WO2002095200A1 - Closure cap for a motor vehicle radiator - Google Patents

Abstract

A closure cap (10) for a fixed neck of a motor vehicle radiator is provided with a cap outer part (12), which comprises a closure element (17) that can be joined to the reservoir neck, and comprises a grip element (13) that is held in a manner that permits it to be twisted in relation to the closure element. A torsional stop (20) is provided between said closure element and grip element. The aim of the invention is to provide a closure cap of the aforementioned type with safety-relevant functions of the torsional stop and of the reduction of excess pressure in a structurally simple manner whereby permitting them to be exactly adapted to one another. To this end, an actuator (15) that can be expanded when subjected to heat is provided both for axially engaging and disengaging the coupling insert (46) of the torsional stop (20) as well as for adjusting the pretension with which the valve body (22) of the valve arrangement (11) is pressed against the sealing seat (21).

Description

Sealing cover for motor vehicle coolers

description

The present invention relates to a closure cover for a stationary neck of a container, in particular a motor vehicle radiator, according to the preamble of claim 1.

In such a from DE 197 53 597 AI, the anti-rotation device between the closure element and the grip element is formed by an axial coupling bolt, which is acted upon by a temperature-dependent spring arrangement, while the preload of the reciprocating valve body of the valve arrangement can be adjusted mechanically or electromotively in a pressure-controlled manner. The disadvantage of this is that the safety-relevant functions in such closure covers are carried out by two differently designed and also differently controlled components. This not only results in complex design measures, but also brings with it the problem that the safety-relevant functions which respond to different reference variables are very difficult to coordinate with one another.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a closure cover of the type mentioned at the outset, with which the safety-relevant functions of the anti-rotation device and the relief of excess pressure can be carried out in a structurally simpler manner and in particular can also be coordinated more precisely with one another.

To achieve this object, the feature specified in claim 1 are in a cover of the type mentioned intended.

The measures according to the invention ensure that a single component is provided both for securing against rotation and for changing the overpressure reduction, which leads to a design simplification of the closure cover and to the fact that, due to the single reference variable used, the latter always carries out the safety-relevant functions are coordinated.

Advantageous configurations of the actuator result from the features according to claim 2 or 3.

A structurally simple configuration results from the features according to claim 4, which also has the advantage that the reference variable, such as temperature or pressure in the container, can be appropriately removed independently of the actuator. An advantageous heat transfer from the heating resistor to the actuator results from the features of claim 5.

Further advantageous configurations with regard to the arrangement of the actuator and control electronics between the base value and the actuator result from the features of claim 6 or one or more of claims 7 to 10. The features according to claim 11 and claim 12 show an embodiment of the connection between valve body and actuator on the one hand or between anti-rotation and actuator on the other.

Further details of the invention can be found in the following description, in which the invention is described and explained in more detail with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing.

Show it: 1 shows a schematic longitudinal section of a closure cover for a motor vehicle radiator according to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention in a first rest or starting position,

FIG. 2 shows a representation corresponding to FIG. 1 in the left half section and in a second active position in the right half section,

3 shows a representation corresponding to FIG. 1 in the left half section and in a third active position in the right half section.

The closure cover 10 shown in the drawing in accordance with a preferred exemplary embodiment has an overpressure valve arrangement 11 within a cylindrical inner part 14 and an anti-rotation device 20 between an outer part 12 and a handle or grip part 13, which has an external thread part 17 for screwing the closure cover 10 on and off serves from the opening of a neck of a motor vehicle cooler or other container, not shown, both the pressure relief valve arrangement 11 and the anti-rotation device 20 being controlled in such a way that on the one hand the opening pressure of the pressure relief valve arrangement 11 and on the other hand the releasing and locking movement of the anti-rotation device 20 by means of of a single electrothermal drive 15 can be set or ensured. The pressure relief valve arrangement 11 can be set to an opening pressure that takes into account the motor vehicle radiator pressure during normal operation and to such an opening pressure that corresponds to the higher motor vehicle radiator pressure that occurs when the motor vehicle engine is switched off due to the accumulated heat build-up results, corresponds. The setting of the anti-rotation device 20, at normal pressure of the motor vehicle radiator, that is to say when the coolant has cooled, means that the anti-rotation device 20 causes a rotation lock between the grip part 13 and the outer part 12, so that the closure cover 10 can be screwed on and off while

Motor vehicle radiator overpressure and thus hot coolant, the anti-twist device releases the rotational connection between the outer part 12 and the grip part 13, so that the grip part 13 rotates empty relative to the outer part 12 in order to prevent the closure cover 10 from being unscrewed.

