Patent Publication Number: US-2013248141-A1

Title: Ducting arrangement and method for directing airflow toward a radiator

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure generally relates to a front end structure for a vehicle, and particularly relates to a ducting arrangement and method for directing airflow toward and through a radiator in a vehicle. 
     To maximize fuel economy and aerodynamics, efforts are being made to improve the efficiency of air entering vehicles. Specifically, cooling air entering through a front fascia (e.g., entering through the grille and/or other openings in the front fascia) and how such air flows through the vehicle is being managed. Optimally, all or substantially all of the air entering through the grille will be directed through the radiator for engine cooling. Unfortunately, however, a significant amount of air typically passes around the side of the radiator, hurting aerodynamics and cooling performance. 
     For example, with reference for  FIG. 1 , a front end structure  10  for a vehicle is schematically illustrated. The front end structure  10  includes a fascia member  12  defining a forward end of engine compartment and a radiator  14  disposed in the engine compartment rearwardly spaced from the fascia member  12 . As shown by the arrows, airflow enters through grille openings  16 ,  18  in the fascia member  12  and is directed toward the radiator  14 . Undesirably, some of the airflow directed toward the radiator  14  from the grille openings  16 ,  18  passes around lateral sides  20 ,  22  of the radiator and thus is not utilized for engine cooling, or at least not used for engine cooling via the radiator  14 . 
     One countermeasure to address the issue of airflow passing around lateral sides  20 ,  22  of a radiator  14  is to employ air guides, such as plastic air guides or tabs (not shown in  FIG. 1 ). These tabs can close any gaps around the radiator  14  and block airflow from passing around the radiator  14 . The negative of this countermeasure is that it requires the use of additional components on the vehicle. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to one aspect, a front end structure for a vehicle includes a fascia member defining a forward end of a engine compartment and a radiator disposed in the engine compartment rearwardly spaced from the fascia member. The front end structure further includes a duct member receiving airflow from an opening in the fascia member and directing the airflow to a location adjacent the radiator for restricting airflow around the radiator. 
     According to another aspect, a ducting arrangement for directing airflow toward a radiator in a vehicle includes a fascia member defining at least one lower opening therethrough and at least one upper opening therethrough. The at least one upper opening is aligned with an upper portion of the radiator such that airflow entering the at least one upper opening passes directly to the upper portion of the radiator. The ducting arrangement further includes at least one duct member associated with that at least one opening. The at least duct member has an inlet port arranged to receive airflow from the at least one lower opening and an exit port for discharging airflow received from the at least one lower opening. The exit port is arranged to discharge airflow at the upper portion of the radiator adjacent a lateral side of the radiator to maintain the airflow entering the at least one upper opening flowing into the radiator. 
     According to a further aspect, a method for directing airflow toward a radiator in a vehicle includes directing airflow from an upper opening defined in a fascia member toward an upper portion of the radiator; directing airflow from a lower opening defined in the fascia member below the upper opening toward the upper portion of the radiator; and further directing the airflow from the lower opening toward a location adjacent a lateral side of the radiator to prevent airflow from the upper opening from passing around the lateral side of the radiator. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic plan view of a prior art front end structure of a vehicle showing airflow entering through a grille in a front fascia member passing around lateral sides of a radiator. 
         FIG. 2  is a front elevational view of a front end structure for a vehicle having a pair of duct members that receive airflow from respective openings in a fascia member and directs the received airflow to respective locations adjacent lateral sides of the radiator for restricting airflow around the radiator. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the front end structure taken along the line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the front end structure taken along the line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view showing the duct member and the radiator in isolation. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring now to the drawings, wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating one or more exemplary embodiments and not for purposes of limiting same,  FIGS. 2-4  illustrate a vehicle front end or front end structure  30  on a vehicle  32 . The illustrated front end structure  30  includes a fascia member  34  defining a forward end  36  of a engine compartment  38  of the vehicle  32 . A radiator  40  is disposed in the engine compartment rearwardly of the fascia member  34 , and particularly rearwardly spaced from the fascia member  34 . A condenser (not shown) can be disposed immediately forward of the radiator  40 . The front end structure  30  additionally includes a ducting arrangement for directing airflow toward the radiator  40 . 
