that the anti-thermal deformation member is deformed into the initial deformation shape, leading to the exhaust manifold10and the turbo charger30being in a supported state before their thermally-expanded state.

Particularly, when the anti-thermal deformation member50is fed with intense heat from the exhaust manifold10, the anti-thermal deformation member may be deformed in a contracted manner at an opposite end to an end compressed due to the thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold10.

As show inFIG. 2, when deformation force acts towards the turbo charger30as the exhaust manifold10thermally expands, the deformation force is exerted to the anti-thermal deformation member50between the exhaust manifold10and the turbo charger30and the anti-thermal deformation member50contracts at the side opposite the side receiving the deformation force, compensating for the deformation force.

When the thermal deformation force occurring from the thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold10acts onto the left side of the anti-thermal deformation member50, as shown inFIG. 3, the right side of the anti-thermal deformation member50is deformed in a contracted manner, resulting in the deformation force transferred from the exhaust manifold10towards the turbo charger30being distributed and compensated for.

Specifically, as shown inFIG. 1, the exhaust manifold10has a plurality of runners12into which exhaust gas is introduced from a combustion chamber of an engine, and an outlet14through which introduced exhaust gas is discharged towards the turbo charger30, wherein the outlet14extends downwards from a longitudinal end10aand is connected to the turbo charger30via the anti-thermal deformation member50.

Here, the anti-thermal deformation member50may be coupled to the outlet14of the exhaust manifold10so that, when one end thereof is heated as the exhaust gas introduced through the runners12flows towards one side and is discharged, the other end thereof is deformed in a contracted manner.

In the structure of the exhaust manifold10, the exhaust gases introduced through runners12from the combustion chamber are combined, flow towards one side, and are discharged through the outlet14. Accordingly, as shown inFIG. 2, the exhaust gas introduced through runners12acts towards one side of the outlet14of the exhaust manifold10with a greater pressure, allowing that side of the outlet14to thermally expand further more.

That is, since the thermal deformation force F1due to the thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold10is applied to one side of the anti-thermal deformation member50, the anti-thermal deformation member50is deformed due to the intense heat transferred from the exhaust manifold10. Here, the anti-thermal deformation member50is deformed in a contracted manner at the opposite side to the side receiving the thermal deformation force F1, providing the compensating force F2towards the other side of the outlet14.

Thereby, the deformation force occurring from the thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold10is compensated for, minimizing the breakage of the turbo charger30and other parts connected thereto due to the thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold10.

According to the present invention, the contact between the exhaust manifold10and the turbo charger30is formed with the anti-thermal deformation member50made of a shape-memory alloy, so that thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold10can be compensated for without the restriction of a layout. Further, since the shape memory alloy can be fabricated such that it is deformed within a predetermined temperature range, efficient compensation of the deformation force can be obtained by calculating the deformation force depending on the thermal expansion of the exhaust manifold10or the turbo charger30.

Therefore, when the exhaust manifold10thermally expands due to hot exhaust gas, the apparatus compensates for the thermal expansion, thereby preventing breakage or deformation of other parts connected to the exhaust manifold10.