AUTOMOTIVE HEATING APPARATUS

摘要

An automotive heating apparatus includes a cylinder block forming an enclosed space therein, the gear pump means enclosed in the cylinder block, and a water jacket formed in the cylinder block outside the gear pump means. The gear pump means includes an input shaft connected to an engine and disposed in the enclosed space, a driving gear fixed to the input shaft and disposed in the enclosed space, a driven gear meshing with the driving gear and disposed in the enclosed space, and a viscous fluid sealed in the enclosed space. In the automotive heating apparatus, the viscous fluid is forcibly transferred from a suction side to a discharge side by the rotation of the driving gear and the driven gear, and at the same time there is caused a back flow of the viscous fluid resulting from an internal leakage from the discharge side to the suction side. Thus, the automotive heating apparatus stirs and shears the viscous fluid and increases the viscous fluid internal energy in the enclosed space, and it converts the heat generated by the viscous fluid to a temperature increment of circulating water through the water jacket. Hence, the automotive heating apparatus can not only achieve the heating in the automotive passenger room relatively quickly after starting the engine, but also produces a good on-boardability and a reduction in the manufacturing cost.