     The ducting arrangement includes the fascia member  34  and at least one duct member associated with an opening in the fascia. In the illustrated embodiment, the at least one duct member is a pair of duct members  42 ,  44  that can be mirrored relative to one another within the front end structure  30 . As will be described in more detail below, each of the duct members  42 ,  44  can receive airflow from an opening  46 ,  48  in the fascia member  34  and can direct the received airflow to a location adjacent the radiator  40  for restricting airflow around the radiator  40 . 
     More particularly, the fascia member  34  defines at least one lower opening therethrough and at least upper opening therethrough. In the illustrated embodiment, the at least one lower opening is a pair of laterally spaced apart lower openings  46 ,  48  defined in a lower portion  34   a  of the fascia member  34  and the at least one upper opening is a grille formed of an upper opening  50  and a lower opening  52  defined in an upper portion  34   b  of the fascia member  34 . The lower openings  46 ,  48  generally laterally flank the upper openings  50 ,  52 , which can also be referred to as grille openings. Also in the illustrated embodiment, the duct member  42  can receive airflow from the opening  46  in the fascia member  34  and direct the received airflow to a location A adjacent the radiator (e.g., adjacent a first lateral side of the radiator) to restrict airflow around the radiator  40 . Likewise, the duct member  44  can receive airflow from the opening  48  in the fascia member  34  and direct the received airflow to another or second location B adjacent the radiator (e.g., adjacent a second lateral side of the radiator) to restrict airflow around the radiator. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the at least one upper opening can be aligned with an upper portion  40   a  of the radiator  40  such that airflow entering the at least one upper opening passes directly to the upper portion  40   a  of the radiator. 
     As mentioned, the at least one duct member (e.g., first and second duct members  42 ,  44 ) can be associated with the at least one lower opening (e.g., first and second lower openings  46 ,  48 ). As will be described in more detail below, the at least one duct member can have an inlet port arranged to received airflow from the at least one lower opening and an exit or outlet port for discharging airflow received from the at least one lower opening, wherein the exit port is arranged to discharge airflow at the upper portion  40   a  of the radiator adjacent a lateral side of the radiator to maintain the airflow entering the at least one upper opening flowing into the radiator  40 . The inlet port can be vertically aligned with a lower portion  40   b  of the radiator  40  and the exit port can be vertically aligned with an upper portion  40   a  of the radiator  40 . 
     More particular, and referring to the illustrated embodiment, each of the lower openings  46 ,  48  is an opening defined in the lower portion  34   a  of the fascia member  34  and is aligned, at least vertically, with a lower portion  40   b  of the radiator  40 . The duct members  42 ,  44  receive airflow, respectively, from the openings  46 ,  48  in the fascia member  34  and direct the received airflow to respective locations A, B adjacent the radiator  40  for restricting airflow around the radiator. In particular, the respective locations A, B adjacent the radiator  40  can be disposed adjacent the upper portion  40   a  of the radiator, which is located above the lower portion  40   b  of the radiator  40 . More specifically, each of the locations A, B can be disposed adjacent a lateral side  62 ,  64  of the radiator  40  for forming an air curtain adjacent the lateral sides  62 ,  64  of the radiator  40  that causes other airflow incoming toward the radiator  40  (e.g., airflow entering through the grille openings  50 ,  52 ) to pass through the radiator  40  instead of passing around the lateral sides  60   62  of the radiator  40  as occurs in the prior art arrangement depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
     As already described, the upper openings  50 ,  52  are defined in the upper portion  34   b  of the fascia member, and particularly above the lower openings  46 ,  48  defined in the lower portion  34   a  of the fascia member  34 . The upper openings  50 ,  52  can be aligned, at least vertically, with the upper portion  40   a  of the radiator  40  such that airflow entering the upper openings  50 ,  52  passes toward the upper portion  40   b  of the radiator  40  and is prevented from passing around the lateral sides  62 ,  64  of the radiator by air curtains formed by airflow exiting the duct members  42 ,  44 . Advantageously, the front end structure  10  and ducting arrangement thereof illustrated in  FIGS. 2-5  allows airflow from the upper openings  50 ,  52  to be prevented from passing around lateral sides  60 ,  62  of the radiator and does not require the use of any plastic tabs (i.e., airflow is prevented from passing around the radiator without the use of tabs). This can result in cost savings and weight savings for the vehicle  32 . 
