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US-12617264-B2 - Car provided with an internal combustion engine arranged with the drive shaft up

US12617264B2US 12617264 B2US12617264 B2US 12617264B2US-12617264-B2

Abstract

A car having: two front wheels; two rear drive wheels; an internal combustion engine which is provided with a plurality of cylinders inside which respective pistons slide and with a drive shaft connected to the pistons, and arranged longitudinally in a central or rear position; and a transmission system which connects the drive shaft of the internal combustion engine to the rear drive wheels. The internal combustion engine is oriented vertically with the drive shaft arranged higher than the cylinders.

Inventors

  • Fabrizio Favaretto
  • Massimo MEDDA
  • Michele DI SACCO
  • Alessandro MARCHETTI

Assignees

  • FERRARI S.P.A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20230824
Priority Date
20220825

Claims (12)

  1. 1 . A car ( 1 ) comprising: two front wheels ( 2 ); two rear drive wheels ( 4 ); a passenger compartment ( 9 ) arranged between the front wheels ( 2 ) and the rear wheels ( 4 ); an internal combustion engine ( 5 ), which is arranged behind the passenger compartment ( 9 ) and is provided with a plurality of cylinders ( 18 ), where respective pistons ( 19 ) slide on an inside of the cylinders, and with a drive shaft ( 20 ) connected to the pistons ( 19 ) and oriented longitudinally parallel to a driving direction of the car ( 1 ); and a transmission system ( 6 ), which connects the drive shaft ( 20 ) of the internal combustion engine ( 5 ) to the rear drive wheels ( 4 ) and comprises a gearbox ( 7 ) provided with at least one primary shaft ( 66 ); wherein the internal combustion engine ( 5 ) is oriented with the drive shaft ( 20 ) arranged higher than the cylinders ( 18 ); wherein the gearbox ( 7 ) is longitudinally arranged behind a crankcase ( 17 ) of the internal combustion engine ( 5 ); and wherein the primary shaft ( 66 ) of the gearbox is coaxial to the drive shaft ( 20 ) of the internal combustion engine ( 5 ).
  2. 2 . The car ( 1 ) according to claim 1 and comprising a rear aerodynamic diffuser ( 75 ), which faces a road surface and is arranged under the gearbox ( 7 ).
  3. 3 . The car ( 1 ) according to claim 2 , wherein the rear aerodynamic diffuser ( 75 ) begins in the area of a rear wall of the crankcase ( 17 ).
  4. 4 . The car ( 1 ) according to claim 2 and comprising a containing body ( 73 ), which contains, on the inside, the gearbox ( 7 ) and has a tapered shape towards the rear, so that the height of the containing body ( 73 ) progressively decreases from the front to the rear and a bottom wall ( 74 ) of the containing body ( 73 ) is inclined relative to the horizontal.
  5. 5 . The car ( 1 ) according to claim 4 , wherein bottom wall ( 74 ) of the containing body ( 73 ) has the same inclination as the rear aerodynamic diffuser ( 75 ).
  6. 6 . The car ( 1 ) according to claim 1 , wherein, in the internal combustion engine ( 5 ), the cylinders ( 18 ) are arranged in a “V”-like shape.
  7. 7 . The car ( 1 ) according to claim 6 and comprising at least one tank ( 16 ), in particular for hydrogen, which is arranged above the internal combustion engine ( 5 ).
  8. 8 . The car ( 1 ) according to claim 6 , wherein the internal combustion engine ( 5 ) comprises an intake system ( 29 ), which is arranged above the internal combustion engine ( 5 ), and an exhaust system ( 32 ), which is arranged under the internal combustion engine ( 5 ).
  9. 9 . The car ( 1 ) according to claim 8 , wherein: the intake system ( 29 ) comprises two intake manifolds ( 30 ), which are arranged on the outside of the “V” formed by the two banks of cylinders ( 18 ); and the exhaust system ( 32 ) comprises two exhaust ducts ( 41 ), which begin inside the “V” formed by the two banks of cylinders ( 18 ).
  10. 10 . The car ( 1 ) according to claim 9 , wherein along each exhaust duct ( 41 ) there is an exhaust gas treatment device ( 33 ), which extends vertically so as to have an inlet arranged lower and an outlet arranged higher.
  11. 11 . The car ( 1 ) according to claim 6 , wherein the two banks of cylinders ( 18 ) form a 120° angle.
