TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present subject matter relates, in general to air-cooled vehicles,
and in particular, to air guiding channels coupled to an engine for cooling of the engine in the air-cooled vehicles.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Generally, combustion chamber of an engine and exhaust pipe outlet
are the hottest location in a motorcycle engine. In order to obtain optimum performance and smooth running of the engine, the engine needs to be cooled. Generally, the motorcycle engines are cooled by an air cooling technique. In conventional designs of the engines, high speed air hits on heat dissipating fins of the engine, and the air does not reach a cylinder head and combustion chamber of the engine. So, the heat dissipation at the combustion chamber and exhaust pipe outlet is low which leads to low performance of the engine.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] The detailed description is described with reference to the
accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of the system(s) in accordance with the present subject matter are described, by way of examples only, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
[0004] Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an air-cooled vehicle, in
accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter;
[0005] Figs. 2A and 2B illustrate perspective views of an air guiding
channel attached to an engine of the air-cooled vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter;

[0006] Fig. 3 illustrates a top sectional view of the air guiding channel
attached to the engine of the air-cooled vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present matter;
[0007] Fig. 4A and 4B illustrate graphical representations showing
performance of the engine of the air-cooled vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter;
[0008] Figs. 5A, 5B and 5C illustrate a computational fluid dynamic (CFD)
analysis of the engine of the air-cooled vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter;
[0009] Fig. 6 illustrates a method of cooling of the air-cooled vehicle, in
accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] In conventional designs of engines, the engines are cooled by air
cooling techniques by redirecting high-speed air towards the engine. In such techniques, the high-speed air flows around the engine fins and carburettor, thus the high-speed air may not reach the portions where the heat is produced, to cool the engine. Further, there is no such simple assembly/arrangement which redirects flow of air to the combustion chamber/cylinder head. Conventional techniques for air cooling of engines in vehicles are inefficient, since the atmospheric air may flow around an outside of the engine but may not circulate around the regions that produce heat. For example, the conventional techniques are unable to dissipate excess heat generated in a combustion chamber of the engine. Further, components which are used conventionally for air cooling of the engine are not visible from outside which makes it cumbersome to identify problems in the cooling mechanisms.
[0011] The present subject matter relates to concepts relating to an air-
cooled vehicle. For example, the air-cooled vehicle is adapted to achieve cooling of a combustion chamber and exhaust outlet port of an engine. According to an aspect, the air-cooled vehicle includes a chassis, an engine and an air guiding

channel that directs high-speed air towards a cylinder head of the engine to cool the engine. According to an implementation of the present subject matter, the chassis may include a downtube positioned in a front portion of the air-cooled vehicle to support the air guiding channel. Further, the engine is mounted on the chassis at a posterior position with respect to the downtube. The air guiding channel is coupled to the downtube that enables coupling of the air guiding channel in-line to the engine for guiding the high-speed air to a cylinder head of the engine. Further, the cylinder head includes an L-shaped passage that guides the high-speed air to an upper surface of a combustion chamber to dissipate excess heat from the engine. Furthermore, a part of high speed air escapes from the air guiding channel and hits on an exhaust port to dissipate excess heat from the exhaust port. As the vehicle is moving, the high-speed air is directed towards the engine via the air guiding channel, where the air guiding channel effectively directs the air towards heat-prone areas of the engine, such as the upper surface of the combustion chamber in the cylinder head and the exhaust port. Further, the L-shaped passage guides the high-speed air to exit from a side of the engine. Accordingly, the high-speed air acts as a cooling agent and carries away heat from the engine, thereby, reducing the temperature of the engine. In addition, the air guiding channel is visible and accessible without the removal of any fairings, panels or metal/plastic part of the air-cooled vehicle, thus the air guiding channel can be replaced or fixed easily.
[0012] These and other advantages of the present subject matter would be
described in greater detail in conjunction with the following figures. While aspects relating to cooling of a combustion chamber of an engine as described above and henceforth can be implemented in any number of different configurations, the embodiments are described in the context of the following system(s).
[0013] Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an air-cooled vehicle 100, in
accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. The air-cooled vehicle 100 includes a chassis 102 having a downtube 104, an engine 106

