Air-to-air cooling assembly

Abstract

An air-to-air cooling assembly is disclosed. The air-to-air cooling assembly includes an inlet tank having an inlet configured to receive an air flow, and a wall forming a space within the inlet tank. The air-to-air cooling assembly also includes a perforated plate disposed adjacent the inlet of the tank and arranged substantially perpendicular to the air flow. The air-to-air cooling assembly further includes a plurality of pressure balancing openings at predetermined locations on the wall and configured to direct air into and out of the space.

1 . An air-to-air cooling assembly, comprising:
 an inlet tank including an inlet configured to receive an air flow, and a wall forming a space within the inlet tank;   a perforated plate disposed adjacent the inlet of the inlet tank and arranged substantially perpendicular to the air flow; and   a plurality of pressure balancing openings at predetermined locations on the wall and configured to direct air into and out of the space.   
   
   
       2 . The air-to-air cooling assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the perforated plate is a non-uniform perforated plate including a plurality of apertures with at least one of a different size or shape. 
   
   
       3 . The air-to-air cooling assembly of  claim 2 , wherein
 the apertures include first and second groups of apertures, the first group of apertures having a size different from that of the second group of apertures, and wherein   the first and second groups of apertures cover a predetermined number of core tubes.   
   
   
       4 . The air-to-air cooling assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the perforated plate is a uniformly perforated plate including a honey-comb structure. 
   
   
       5 . The air-to-air cooling assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the uniformly perforated plate including a honey-comb structure is disposed within the inlet tank adjacent the inlet. 
   
   
       6 . The air-to-air cooling assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the perforated plate is fixed to the wall with brackets and disposed apart from the wall by a predetermined distance. 
   
   
       7 . The air-to-air cooling assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the wall is an inner wall and the space is an inner space, and the inlet tank further includes an outer wall surrounding the inner wall, and wherein the inner wall and the outer wall form an outer space therebetween, the air-to-air cooling assembly further including a plurality of core tubes connected to a bottom portion of the inlet tank to receive air flow from the inner space. 
   
   
       8 . The air-to-air cooling assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the pressure balancing openings are located on the inner wall and are configured to direct air flow between the inner space and the outer space. 
   
   
       9 . The air-to-air cooling assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the pressure balancing openings are selectively connected through passages disposed external to the inlet tank, and wherein the pressure balancing openings are configured to direct the air flow into and out of the space through the passages. 
   
   
       10 . The air-to-air cooling assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the inlet tank further includes at least one curved corner adjacent the inlet within the inlet tank. 
   
   
       11 . A method of distributing air in an air-to-air cooling assembly, comprising:
 directing an air flow into an inlet tank through an inlet;   directing the air flow through a perforated plate disposed adjacent the inlet and substantially perpendicular to the air flow; and   directing the air flow into and out of a space formed by a wall of the inlet tank through a plurality of pressure balancing openings on the wall.   
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the wall is an inner wall and the space is an inner space, and wherein the inlet tank further includes an outer space formed by the inner wall and an outer wall enclosing the inner wall, the method further including directing the air flow between the inner space and the outer space through the pressure balancing openings on the inner wall. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the pressure balancing openings are selectively connected through passages, the method further including directing the air flow into and out of the space through the pressure balancing openings and the passages. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 11 , further including regulating the air flow through the perforated plate by selecting one of the size or distribution of apertures within the perforated plate. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 11 , further including reducing recirculation of the air flow by a curved corner within the inlet tank. 
   
   
       16 . An engine system, comprising:
 an engine including a plurality of combustion chambers configured to combust a mixture of air and fuel; and   an air intake system, including:
 a compressor configured to compress air supplied to the engine; 
 an air intake manifold configured to distribute air to the engine; and 
 an air-to-air cooling assembly configured to cool the compressed air, the air-to-air cooling assembly including:
 an inlet tank including a wall forming a space within the inlet tank, and an inlet configured to receive an air flow from the compressor; 
 a perforated plate arranged substantially perpendicular to the air flow and disposed adjacent the inlet of the inlet tank; and 
 a plurality of pressure balancing openings located at predetermined locations on the wall and configured to direct air into and out of the space. 
 
   
   
   
       17 . The engine system of  claim 16 , wherein the perforated plate is a non-uniform perforated plate including a plurality of apertures with at least one of a different size or shape. 
   
   
       18 . The engine system of  claim 17 , wherein
 the apertures include a first and a second group of apertures, the first group of apertures having a size different from that of the second group of apertures, and wherein   the first and second groups of apertures cover a predetermined number of core tubes.   
   
   
       19 . The engine system of  claim 16 , wherein the wall is an inner wall and the space is an inner space, and the inlet tank further includes an outer space formed between the inner wall and an outer wall enclosing the inner wall, and wherein the air-to-air cooling assembly further includes a plurality of core tubes connected to a bottom portion of the inlet tank to receive air flow from the inner space. 
   
   
       20 . The engine system of  claim 16 , wherein the pressure balancing openings are selectively connected through passages.