Muffler

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a muffler and, more particularly, to a muffler for muffling exhaust sound of an internal combustion engine such as an engine for a motor vehicle.

2. Prior Art

A conventional muffler has been constructed by inserting an exhaust inlet tube and an outlet tube in a cylindrical or elliptical barrel and providing partition walls and shortcircuit tubes within the barrel for uniformalizing the pulsation pressure introduced into the muffler. However, such muffler has a number of component parts, and also its assembly operation is extremely complicated. Therefore, high manufacturing cost has been inevitable. More particularly, at the time of assembly fabrication of the barrel by seam welding, the operation of fastening and coupling the barrel and opposite end plates, the operation of coupling a perforated partition member partitioning the interior of the muffler body into two compartments and a barrel by bolting or spot welding, and welding and other operation for inserting the exhaust inlet tube and outlet tube into the body and supporting the resultant assembly are required, and also these operations have been carried out through complicated sequential steps.

3. Object of the Invention

An object of the invention is to provide a novel muffler.

Another object of the invention is to provide a muffler, which can be constructed by pressing a comparatively simple metal plate and welding operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a muffler, in which all component parts can be formed by pressing process, and which can be constructed by easy assembly operation and is at least equal in operation and effect to the conventional barrel type muffler.

These objects can be achieved by a muffler comprising: an upper case provided at the opposite ends with semi-cylindrical inlet and outlet sections respectively and having an outwardly raised central portion and an integral flange-like edge portion; a lower case joined at a flange-like edge portion to that of said upper case and substantially symmetrical with said upper case with respect to the underside thereof; an exhaust inlet tube forming member having at least a semi-cylindrical inlet section inserted in a cylindrical inlet formed by the inlet sections of said upper and lower cases joined together and a gutter-like guide section connected to said inlet section and being joined to said upper case, lower case or both of them, said forming member being provided adjacent to an end thereof with a perforated portion; and an exhaust outlet tube forming member having at least a semi-cylindrical outlet section fitted in a cylindrical outlet formed by the outlet sections of said upper and lower cases and a gutter-like guide section connected to said outlet section and being joined to said upper case, lower case or both of them; the exhaust inlet and outlet tubes formed in this way within the muffler body being communicated with each other through an exhaust gas passage formed between the outer surface of said individual component parts and the inner surface of said case and also through said passage, the end of said outlet tube being positioned behind the leading end of said inlet tube.

Thus, according to the invention an automotive silencer which can be constructed by a comparatively simple metal plate press forming operation and welding operation, can be obtained.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a muffler in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the muffler shown in FIG. 1 after assembly;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment of the muffler in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the muffler shown in FIG. 3 after assembly;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a still further embodiment of the muffler in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the muffler shown in FIG. 5 after assembly;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a yet further embodiment of the muffler in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the muffler shown in FIG. 7 after assembly;

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing a further embodiment of the muffler in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the muffler shown in FIG. 9 with the upper case removed;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line XI-XI in FIG. 10 showing the muffler after assembly with the upper case mounted;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line XII-XII in FIG. 10 similar to FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along line XIII-XIII in FIG. 10 similar to FIG. 11.

Component parts of a muffler shown in FIGS. 1 to 2 can be readily manufactured by press working a metal plate. In the Figure, designated at 11 and 11a are upper and lower cases overlapped together just like the shell of a bean-jam wafer to form a body of a muffler. The cases are provided at the respective opposite end portions with semi-cylindrical inlet sections 12 and 12a and outlet sections 13 and 13a and have respective flange-like edge portions 14 and 14a. The upper case 11 has an outwardly (upwardly) raised central portion, and the lower case 11a also has an outwardly (downwardly) raised central portion. Designated at 15 is a groove-shaped guide piece provided at an end with a semi-cylindrical inlet portion 16 inserted into the inlet section 12a of the lower case 11a and has a grooved portion 17 connected to the inlet portion 16 and terminating in a closed and perforated end portion. It also has a flange-like edge portion 19 which is attached to the inner surface of the upper case 11 and is provided with a passage constituted by recesses formed in intermediate opposite side positions. Designated at 21 is a guide piece provided at an end with a semi-cylindrical outlet section 22 inserted into the outlet section 13 of the upper case 11 and has a grooved portion 23 connected to the outlet portion 22 and having an open end. It also has a flange-like edge portion 24 which is attached to the inner surface of the lower case 11a.

