Patent Publication Number: US-2007113901-A1

Title: Cooling apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
      This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0112810 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Nov. 24, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      (a) Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a cooling apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cooling apparatus including a spool valve mounted to an inlet and outlet for coolant.  
      (b) Description of the Related Art  
      Generally, a cooling apparatus includes an inlet and an outlet such that coolant flows therein and is exhausted therefrom. The coolant flows into respective coolant inlets, circulates around of the motor and the generator, and is exhausted to the respective coolant outlets. However, because vibrations are transmitted to the coolant while driving the vehicle, a problem occurs in that the coolant is irregularly supplied.  
      Because a supply of the coolant is irregular, the performance of the cooling apparatus is problematically deteriorated. The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form 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 a cooling apparatus having advantages of supplying a constant amount of coolant.  
      An exemplary cooling apparatus in which a coolant flows and is exhausted therefrom according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an inlet wherein the coolant flows and having a diameter formed to become small in a direction that the coolant flows, an outlet from which the coolant is exhausted and having a diameter formed to become small in a direction that the coolant flows, and a spool valve disposed between the inlet and the outlet and variably regulating a cross-section of the outlet or the inlet corresponding to a coolant amount flowing into the inlet or exhausting from the outlet such that the spool valve regulates a velocity of the coolant corresponding to changes of the coolant amount flowing into the inlet or exhausting from the outlet.  
      The spool valve comprises cases disposed to both ends of the penetrating passage and having a diameter formed to become small in a direction of the coolant flow, a spool disposed to the penetrating passage and having a diameter formed to become small in a direction of the coolant flow, and an elastic member disposed between the spool and a protrusion formed to an interior circumference of the penetrating passage such that the elastic member moves the spool.  
      A cooling apparatus in which a coolant flows and is exhausted from includes an inlet into which a coolant flows, an outlet through which the coolant is exhausted, a penetrating passage connecting the inlet and the outlet, and a spool valve disposed to the penetrating passage and regulating a coolant amount corresponding to changes of the coolant amount flowing into the inlet or exhausting from the outlet.  
      The spool valve includes cases disposed to both ends of the penetrating passage and having a diameter formed to become small in a direction of the coolant flow, a spool disposed to the penetrating passage and having a diameter formed to become small in a direction of the coolant flow, and an elastic member disposed between the spool and a protrusion formed to an interior circumference of the penetrating passage such that the elastic member moves the spool. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  shows a cooling apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
      An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
      As shown in  FIG. 1 , according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the cooling apparatus includes an inlet  201 , an outlet  203 , and a spool valve  210 .  
      The inlet  201  through which the coolant flows has a diameter formed to become small in a coolant flow direction (referring to solid line arrows in  FIG. 1 ).  
      The outlet  203  through which the coolant is exhausted has a diameter formed to become small in a coolant flow direction (referring to dotted line arrows in  FIG. 1 ).  
      That is, the coolant that has flowed into the inlet  201  is exhausted from the outlet  203  after cooling a generator or a motor  200 .  
      The spool valve  210  is disposed between the inlet  201  and the outlet  203  and variably regulates a cross-section of the outlet  203  or the inlet  201  corresponding to a coolant amount flowing into the inlet  201  or exhausting from the outlet  203 , such that the spool valve  210  regulates a velocity of the coolant corresponding to changes of the coolant amount flowing into the inlet  201  or exhausting from the outlet  203 .  
      The spool valve  210  includes a spool  230  and an elastic member  219 .  
      The spool  230  defines slanted surfaces  211  and  213  such that the diameter of the inlet  201  or the outlet  203  can be made to become small in a direction that the coolant flows. The spool  230  includes a spool  205  disposed to the inlet  201  and a spool  207  disposed to the outlet  203 .  
      That is, the slanted surface  211  of the spool  205  disposed to the inlet  201  is formed such that the inlet  201  becomes narrow in the direction that the coolant flows and the slanted surface  213  of the spool  207  disposed to the outlet  203  is formed such that the outlet  203  becomes narrow in the direction that the coolant flows.  
      The elastic member  219  supplies an elastic force to the spool  230  to locate it at a predetermined position.  
      According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the elastic member  219  may be realized as a spring.  
      More particularly, the two spools  205  and  207  are connected with each other, a protrusion  240  is formed between the two spools  205  and  207 , and the elastic member  219  is disposed between the protrusion  240  and the two spools  205  and  207 .  
      In addition, outer circumferences of the inlet  201  and the outlet  203  are also formed such that the inlet  201  and the outlet  203  are narrowed in the coolant flow direction.  
      According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an operation of the spool valve  210  is described hereinafter.  
      In a case that the amount of the coolant changes because of vehicle vibration, for example, in a case that an amount of the coolant exhausted from the outlet  203  increases, an area B of the outlet  203  becomes wide.  
      Therefore, referring to the dotted line in  FIG. 1 , the spool  230  of the spool valve  210  moves a rightward direction.  
      If the spool  230  moves in the rightward direction, an area C of the inlet  201  becomes narrow.  
      However, by Bernoulli&#39;s law, a velocity of the coolant flowing into the inlet  201  then increases.  
      As a result, because respective amounts of the coolant flowing through the inlet  201  and the outlet  203  become equal, the cooling performance of the cooling apparatus is not deteriorated.  
      According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a cooling apparatus includes a penetrating passage  225 .  
      That is, the spool valve  210  is disposed to the penetrating passage  225 , and the spool valve  210  includes a case  250  in addition to the spool  230  and the elastic member  219 .  
      The case  250  includes a case  221  disposed to the inlet  201  and a case  223  disposed to the outlet  203 , and the case  250  is formed such that the diameter of the inlet  201  and the outlet  203  becomes narrow in the direction that the coolant flows.  
      Because an operation of the cooling apparatus according to this exemplary embodiment of the present invention is the same as that of the previous exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a detail description thereof is omitted herein.  
      According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an amount of coolant flowing through the inlet and outlet can be equal and the cooling performance of the cooling apparatus is therefore not deteriorated.  
      In addition, because the motor and the generator are cooled more efficiently, performance of the motor and the generator can be enhanced.  
      While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be 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.