  12. 12 . The car ( 1 ) according to claim 1 , wherein, in the internal combustion engine ( 5 ), the cylinders ( 18 ) are arranged in line.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent application claims priority from Italian patent application no. 102022000017565 filed on Aug. 25, 2022 and from Italian patent application no. 102023000008973 filed on May 5, 2023, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention concerns a car provided with an internal combustion engine. PRIOR ART In all known cars, the internal combustion engine is oriented so as to arrange in the upper part the cylinders in which the pistons slide and to arrange in the lower part the drive shaft connected to the pistons by means of the connecting rods. The internal combustion engine having this orientation can be arranged in a front position (namely in front of the passenger compartment) or in a central/rear position (namely behind the passenger compartment) and can have a transverse arrangement (when the drive shaft is perpendicular to the direction of movement) or a longitudinal arrangement (when the drive shaft is parallel to the direction of movement). The documents U.S. Ser. No. 11/041,456B2, U.S. Pat. No. 2,198,141A, US2012118658A1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,382B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,306,554A describe an internal combustion engine with an inverted orientation, namely arranged with the drive shaft up and the cylinders down. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a car equipped with an internal combustion engine that allows optimized arrangement of all the components. According to the present invention, a car is provided with an internal combustion engine powered in accordance with the attached claims. The claims describe preferred embodiments of the present invention forming an integral part of the present description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate some non-limiting embodiment examples thereof, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a car provided with an internal combustion engine; FIGS. 2 and 3 are a view from above and a view from below respectively of the car of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the car of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the internal combustion engine of the car of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is a perspective view with parts removed for clarity of a chassis of the car of FIG. 1; FIGS. 7 and 8 are a perspective view and a lateral view respectively of an aerodynamic diffuser of the car of FIG. 1; FIGS. 9-12 are two different perspective views respectively, an overhead view and a rear view of the internal combustion engine; FIGS. 13 and 14 are a perspective view and a lateral view respectively of a transmission system of the car of FIG. 1; FIG. 15 is a schematic view of the transmission system of FIGS. 13 and 14; FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a compressor unit of the internal combustion engine of the car of FIG. 1; FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a turbine assembly of the internal combustion engine of the car of FIG. 1; FIGS. 18-21 are two different perspective views respectively, one view from above and one view from below of an alternative embodiment of the internal combustion engine; FIGS. 22 and 23 are a perspective view and a rear view respectively of a transmission system and a compressor unit coupled to the internal combustion engine of FIGS. 18-21; FIGS. 24 and 25 are two different perspective views of the compressor unit of FIGS. 22 and 23 and a corresponding actuation system; FIG. 26 is a schematic view of part of the actuation system of FIGS. 24 and 25; FIGS. 27 and 28 are a perspective view and a schematic view respectively of two camshafts of the internal combustion engine with the arrangement of lubrication pumps and a cooling pump highlighted; and FIGS. 29-32 are an upper perspective view, a lower perspective view, a lateral view, and a schematic front view respectively of a different embodiment of the internal combustion engine and of the transmission system of the car of FIG. 1. PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION In FIG. 1, the number 1 indicates overall a hybrid car (namely with hybrid propulsion) provided with two front drive wheels 2 that receive the torque from (at least) one electric machine 3 (illustrated schematically in FIG. 4) and two rear drive wheels 4 that receive the torque from an internal combustion engine 5 (illustrated schematically in FIG. 4). In the car 1 two directions are identified (schematically illustrated in FIG. 4): the longitudinal direction L which is horizontal and parallel to the driving direction of the car 1 and the transverse direction T which is horizontal and perpendicular to the driving direction of the car 1 (namely perpendicular to the longitudinal direction L). The longitudinal direction L and the transverse direction T are horizontal and therefore perpendicular to the vertical direction V (illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 32). According to FIG. 4, the electric machine 3 is connected to the t