Exhaust elbow

#The present invention pertains to an exhaust elbow with a single exhaust outlet with an outlet mounting flange and at least two exhaust inlets with inlet mounting flanges for fastening on the engine block of a motor vehicle.

#Exhaust elbows of the above-described type are formed according to the state of the art by a collector pipe, which has inlet pipe sections depending on the number of engine cylinders to be connected and an outlet pipe section, which is connected to downstream components of the exhaust system, e.g., a catalytic converter. The collector pipe may be a one-piece deep-drawn sheet metal part or be composed of individual pipes and particularly welded together.

#Collector pipes manufactured according to the half shell technique have also been known, which are connected to one another by a longitudinal rebate. The collector pipe may be designed as a single-walled or double-walled pipe, i.e., with an air gap insulation, e.g., according to DE 199 52 648.

#In the drawing:

#FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the exhaust elbow with three inlets and one outlet; and

#FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the exhaust elbow with three inlets and one outlet Faith sheet metal hood part formed as an integral piece.

#Referring to the drawings in particular, an exhaust elbow 1 comprises a single exhaust outlet 2 with an outlet mounting flange 3 and three exhaust inlets 4, 5, 6 with an inlet mounting flange 7 for fastening on the engine block 20 of a motor vehicle. The exhaust inlets into the mounting flange 3 coincide with the cylinder outlet openings 21, 22 and 23 of the engine block 20.

#The exhaust gas guiding of the exhaust elbow 1 between the inlet mounting flange 7 and the outlet mounting flange 3 is formed by a single-walled sheet metal hood 8 forming a collection line, wherein the sheet metal hood 8 surrounds all exhaust inlets 4, 5, 6 together. This sheet metal hood 8, namely the peripheral edge 17 of the sheet metal hood 8 surrounds plural cylinder outlet openings (e.g. cylinder outlet openings 21, 22, and 23) of the motor vehicle engine block 20.

#The sheet metal hood 8 also has an enveloping radial flange surrounding all exhaust inlets or a common enveloping radial expansion 10 on the side of the exhaust inlets 4, 5, 6, which said flange or expansion is likewise firmly connected to the inlet mounting flange 7 in a gastight manner by welding 15, preferably by laser welding.