According to the drawing, the inner part 14 can be inserted in a sealing manner into the connecting piece of the motor vehicle radiator or other container via a 0-ring 16 in a manner not shown. It goes without saying that the outer part 12 can also be provided with a bayonet fitting part instead of with an external thread part 17.

The cylindrical inner part 14 of the cover 10, which is equipped with the pressure relief valve arrangement 11, has a bottom 18 and above the bottom an inwardly projecting ring rim 19, the upper area of which is provided with a sealing seat 21 for a valve body 22 of the pressure relief valve arrangement 11. The valve body 22 is a centrally hat-shaped part, on the circumferential flange 24 of which a sealing disk 26 rests, which is acted upon by a compression spring 28 or pressure relief valve spring, which is supported at the other end on a pressure sleeve 29, which in an axial stop 34 for the Guide sleeve 31 having pressure sleeve 29 is guided so that it can be moved up and down axially and bears against an adjusting ring 30 bearing against drive 15. Openings 32 are provided in the motor vehicle cooler or container between the base 18 and the inner part 14. In addition, the inner part 14 has the outer circumference and the smaller-diameter guide part s 3 ^* 3 P- <ω> o. er OJ er <JO ω W σ σ O 3: α OJ eu ^¬ OJ α H α <μ- OJ μ- er 3 CD CD P- 3 μ- Φ 3 Φ Φ O 3 er et 3 3 H Φ li er er 3 er r ~ J 3 3 φ Φ 3 et CD P- CΛ H 3 P φ CΛ Ω μ- H et ω Φ ω CΛ OJ 3 Φ Φ li ω Φ ri- 3 3 3

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with which it rests on the underside of the drive 15, on the top side it is acted upon by a compression spring 49, which is supported at the other end on the handle part 13 and is guided in a ring projection 50 of the handle part 13 which produces the positive connection to the driving bracket. Between the driving bracket 46 and the grip part 13, a holding washer 51 is held in a sealing manner on the externally threaded part 17; the holding disc 5 serves as an end stop for the driving bracket 46 in its disengaged position.

The electrothermal drive 15 is formed by a sorption actuator, preferably a metal hydride actuator, or an expansion actuator, which is shown in the drawing as a membrane capsule 55. The actuator 55 has the property of expanding when the temperature rises and returning to its original dimension when the corresponding temperature is reduced. To apply temperature to the membrane capsule 55, a heating resistor in the form of a PTC heating element 56 is arranged at one or more locations on the underside of the membrane capsule 55. This PTC heating element 56 is arranged such that heat transfer from the PTC heating element 56 to the membrane capsule 55 is as lossy as possible. The membrane capsule 55 is preferably designed such that its axially central region extends axially to the grip part 13 or axially to the adjusting ring 30 or pressure sleeve 29.

The PTC heating resistor 56 is electrically connected in a manner not shown to an electrical control 57, which is accommodated on a circuit board 58 which, in the exemplary embodiment shown, can be accommodated in the handle part 13 directly below its cover. A socket 61 is fastened to a peripheral region of the external thread part 17 of the closure cover 10, the contacts (not shown) of which are electrically connected to the control board 58. With the socket 61 is an adapter cable connected that the electrical connection of the control board 58 and thus the drive 15 connects to the relevant control elements of the motor vehicle. For example, the control of the drive 15 is effected by means of a temperature and / or pressure sensor, which sensor detects the temperature and / or the pressure on the motor vehicle cooler container or the like.

The safety-relevant functions of the cover 10 inform the setting of the pressure relief valve assembly 11 and the setting of the anti-rotation device 20 is as follows:

In the starting position when the engine is not running and cold according to FIG. 1, the membrane capsule 55 is in its retracted normal position, in which the driving bracket 46 is pressed into a rotational position by the compression spring 49 into a rotational connection between the handle part 13 and the external thread part 17. The pressure relief valve arrangement 11 is also in its initial position, i.e. the pressure relief valve body 22 is pressed against the sealing seat by the compression spring 28, which is preloaded normally or in terms of installation, in such a way that the pressure relief valve body 22 will open at an excess pressure of approximately 1.4 bar.