The inlet section 12a of the lower case 11a is fitted, with the inlet section 16 of the guide piece 15 fitted in it, together with the inlet section 12 of the upper case 11 on an engine exhaust tube 25. Meanwhile, the outlet section 13 of the upper case 11 is fitted, with the inlet section 22 of the guide piece 21 fitted in it, together with the outlet section 13a of the lower case 11a on an exhaust tube 26. Therefore, the inlet section 12a and outlet section 13a are made slightly greater than the respectively opposing inlet section 12 and outlet section 13.

To assemble this muffler, the guide piece 15 is secured to the upper case 11 by spot welding its flange-like portion 19 held in contact with the inner surface of the upper case, the flange-like portion 24 of the guide piece 21 is similarly spot welded to the lower case 11a, and then the upper and lower cases 11 and 11a are coupled together by seam welding the flangelike portions 14 and 14a, inlet sections 12 and 12a and outlet sections 13 and 13a. In this way, the muffler is assembled into the state as shown in FIG. 2, and then it is coupled to the exhaust tubes 25 and 26.

In this muffler, space 27 defined by the guide piece 15 and upper case 11 constitutes an exhaust inlet tube, with a number of small holes 18 positioned in the closed end portion of the inlet tube and passages 20 constituting a shunting hole. Space 28 defined by the guide piece 21 and lower case 11a constitutes an exhaust outlet tube. The ratio A : B of the length A of intrusion of the inlet tube into the body of the muffler of length L formed in this way to the length B of intrusion of the outlet tube is effectively set to 1/2 L : 1/4 L, 3/4 L : 1/2 L, or 1/2 L : 3/4 L. The size and quantity of the shunting hole 20 are effectively set such that when the diameter of the inlet tube is 40 mm, an equivalent area within a range corresponding to four shunting holes with a diameter of 2 mm to two shunting holes with a diameter of 6 mm is provided.

In the muffler constituted in this way, the exhaust gas from the engine enters through the exhaust tube 25 into the space 27 within the guide piece 15 and then enters through the small holes 18 in the end portion into a space 29 enclosed by the upper and lower cases 11 and 11a for expansion. Then, after compression it enters through an opening at the end portion of the guide piece 21 into the space 28 within the guide piece 21, and then it flows out through the exhaust tube 26. The passages 20 are provided to the end of permitting part of the exhaust gas to be exhausted without passing through the small holes 18 so as to prevent high engine back pressure due to the resistance offered by the small holes 18.

With this construction of the muffler, a novel muffler providing comparable or superior effects with respect to the conventional construction can be manufactured far more readily compared to the conventional muffler construction by a method comprising a simple main press formation and slight additional welding operation.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show another embodiment of the invention. In the Figure, designated at 31 and 31a are upper and lower cases overlapped over each other to form a muffler body. These cases are provided at the opposite ends with respective semicylindrical inlet sections 32 and 32a and outlet sections 33 and 33a and have respective flange-like edge portions 34 and 34a. Both cases 31 and 31a have respective outwardly raised portions. In lieu of the guide piece 15 provided at the end portion with small holes 18 in the muffler of FIGS. 1 and 2, a porous molding 38 is provided, and also a perforated partition wall 60 for preventing the noise of generation of a jet issuing from the porous body 38 is provided. For the porous molding 38, use may be made of foamed metals having continuous pores, metal nets and the like.

