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DE-102024133041-A1 - Air dryer assembly, vehicle compressed air supply unit and vehicle

DE102024133041A1DE 102024133041 A1DE102024133041 A1DE 102024133041A1DE-102024133041-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an air dryer arrangement (10) for a vehicle compressed air supply unit (40), comprising an air dryer (11) that can be operated in a drying mode (T) and in a regeneration mode (R), an inlet port (12) connectable to or connected with a compressor outlet line (42) for receiving compressed air (13) to be dried, an outlet port (15) connectable to or connected with a compressed air supply line (43) for providing dried compressed air (13) for a vehicle compressed air system (51), a regeneration port (16) for providing regeneration air (14), wherein the regeneration port (16) is formed by the outlet port (15) or a regeneration port (16) separate from the outlet port (15), and wherein a regeneration throttle (18) is arranged in a regeneration line (17) between the regeneration port (16) and the air dryer (11). A vent connection (19) and a vent valve (21) arranged in a vent line (20) downstream of the air dryer (11) between the air dryer (11) and the vent connection (19) for venting the air dryer (11) and/or the vehicle compressed air system (51) as required, and a pressure-dependent actuating throttle device (22) for throttling a vent air flow (23) in the vent line (20) as required.

Inventors

  • Erkan Oral

Assignees

  • ZF CV SYSTEMS EUROPE BV

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20241112

Claims (13)

  1. Air dryer arrangement (10) for a vehicle compressed air supply unit (40), comprising: - an air dryer (11) that can be operated in a drying mode (T) and in a regeneration mode (R), - an inlet port (12) connectable to or connected with a compressor outlet line (42) for receiving compressed air (13) to be dried, - an outlet port (15) connectable to or connected with a compressed air supply line (43) for providing dried compressed air (13) to a vehicle compressed air system (51), - a regeneration port (16) for providing regeneration air (14), wherein the regeneration port (16) is formed by the outlet port (15) or a regeneration port (16) separate from the outlet port (15), and wherein a regeneration throttle (18) is arranged in a regeneration line (17) between the regeneration port (16) and the air dryer (11), - a A vent connection (19) and a vent valve (21) arranged in a vent line (20) downstream of the air dryer (11) between the air dryer (11) and the vent connection (19) for venting the air dryer (11) and/or the vehicle compressed air system (51) as required, and a pressure-dependent actuating throttle device (22) for throttled a vent air flow (23) in the vent line (20) as required, characterized in that the throttle device (22) is designed to be actuated depending on a dryer pressure (p T ) present in a dryer compressed air path (24) leading through the air dryer (11) between the regeneration throttle (18) and the throttle device (22).
  2. Air dryer arrangement (10) according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the throttling device (22) is designed to be actuated depending on a dryer pressure (p T ) present in the air dryer (11) and/or a dryer pressure (p T ) present in the vent line (20) between the air dryer (11) and the throttling device (22).
  3. Air dryer arrangement (10) according to Claim 2 , characterized in that a control input (22a) of the throttling device (22) is directly connected to the air dryer (11), to the regeneration line (17) or to the vent line (20) of the air dryer arrangement (10) via a pneumatic control line (22b).
  4. Air dryer arrangement (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the throttling device (22) is designed as a pressure-dependent switchable throttle valve (22').
  5. Air dryer arrangement (10) according to one of the Claims 1 until 3 , characterized in that the throttling device (22) is designed as a pressure-dependent adjustable continuous valve (22").
  6. Air dryer arrangement (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the throttling device (22) is arranged in the vent line (20) downstream of the air dryer (11) between the air dryer (11) and the vent valve (21).
  7. Air dryer arrangement (10) according to one of the Claims 1 until 5 , characterized in that the throttling device (22) is arranged in the vent line (20) downstream of the air dryer (11) between the vent valve (21) and the vent connection (19).
  8. Air dryer arrangement (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the throttling device (22) is configured to be actuated when a predefined air dryer threshold pressure (p S ) is exceeded.
  9. Air dryer arrangement (10) according to Claim 8 , characterized in that the predefined air dryer threshold pressure (ps) deviates from a safety threshold (pü) of an overpressure limit (25) in the dryer compressed air path (24) and/or in the vent line (20).
  10. Air dryer arrangement (10) according to Claim 8 or 9 , characterized in that the predefined air dryer threshold pressure (ps) is designed such that the throttling device (22) is actuated when the air dryer (11) is vented after the vehicle compressed air system (51) has been temporarily filled.
  11. Vehicle compressed air supply unit (40) comprising a compressor (41) and an air dryer arrangement (10) according to one of the preceding claims.
  12. Vehicle compressed air supply unit (40) according to Claim 11 , characterized in that the compressor (41) has a compressor housing (44), that the regeneration line (17) of the air dryer assembly (10) is designed as a bypass line (17') to bypass an outlet check valve (26) of the air dryer assembly (10), and that the regeneration line (17) has a has a heat transfer section (17a) which is arranged inside the compressor housing (44).
  13. Vehicle (50) with a vehicle compressed air supply unit (40) according to one of the Claims 11 or 12 and a vehicle compressed air system (51).

