# US 10,767,544 B2 · Valve body, electronic control throttle body, motor-driven throttle body, and valve device

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- Number: US 10,767,544 B2
- Document ID: US10767544B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/088,460
- Filed: 2017-03-24
- Published: 2019-04-11
- Granted: 2020-09-08
- Earliest claimed: 2016-04-12
- Assignees: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
- Applicants: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
- Inventors: Hidefumi Hatsuzawa; Makoto Kawano; Toshio Hori; Toyoshi Nemoto
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10767544B2

## CPC

- F01P 3/14: for cooling intake or exhaust valves
- F02D 9/10: having pivotally-mounted flaps
- F02D 9/1035: {Details of the valve housing}
- F02D 11/10: of the electric type
- F02M 26/70: Flap valves; Rotary valves; Sliding valves; Resilient valves
- F02M 26/73: with means for heating or cooling the EGR valve
- F16C 37/007: {of rolling bearings}
- F16K 1/22: with axis of rotation crossing the valve member, e.g. butterfly valves
- F01P 2060/02: Intercooler
- F02D 2011/102: {at least one throttle being moved only by an electric actuator}
- F16C 2361/91: Valves
- F01P: COOLING OF MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; COOLING OF INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES (arrangements in connection with cooling of propulsion units in vehicles B60K11/00; heat-transfer, heat-exchange or heat-storage materials C09K5/00; {cooling of gas-turbine engines F02C7/12}; heat exchange in general, radiators F28)
- F02D: CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES (vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed B60K31/00; conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function, road vehicle drive control systems for purposes other than the control of a single sub-unit B60W)
- F02M: SUPPLYING COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL WITH COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURES OR CONSTITUENTS THEREOF
- F16C: SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
- F16K: VALVES; TAPS; COCKS; ACTUATING-FLOATS; DEVICES FOR VENTING OR AERATING {(devices for emptying and evacuating the excess liquid in valves or conduits F16L55/07)}

## Abstract

An object is to provide a type of device capable of properly cooling a bearing of a throttle body even under a condition that the throttle body receives heat of high-temperature intake air or exhaust gas. In the present invention, an engine coolant passage that guides a coolant of an engine is provided integrally with a member fixing a bearing to be adjacent to a circumferential wall of the bearing of the member fixing the bearing, which supports a throttle shaft, and heat transferred from the bearing (or likely to be transferred to the bearing) via the member fixing the bearing is carried away to the outside of a throttle body by the engine coolant.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An electronic control throttle body comprising:
a passage forming body that forms an intake air passage through which intake air flows;
a pair of bearing fixing portions that fixes a pair of bearings configured to rotatably support a throttle shaft disposed across the intake air passage;
a flow path forming body that surrounds the intake air passage and forms a flow path through which a heat-exchange medium flows; and
an accommodating portion that is provided so as to surround the bearing fixing portion of one of the pair of bearings and forms an accommodation space that is connected to a space where an electric element relating to driving of the throttle shaft is accommodated,
wherein the flow path is constituted by a first flow path closer to the one bearing fixing portion positioned on a side of the accommodation space between the pair of bearing fixing portions, and a second flow path closer to the other bearing fixing portion positioned on an opposite side of the accommodation space between the pair of bearing fixing portions, and
the second flow path is formed at a position closer to the bearing fixing portion than the first flow path, wherein
a flow path cross-sectional area of the first flow path is smaller than a flow path cross-sectional area of the second flow path.

### Claim 2

A valve device comprising:
a passage member in which a fluid passage is formed;
a shaft which is rotatably supported by a bearing fixed to the passage member; and
a valve which is fixed to the shaft and controls a passage cross-sectional area of the fluid passage by rotation of the shaft, wherein
the passage member is integrally formed with a refrigerant passage,
the valve is a throttle valve, the fluid passage is an intake passage, and the cooling medium is an engine coolant,
the shaft extends across the intake passage,
the bearing rotatably supporting the shaft is formed of a pair of bearings facing each other with the intake passage sandwiched therebetween,
the refrigerant passage surrounds an outer side of a wall surface forming the intake passage and is formed as an annular passage that is formed between the intake passage and an outer wall integrally formed with the passage member, and
inlet and outlet portions of an engine coolant are formed in the refrigerant passage connecting the pair of bearings.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The valve device according to claim 2, wherein
the valve is an EGR valve, the fluid passage is an exhaust gas passage, and a cooling medium is an engine coolant.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The valve device according to claim 2, wherein
a partition wall dividing the annular passage is provided between the inlet and outlet portions of the engine coolant.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The valve device according to claim 2, wherein
the annular passage is formed at an attachment end face of the passage member as an arcuate groove which is released in a flowing direction of air.

