Fan penetration feature for in-vehicle testing
AssigneeBorgWarner Inc.
InventorsThomas Tembreull, Benjamin Sprygada
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fan penetration fixture consisting of a threaded shaft and a lock nut design. The fixture is designed to take the place of the fan clutch on a fan drive assembly in the vehicle being tested for a desired cooling system performance characteristic at each possible fan penetration. The threaded shaft portion of the fixture bolts to the fan hub. The desired fan is then bolted to the lock nut portion of the fixture. The lock nut can be positioned at any point along the threaded shaft to achieve a desired fan penetration.
Claims19
A method of determining an optimal fan penetration for a fan drive system used to cool an engine of a vehicle, the fan drive system having a plurality of fan blades and a closely coupled radiator, wherein fan penetration is defined as the relative location of the plurality of fan blades between the front portion of the engine and the radiator, the method comprising:
- (a) uncoupling the fan drive system from the engine;
- (b) removing a fan clutch from the fan drive system;
- (c) coupling a fan penetration fixture to the fan drive system;
- (d) recoupling the fan drive system to the engine such that the plurality of fan blades is located in a first fan penetration;
- (e) measuring a desired cooling system performance characteristic of the fan drive system at said first fan penetration at a desired engine operating temperature and at a desired fan blade rotational rate;
- (f) repeating step (e) for at least one additional fan penetration, wherein the location of said plurality of fan blades in said at least one additional fan penetration is not equivalent to the location of said plurality of fan blades in said first fan penetration;
- and
- (h) comparing the measured cooling system performance characteristics of the fan drive system at said first fan penetration to the measured cooling system performance characteristic at said at least one additional fan penetration.
A fan penetration fixture for use in optimizing fan blade positioning within an engine cooling system of a vehicle for a desired cooling performance characteristic, the fan penetration fixture comprising:
- a threaded shaft portion having a disc-shaped portion and a threaded shaft;
- a locking sleeve threaded onto said threaded shaft;
- and
- a flanged shaft portion threaded onto said threaded shaft and coupled to said locking sleeve, wherein said flanged shaft portion has a plurality of first flanged shaft portion holes for coupling said flanged shaft portion to said locking sleeve and a plurality of second flanged shaft portion holes for coupling said flanged shaft portion to a hub portion of a fan assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.