     Each of the duct members  44 ,  46  includes a respective inlet port  66  at the respective openings  46 ,  48  and an respective exit port  68  at the respective locations A, B adjacent the radiator  40 . In particular, the exit port  68  of the duct member  42  is disposed at the first location A, which is located or disposed adjacent the first lateral side  62  of the radiator  40 , and the exit port  68  of the second duct member  44  is disposed adjacent the second location B, which is located or disposed adjacent the second, opposite lateral side  64  of the radiator  40 . As already mentioned, the first and second duct members  42 ,  44  create air curtains at the first and second locations A, B when airflow passes through the first and second duct members  42 ,  44 . In particular, the exit ports  68  are arranged such that airflow exiting the exit ports  68  forms a respective air curtains at or around lateral sides  62 ,  64  of the radiator  40  that prevents the airflow entering through the upper openings  50 ,  52  from bypassing the radiator and flowing around the lateral sides  62 ,  64  of the radiator  40 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the exit ports  68  of the first and second duct members  42 ,  44  are defined in a plane that is substantially parallel to a forward face  40   c  of the radiator  40  (see  FIG. 3 ). By this arrangement, the first duct member  42  has an exit port  68  adjacent the first lateral side  62  of the radiator  40  at the location A and the second duct member  44  has its exit port  68  adjacent the second lateral side  64  of the radiator  40  at the location B. Airflow exiting the first and second duct members  42 ,  44  via the respect exit ports  68  generally restricts airflow entering the at least one upper opening (e.g., openings  50 ,  52 ) from passing around the lateral sides  62 ,  64  of the radiator  40 . Also in the illustrated embodiment, the inlet port  66  of each duct member  42 ,  44  is spaced apart vertically from the respective outlet port  68  of each duct member  42 ,  44 . In particular, the inlet ports  66  are disposed at a first elevation and the exit ports  68  are disposed at a second, higher elevation relative to the inlet ports  66 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3  with respect to duct member  42  and opening  46 , the inlet ports  66  of the duct members  42 ,  44  can be substantially sealed to the fascia member  34  and with the respective openings  46 ,  48  such that all airflow entering the openings  46 ,  48  in the fascia member  34  necessarily enters the inlet ports  66  of the duct members  42 ,  44 . Additionally, each of the inlet ports  66  can have a cross-sectional area that substantially matches a cross-sectional area of the respective openings  46 ,  48  defined in fascia member  34 . Also, as shown in the illustrated embodiment, each of the duct members  42 ,  44  can define a duct passageway  42   a,    44   a  that is substantially enclosed from the inlet port  66  to the exit port  68 . Accordingly, only the inlet port  66  and the exit port  68  permit entry and exit for airflow in the duct passageways  42   a,    44   a.    
     With additional reference to  FIG. 5 , the inlet ports  66  of the duct members  42 ,  44  can each have cross-sectional areas that are respectively greater than cross-sectional areas of the respective outlet ports  68  for increasing a velocity of the airflow received and directed by the duct members  42 ,  44 . By way of example, the cross-sectional areas of the inlet ports  66  can be two times more greater than the cross-sectional areas of the outlet ports  68  and, in the illustrated embodiment, is at least three times larger than the respective exit ports  68 . The increased velocity imparted to the airflow passing through the duct members  42 ,  44  enhances the curtain effect that restricts the airflow from the grille openings  50 ,  52  from passing around the radiator  40 . 
     Optionally, as best shown in  FIG. 4 , an underside air inlet opening  70  can be defined in an underside  72  of the vehicle  32  for allowing additional airflow to pass to the radiator  40 . This can be referred to as a bottom breather application. One advantage of the front end structure  30  and ducting arrangement described herein is that it can increase the efficiency of such a bottom breather application because it does not adversely impact any airflow passing to the radiator  40  from the inlet opening  70 . 
     A method for directing airflow toward a radiator in a vehicle will now be described. In particular, the method will be described in association with the front end structure  10  and ducting arrangement of  FIGS. 2-5 , though this is not required. In the method, airflow is directed from the upper opening, such as openings  50 ,  52  defined in the fascia member  34 , toward the upper portion  40   a  of the radiator  40 . Airflow is also directed from lower openings  46 ,  48  defined in the fascia member  34  below the upper openings  50 ,  52  toward the upper portion  40   a  of the radiator. The airflow is further directed from the lower openings  46 ,  48  toward respective locations adjacent lateral sides  62 ,  64  of the radiator  40  to prevent airflow from the upper portions  50 ,  52  from passing around the lateral sides  62 ,  64  of the radiator  40 . 
     It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives or varieties thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.