# US 2022/0033008 A1 · Adjustment device for controlling the aerodynamic load on a motorcar > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2022/0033008 A1 - Document ID: US20220033008A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/280,470 - Filed: 2019-10-11 - Published: 2022-02-03 - Earliest claimed: 2018-10-18 - Assignees: Automobili Lamborghini S.P.A. - Applicants: Automobili Lamborghini S.P.A. - Inventors: Riccardo PARISI; Ugo RICCIO; Antonio TORLUCCIO - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20220033008A1 ## CPC - B62D 35/00: Vehicle bodies characterised by streamlining - B62D 35/02: Streamlining the undersurfaces {(B62D35/005, B62D35/007, B62D35/008 take precedence)} - B60K 11/08: Air inlets for cooling; Shutters or blinds therefor - B62D 37/02: by aerodynamic means - Y02T 10/82: Elements for improving aerodynamics - Y02T 10/88: Optimized components or subsystems, e.g. lighting, actively controlled glasses - B62D: MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS (steering, or guiding on a desired track, of agricultural machines or implements A01B69/00; wheels, castors, axles, increasing wheel adhesion B60B; vehicle tyres, tyre inflation or tyre changing B60C; connections between vehicles of a train or the like B60D; vehicles for use on rail and road, amphibious or convertible vehicles B60F; suspension arrangements B60G; heating, cooling, ventilating or other air treating devices B60H; windows, windscreens, non-fixed roofs, doors or similar devices, protective coverings for vehicles not in use B60J; propulsion plant arrangements, auxiliary drives, transmissions, controls, instrumentation or dashboards B60K; electric equipment or propulsion of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L; power supply for electrically-propelled vehicles B60M; passenger accommodation not otherwise provided for B60N; adaptations for load transportation or to carry special loads or objects B60P; arrangement of signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor, for vehicles in general B60Q; vehicles, vehicle fittings or vehicle parts not otherwise provided for B60R; servicing, cleaning, repairing, supporting, lifting, or manoeuvring, not otherwise provided for, B60S; brake arrangements, brake control systems or parts thereof B60T; air-cushion vehicles B60V; motor-cycles, accessories therefor B62J, B62K; testing of vehicles G01M) - B60K: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION ## Abstract This invention relates to an adjustment device for controlling the aerodynamic load acting on a motorcar, which acts by means of an underbody diffuser. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An adjustment device for controlling the aerodynamic load on a motorcar, comprising: an underbody aerodynamic diffuser which comprises an aerodynamic surface, facing, in use, towards a ground surface, and an opening made through the aerodynamic surface, the diffuser being able to take in through the opening a flow taken in defined by at least one part of an air inflow received by an air inlet of the motorcar and produced by the forward motion of the motorcar travelling on the ground surface, so that the at least one part taken in by the diffuser becomes an internal flow inside the diffuser, the device being configured in such a way that the aerodynamic surface, in conjunction with the ground surface, defines, during the forward motion, a diffusion duct in which the internal flow flows, the adjustment device comprising an aerodynamic element movable between a first position and a second position relative to the diffuser; a movement system for moving the aerodynamic element; wherein the movement system is configured to keep the aerodynamic element operatively at least at the first and the second position relative to the diffuser and to cause the element to move between the first and the second position; wherein, at the first position, the aerodynamic element is immersed in the internal flow and allows the internal flow to follow the aerodynamic profile of the aerodynamic surface in such a way as to generate a first aerodynamic load acting on the motorcar during the forward motion; wherein, at the second position, the aerodynamic element acts at least partly as a barrier against the internal flow, moving the internal flow away from the aerodynamic surface in such a way as to generate a second aerodynamic load acting on the motorcar during the forward motion, the device being configured in such a way that the second aerodynamic load is smaller than the first aerodynamic load. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The adjustment device according to claim 1, being configured in such a way that when the aerodynamic element adopts the first position, the aerodynamic element exerts on the diffusion duct an occluding effect that is smaller than when it adopts the second position, so that the diffusing effect that the diffuser exerts on the internal flow by means of the aerodynamic surface is greater at the first position than it is at the second position and the first aerodynamic load is greater than the second aerodynamic load the adjusting device being configured in such a way that, at both the first position and the second position, the aerodynamic element is located downstream of the opening along the diffusion duct and in the direction of the internal flow. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The adjustment device according to claim 1, wherein: the aerodynamic element has a first external surface and a second external surface, opposite to the first external surface, each extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the aerodynamic element; at the first position, the aerodynamic element causes the internal flow to follow the profile of the aerodynamic surface of the diffuser both by contact of the internal flow with the first external surface and by contact of the internal flow with the second external surface. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The adjustment device according to claim 3, wherein the aerodynamic element has the shape of a wing, the first external surface being the back side of the wing and the second external surface being the underside of the wing. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The adjustment device according to claim 1, wherein the movement system comprises: a shaft on which the aerodynamic element is mounted, so that the aerodynamic element rotates as one with the shaft about the axis of the shaft; an actuator acting on the shaft to cause the rotation, so that the movement of the aerodynamic element is a rotational movement about the axis, the first position and the second position differing from each other in the orientation of the aerodynamic element about the axis. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The adjustment device according to claim 4, wherein the shaft is situated between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the aerodynamic element and is positioned along the diffusion duct and in the direction of the internal flow, downstream of the opening. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The adjustment device according to claim 2, wherein: the diffuser comprises two lateral surfaces which extend transversely to the aerodynamic surface to delimit the sides of the diffusion duct, the shaft being supported by the lateral surfaces: the aerodynamic surface delimits the top of the diffusion duct; the shaft is positioned inside the diffusion duct so that the aerodynamic element, at both the first and the second position, is situated inside the diffusion duct, downstream of the opening along the diffusion duct and in the direction of the internal flow. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The adjustment device according to claim 1, comprising a structure which defines the aerodynamic surface, this structure being able to be built into or mounted on an underbody of the motorcar so that the aerodynamic surface defines a portion of the external underbody surface of the motorcar. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The adjustment device according to claim 1, comprising the air inlet. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The adjustment device according to claim 1, wherein the movement system is configured to keep the aerodynamic element operatively at least at a third position relative to the diffuser and to cause the element to move between the first position or second position and the third position, the third position being intermediate between the first and the second position. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) A motorcar comprising an adjustment device according to claim 1, wherein the aerodynamic surface of the diffuser defines a portion of an external underbody surface of the motorcar. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The motorcar according to claim 11, comprising the air inlet and a radiator interposed between the air inlet and the opening, so that the flow taken in flows through the radiator, the flow taken in when the aerodynamic element is at the second position being smaller than the flow taken in when the aerodynamic element is at the first position, a reduction in the flow taken in being defined with a passage of the aerodynamic elemental from the first position to the second position, the reduction in the flow taken in resulting in a reduction in the flow rate of the main flow through the radiator ® in such a way as to reduce the drag of the motorcar. radiator itself; ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The motorcar according to claim 11, wherein the adjustment device is situated in front of a front wheel of the motorcar.