System for feeding air to an internal combustion engine

A system for feeding air to an engine of a vehicle includes a heat exchanger arranged along a duct for feeding air, downstream of a supercharging compressor, to cool a flow of air fed by the air compressor, by a fluid that circulates in an engine cooling circuit. The system also includes an evaporator, interposed in the duct downstream of the heat exchanger, to further cool the air flow by a coolant that circulates in an air conditioning circuit of the vehicle. The air conditioning circuit includes a coolant compressor and a controller for controlling activation of the coolant compressor, depending on a request for air conditioning of a passenger compartment of the vehicle, and a request for cooling the air fed to the engine. The electronic controller is configured to enable the coolant compressor to be activated only when the engine load is below a certain threshold.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to European Patent Application No. 17 207 260.5 filed Dec. 14, 2017. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems for feeding air to an internal combustion engine of a motor-vehicle, of the type comprising:a duct for feeding air to the engine,an air compressor for the air fed to the engine, arranged along the feed duct, and driven by a turbine, which is in turn driven by a flow of exhaust gases of the engine,a heat exchanger arranged along the air feed duct, downstream of the air compressor, to cool a flow of supercharged air from the compressor by means of a coolant in a cooling circuit of the engine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

In supercharged internal combustion engines, the air compressed in the aforesaid supercharging compressor increases in temperature, leading to a reduction in the filling efficiency of the engine cylinders and, in the case of gasoline engines, increasing the tendency to detonation. The heat exchanger, or “intercooler”, interposed in the air feed duct, downstream of the compressor, has the purpose of overcoming this drawback. The documents JP S6346627 U and EP 2 098 700 A2 disclose systems of the type indicated above wherein an evaporator is also interposed in the air feed duct, downstream of the aforementioned heat exchanger, to further cool the air flow by means of a coolant that circulates in an air conditioning circuit of the motor-vehicle. The preamble of claim1is based on EP 2 098 700 A2.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is that of further improving the above-mentioned known systems, in particular with reference to an improved control of the system, an increase in its efficiency and, in particular, also with reference to a reduction in the fuel consumption of the engine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of achieving the aforesaid object, the invention relates to a system for feeding air to an internal combustion engine of a motor-vehicle.

In a preferred embodiment, the first expansion valve and the second expansion valve are electronically-controlled expansion valves, and the electronic controller is configured to control both activation of the coolant compressor, and the first and second expansion valves according to signals indicating both the request for cooling the air fed to the engine, and the request for air conditioning of the passenger compartment of the motor-vehicle. The system can thus operate selectively in any of the following ways:with the coolant compressor in an active condition, with first and second expansion valves both opened, so as to activate both the main evaporator for cooling the air in the passenger compartment of the motor-vehicle, and the auxiliary evaporator for additional cooling of the air fed to the engine,with the coolant compressor in an active condition, with first expansion valve opened and second expansion valve closed, so that only the main evaporator for cooling the air in the passenger compartment of the motor-vehicle is activated, while the auxiliary evaporator is not activated,with the compressor of the coolant in an active condition, with the first expansion valve closed and the second expansion valve opened, so that only the auxiliary evaporator is active, while the main evaporator is not activated, andwith the coolant compressor deactivated, so that both evaporators are inactive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the drawings, numeral1indicates—in its entirety—a system for feeding air to an internal combustion engine of a motor-vehicle. The internal combustion engine is represented in the diagram ofFIG. 1by one of its cylinders, which is indicated by C. The cylinder C is associated with at least one intake valve2, which controls the supply of air into the cylinder C through an air feed duct3. At its upstream end, the duct3is provided with an air filter F, through which the ambient air is drawn into the duct3. Along the duct3, downstream of the filter F, a debimeter D and a supercharging compressor SC are arranged in succession, the compressor including a rotor that is driven into rotation by a turbine T, which is actuated, according to a conventional art, by a flow of exhaust gases EG, which runs along the exhaust duct EC.

Still along the duct3for feeding air to the engine, a heat exchanger, or intercooler, IC is interposed, downstream of the air compressor SC, which, according to a conventional art, uses the coolant circulating in the cooling circuit of the engine (not illustrated) to cool the air flow fed by the air compressor SC.

Still along the duct3for feeding air to the engine, an evaporator E2is arranged, downstream of the intercooler IC, in which coolant circulates in an air conditioning circuit of which the motor-vehicle is equipped.

The reference number4indicates a throttle valve, interposed in the feed duct3downstream of the evaporator E2.

The reference number5indicates a valve interposed in a duct for recirculating the feed air. This recirculation duct includes a portion6that originates from the duct3, at a point downstream of the intercooler IC and upstream of the evaporator E2, and that terminates in the valve5, and a second portion7that starts from the valve5and terminates in the duct3, upstream of the compressor SC. The valve5receives, via a duct8, a pressure signal of the feed air immediately upstream of the cylinder C, and opens to balance the pressure values upstream and downstream of the compressor SC, and is used to control and/or limit the maximum pressure exerted by the turbocompressor during the release steps of the accelerator, or rather, when the air introduced into the intake manifolds is greater than the amount required by the engine itself.

InFIG. 2, the reference number3schematically indicates the air feed duct, in which the air filter F, the debimeter D, the air compressor SC, the intercooler IC and the evaporator E2are interposed in series.FIG. 2also schematically shows the duct for exhaust gases EC, which originates from the engine exhaust manifold (indicated by the reference “ENG”). In the exhaust duct EC, downstream of the engine ENG, the devices for treating the exhaust gases are placed, indicated as a whole by the reference EGT, which can vary according to the type of vehicle and the type of engine (for example, gasoline engine or diesel engine).

