Patent ID: 8011175

Claim:
An exhaust-gas cooling device for an internal combustion engine, said exhaust-gas cooling device comprising: (a) a housing provided with an exhaust-gas inlet and an exhaust-gas outlet, wherein the housing further comprises a first chamber, a second chamber and a third chamber; (b) a U-shaped heat exchange unit provided with an outbound flow path and a return flow path, wherein the first chamber, the second chamber and the third chamber of the housing are disposed on an open side of the U-shaped heat exchange unit; and (c) a valve device that comprises a centrically supported flap valve that, depending on a position of the flap valve, connects the exhaust-gas inlet to the outbound flow path or to the return flow path of the U-shaped heat exchange unit; wherein the first chamber provides a first fluid connection between the exhaust-gas inlet and the second chamber, and the third chamber provides a second fluid connection between the second chamber and the exhaust-gas outlet, and the valve device is arranged in the second chamber so that the second chamber is divided into at least two partial chambers, wherein a first partial chamber of the at least two partial chambers is arranged in fluid connection with the outbound flow path, and a second partial chamber of the at least two partial chambers is arranged in fluid connection with the return flow path, wherein the flap valve comprises a flap that is operatively connected to move on semi-circular surfaces that extend into the second chamber, wherein the flap includes a bypass channel formed therein, wherein when the flap is in a bypass position, the flap is arranged on the semi-circular surfaces so that the bypass channel is directly connected to the first chamber and to the third chamber so exhaust gas flow bypasses the U-shaped heat exchanger unit.