Patent ID: 8646262

Claim:
A unit for recovering and converting thermal energy from the exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine of a vehicle, said unit comprising: a heat exchanger to be traversed by exhaust gases flowing along a by-pass path branching out from an exhaust gas main line of said internal combustion engine, and valve means for controlling the flow of the exhaust gases through said path, said valve means being driven by an actuator device, wherein said by-pass path is a U-shaped path defined entirely by said heat exchanger, starting from an inlet section of said heat exchanger and ending at an outlet section of said heat exchanger, said inlet and outlet sections being located on a same side of the heat exchanger and both opening on an interface conduit portion interposed in said exhaust gas main line, said heat exchanger is arranged so that said U-shaped path is oriented transversely to the direction of the exhaust gas main line, in such a manner that the exhaust gases traversing the heat exchanger flow firstly in the transverse direction away from the exhaust gas main line and then back in the transverse direction towards the exhaust gas main line, said valve means being arranged within said interface conduit portion, at a position axially intermediate between merging points of said inlet and outlet portions of the heat exchanger.