### Claim 6

A motor-driven throttle body formed with an intake passage whose passage cross-sectional area is controlled by rotation of a throttle valve driven by a motor, the throttle body comprising:
a pair of bearing fixing portions to which a pair of bearings axially supporting a throttle shaft to which the throttle valve is fixed;
an accommodating portion in which functional parts, configured to drive the throttle valve including at least the motor and a spring that biases the throttle valve in a rotational direction, are accommodated so as to surround one bearing fixing portion between the pair of bearing fixing portions; and
a cover attached to the throttle body so as to cover the functional parts, wherein
an engine coolant passage, which guides an engine coolant, is formed integrally with the throttle body to be adjacent to walls of the bearing fixing portions,
the bearing and the engine coolant are configured to be capable of transferring heat through the walls of the bearing fixing portions, and
a cross-sectional area of the engine coolant passage close to the bearing fixing portion on a side opposite to the accommodating portion is configured to be larger than a cross-sectional area of the engine coolant passage close to the bearing fixing portion on a side of the accommodating portion.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The motor-driven throttle body according to claim 6, wherein
the spring among the functional parts is disposed between an outer circumference of the one bearing fixing portion and a wall of the engine coolant passage close to the one bearing fixing portion.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The motor-driven throttle body according to claim 6, wherein
an outer circumference of the other bearing fixing portion and a wall of the engine coolant passage close to the other bearing fixing portion are formed by a common wall.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The motor-driven throttle body according to claim 6, wherein
the engine coolant passage close to the bearing fixing portion on a side opposite to the accommodating portion is formed to be closer to the bearing fixing portion than the engine coolant passage close to the bearing fixing portion on a side of the accommodating portion.

### Claim 10 (depends on 6)

The motor-driven throttle body according to claim 6, wherein
the refrigerant passage connecting the pair of bearings is formed as an annular passage that surrounds a periphery of the intake passage, and
inlet and outlet portions of the engine coolant are formed in the annular passage.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The motor-driven throttle body according to claim 10, wherein
a partition wall dividing the annular passage is provided between the inlet and outlet portions of the engine coolant.

### Claim 12 (depends on 6)

The motor-driven throttle body according to claim 6, wherein
the annular passage is formed at an attachment end face of the passage member as an arcuate groove which is released in a flowing direction of air.

### Claim 13

A motor-driven throttle body, which is installed upstream of an intercooler and formed with an intake passage whose passage cross-sectional area is controlled by rotation of a throttle valve driven by a motor, the throttle body comprising:
a pair of bearing fixing portions to which a pair of bearings axially supporting a throttle shaft to which the throttle valve is fixed;
an accommodating portion in which functional parts, configured to drive the throttle valve including at least the motor and a spring that biases the throttle valve in a rotational direction, are accommodated so as to surround one bearing fixing portion between the pair of bearing fixing portions; and
a cover attached to the throttle body so as to cover the functional parts,
wherein an engine coolant passage, which guides an engine coolant, is formed integrally with the throttle body to be adjacent to walls of the bearing fixing portions,
the bearing and the engine coolant are configured to be capable of transferring heat through the walls of the bearing fixing portions,
the engine coolant passage is formed as an annular passage which surrounds an outer side of a wall surface forming the intake passage and is formed between an outer wall integrally formed with a passage member and the wall surface,
an inlet pipe for guiding the engine coolant and an outlet pipe for discharging the engine coolant heated from a space are connected to the engine coolant passage, and
the inlet pipe is provided on a side closer to the bearing fixing portion on a side of the accommodating portion and the outlet pipe is provided on a side closer to the bearing fixing portion on a side opposite to the accommodating portion.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The motor-driven throttle body according to claim 13, wherein
the annular passage is formed in an attachment end face of the passage member on a side connected to the intercooler as an arcuate groove which is released in a flowing direction of air, and
a depth of the annular groove in a direction along the intake passage is formed up to a position including at least an upstream end of the intake passage of the throttle valve when the throttle valve is positioned at a position of a full-closed opening degree.