mounted on the chassis 102, and an air guiding channel 108. In one embodiment, the air-cooled vehicle 100 can be referred to as a vehicle. The downtube 104 is positioned in an anterior portion of the air-cooled vehicle 100. In one embodiment, the anterior portion of the air-cooled vehicle 100 is a front portion of the air-cooled vehicle 100. Further, the downtube 104 is provided to attach a steering assembly 110 in a first side of the downtube 104, and to mount the engine 106 in a second side of the downtube 104. The engine 106 is mounted on the chassis 102, positioned at a posterior position with respect to the downtube 104. In other words, the engine 106 is mounted in the chassis 102, at a position which is behind (i.e., posterior position) the downtube 104 as shown in Fig. 1A. Further, the air-cooled vehicle 100 includes a window formed between forks 112 of the steering assembly 110 of the air-cooled vehicle 100, a license plate 114, and a top surface of a front fender 116 of the air-cooled vehicle 100. The window forms a flow path for the high-speed air to reach the air guiding channel 108. The window guides the high-speed air towards the air guiding channel 108 through curvatures of the top surface of the front fender 116 of the air-cooled vehicle 100.
[0014] Figs. 2A and 2B illustrate different views of the air guiding channel
108 attached to the engine 106. As an example, Fig. 2A illustrates a perspective view of the air guiding channel 108 coupled to the downtube 104 of the air-cooled vehicle 100 through a coupler 124, and Fig. 2B illustrates a front perspective view of the air guiding channel 108 coupled to the downtube 104 of the air-cooled vehicle 100. As shown in Fig. 2A, the engine 106 may include a cylinder block 118, a cylinder head 120, and a head cover 122. The cylinder block 118 includes a cylinder bore in which a piston reciprocates from a bottom dead centre (BDC) to a top dead centre (TDC). The cylinder head 120 is mounted on the cylinder block 118 to form a combustion chamber (not shown in Fig.2A). The combustion chamber is formed by the cylinder head 120 and a top surface of the cylinder block 118 in which the piston reciprocates. The head cover 122 is mounted over the cylinder head 120. The cylinder head 120 includes an exhaust port at an anterior portion of the engine 106. In other words, the cylinder head 120 includes the exhaust port at a front side of the engine 106.

[0015] Further, the air guiding channel 108 may be coupled to the downtube
104, and the downtube 104 is providing a rigid support to the air guiding channel 108. In one embodiment, the air guiding channel 108 is in proximity to a front side of the cylinder head 120, and in-line with the engine 106 for guiding high¬speed air flow towards the cylinder head 120. The cylinder head 120 may include a passage (not shown in Figs. 2A and 2B) that guides the high-speed air to an upper surface of the combustion chamber of the engine 106. In one embodiment, the passage is an L-shaped passage, and formation of the passage will be described with reference to Fig. 3. In one embodiment, the air guiding channel 108 is formed as an incurvate half-round channel provided in proximity to the cylinder head 120 of the engine 106 as shown in Fig. 2A. In one embodiment, the incurvate half-round channel guides the high-speed air towards the cylinder head 120 of the engine 106.
[0016] The air guiding channel 108 may be in proximity of a front end of
the cylinder head 120 of the engine 106 in such a way that the air guiding channel 108 blocks movement of the high-speed air in a downward direction towards the engine 106. In one embodiment, the front end of the cylinder head 120 is a side facing the downtube 104 of the chassis 102. In one embodiment, the air guiding channel 108 may include the coupler 124 coupled to at least one of the downtube 104 or an engine mounting bracket 126 to provide rigid support to the air guiding channel 108. The coupler 124 may be coupled to a bottom surface of the air guiding channel 108 to support the air guiding channel 108. In one embodiment, the air-cooled vehicle 100 is a motorcycle.
[0017] As mentioned previously, the air guiding channel 108 is coupled to
the downtube 104 as shown in Fig. 2B so that the downtube 104, being a rigid structure as part of the chassis 102, provides a rigid support to the air guiding channel 108. In one example, the air guiding channel 108 may be welded to the downtube 104 for coupling it thereto.
[0018] When the air-cooled vehicle 100 is in motion, the air guiding channel
108 receives the high-speed air through the window formed between the forks

