Patent Publication Number: US-2006005537-A1

Title: Exhaust manifold for a vehicle

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims priority of Korean Application No. 10-2004-0052433, filed on Jul. 6, 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to an exhaust system of a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to an exhaust manifold for a vehicle.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Generally, as shown in  FIG. 1 , an exhaust system of a vehicle is for exhausting a gas from cylinders, and includes an exhaust manifold  1  and a muffler  2 .  
      Such a conventional exhaust manifold  1  includes a first exhaust pipe  11 , a second exhaust pipe  12 , a third exhaust pipe typically  13  and a fourth exhaust pipe  14  that are respectively connected to a plurality of exhaust ports (not shown).  
      In addition, the exhaust manifold  1  further includes first and second connecting pipes  21  and  22 . The first pipe  11  and the third pipe  13  meet at the first connecting pipe  21  such that an exhaust gas from both the first and the third pipes  11  and  13  is exhausted via the same connecting pipe  21 . Also, the second and the fourth pipes  12  and  14  meet at the second connecting pipe  22  such that an exhaust gas from both the second and the fourth pipes  12  and  14  is exhausted via the same connecting pipe  22 .  
      In addition, the exhaust manifold  1  further includes a collecting duct  30  connected to both the first and the second connecting pipes  21  and  22  such that an exhaust gas from the first and the second connecting pipes  21  and  22  is collected and exhausted to the muffler  2 .  
      Therefore, exhaust gas from exhaust ports of odd numbered cylinders exhausts to the first connecting pipe  21  through the first and the third exhaust pipes  11  and  13  according to a firing sequence, and then is delivered to the collecting duct  30  through the first connecting pipe  21 . The exhaust gas is finally exhausted to outside through the muffler  2 .  
      In addition, exhaust gas from exhaust ports of even numbered cylinders exhausts to the second connecting pipe  22  through the second and the fourth exhaust pipes  12  and  14  according to a firing sequence, and then is delivered to the collecting duct  30  through the second connecting pipe  22 . The exhaust gas is finally exhausted to outside through the muffler  2 .  
      However, in an aspect of a layout, the conventional exhaust manifold has a problem of requiring excessive mounting space.  
      The first, second, third, and fourth exhaust pipes, the first and second connecting pipes, and the collecting duct consume excessive volume of an engine compartment, and therefore, such a conventional exhaust manifold is not appropriate for a vehicle that has a small engine compartment.  
      The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Embodiments of the present invention provide an exhaust manifold for a vehicle having non-limiting advantages employed to all vehicles, regardless of whether an engine compartment thereof is small or not.  
      An exemplary exhaust manifold for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of runners respectively connected to a plurality of exhaust ports of an engine, a first exhaust passage communicating with at least one of the plurality of runners, and a second exhaust passage communicating with the remnant of the plurality of runners. The first and second exhaust passages and the plurality of runners are preferably formed inside a monolithic manifold body.  
      In a further embodiment according to the present invention, the first and the second exhaust passages are partitioned by a wall and the plurality of runners is partitioned by a wall. The partition walls may be single walls.  
      In another further embodiment according to the present invention, the manifold body is a generally rectangular parallelepiped.  
      In another further embodiment according to the present invention, the plurality of runners is substantially perpendicular to the first and second exhaust passages.  
      In another further embodiment according to the present invention, the plurality of runners is substantially linear and the runners are substantially perpendicular to each other.  
      In another further embodiment according to the present invention, the first and second exhaust passages are substantially linear and are substantially perpendicular to each other. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The accompanying drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention, wherein:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a conventional exhaust manifold for a vehicle;  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing an exhaust manifold for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the line I-I in  FIG. 2 ; and  
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the line II-II in  FIG. 2 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
      An embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , an exhaust manifold for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a monolithically formed manifold body  100 . First and second exhaust passages  210  and  220 , and a plurality of runners O and E are formed inside the manifold body  100 . The plurality of runners O and E are configured and dimensioned to be respectively connected to a plurality of exhaust ports P of an engine. The first exhaust passage  210  communicates with at least one of the plurality of runners (refer to the reference symbol O), and the second exhaust passage  220  communicates with the remnant of the plurality of runners (refer to the reference symbol E).  
