US-20260125114-A1 - VEHICLE FRONT STRUCTURE

Abstract

A vehicle front structure includes a tower bar that connects left and right suspension towers in a front portion of a vehicle, and a water-cooled gas cooler that exchanges heat between an air-conditioning refrigerant used in an air-conditioning device and a water-based coolant. The tower bar is a hollow member including a closed cross-sectional shape, and the water-cooled gas cooler is disposed inside the tower bar.

Inventors

• Shoji Ogimura

Assignees

• TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20250821

Priority Date

20241107

Claims (4)

1. 1 . A vehicle front structure comprising: a tower bar configured to connect left and right suspension towers in a front portion of a vehicle; and a heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between an air-conditioning refrigerant used in an air-conditioning device and a water-based coolant, wherein: the tower bar is a hollow member having a closed cross-sectional shape; and the heat exchanger is disposed inside the tower bar.
2. 2 . The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein: the heat exchanger is a gas cooler in which a layer of a refrigerant flow passage through which the air-conditioning refrigerant flows and a layer of a water flow passage through which the water-based coolant flows are alternately stacked; and the heat exchanger is disposed inside the tower bar in a posture in which a running direction of a flow passage of the air-conditioning refrigerant and a longitudinal direction of the tower bar are substantially parallel to each other.
3. 3 . The vehicle front structure according to claim 2 , wherein: the gas cooler is disposed substantially at a center of the tower bar in a vehicle width direction; and an inlet and an outlet for each of the air-conditioning refrigerant and the water-based coolant are provided at both ends of the gas cooler in the vehicle width direction.
4. 4 . The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein: the air-conditioning device is configured to perform heating using heat transferred from the air-conditioning refrigerant to the water-based coolant in the heat exchanger; and a space between the heat exchanger and an inner surface of the tower bar is filled with an insulating material.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-194964 filed on Nov. 7, 2024. The disclosure of the above-identified application, including the specification, drawings, and claims, is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field The present specification discloses a vehicle front structure including a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between an air-conditioning refrigerant and water. 2. Description of Related Art In general, an in-vehicle air-conditioning device transfers heat by compressing, expanding, evaporating, and condensing an air-conditioning refrigerant in a process of circulating an air-conditioning refrigerant, thereby generating temperature-adjusted air-conditioning air. In a flow passage of the air-conditioning refrigerant, an air-cooled heat exchanger (for example, an air-cooled condenser or an air-cooled gas cooler) that exchanges heat between the air-conditioning refrigerant and traveling wind is often provided. Furthermore, in recent years, it has also been proposed to provide a water-cooled heat exchanger instead of or in addition to the air-cooled heat exchanger. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2017-072309 (JP 2017-072309 A) discloses an air-conditioning system for a vehicle, the air-conditioning system including a water-cooled condenser. In JP 2017-072309 A, the water-cooled condenser functions as a condenser that condenses an air-conditioning refrigerant by cooling the air-conditioning refrigerant with a coolant from a sub radiator. Such a water-cooled condenser can be installed in a location that is not exposed to traveling wind, thereby having high flexibility in terms of installation location, as compared to an air-cooled condenser. SUMMARY Here, most of an air-conditioning device including a heat exchanger is disposed in a power unit compartment in a front portion of a vehicle. In addition to the air-conditioning device, a power source and a radiator are also disposed in the power unit compartment. Therefore, in a case where an air-cooled heat exchanger is disposed in the power unit compartment, issues with space limitations arise, thereby a volume of the air-cooled heat exchanger is difficult to be sufficiently secured. In JP 2017-072309 A, a position where the air-cooled condenser is disposed is not addressed. Therefore, the present specification discloses a vehicle front structure that can further improve space efficiency of a front portion of a vehicle. A vehicle front structure disclosed in the present specification includes a tower bar configured to connect left and right suspension towers in a front portion of a vehicle, and a heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between an air-conditioning refrigerant used in an air-conditioning device and a water-based coolant, in which the tower bar is a hollow member having a closed cross-sectional shape, andthe heat exchanger is disposed inside the tower bar. With such a configuration, space efficiency of the front portion of the vehicle is further improved. In this case, the heat exchanger may be a gas cooler in which a layer of a refrigerant flow passage through which the air-conditioning refrigerant flows and a layer of a water flow passage through which the water-based coolant flows are alternately stacked, andthe heat exchanger may be disposed inside the tower bar in a posture in which a running direction of a flow passage of the air-conditioning refrigerant and a longitudinal direction of the tower bar are substantially parallel to each other. With such a configuration, a distance of the refrigerant flow passage can be secured, and heat exchange efficiency is improved. In addition, the gas cooler may be disposed substantially at a center of the tower bar in a vehicle width direction, and an inlet and an outlet for each of the air-conditioning refrigerant and the water-based coolant may be provided at both ends of the gas cooler in the vehicle width direction. Many other elements of the air-conditioning device are disposed near the center of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction. Therefore, by disposing the gas cooler at the center in the vehicle width direction and providing the inlets and outlets on both sides thereof, piping connections between the gas cooler and the other elements can be simplified. In addition, the air-conditioning device may be configured to perform heating using heat transferred from the air-conditioning refrigerant to the water-based coolant in the heat exchanger, and a space between the heat exchanger and an inner surface of the tower bar may be filled with an insulating material. With such a configuration, the heat used for the heating is less likely to leak to the outside, and thus efficiency of the air-conditioning device is improved. In addition, by providing the insulating material, vibration of the gas cooler can also be suppressed. With a technology discl