Description

The invention relates to an air dryer arrangement for a vehicle compressed air supply unit. The invention further relates to a vehicle compressed air supply unit with such an air dryer arrangement and to a vehicle with such a vehicle compressed air supply unit. Vehicle compressed air supply units are used in vehicles to supply compressed air to the vehicle's compressed air consumers, such as an air suspension system, a pneumatic braking system, or a sensor cleaning system. To prevent moisture-related corrosion or icing effects in the compressed air piping system of the vehicle compressed air supply unit and the compressed air consumers, the supplied compressed air, which is generated, for example, by a compressor by compressing ambient air, is treated and, in particular, dehumidified by drying. For this purpose, vehicle compressed air supply systems can include an air dryer, which may, for example, be designed as an adsorption dryer. The DE 10 2012 005 303 B4 Disclosing a compressed air supply system for operating a pneumatic system, in particular an air suspension system of a vehicle, the system comprises a compressed air supply, a compressed air connection to the pneumatic system, a vent connection to the environment, a pneumatic main line between the compressed air supply and the compressed air connection, which includes an air dryer and a first throttle, and a vent line between the compressed air connection and the vent connection, which includes a second throttle. The nominal diameter of the first throttle and the nominal diameter of the second throttle are adjustable depending on the pressure. The EP 1 165 333 B1 describes an air suspension system for a motor vehicle with a compressor unit, a storage unit and switching valves, via which the individual air springs of the individual vehicle wheels are supplied with compressed air, wherein in the area between the compressor unit and the switching valves a vent line leading to the atmosphere, which can be shut off or opened by a shut-off valve, is provided and wherein a free flow cross-section of the vent line can be restricted by means of a throttling element. When venting an air dryer in an air dryer assembly to reduce pressure, clearly audible venting noises can occur due to high pressure differentials between the air dryer assembly and the surrounding area into which the venting occurs. For example, after the vehicle's compressed air system has been temporarily filled, venting the air dryer may be necessary, and this venting can be accompanied by significant noise emissions due to a relative pressure of up to 20 bar within the air dryer. It has already been proposed to provide a pressure-dependent throttle device to throttle the venting airflow in a vent line of the air dryer as needed. However, precisely controlling the throttle device to actuate it at high relative pressures in the air dryer area, without impairing the effectiveness and speed of the venting process at lower relative pressures, proves to be a complex task in practice. In particular, fluid-mechanical effects in a piping system of the air dryer arrangement, such as dynamic pressure fluctuations, temperature dependencies or feedback effects when actuating the throttle device, can make precise and demand-based actuation of the throttle device difficult. Against this background, the invention aims to create an improved air dryer arrangement for a vehicle compressed air supply unit, with which the venting processes of the air dryer arrangement can be optimized. This should enable precisely controlled throttling of a venting airflow when needed, particularly to reduce noise emissions during venting, without significantly increasing the structural or circuit complexity of the air dryer arrangement. Furthermore, the invention aims to provide an improved vehicle compressed air supply unit and a vehicle equipped with such an improved vehicle compressed air supply unit. The problem is solved by an air dryer arrangement according to claim 1, a vehicle compressed air supply unit according to claim 9, and a vehicle according to claim 11. Advantageous embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims, the description, and the figures. According to the features of independent claim 1, an air dryer arrangement for a vehicle compressed air supply unit is proposed, comprising: - an air dryer that can be operated in a drying operation and in a regeneration operation, - an input port that can be connected to or is connected to a compressor output line for receiving compressed air to be dried, - an outlet connection that can be connected to or is connected to a compressed air supply line for the provision of dried compressed air for a vehicle compressed air system, - a regeneration connection for providing regeneration air, wherein the regeneration connection is formed by the outlet connection or a regeneration connection separate from the outlet connection, and wherein a regeneration throttle is arranged