In this embodiment, a guide piece 35 provided at the end with a semi-cylindrical inlet section 36 and having a grooved portion 37 united to the inlet section 36 and a flange-like edge portion 39 to be applied to the inner surface of the upper case 31 as in the case of FIGS. 1 and 2 is formed at the other end portion with a hole 61 surrounded by the flange-like edge portion 39, and the porous molding 38 having a flange-like edge portion conforming to that of the guide piece 35 proper is fitted therein before the guide piece is coupled to the upper case 11. The guide piece 35 is provided at its intermediate portion with a passage 50 formed by cutting channel-like notches in the flange-like edge portion 39. Further, a guide piece 41, which is provided at an end with a semi-cylindrical outlet section 42 and has a grooved portion 43 united to said outlet section 42 and open at the other end, has its flange-like edge portion 44 applied to the inner surface of the lower case 31a. A perforated member 60 is interposed between both the guide pieces 35 and 41. In order that a step difference should not occur between the perforated molding 38 and guide piece 35, the corresponding end portion of the flange-like edge portion 39 is made lower in level to an extent equal to the thickness of the flange-like edge portion of the molding 38. The perforated member 60 is provided at the opposite ends with semi-cylindrical inlet and outlet sections 62 and 63 fitted together with respective guide pieces 35 and 41 in the inlet section 32a and outlet section 33 of the cases respectively. Since the inlet section 62 of the perforated member 60 and the inlet section 36 of the guide piece 35 are fitted in the inlet section 32a of the lower case 31a while the outlet section 63 of the perforated member 60 and the outlet section 42 of the guide piece 41 are fitted in the outlet section 33 of the upper case 31, the inlet and outlet sections 32a and 33 are made greater in size than the respectively corresponding inlet and outlet sections 32 and 33a of the upper and lower cases.

The muffler of this construction has its inlet fitted on an engine exhaust tube 45 and its outlet fitted on an exhaust tube 46. A major proportion of the exhaust gas entering from the exhaust tube 45 into the space 47 within the guide piece 35 issues from the fine pores of the porous molding 38. The noise occurring at this time is attenuated as the exhaust gas passes through the perforated member 60, and thereafter the exhaust gas enters the space 48 within the guide piece 41 and flows out into the exhaust tube 46.

With this construction of the muffler, it is possible to readily manufacture a novel muffler having comparable or superior effects with respect to the conventional construction by a method comprising a main simple press forming operation and slight welding operations.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a further embodiment of the invention. In the Figure, designated at 71 and 71a are upper and lower cases overlapped over each other to form a muffler body. These cases are provided at the opposite ends with respective semi-cylindrical inlet sections 72 and 72a and outlet sections 73 and 73a and have respective flange-like edge portions 74 and 74a. Both cases have respective outwardly raised portions. This muffler uses, in lieu of the gutter-like guide pieces in the mufflers of FIGS. 1 to 4, an inlet tube 75 curved to conform to the lower case 71a and an outlet tube 81 curved to conform to the upper case 71. The inlet tube 75 is provided at its tip with a reduced-diameter portion 78, on which a cap 91 of a foaming metal having continuous pores, a metal net or the like material is fitted. It is also provided with a shunting hole 90. The outlet tube 81 is also provided with a shunting hole 90. These inlet and outlet tubes 75 and 81 are secured by welding to the respective lower and upper cases 71a and 71 by means of a perforated member 80 having grooves 82 and 83 receiving them.