112, the license plate 114, and the top surface of the front fender 116, and is able to guide the high-speed air towards the cylinder head 120. Further, the passage formed in the cylinder head 120 is adapted to guide the high-speed air to the upper surface of the combustion chamber to dissipate excess heat generated in the combustion chamber. In one embodiment, the air guiding channel 108 is precisely located to guide the high-speed air to the cylinder head 120 and the combustion chamber of the engine 106. In case the location of the air guiding channel 108 is not as per the present subject matter, the performance of cooling of the engine 106 is not adequate which may negatively impact performance of the engine 106. In other words, any deviation in the position of the air guiding channel 108 may lead to a negative impact on the engine performance.
[0019] Fig. 3 illustrates a top sectional view of the air guiding channel 108
attached to the engine 106 of Fig. 1, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. In one embodiment, the air guiding channel 108 has a first end 202, a second end 204, and a body portion 206. The first end 202 hangs as an overhang and the second end 204 is in proximity to the front side of the cylinder head 120. The body portion 206 of the air guiding channel 108 is welded to the downtube 104 to provide rigid support to the air guiding channel 108.
[0020] The passage 208 formed in the cylinder head 120 guides the high-
speed air towards the upper surface 210 of the combustion chamber of the engine 106 to dissipate heat from the combustion chamber. As previously mentioned, the passage 208 is the L-shaped passage formed by a spark plug 214, an exhaust valve 216 and the upper surface 210 of the combustion chamber. In one example, the spark plug 214 may be positioned in the cylinder head 120 in such a way that defines a left wall of the passage 208, the exhaust valve 216 may be positioned in the cylinder head 120 in such a way that define a right wall of the passage 208, and the upper surface 210 of the combustion chamber defines a bottom surface of the passage 208. The exhaust port 212 may be connected to the exhaust valve 216. In another example, the cylinder head 120 is grooved to define the L-shaped passage. Further, the passage 208 redirects the high-speed air by 90° (90 degree)

towards one side of the cylinder head 120 to exit from the engine 106 as shown in Fig. 3. In addition, a part of high-speed air escapes from the air guiding channel 108 towards the exhaust port 212 to dissipate heat from the exhaust port 212 as shown in Fig. 3. In another embodiment, the air guiding channel 108 guides the high-speed air towards the cylinder head 120 which maintain a temperature of engine oil in the cylinder head 120 at optimum level.
[0021] Fig. 4A and 4B illustrate graphical representations showing
performance of the engine 106. As an example, Fig. 3A is a comparative graph depicting changes in temperature of the engine oil in the engine 106 with the air guiding channel 108 and without the air guiding channel 108, and Fig. 4B is a comparative graph depicting changes in temperature of a spark seat of the engine 106 with the air guiding channel 108 and without the air guiding channel 108. In Fig 4A, the change in temperature of engine oil is plotted in chart 300A having time on X-axis and a normalized temperature on Y-axis. As shown in Fig. 4A, a first curve 302 depicts a change in temperature of the engine oil in the engine 106 with respect to the time when the vehicle 100 operates without the air guiding channel 108. Further, a second curve 304 depicts change a change in temperature of the engine oil in the engine 106 while the air guiding channel 108 provided with the vehicle 100. As is evident from the chart 300A, the temperature of the engine oil is low when the vehicle 100 operates with the air guiding channel 108 as compared to the temperature of the engine oil when the vehicle operates without the air guiding channel 108. As shown in Fig. 4A, the temperature of the engine oil may drop by about 1.7% after the temperature of the engine 106 stabilized, in the engine 106 operating in conjunction with the air guiding channel 108.
[0022] In Fig. 4B the changes in the temperature of the spark seat is plotted
in chart 300B having time on X-axis and a normalized temperature on Y-axis. In one embodiment, the spark seat may be adapted to receive the spark plug 214 in the cylinder head 120. As shown in Fig. 4B, a first curve 306 depicts a change in temperature of the spark seat in the cylinder head 120 of the engine 106 with

