Nissan Motor Company Limited

Calsonic Kansei Corporation

Hitoshi Shimonosono

Yoshinori Hirano

Naoki Ogawa

Kazuyuki Fujigaya

Tomoyuki Hanada

Masakazu Uemura

Yutaka Minezaki

Takayuki Ishikawa

Takashi Hashimoto

Toshiyuki Motohashi

Satoshi Ogihara

Jun Hatakeyama

Yuji Ishihara

Takashi Otsuka

Kenichiro Minami

Keiko Shishido

Tatsunari Kawaguchi

Satoshi Sakuma

Michiko Morita

Shizuo Yamamoto

Katsuyuki Fujii

Yoshito Sonou

Toshihiro Yamashita

Masashi Koshijima

A battery unit, a bottomed case, a plate-shaped cooling plate, and first heat transfer material are included. The cooling plate is fastened to a bottom part of the case from the outside of the case, and can cool the battery unit via the bottom part of the case. The first heat transfer material have a plastic property and are held between the bottom part of the case and the cooling plate. The bottom part of the case has heat transfer material housings that house excess first heat transfer material therein when the cooling plate has been fastened to the case.

Assembled battery

A thermal management system for an electric vehicle that is used in the electric vehicle driven by an electric motor includes a refrigerant loop for an air conditioner, a refrigerant loop for a battery that allows a refrigerant for the battery to circulate among the battery, an evaporating unit and a heating device, and thermal management controlling means that, during charging of the battery, heats the refrigerant for the battery by using the heating device when temperature of the refrigerant for the battery is lower than target temperature of the refrigerant for the battery, and that allows the refrigerant for the air conditioner to circulate and to absorb heat from the refrigerant for the battery, in the evaporating unit, when the temperature of the refrigerant for the battery is higher than the target temperature of the refrigerant for the battery.

Thermal management system for electric vehicle and its control method

A motor cooling apparatus and method to auto-circulate coolant to reduce the weight and size of the cooling system. The cooling apparatus includes a coolant path disposed at hot areas of the motor. A reservoir tank is located above the coolant path and gravity feeds coolant to the coolant path. Coolant in the vapor phase discharged from the coolant path is liquefied by a condenser located in a coolant return path. Coolant in the liquid phase is expelled to the reservoir tank under pressure of the vapor-phase coolant in the coolant path to provide for the auto-circulating coolant. Expansion pressure of the coolant supplied by an motor inverter can further increase the pressure of the coolant in the discharging coolant path to improve coolant circulation efficiency to prevent dry out in the coolant path.

Motor cooling device and cooling method

A reservoir tank which includes: a container for storing fluid therein, having an inlet through which the fluid flows into the container and an outlet through which the fluid flows out of the container; and a duct provided inside the container, which is connected to the inlet of the container and has a first opening open inside the container. The first opening is located above the outlet of the container and below a surface of the fluid in the container.

Reservoir tank

A water pump () recirculates water from a water tank () in a heat exchanger () and a fuel cell stack () of a fuel cell power plant via a recirculation passage () A water temperature sensor () detects a water temperature in the recirculation passage (). When the water temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature, a controller () recirculates water to the water recirculation passage () by operating a water pump () in order to prevent freezing of water. It is preferred that a heater () is provided to heat the water recirculating in the recirculation passage ().

Water recirculation in fuel cell power plant

A rotary heat exchanger has a plurality of arcuate hollow blow blades with extend between first and second rotating bodies and which conduct liquid from one to the other. Each of the blades is provided with its own set of fins which are arranged to interleave between and overlap those on the adjacent blades. The rotating bodies are constructed to define inlet and outlet chambers therein. Bearings which are disposed between stationary inlet and outlet pipes and the first and second rotating bodies protect seals from damaging forces when the device is rotating.

Rotary heat exchanger

A rotary heat exchanger comprises a plurality of hollow disc shaped members which are arranged along a distribution conduit and are rotatable about an axis which is concentric with the axis of the distribution circuit. Two diametrically opposed exhaust conduits fluidly interconnect the disc members at locations proximate their peripheries. Bearings and seals are arranged next to one another along inlet and exhaust pipes so that the bearings protect the seals from damage during rotation of the heat exchanger.

A reservoir in which coolant is stored, is fluidly interposed between the downstream end of the condensor in which coolant vapor from the engine coolant jacket is condensed, and a coolant return pump which is responsive to a level sensor disposed in the coolant jacket, in a manner to form part of the cooling circuit of the system. The system further includes two temperature sensors, the first is disposed in the lower tank of the radiator and the other in the coolant jacket proximate the cylinder head. A device which modifies the pressure prevailing in the system is operated in response to one or both of the temperature sensors. This device can take the form of a cooling fan or an electromagnetic valve which controls one of a coolant jacket/atmosphere vent or a reservoir/atmosphere vent.

Cooling system for automotive engine or the like

In order to improve engine warm-up characteristics under cold climatic conditions and to safegard against possible unintentional overfilling of the of the cooling circuit of an evaporative type automotive cooling system wherein the coolant is permitted to boil and the vapor used as a vehicle for removing heat from the engine, the ambient temperature or a parameter which varies with the same is sensed and the control of the cooling system modified accordingly. One main feature comes in the control which is effected to reduce the surface area of the radiator of the system in which the coolant vapor is condensed is modified to avoid overfilling and possible damage due to overpressurization.

Cooling system for automotive engine or the like including quick cold

In order to attenuate the amount of liquid coolant which flows from the coolant jacket to the radiator of an evaporative cooled internal combustion engine, a vapor manifold is arranged to induce the coolant vapor to flow through a collector section thereof in a manner that the liquid droplets develop a velocity which tends to carry the same through a drain port formed at one end of the manifold. The vapor is caused to pass out through a vapor discharge port formed at an acute angle with respect to the direction in which the coolant flows through the collector section. This induces a flow pattern in the vapor flow which produces an angular acceleration which separates liquid coolant droplets from the vapor before the vapor passes out through the vapor discharge port.

In order to minimize the number of valves and conduits and the amount of coolant must be carried in an auxiliary reservoir of an evaporative type automotive cooling system, the valve and conduit arrangement which communicates the normally closed circuit cooling system with the reservoir consists of only two conduits and two valves. When the engine is stopped the cooling circuit is allowed to fill completely with the coolant from the reservoir. When the engine is started a low temperature non-condensible matter purge operation is avoided and if the temperature rises above a target value, either coolant is pumped out of the system (if excess coolant is available therein) or high temperature vapor is vented from the bottom of the radiator in bursts to purge out the non-condensible matter.

To increase the structural rigidity of outer walls of a cylinder block wherein the coolant jacket thereof is adapted to receive coolant in a liquid state and discharge same in a gaseous state, a measure is employed wherein walls of the cylinders are integrally connected at their peripheral portions and a plurality of ribs are disposed in the coolant jacket with their laterally opposed sides integrally connected with the cylinder walls and the outer walls. Each rib extends essentially along the length of the cylinders from the bottom portion of the coolant jacket thereby to form a plurality of cells in the coolant jacket.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Hitoshi Shimonosono