The reference A/C indicates—in its entirety—the air conditioning system of which the motor-vehicle is equipped.

The A/C system comprises a compressor CO for the coolant and a condenser CND that receives the coolant from the compressor CO.

The reference TXV1indicates a first expansion valve, for example, a thermostatic valve or an electronically-controlled valve, which receives condensed fluid from the condenser CND. The expanded fluid leaving the first expansion valve TXV1passes through a main evaporator E1for refrigerating an airflow directed towards the passenger compartment of the motor-vehicle. The fluid leaving the evaporator E1returns through the first expansion valve TXV1towards the compressor CO.

In the system according to the invention, the A/C air cooling system also comprises an inner heat exchanger IHX in which the flow of coolant that goes from the condenser CND to the first expansion valve TXV1enters into a heat exchange relationship with the flow of fluid returning from the main evaporator E1towards the compressor CO.

As already indicated above, the A/C system comprises a second evaporator E2, which is interposed in the duct for feeding air to the engine and which is connected to the coolant circuit in parallel with the main evaporator E1. A second expansion valve TXV2is interposed in the connection between the condenser CND and the auxiliary evaporator E2.

As can be seen inFIG. 2, the inner heat exchanger IHX is connected in such a way that the fluid coming from the condenser CND passes through the inner heat exchanger IHX and then divides at the point P into two lines directed towards the two expansion valves TXV1and TXV2, and towards the two evaporators E1, E2. In the same way, the flows leaving the two evaporators E1, E2, after having passed through the expansion valves TXV1, TXV2, flow together into a point Q and then cross the inner heat exchanger IHX, wherein they enter into a heat exchange relationship with the flow coming from the condenser CND.

All the components of the A/C system are not illustrated in detail here, as they can be made in any known manner.

Activation of the coolant compressor CO is controlled by an electronic controller ECU based on a series of signals S1, S2, . . . , Si. In one example embodiment, signal S1can represent a signal indicating a manual operation of the A/C system by a driver of the motor-vehicle, and signal S2can represent a signal indicating an air temperature required by the driver. According to a conventional art, activation can be controlled, for example, in that the compressor CO has a rotating shaft, which is connected in rotation with the shaft of the internal combustion engine ENG, with the interposition of an electrically-operated friction clutch (not shown). The controller ECU inserts and disengages this friction clutch to cause activation and deactivation of the coolant compressor CO.

The controller ECU controls the activation of the coolant compressor CO, both as a function of the request for air conditioning of the passenger compartment P of the motor-vehicle, and as a function of the request for cooling the air for feeding the engine, To this end, the signals sent to the controller ECU include a signal indicating a manual operation of the air conditioning system A/C by the driver, a signal indicating the air temperature required by the driver, and a signal indicating the current air temperature in the passenger compartment P of the motor-vehicle. Furthermore, in order to detect the need for cooling the air fed to the engine, the system comprises a sensor S of the air feed temperature (FIG. 1), which sends a signal indicating this value to the controller ECU.

Finally, the electronic controller ECU receives signals indicating the operating conditions of the engine and, in particular, a signal indicating the load of the engine, corresponding to the position of the accelerator pedal, and a signal indicating the rotational speed of the engine.

In the preferred embodiment, the electronic controller ECU takes into account, at all times, the request for cooling the air fed to the engine and the request for cooling the passenger compartment P of the motor-vehicle, always favoring the thermal load which has the highest cooling requirement among the passenger compartment P and the intake air.

According to the invention, the electronic controller ECU also controls the activation of the coolant compressor CO in order to favor low fuel consumption. To this end, the system is configured to enable the feeding of coolant through the auxiliary evaporator E2only when the engine load is below a predetermined threshold, that is, only during the release steps of the accelerator pedal, when the impact on fuel consumption is lower.

According to another preferred characteristic, the first expansion valve TXV1and the second expansion valve TXV2are electronically-controlled expansion valves, and the electronic controller ECU is configured to control both the activation of the compressor coolant CO, and the first and second expansion valves TXV1, TXV2, according to signals indicating both the request for cooling the air fed to the engine, and the request for air conditioning of the passenger compartment P of the motor-vehicle, in such a way that the system can operate selectively in the following ways:with the coolant compressor CO in an active condition, with first and second expansion valves both opened, so as to activate both the main evaporator E1for cooling the air in the passenger compartment P of the motor-vehicle, and the auxiliary evaporator E2for additional cooling of the air fed to the engine,with the coolant compressor CO in an active condition, with first expansion valve TXV1opened and second expansion valve TXV2closed, so that only the main evaporator for cooling the air in the passenger compartment P of the motor-vehicle is activated, while the auxiliary evaporator is not activated,with the coolant compressor CO in an active condition, with first expansion valve TXV1closed and second expansion valve TXV2opened, so that only the auxiliary evaporator E2is active, while the main evaporator is not activated, andwith the coolant compressor CO deactivated, so that both evaporators E1, E2are inactive.

As is clear from the above description, the system according to the invention allows, on one hand, satisfaction of the need for greater cooling of the air fed to the engine, which occurs in supercharged engines, but, on the other hand, it ensures a high efficiency of the system in all engine operating conditions and allows the required results to be obtained without causing an appreciable increase in fuel consumption.

Of course, without prejudice to the principle of the invention, the details of construction and the embodiments may vary widely with respect to those described and illustrated purely by way of example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, as set forth herein by way of example and not limitation.