With this construction of the muffler, the engine exhaust gas is throttled in the reduced-diameter portion 78 and passes ghrough the fine pores in the cap 91 to be issued into the interior of the muffler body. The noise occurring at this time is attenuated as the exhaust gas passes through the perforated member 80, and thereafter the exhaust gas enters the outlet tube 90 to be exhausted. Meanwhile, part of the exhaust gas passes through the shunting hole 90, whereby increase of the engine back pressure can be prevented. This muffler again can be readily manufactured by press operation and also has comparable or superior effects with respect to the conventional construction.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a further embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, a perforated plate assembly 140 in the form like a partition wall extending normal to the flow path is used in lieu of the perforated member 60 in the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4. Also, in this case the guide pieces 35 and 41 are replaced with a single guide piece 115 formed by press stamping and adapted to be affixed to the upper case 111. Upper and lower cases 111 and 111a, which are overlapped over each other to form the muffler body, are provided at the opposite ends with respective semi-cylindrical inlet sections 112 and 112a and semi-cylindrical outlet sections 113 and 113a and have respective flange-like edge portions 114 and 114a. These cases have their central portions outwardly raised by press stamping. The lower case 111a is further provided with a groove 141 for receiving the preforated plate assembly 140. The perforated plate assembly 140 is provided with a flange 142 and recesses 143 and 144 for receiving the guide piece 115. The guide piece 115 has a shape corresponding to what is obtained by arranging the guide pieces 35 and 41 of the gutter-like form shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 side by side and with their grooves both directed upwards. Its gutter-like inlet section 117 is provided at the end portion with a hole 121 enclosed within flange-like edge portion 119 similar to the case of FIGS. 3 and 4, and a porous molding 118 conforming to the hole 121 thus formed and having a flange-like edge portion is fitted in the hole 121. The guide piece 115 has a flange portion 119 provided along its edge and also along its longitudinal center. Its gutter-like portion 117 formed between the flange portion 119 along the edge of one side and that along the longitudinal center is provided at one end with an inlet section 116 fitted in the inlet section 112a of the lower case 111a, while its gutter-like portion 123 formed between the flange portion 119 along the edge of the other side and that along the longitudinal center and extending parallel to the afore-mentioned gutter-like portion 117 is open at the end nearer the inlet section 112a and is provided at the other end with an outlet section 122 fitted in the outlet section 113a of the lower case 111a. In order that no step difference should result between the guide piece 115 and the porous molding 118, the corresponding end portion of the flange portion 119 of the guide piece 115 is made lower in level by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the flange-like edge portion of the molding 118. The gutter-like portions 117 and 122 are provided with respective shunting holes 130. FIG. 8 shows the muffler assembled from the above component parts.

The muffler of this construction has its inlet fitted on an engine exhaust tube and its outlet fitted on an exhaust tube. The exhaust gas entering from the exhaust tube 125 into the guide section 117 enters through the porous molding 118 and shunting hole 130 into the space 131 in the body on the right hand side of the perforated plate assembly 140, and then it enters from the opening of the guide section at the left hand end thereof into the guide section 123 and is discharged through the following exhaust tube 126. This muffler again can be readily manufactured by press operation and also has comparable or superior effects with respect to the conventional construction.

In the preceding embodiments, the length of the guide piece inserted in each case and the size of the shunting hole are determined in the manner as has been described in connection with the muffler as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIGS. 9 to 13 show a further embodiment of the invention. The individual cases and partition members are manufactured by press forming respective steel plates. Upper and lower cases 211 and 211a are symmetrical with respect to the boundary plane. They have respective raised central portions, and also they are provided at one end with respective semi-cylindrical inlet sections 212 and 212a and at the other end with respective semi-cylindrical outlet sections 213 and 213a and have respective flange-like edge portions 214 and 214a. Upper and lower partition members 215 and 215a are symmetrical with respect to their boundary plane except for inlet tube section, flow tube section and inner end to be described later in detail. The partition members 215 and 215a include respective plate-like stem portions 216 and 216a of the same size as the flange-like edge portions of the cases 211 and 211a. The stem portions 216 and 216a are provided with semi-cylindrical inlet tubes 217 and 217a extending from their one end (left hand end in FIG. 9) and fitted in the respective inlet sections 212 and 212a of the upper and lower cases 211 and 211a, with the inlet tube thus formed being tapered toward the inner end, and semi-cylindrical outlet tubes 218 and 218a similarly extending from their other end (right hand end in FIG. 9) and fitted in the respective outlet sections 213 and 213a of the upper and lower cases 211 and 211a, with the outlet tube thus formed having a bifurcated portion. These stem portions 216 and 216a are formed in portion other than portions overlapped over the flange portions 214 and 214a, inlet tube sections 217 and 217a and outlet tube sections 218 and 218a with a number of small holes 219 and 219a. The inner end section 220a of the inlet tube section 217 is closed, and the inner end 220 of the other inlet tube section 217a is bent upright in a form to be fitted in said inner end 220 and provided with an opening (see FIGS. 9 and 11). In the case of the outlet sections 218 and 218a, conversely, the inner ends 222a of the outlet tube section 218a are closed, and the inner ends 222 of the other are bent upright and provided with openings 223 (see FIGS. 9 and 12). The inlet and outlet tube sections 217 and 218a are provided with respective shunting holes 224 and 225, and semi-cylindrical shunting tube sections 226 and 226a are provided respectively between the inlet tube sections 217 and 217a and between the outlet tube sections 218 and 218a.

