US 5,192,021 AGranted

Arrangement for heating passenger areas of vehicles

AssigneeMAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG

InventorsRichard Meier, Herbert Knorr

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Abstract

An arrangement for heating the passenger area of a vehicle. To increase the heating efficiency without requiring the use of more fuel, disposed upstream of the exhaust gas heat exchanger is a catalytic converter that particularly during idling and in a partial load range provides additional thermal energy via secondary combustion of unburned hydrocarbons. To regulate the heat flow that is transferred to the warm water circuit, an exhaust gas diverter is provided that can be controlled by thermal-lug switches in such a way that when heat is required, it can divert the exhaust gas through the exhaust gas heat exchanger or, when too much heat is being supplied from the cooling water and the exhaust gas, the exhaust gas is conveyed directly to the atmosphere via the muffler.

Claims2

Dependent claims

An arrangement for heating the passenger area of a vehicle, including a warm water circuit means which serves for the transfer of heat and in which are connected, in series, an internal combustion engine, a torque converter transmission, an exhaust gas heat exchanger, and heating units for said passenger area, said arrangement further comprising:

an exhaust gas diverter that is disposed upstream of said exhaust gas heat exchanger and is controllable via valve means for selective conveyance of exhaust gas through said exhaust gas heat exchanger or directly via an exhaust gas pipe to a muffler, with a downstream side of said exhaust gas heat exchanger communicating with said muffler;
a linkage system and a compressed air cylinder for operating said valve means of said exhaust gas diverter;
thermal-lag switch means disposed in said warm water circuit means for controlling said compressed air cylinder;
a catalytic converter disposed upstream of said exhaust gas heat exchanger between an exhaust manifold of said internal combustion engine and said exhaust gas diverter;
and
a burner heating means disposed in said warm water circuit means downstream of said exhaust gas heat exchanger.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.