US 12,391,111 B2
Cooling a vehicle heat exchanger
Michael Judge, London (GB)
Assigned to McLaren Automotive Limited, Woking (GB)
Filed by McLaren Automotive Limited, Woking (GB)
Filed on Feb. 11, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/670,208.
Claims priority of application No. 2102164 (GB), filed on Feb. 16, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0258596 A1, Aug. 18, 2022
Int. Cl. B60K 11/08 (2006.01)
CPC B60K 11/085 (2013.01) 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle comprising:
a wheel arch;
an occupant door rearward of the wheel arch;
a heat exchanger rearward of the occupant door;
an airflow passage comprising:
a channel running along a bottom of the occupant door, being inboard of an exterior surface of the occupant door along a length of the channel, being delimited by at least one surface of the occupant door, and being at least partially open to a running surface of the vehicle; and
a first inlet duct to the heat exchanger;
a wheel positioned in the wheel arch; and
an airflow diverter forward of the wheel arch,
wherein the airflow passage and the airflow diverter are configured such that, when the vehicle is in forward motion, the airflow passage and the airflow diverter direct a first rearward airflow from a surrounding of the vehicle, inboard of the wheel, through an outlet of the wheel arch, through the channel delimited by the at least one surface of the occupant door, and through the first inlet duct to the heat exchanger for cooling the heat exchanger.