      According to an embodiment of the present invention, forming the runners does not necessitate separate pipes. That is, the runners O and E can be formed as a consequence of fabricating the monolithic (or single) body  100 . Therefore, the exhaust manifold for a vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention has various advantages in a layout aspect.  
      It is preferable that the first and the second exhaust passages  210  and  220  are respectively formed inside of the body  100  along a lengthwise direction thereof. It is also preferable that the odd numbered runners O of the runners are located to be connected with the first exhaust passage  210 , and the even numbered runners E of the runners are located to connected with the second exhaust passage  220 .  
      In more detail, as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , it is preferable that the odd numbered runners O are respectively formed at the inside of the body  100  along a transverse direction thereof, and are respectively connected with the first exhaust passage  210 . In the same manner as the odd numbered runners O shown in  FIG. 3 , it is preferable that the even numbered runners E are also respectively formed at the inside of the body  100  along a transverse direction thereof, and are respectively connected with the second exhaust passage  210 .  
      The first exhaust passage  210  and the second exhaust passage  220  may be partitioned by a wall  300 , preferably a single wall.  
      It is also preferable that the plurality of runners O and E is also partitioned by an other single wall.  
      A dual wall (not shown) or a separate pipe (not shown) may be employed to partition the first and the second exhaust passages  210  and  220 . However, in an aspect of a layout, the body  100  employing the single wall  300  can occupy less volume than a body employing such a double wall or a separate pipe. In addition, prevention of interference of the exhaust gas between cylinders is not deteriorated since the first and the second exhaust passages  210  and  220  remain partitioned.  
      As shown in FIGS.  2  to  4 , according to an embodiment of the present invention, the manifold body  100  may be generally a rectangular parallelepiped. In addition, the plurality of runners O and E are substantially perpendicular to the first and second exhaust passages  210  and  220 . In addition, the plurality of runners O and E are substantially linear and are substantially perpendicular to each other. Furthermore, the first and second exhaust passages  210  and  220  are substantially linear and are substantially perpendicular to each other.  
      Flow of exhaust gas through the exhaust manifold for a vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail.  
      According to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in the drawings, two runners of first and third runners  110  and  130  are included in the odd numbered runners O, and two runners of second and fourth runners  120  and  140  are included in the even numbered runners E. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the number of the runners because the number of the runners may be varied according to the number of cylinders.  
      Firstly, exhaust gas from the first and third exhaust ports (refer to the reference symbol P in  FIG. 2 ) exhausts to the first exhaust passage  210  through the first and third runners  110  and  130  according to a firing sequence, and then is delivered to the collecting duct (see  30  in  FIG. 1 ) through the first exhaust passage  210 . The exhaust gas is finally exhausted to outside through the muffler (see  2  in  FIG. 1 ).  
      In addition, exhaust gas from the second and fourth exhaust ports (refer to the reference symbol P in  FIG. 2 ) exhausts to the second exhaust passage  220  through the second and fourth runners  120  and  140  according to a firing sequence, and then is delivered to the collecting duct (see  30  in  FIG. 1 ) through the second exhaust passage  220 . The exhaust gas is finally exhausted to outside through the muffler (see  2  in  FIG. 1 ).  
      In addition, an exhaust gas respectively passed through the second and fourth exhaust ports according to the stroke, flows into the second exhaust passage  210  along the second and fourth runners  120  and  140 , after this, the exhaust gas is flowed into the collecting duct (see “ 30 ” in  FIG. 1 ) along the second exhaust passage  210 . Finally, the exhaust gas is exhausted out of the vehicle through the muffler (see “ 2 ” in  FIG. 1 ).  
      As has been explained above, an exhaust manifold for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention has a number of advantages.  
      According to an embodiment of the present invention, an exhaust manifold according to an embodiment of the present invention is advantageous in a layout aspect since runners are formed inside a monolithically formed body.  
      In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a single wall is employed for partitioning of the first and second exhaust passages. Therefore, the volume consumed by an exhaust manifold may be reduced in comparison with a body employing the double wall or a separate pipe.  
      While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.