Vehicle exhaust assemblies and methods therefor
AssigneeBraun GmbH
InventorsMichael Laird, Christopher Wegner, Parker Fox
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Exhaust assemblies for vehicles and methods of installing exhaust systems on vehicles are disclosed. An exhaust assembly for a vehicle includes an exhaust inlet to receive combustion products from a drive unit, a catalytic converter to control emissions from combustion products received by the exhaust system, and a first piping assembly coupled to the exhaust inlet and the catalytic converter.
Claims23
An exhaust system for a vehicle having a ground clearance defined along a vertical direction between an underside of the vehicle and a ground, the vertical direction being generally normal to the underside and the ground, the exhaust system comprising:
- an exhaust inlet to receive combustion products from a drive unit;
- a catalytic converter to control emissions from the combustion products received by the exhaust system;
- and
- a first piping assembly coupled to the exhaust inlet and the catalytic converter, wherein the first piping assembly includes a flexible tube and at least one conduit coupled thereto that cooperate to at least partially define a first loop between the exhaust inlet and the catalytic converter, and wherein the at least one conduit has one section that at least partially extends downwardly in the vertical direction from the flexible tube and another section that at least partially extends upwardly in the vertical direction from the one section to the catalytic converter;
- wherein the catalytic converter is positioned at least partially above the exhaust inlet in the vertical direction.
A method of installing an exhaust system on a vehicle having a ground clearance defined along a vertical direction between an underside of the vehicle and a ground, the vertical direction being generally normal to the underside and the ground, the method comprising:
- coupling an exhaust inlet of the exhaust system to a drive unit of the vehicle;
- arranging a catalytic converter of the exhaust system relative to the exhaust inlet such that the catalytic converter is at least partially positioned above the exhaust inlet in the vertical direction;
- coupling the catalytic converter to the exhaust inlet by a first piping assembly defining a first loop between the exhaust inlet and the catalytic converter that at least partially extends downwardly in the vertical direction from the exhaust inlet and upwardly in the vertical direction to the catalytic converter;
- arranging a heat exchanger of the exhaust system relative to the catalytic converter such that the heat exchanger is at least partially positioned below the catalytic converter in the vertical direction;
- and
- coupling the heat exchanger to the catalytic converter by a second piping assembly defining a second loop between the heat exchanger and the catalytic converter that at least partially extends upwardly from the catalytic converter in the vertical direction and downwardly in the vertical direction to the heat exchanger.
An exhaust system for a vehicle having a ground clearance defined along a vertical direction between an underside of the vehicle and a ground, the vertical direction being generally normal to the underside and the ground, the exhaust system comprising:
- an exhaust inlet to receive the combustion products from a drive unit;
- a catalytic converter to control emissions from combustion products received by the exhaust system;
- a first piping assembly coupled to the exhaust inlet and the catalytic converter that at least partially defines a first loop between the exhaust inlet and the catalytic converter;
- wherein the first piping assembly has one section that at least partially extends downwardly in the vertical direction from the exhaust inlet and another section that at least partially extends upwardly in the vertical direction from the one section to the catalytic converter;
- wherein the first piping assembly is routed such that the catalytic converter is positioned at least partially above the exhaust inlet in the vertical direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.