The ratio A : B of the length A of intrusion of the inlet tube section 217 into the muffler body to the length B of intrusion of the outlet tube section 218 is adapted such that the actual acoustical length is constructed to a combination of 1/2 L : 1/4 L or 1/2 L : 3/4 L with respect to the total length L by taking the shunting holes into consideration. Regarding the shunting holes 224 and 225, when the diameter of the individual tubes 217 and 218 are 40 mm, effective muffling can be obtained with four holes of a diameter of 2 mm or with two holes with a diameter of 6 mm.

In the assembly, an exhaust inlet tube 228 from an engine (not shown) and an exhaust outlet tube 229 are clamped between the outer ends of the semi-cylindrical inlet tube sections 217 and 217a and also between the outer ends of the outlet tube sections 218 and 218a. Then, the upper and lower cases 211 and 211a and upper and lower partition members 215 and 215a are overlapped into the state as shown in FIGS. 10 to 13, and overlap portions of the flange portions 214 and 214a and contact portions of the inlet and outlet tubes 228 and 229 with respect to the muffler body are joined together by seam welding.

The muffler assembled in this way in accordance with the present invention has its body constituted by the upper and lower cases 211 and 211a, and also it has two, namely upper and lower, sections or compartments 231 and 230 defined by the perforated partition members 211 and 211a, which also form inlet and outlet tubes open to respectively separate sections.

The exhaust gas flowing from the exhaust inlet tube 228 into the muffler body flows in the following manner to be given various muffling effects by individual component parts. Namely, major proportion of the inlet tube sections 217 and 217a passes through the inlet tube sections 217 and 217a and enters from the opening 221 into the lower section 230. Part of the exhaust gas flows from the inlet tube section through shunting holes 224 and shunting tubes 226 and 226a directly into the upper section 231 and outlet tube sections 218 and 218a. A major proportion of the exhaust gas from the section 230 flows through a number of small holes 219 and 219a into the upper section 231, while part of the exhaust gas flows directly through the shunting hole 225 into the outlet tube sections 218 and 218a. The exhaust gas from the upper section flows through the two openings 223 into the outlet tube sections 218 and 218a and thence it is exhausted into the outlet tube 229.

By setting the diameter of the small hole 219 to 2 to 4 mm, the stem portions 216 and 216a can also serve as filter for broken catalyst particles in an upstream of a catalytic exhaust gas purifying apparatus. Also, by covering the openings 221 of the inlet tube sections 217 and 217a with a heat resistant continuous porous body or a heat resistant perforated member it is possible to prevent generation of the gas stream secondary noise issuing from the opening 221.

As has been made apparent from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 to 13, according to the invention it is possible to obtain various great industrial effects, namely:

(a) the construction of various muffling structures can be simplified with a reduced number of component parts;

(b) it is possible to manufacture all component parts by press forming of steel plates and obtain simpler and speedier assembly operation;

(c) since the construction is simple, it is possible to reduce the size and weight and also save the fuel consumption; and

(d) a bifurcated tube can be readily provided.