When the motor vehicle engine is started, the coolant in the radiator heats up. If the coolant reaches a temperature of greater than, for example, about 89 ° C., the controller 57 becomes active on the circuit board 58, ie current is supplied to the PTC heating element 56 to heat it, or the PTC heating element is energized. Thus, heat is transferred from the PCT heating element 56 to the membrane capsule 55, so that the actuator is actuated and the membrane capsule 55 expands axially. The two compression springs 28 of the pressure relief valve arrangement 11 and 49 of the anti-rotation device 20, which are directed towards one another and act on the membrane capsule 55 are set such that the compression spring 49 contains a lower spring force than the compression spring 28. Thus, the membrane capsule 55 expands against the pressure of the compression spring 49 of the anti-rotation device 20 and thus moves the driving bracket 46 axially up to the stop of the retaining disk 51. The driving bracket 46 thus disengages from the external thread part 17, so that it is no longer possible to open the closure cover 10 because the grip part 13 rotates hollowly with respect to the external thread part 17. The opening pressure of the pressure relief valve arrangement 11 remains in the previous position.

After the engine is switched off, the coolant temperature rises to, for example, over 120 ° C. due to the after-heating effect. This activates a second control stage in the controller 57 on the circuit board 58, so that an increased voltage is applied to the PTC heating element 56 or a higher current flow is brought about. This means that the membrane capsule 55 expands further. Since the driving bracket 46 is pressed against the action of the compression spring 49 against the stop of the holding disc 51 (FIG. 2, right half-section), it is achieved according to the right half-section of FIG. 3 that the compression spring 28 of the pressure relief valve arrangement 11 is further pretensioned. This prestressing of the compression spring 28 has the effect that the opening pressure of the pressure relief valve body 22 is increased to, for example, approximately 2.0 bar. This security level remains until the coolant temperature has decreased, which has an effect on the control of the PTC heating element 56 and on the heating or cooling of the membrane capsule 55.

In the illustrated embodiment, the controller 57 is physically inform of the board 58 in the handle part 13. According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, not shown, the control board 58 is in the plug socket 61 or in one Plug part of the adapter cable is provided either near the cover 10 or near the motor vehicle connection.

Claims

claims Closure cover (10) for a stationary neck of a container, in particular a motor vehicle cooler, with an outer cover part (12) which has a closure element (17) which can be connected to a container neck and a grip element (13) which can be rotated relative thereto, between which an anti-twist device (20) with a coupling insert (46) which is held in the grip element (13) in a rotationally fixed manner and can be axially engaged and disengaged in the closure element (17) for releasably non-rotatably connecting the closure and grip element, and with an inner cover part (14) which provides a flow connection between the Contains the inside of the container and the outside of the container and a valve arrangement (11) for releasing and blocking the flow connection, a reciprocating valve body (22) of the valve arrangement (11) towards the inside of the container against a sealing seat (21) on the inner cover part (14) under pre-tensioning in this way is depressed that if a limit of the Be internal pressure can be lifted from the sealing seat (21), characterized in that an actuator (15) which is expandable by heat can be used both for axially engaging and disengaging the coupling insert (46) of the anti-rotation device (20) and for adjusting the preload with which the valve body (22) of the valve arrangement (11) is pressed against the sealing seat (21). Closure cover according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuator (15) is formed by an electrically heatable expansion element. Cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuator (15) by a electrically heatable sorption actuator, preferably a metal hydride actuator. 4. Cap according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the actuator (15) with an electrical heating resistor (56), preferably a PTC resistor, is in operative connection, the control voltage of a temperature and / or pressure sensor assigned to the container is decreased. 5. Cap according to claim 4, characterized in that the electrical heating resistor (56) is located on the underside of the actuator (15). 6. Cover according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the actuator (15) within the closure element (17) is arranged facing the handle element (13). 7. A closure cap according to claim 4, characterized in that control electronics (57, 58) is provided between the temperature and / or pressure sensor and the electrical heating resistor (56). 8. Cover according to claim 7, characterized in that the control electronics (57, 58) is arranged in the handle element (13). 9. Cover according to claim 7, characterized in that the control electronics (57, 58) is arranged in a plug of an electrical connection line to the cover. 10. Cover according to claim 9, characterized in that the connector with a mating connector (61) is connected to the cover. 11. Closure cover according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the valve body (22) facing away from the actuator (15) is biased by a spring (28) which on its end facing away from the valve body (22) on a pressure piece (29 , 30), which at the time rests on the actuator (15). 12. Closure cap according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the anti-rotation device (20) has a bracket (46) which rests against the actuator (15) and has end fingers (47) which lock in with the external thread part (17) a handle can be brought and released by unlocking.