The subject of the invention is a cooling device for an automotive vehicle, comprising a cooling circuit capable of cooling an engine assembly using a coolant circulated by at least one variable flow rate pump. The invention applies advantageously to electric automotive vehicles.
In an internal combustion engine, the repeated combustions overheat the parts that are in contact, such as, for example, the pistons, the cylinders, and the valves, and are transmitted to all the mechanical parts of the engine. It is therefore necessary to cool them otherwise there is a risk of destruction. For correct operation, explosion engines thus need an even and suitable temperature.
In the case of a vehicle with electrical propulsion, it is also necessary to cool the various elements of the drive system.
It is known practice to use a cooling system comprising one or more pumps for circulating a coolant through the engine, and a radiator, which is a heat exchanger used to cool the liquid. In this case, the coolant flow rate is dependent on the engine speed, and is in particular zero when the engine is stopped.
It seems desirable to have a cooling device that makes it possible to optimize the operation of the pumps, and in particular to limit their wear and their energy consumption.
BRIEF SUMMARY
The device according to the invention makes it possible to achieve this objective.
The subject of the invention is thus a cooling device for an automotive vehicle, comprising a cooling circuit capable of cooling an engine assembly using a coolant circulated using at least one variable flow rate pump, the flow rate of each pump being controlled by a control system.
In the device according to the invention, the control system is able to servo-control the flow rate of each pump in a closed-loop regulation system according to the temperature of the coolant and a setpoint temperature.
Thus, the servo-controlling of the flow rate of each pump in closed loop mode makes it possible to limit its wear and its energy consumption.
The setpoint temperature may be predetermined according to the temperature outside the vehicle and the speed of the vehicle.
The automotive vehicle may be an electric vehicle and the engine assembly may include an electronic driver system.
The electric vehicle may include a battery charger assembly, and the cooling circuit is advantageously capable of cooling the charger assembly and the engine assembly.
In this case, the device may include a first pump capable of selectively supplying coolant to the engine assembly and a second pump capable of selectively supplying coolant to the charger assembly.
To this end, the device may include a first valve capable of preventing a flow of coolant in the charger assembly and a second valve capable of preventing a flow of coolant in the engine assembly.
The device may also include a hydraulic restriction for maintaining a minimum flow rate of coolant in the engine assembly.
The closed-loop regulation system may include a corrector of proportional-integral type.
The corrector may include a saturation block capable of limiting the correction between a minimum value and a maximum value.