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US 6,883,471 B1Granted
Vortex enhanced cooling for an internal combustion engine
AssigneeBrunswick Corporation
InventorsDavid J. Belter, John O. Scherer, III
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cavity is provided at a bend in a cooling passage near a bore bridge region between cylinders of an internal combustion engine. The cavity can be provided with a downstream protuberance which induces a portion of the stream of coolant within the cooling passage to join a vortical flow of coolant within the cavity. An upstream protuberance can be provided to align a portion of the vortical flow within the cavity with the stream of coolant within the cooling passage in order to facilitate the return of the vortical flow back into the stream of coolant within the cooling passage.
Claims17
A cooling system for an engine, comprising:
- an engine having a plurality of cylinders, said plurality of cylinders being aligned with each other without a coolant conduit extending completely between adjacent ones of said plurality of cylinders, said plurality of cylinders being aligned along an axis which extends through the centers of said plurality of cylinders, said first cooling, passage changing direction at a first region from a first direction generally toward said axis to a second direction generally away from said axis;
- a first cooling passage configured to direct a first stream of coolant in thermal communication with each of said plurality of cylinders;
- a cavity formed adjacent to and in fluid communication with said first cooling passage;
- and
- a downstream protuberance, formed at a first intersection of a surface of said first cooling passage and a surface of said cavity, to induce a portion of said first stream of coolant within said first cooling passage to join a vortical flow of coolant within said cavity.
2 more elements
A cooling system for an engine, comprising:
- an engine having a plurality of cylinders, said plurality of cylinders being aligned with each other without a coolant conduit extending completely between adjacent ones of said plurality of cylinders;
- a first cooling passage configured to direct a first stream of coolant in thermal communication with each of said plurality of cylinders, said cooling system being an open cooling system, wherein water is drawn from a body of water, directed into said first cooling passage, and then returned to said body of water,
- a vortex enhancing cavity formed adjacent to and in fluid communication with said first cooling passage;
- and
- an upstream protuberance, formed at a second intersection of said surface of said first cooling passage and said surface of said cavity, to align a portion of said vortical flow within said cavity with said first stream of coolant within said first cooling passage to facilitate the return of said portion of said vortical flow within said cavity back into said first stream of coolant within first cooling passage.
2 more elements
A cooling system for an engine, comprising:
- an engine having a plurality of cylinders, said plurality of cylinders being aligned with each other, said cylinders being configured with solid bore bridges therebetween without a coolant conduit extending completely between adjacent ones of said plurality of cylinders;
- a first cooling passage configured to direct a first stream of coolant in thermal communication with each of said plurality of cylinders, said cooling system being an open cooling system, wherein water is drawn from a body of water, directed into said first cooling passage, and then returned to said body of water,
- a vortex enhancing cavity formed adjacent to and in fluid communication with said, first cooling passage;
- a downstream protuberance, formed at a first intersection of a surface of said first cooling passage and a surface of said cavity, to induce a portion of said first stream of coolant within said first cooling passage to join a vortical flow of coolant within said cavity;
- an upstream protuberance, formed at a second intersection of said surface of said first cooling passage and said surface of said cavity, to align a portion of said vortical flow within said cavity with said first stream of coolant within said first cooling passage to facilitate the return of said portion of said vortical flow within said cavity back into said first stream of coolant within first cooling passage.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.