respect to the time when the vehicle 100 operates without the air guiding channel 108. Further, a second curve 308 depicts change a change in temperature of the spark seat in the cylinder head 120 of the engine 106 when the vehicle 100 is operated with the air guiding channel 108. As is evident from the chart 300B, the temperature of the spark seat is low when the vehicle 100 operates with the air guiding channel 108 as compared to the temperature of the spark seat when the vehicle operates without the air guiding channel 108. As shown in Fig. 4B, the temperature of the spark seat may drop by about 3% after the temperature of the engine 106 is stabilized in the engine 106 operating in conjunction with the air guiding channel 108
[0023] Fig. 5A, 5B and 5C illustrates a computational fluid dynamic (CFD)
analysis of the vehicle 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. As an example, Fig. 5A illustrates a CFD analysis of the engine 106 showing hottest regions 402 among the engine 106, Fig. 5B illustrates a CFD analysis of the vehicle 100 while the high-speed air enters into the cylinder head 120, and Fig. 5C illustrates a CFD analysis of the vehicle 100 while the high¬speed air enters into the upper surface 210 of the combustion chamber. The CFD analysis is used to determine the location where the heat is excess among other locations. As shown in Fig. 5A, the exhaust port 212 and the upper surface 210 of the combustion chamber of the engine 106 are identified as the hottest regions 402 from the CFD analysis. The hottest regions 402 are to be cooled for optimum performance of the engine 106 by guiding the high-speed air towards the hottest regions 402 through the air guiding channel 108.
[0024] As shown in Fig. 5B, the high-speed air enters to the cylinder head
120 from the air guiding channel 108 to dissipate heat from the hottest regions 402. In an example, a velocity of high-speed air is high at the air guiding channel 108 and the high velocity air portion 406 is highlighted with dark lines as shown in Fig. 5B. Further, a part 408 of high velocity air 406 escapes from the air guiding channel 108 towards the exhaust port 212 to dissipate heat from the exhaust port 212. As shown in Fig. 5B, the high velocity air enters into the upper

surface 210 of the combustion chamber to dissipate heat from the upper surface 210 of the combustion chamber. The L-shaped passage 208 may receive the high velocity air from the and direct on the upper surface 210 of the combustion chamber. Further, the L-shaped passage redirects the high velocity air to one side of the cylinder head 120 to exit from the engine 106, thus the excess heat from the upper surface 210 of the combustion chamber is eliminated.
[0025] Fig. 6 illustrates a method 600 of cooling of a vehicle 100, in
accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. The order in which the method is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order or can be performed in parallel to employ the method 600, or an alternative method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the methods 600 can be employed in any suitable hardware, channel, passage or combination thereof. For example, the method may perform following step to cool an engine 106 of the vehicle 100. The method 600 is to be understood with reference to the details described along with Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.
[0026] Method begins at block 602. At block 602 high-speed air is guided
by the air guiding channel 108 into the cylinder head 120 of the engine 106. The air guiding channel 108 may be in proximity to the front side of the cylinder head 120 of the engine 106. As the vehicle 100 moves, the front side of the cylinder head 120 receives air from the air guiding channel 108. For example, the air guiding channel 108 may be an incurvate half-round channel that may receive the high-speed air from the front of the vehicle 100. In one example, the high-speed air may be received by the air guiding channel 108 through a window formed between forks 112 of the steering assembly 110 of the vehicle 100, a license plate 114, a top surface of a front fender 116 of the vehicle 100. In one example, the L-shaped passage 208 may be formed in the cylinder head 120 to receive the high-speed air from the front side of the cylinder head 120.

[0027] Thereafter, at block 604, the high-speed air is received by the L-
shaped passage 208 from the air guiding channel 108. As the second end 204 of the air guiding channel 108 is in proximity to the L-shaped passage 208 formed in the cylinder head 120, the high-speed air flows through the L-shaped passage 208.
[0028] At block 606, the high-speed air is directed by the L-shaped passage
208 to the upper surface 210 of the combustion chamber for dissipating heat from the engine 106. As the high-speed air reaches the upper surface 210 of the combustion chamber, excess heat produced in the combustion chamber is absorbed by the high-speed air through the inner walls of the L-shaped passage208. In one example, the high-speed air may be further redirected by the L-shaped passage 208 from the upper surface 210 of the combustion chamber to other side of the cylinder head 120 to allow egress of hot high-speed air from the engine 106.
[0029] Therefore, with the method 600, the air guiding channel 108 for
cooling of the engine 106 reduces temperatures of engine oil and overall engine temperature, thus the engine 106 runs smoothly and obtains optimum performance.
[0030] Although embodiments of the air-cooled vehicle 100 have been
described in the language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the present subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features are disclosed and explained in the context of a few embodiments of the air-cooled vehicle 100.

