US3486489A - Oil cooler - Google Patents

Description

FIG! Dec. 30, 1969 I HvDHUGGlNS 3,486,489

'OIL COOLER- Filed Feb. 12, 1968 INVENTOR. HOMER D. HUGGINS #fi 444/, JWM ATTORNEYS..-

United States Patent U.S. Cl. 12341.33 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An oil cooler for a liquid cooled engine in which the transmission oil is passed through an elongated oil conduit in a liquid containing chamber such as the bottom tank of a radiator with the conduit being tubular and arranged within the chamber in the form of a spiral.

In internal combustion engines it is customary to provide cooling liquid for the engine which is itself cooled as in an air cooled radiator. It is also customary to provide an oil cooler for cooling the transmission oil of the engine externally of the transmission.

One of the features of this invention is to provide an improved oil cooler for an internal combustion engine that is liquid cooled with the cooler being in the form of an elongated conduit in a chamber adapted to contain the cooling liquid for the engine and with this conduit being surrounded by cooling liquid in the chamber when in use and the conduit being arranged in a spiral in the chamber and attached between the oil lines to pass oil therethroagh.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of certain embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. f the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a cooling liquid radiator for an internal combustion engine.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the oil cooler conduit or tube of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view through one embodiment of a conduit.

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 but showing a second embodiment of the invention.

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 but showing a third embodiment of the invention.

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 but showing a fourth embodiment of the invention.

The cooling radiator 10 for the internal combustion engine (not shown) is provided'with the usual top fill cap 11, upper tank 12 and bottom tank 13. The two tanks are adapted to contain cooling liquid and are connected by the usual vertical parallel tubes 14 and parallel spaced horizontal fins 15 both illustrated semi-diagrammatically in FIGURE 1.

The bottom tank 13 is provided with a front wall 16 and rear wall 17. Extending through the rear wall 17 of the bottom tank 13 are a first oil line 18 leading to the bottom tank or chamber 13 and a second oil line 19 leading from the bottom tank 13. Each of the oil lines 18 and 19 are connected in the usual manner to the transmission oil portion of the engine and one such connecting pipe 20 is illustrated in fragmentary section in FIGURE 2.

Positioned within the bottom tank 13 is an elongated oil conduit 21 that is arranged in a spiral and attached between the oil lines 18 and 19 to pass oil therethrough.

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As can be seen in FIGURE 2, the conduit 21 is surrounded by cooling liquid in the bottom tank 13 when in use.

The spiral 21 is preferably in the form of a helix as shown in the drawings and is still more preferably in the form of a flat tube having substantially parallel side surfaces 22 and 23 that are also parallel to the longitudinal axis of the helix.

As can be seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, the oil conduit 21..wi thin the tank 13 is unsupported between its areas of attachment to the two oil lines 18 and 19.

In a preferred construction the conduit'21 is divided intoa plurality of parallel passages illustrated at 24 each pair of which are separated by a dividing wall illustrated at 25. This construction is especially preferred when the conduit is in the form of the illustrated flat tube. The parallel passage with dividing wall construction not only provides for parallel liquid flow through the oil cooler but also strengthens the tube internally.

FIGURE 5 illustrates a second embodiment of the tube construction in which each passage 24 is provided with a corrugated fin 26 to divide each passage 24 into parallel subpassages.

if- In the embodiment of FIGURE 6 that flat tube 27 that forms the conduit does not have a unitary dividing wall 25 as in FIGURES 4 and 5 but is divided into the plurality of parallel subpassages by a corrugated fin 26 only.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 7 the single fiat tube 28 contains a large plurality of parallel subpassages 29 separated from each other by walls 30 that are of one piece construction within the tube 28. Each passage 29 is provided with strengthening ribs 31. Because the tube 28, walls 30 and ribs 31 are all unitary the embodiment of FIGURE 7 can be extruded and then shaped to the required spiral shape.

As used here, the term spiral is generic to both a helix and other forms of spirals such as the watch spring type.

The oil cooler of this invention has a number of very important advantages. The spiral shape of the conduit or tube has a turbulizing efliect on the oil flowing therethrough to improve the heat transfer between the oil in the tube and the cooling liquid on the outer surface thereof. Furthermore, the pitch of the spiral can be changed as needed to provide a greater or lesser degree of cooling. Thus, the greater the pitch the less the amount of cooling and the smaller the pitch the greater the amount of cooling. In addition, because in the preferred construction the oil cooler tube is substantially unsupported except at its areas of connection to the oil lines, the tube is free to expand and contract during temperature changes thereby greatly reducing the chances of failure.

Having described my invention as related to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, it is my intention that the invention be not limited by any of its details of description, unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. An oil cooler for a liquid cooled engine, comprising: means forming an liquid containing chamber for the engine cooling liquid; at first oil line leading to said chamber; a second oil line leading from said chamber; and an elongated oil conduit in said chamber to be contacted by said cooling liquid therein, the elongated conduit being arranged in a open helix of spaced coils and supported substantially only by being attached between said oil lines to pass oil therethrough, said conduit spaced coils thereby being surrounded on all sides by cooling liquid in said chamber when in use.

2. The oil cooler of claim 1 wherein said conduit is bendable for changing the pitch of the spiral and is substantially free of external supports between said oil lines.

3. The oil cooler of claim 2 wherein said conduit is in the form of a tube having parallel fiat side surfaces that are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube helix.

4. The oil cooler of claim 3 wherein said tube is provided with internal walls dividing the tube into a plurality of parallel passages.

5. The oil cooler of claim 1 wherein said liquid containing chamber is a part of a cooling radiator for the liquid.

6. The oil cooler of claim 5 wherein said radiator has a top and bottom tank interconnected by finned parallel tubes and said oil conduit is located in the bottom tank.

7. The oil cooler of claim 6 wherein said conduit is in the form of a tube having parallel flat side surfaces that are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube helix.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1931 Wiltse 2l0-185 X 1/1934 Monroe l163 X 9/1936 Yeager 123196 3/1946 Modine 177 6/1961 Farrell 165154 FOREIGN PATENTS 6/1961 Canada. 12/ 1937 Germany.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner 15 A. W. DAVIS, Assistant Examiner U.S. CL. X.R.

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