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US 12,709,132 B2Granted
Thermal management system
AssigneeStant USA Corp.
InventorsMichael S. Brock, George J. Mitri, Joshua L. Rude
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A thermal management system is adapted for use in a vehicle to control the heating and/or cooling of the components of the vehicle. The thermal management system includes a plurality of fluid circuits and an integrated coolant controller. The integrated coolant controller is configured to control a flow of coolant fluid through the different fluid circuits.
Claims28
A thermal management system adapted for use in a vehicle, the thermal management system comprising:
- a main fluid circuit including a main conduit configured to conduct coolant fluid through the main fluid circuit and adapted to be in thermal communication with front and rear drives included in the vehicle to transfer heat between the front and rear drives and the coolant fluid,
- a radiator fluid circuit including a radiator-circuit conduit configured to conduct the coolant fluid through the radiator fluid circuit and adapted to be in thermal communication with a radiator included in the vehicle to transfer heat between the radiator and the coolant fluid,
- a battery fluid circuit including a battery-circuit conduit configured to conduct the coolant fluid through the battery fluid circuit and adapted to be in thermal communication with batteries included in the vehicle to transfer heat between the batteries and the coolant fluid and a heat exchanger in fluid communication with the battery-circuit conduit to transfer heat between the coolant fluid and a fluid in the heat exchanger, and
- an integrated coolant controller comprising a coolant tank formed to define a coolant reservoir configured to store the coolant fluid, a first pump configured to pump a flow of the coolant fluid from the coolant tank through the main fluid circuit, a second pump configured to pump a flow of the coolant fluid through the battery fluid circuit, a multi-way valve configured to control the flow of the coolant fluid through the main fluid circuit, the radiator fluid circuit, and the battery fluid circuit, and a manifold coupled to each of the coolant tank, the first and second pumps, and the multi-way valve to integrate the coolant tank, the first and second pumps, and the multi-way valve so that the main fluid circuit, the radiator fluid circuit, and the battery fluid circuit flow through the manifold to eliminate the need for piping between the coolant tank, the first and second pumps, and the multi-way valve and to reduce the amount of power used by the pumps to supply the coolant fluid through the main fluid circuit, the radiator fluid circuit, and the battery fluid circuit,
- wherein the manifold includes a manifold body and a plurality of pipes that each extend from the manifold body, the manifold body shaped to define a plurality of fluid cavities and a plurality of valve ports that each open to one fluid cavity of the plurality of fluid cavities, and the plurality of pipes each defining a pipe passageway in fluid communication with one of the fluid cavity of the plurality of fluid cavities and one of the main conduit of the main fluid circuit, the radiator-circuit conduit of the radiator fluid circuit, and the battery-circuit conduit of the battery fluid circuit,
- wherein the manifold body includes a first body section and a second body section that is separate from the first body section and coupled to the first body section, and
- wherein the first and second body sections of the manifold body cooperate with each other to define the plurality of fluid cavities so that some fluid cavities included in the plurality of fluid cavities are only a part of one of the first body section and the second body section while the other fluid cavities included in the plurality of fluid cavities extend across both the first body section and the second body section.
4 more elements
A thermal management system adapted for use in a vehicle, the thermal management system comprising:
- a plurality of fluid circuits that each includes a conduit configured to conduct coolant fluid through the plurality of fluid circuits, and
- an integrated coolant controller comprising:
- a coolant tank formed to define a coolant reservoir configured to store the coolant fluid, the cooling tank including a plurality of outer walls and a bottom wall that extends between and interconnects the plurality of outer walls and is formed to define an inlet port and an outlet port,
- a first pump configured to pump a flow of the coolant fluid from the coolant tank through the plurality of fluid circuits,
- a multi-way valve configured to control the flow of the coolant fluid through the plurality of fluid circuits, and
- a manifold coupled to each of the coolant tank, the first pump, and the multi-way valve to integrate the coolant tank, the first pump, and the multi-way valve so that each fluid circuit of the plurality of fluid circuits flows through the manifold to eliminate the need for piping between the coolant tank, the first pump, and the multi-way valve and to reduce the amount of power used by the first pump to supply the coolant fluid through the plurality of fluid circuits,
- wherein the manifold comprises a tank dock configured to receive the coolant tank to mount the coolant tank on the manifold so that the bottom wall of the coolant tank closes a top opening of the manifold and the inlet and outlet ports formed in the bottom wall of the coolant tank align with tank ports on the manifold.
4 more elements
An integrated coolant controller adapted for use in a thermal management system, the integrated coolant controller comprising:
- a coolant tank formed to define a coolant reservoir configured to store a coolant fluid,
- a first pump configured to pump a flow of the coolant fluid through the thermal management system,
- a second pump configured to pump a flow of the coolant fluid through the thermal management system,
- a multi-way valve configured to control the flow of the coolant fluid to different thermal fluid circuits of the thermal management system, the multi-way valve including a valve housing and a valve flow controller arranged in the valve housing to control the flow of the coolant fluid through a plurality of apertures formed in the valve housing to change the thermal management system between different modes, and
- a manifold coupled to each of the coolant tank, the first pump, the second pump, and the multi-way valve to integrate the coolant reservoir of the coolant tank, the first pump, the second pump, and the multi-way valve in fluid communication with one another to eliminate the need for piping between the coolant tank, the first pump, the second pump, and the multi-way valve and to reduce the amount of power used by the first pump and the second pump to supply the coolant fluid through different fluid circuits of the thermal management system,
- wherein the manifold includes a manifold body and a plurality of pipes that each extend from the manifold body, the manifold body shaped to define a plurality of fluid cavities and a plurality of valve ports that each open to one fluid cavity of the plurality of fluid cavities, and the plurality of pipes each defining a pipe passageway in fluid communication with one fluid cavity of the plurality of fluid cavities and the different fluid circuits, and
- wherein the manifold includes a valve dock configured to receive the multi-way valve to mount the multi-way valve on an exterior of the manifold so that the plurality of apertures included in the valve housing of the multi-way valve align with the plurality of valve ports on the manifold.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.