I/We Claim:
1. An air-cooled vehicle (100), comprising:
a chassis (102) having a downtube (104) positioned in an anterior portion of the air-cooled vehicle (100);
an engine (106) mounted on the chassis (102) of the air-cooled vehicle (100), wherein the engine (106) is at a posterior position with respect to the downtube (104), the engine (106) comprising a cylinder block (118), and a cylinder head (120) forming a combustion chamber therein, wherein the cylinder head (120) comprises an exhaust port (212) at an anterior portion of the engine (106); and
an air guiding channel (108) coupled to the downtube (104), the downtube (104) providing a rigid support to the air guiding channel (108), wherein the air guiding channel (108) is in-line with the engine (106) for guiding high-speed air towards the cylinder head (120).
2. The air-cooled vehicle (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air guiding channel (108) comprises a coupler (124) that is coupled to at least one of downtube (104) and an engine mounting bracket (126) to provide rigid support to the air guiding channel (108), wherein the coupler (124) is coupled to a bottom surface of the air guiding channel (108).
3. The air-cooled vehicle (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air guiding channel (108) is welded to the downtube (104).
4. The air-cooled vehicle (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air guiding channel (108) is formed as an incurvate half-round channel.
5. The air-cooled vehicle (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cylinder head (120) comprises at least one spark plug (214) and an exhaust valve (216), wherein the least one spark plug (214), the exhaust value (216) and an upper surface (210) of the combustion chamber define an L-shaped passage (208) for guiding the

high-speed air to an upper surface (210) of the combustion chamber to dissipate excess heat from the engine (106).
6. The air-cooled vehicle (100) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the L-shaped passage (208) receives the high-speed air from the air-guiding channel (108) and redirects the high-speed air towards a side of the cylinder head (120).
7. The air-cooled vehicle (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air-cooled vehicle (100) comprises a window formed between forks (112) of a steering assembly (110) of the air-cooled vehicle (100), a license plate (114), a top surface of a front fender (116) of the air-cooled vehicle (100), wherein the window forms a flow path for the high-speed air to reach the air guiding channel (108).
8. A cooling assembly for cooling of a vehicle (100), comprising:
an air guiding channel (108) provided in an anterior position to an engine (106) of the vehicle (100) and being coupled to a chassis (102) of the vehicle (100) for a rigid support to the air guiding channel (108), wherein the air guiding channel (108) being an incurvate half-round channel is in proximity to a front side of a cylinder head (120) of the engine (106) for guiding high-speed air towards the cylinder head (120); and
an L-shaped passage (208) provided in the cylinder head (120) to receive the high-speed air from the air guiding channel (108) and direct to an upper surface (210) of a combustion chamber of the engine (106).
9. The cooling assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein the air guiding channel
(108) receives air from a window formed between forks (112) of a steering
assembly (110) of the vehicle (100), a license plate (114), a top surface of a front
fender (116) of the vehicle (100).
10. The cooling assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein the L-shaped passage
defined by at least one spark plug (214), an exhaust valve (216) of the engine

(106) and an upper surface (210) of the combustion chamber for receiving high-speed air from the air guiding channel (108) and redirecting towards a side of the cylinder head (120) to exit from the engine (106).
11. A method for cooling of a vehicle (100), comprising:
guiding, by an air guiding channel (108), high-speed air to enter into a cylinder head (120) of an engine (106) of the vehicle (100), wherein the air guiding channel (108) is proximate to a front side of the cylinder head (120) of the engine (106);
receiving, by a L-shaped passage (208), the high-speed air from the air guiding channel (108); and
directing, by the L-shaped passage (208), the high-speed air to an upper surface (210) of a combustion chamber for dissipating heat from the engine (106).
12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the directing further comprises redirecting, by the L-shaped passage (208), the high-speed air from the upper surface (210) of the combustion chamber to a side of the cylinder hear (120) to exit from the engine (106).
13. The method as claimed in claim 11, the guiding comprises receiving, by the air guiding channel (108) being an incurvate half-round channel, the high-speed air from a window formed between forks (112) of a steering assembly (110) of the vehicle (100), a license plate (114), a top surface of a front fender (116) of the vehicle (100).