US-12617265-B2 - Arrangement comprising a pump for a cooling circuit of a motor vehicle

US12617265B2US 12617265 B2US12617265 B2US 12617265B2US-12617265-B2

Abstract

An arrangement for at least one cooling circuit of a motor vehicle, wherein the arrangement has a pump that has a housing. A motor with a stator and a rotor are arranged in the housing of the pump. A pump chamber is provided in the housing and in which an impeller of the pump is arranged such that it can rotate and be driven by the motor. The impeller conveys the medium to be conveyed by the pump. The arrangement has a tank and/or a distributor device, and wherein at least a first part of the housing is formed in a part of the tank or of the distributor device of the arrangement.

Inventors

Frank Bewermeyer
Benjamin Grothe
Christof Hille
Markus Klamke
Christian KOESTER
Matthias Mallon
Dominik Nieß
Sebastian Stork
Sebastian Tiemeyer

Assignees

HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240603
Priority Date: 20230601

Claims (6)

1 . An arrangement for at least one cooling circuit of a motor vehicle, the arrangement comprising: a housing having a first part and at least one second part; a tank and/or a distributor device; and a pump, the pump comprising: the at least one second part of the housing; a motor with a stator and a rotor, which are arranged in the housing of the pump; and a pump chamber that is provided in the housing and in which an impeller of the pump is arranged such that the impeller rotates and is driven by the motor, the impeller conveying a medium to be conveyed by the pump, wherein the first part of the housing is formed by a part of the tank or a part of the distributor device of the arrangement, such that a fully assembled state of the housing and pump is formed when the at least one second part of the housing of the pump is attached to the first part of the housing of the tank or the distributor device, wherein the first part of the housing is integral with the tank or the distributor device, such that the first part of the housing and the tank or the distributor device are monolithic, wherein an annular groove, in which a collar of the impeller of the pump engages, is provided in the first part of the housing, via which the impeller is supported in the housing, wherein recesses that are open toward the at least one second part of the housing are provided in the first part of the housing, and wherein projections that engage in the recesses are provided on the at least one second part of the housing.
2 . The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the first part of the housing forms a part of a boundary of the pump chamber.
3 . The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the first part of the housing forms a wall that delimits the pump chamber in a radial direction.
4 . The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein an intake fitting and/or an outlet fitting is provided in the first part of the housing.
5 . The arrangement according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of the pump, wherein the tank and/or the distributor device includes a plurality of the first part of the housing, such that each respective pump is attachable to each respective first part of the housing of the tank and/or the distributor device.
6 . The arrangement according to claim 1 , further comprising an annular groove provided in the first part of the housing, wherein a collar of the impeller of the pump engages in the annular groove via which the impeller is supported in the housing, and wherein the recesses of the first part of the housing circumferentially surround the annular groove.

Description

This nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 (a) to German Patent Application No. 10 2023 114 427.8, which was filed in Germany on Jun. 1, 2023, and which is herein incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The invention relates to an arrangement for at least one cooling circuit of a motor vehicle, wherein the arrangement has a pump. Description of the Background Art Arrangements that have a distributor device are known from the prior art, for example from the documents DE 10 2021 106 969 A1, WO 2022/253381 A1, and WO 2017/223232 A2. Generally, this is a complex injection-molded plastic part to which pumps, lines, valves, tanks, and possibly other components of a cooling circuit can be connected. Formed in the distributor device are passages or lines which can connect the pumps and lines that are coupled to the couplings. The valves can control which couplings are connected to one another. In addition to the distributor devices, the arrangements generally include the pumps and valves and often the tanks as well. Also known from the conventional art are variants of such arrangements in which a pump is not attached to the distributor device, but instead to a tank. Reducing construction volume is an ongoing task for developers and designers of motor vehicles and automotive parts. It is likewise an ongoing task to reduce the number of parts required. The developers and designers of the abovementioned arrangements for cooling circuits in motor vehicles also face these tasks. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to reduce installation space and the number of parts of a cooling circuit. This object is attained according to an example of the invention in that the arrangement has a tank and/or a distributor device, and that at least a first part of the housing of a pump is formed in a part of the tank or of the distributor device of the arrangement. The tank or the distributor device can therefore form a part of the pump housing and in this respect also forms a part of the pump. As a result, an additional part, which up to now has formed this part of the pump housing, can be eliminated. Instead of connecting a complete pump to the distributor device or the tank as in the conventional art, according to the invention, a pump with an incomplete housing is fastened to the distributor device or the tank, by which means the complete pump is then formed. An arrangement according to the invention can have multiple pumps. It is possible that the first part of the housing in one pump is formed by the distributor device and the first part of the pump housing in another pump is formed by the tank. It is also possible, however, that the first part of the housing in all pumps is formed by the distributor device or the tank. If, for example, three pumps are provided in an arrangement according to the invention, then three parts that are conventionally necessary to form a complete pump can be eliminated since they are replaced by first parts of the housing formed in the distributor device or the tank. The first part of the housing can form a part of a boundary of the pump chamber. The first part can therefore have structures that form a wall or parts of a wall of the pump chamber, that project into the pump chamber, that interact with the impeller arranged in the pump chamber, etc. In particular, the first part of the housing can form a wall that also delimits the pump chamber in the radial direction. An annular groove, in which a collar of the impeller of the pump engages, can be provided in the first part of the housing. In this way, the impeller can be supported in the pump housing. A seal can be created between an inlet and the pump chamber by the meshing of the collar of the impeller and the annular groove of the first part of the housing or of the collar of the first part of the housing and the annular groove of the impeller. The seal can be a labyrinth seal or be similar to a labyrinth seal. Owing to this seal, an unwanted liquid flow between the pump chamber and the inlet is reduced and the efficiency of the pump is increased. Owing to the collar of the impeller, which, instead of engaging in the inlet, engages in an annular groove of the first part of the housing surrounding the inlet, or alternatively owing to the collar of the first part of the housing surrounding the inlet, which engages in an annular groove of the impeller, a pump according to the invention can have a second bearing for the rotating parts of the pump, which bearing assists in supporting the rotating parts of the pump. This second bearing leads to smoother running of the rotating parts and, as a result, also leads to an improvement in the acoustic properties of the pump. The acoustic emissions produced by the pump in operation are lessened and/or are more pleasant as a result of the second bearing. It is likewise possible that recesses that are open towar