Vehicle front structure
A vehicle front structure comprising: a shutter unit comprising adjustable flaps arranged to receive an airflow to control the supply of air that passes through the shutter unit towards at least one vehicle component. An air duct extending in a rearward direction from a front part of the vehicle, the air duct comprising an inlet and an outlet. In a first state of the shutter unit, a first flap is configured to be in a closed state to thereby reduce the supply of air through the shutter unit, and allow an airflow to pass through the inlet of the air duct. In a second state of the shutter unit, the first flap is configured to be in an open state to increase the supply of air through the shutter unit, and to close the inlet of the air duct.
1. A vehicle front structure, comprising:
a shutter unit comprising adjustable flaps arranged to receive an airflow when the vehicle is moving and to control the supply of air that passes through the shutter unit towards at least one vehicle component for cooling the vehicle component,
an air duct extending in a rearward direction from a front part of the vehicle, the air duct comprising an inlet at the front part of the vehicle and an outlet, wherein the inlet and a first flap of the shutter unit are arranged adjacent to each other such that,
in a first state of the shutter unit, the first flap is configured to be in a closed state to thereby reduce the supply of air through the shutter unit, and allow an airflow to pass through the inlet of the air duct, and
in a second state of the shutter unit, the first flap is configured to be in an open state to thereby increase the supply of air through the shutter unit, and to close the inlet of the air duct to thereby at least partly block the air flow through the air duct.
2. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein the first flap is configured to redirect air from the closed inlet of the air duct and towards the vehicle component, when the first flap is in the open state.
3. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein the first flap is configured to redirect air from the shutter unit towards the inlet of the aft duct, when the first flap is in the closed state.
4. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein the first flap comprises a convex surface on a first side facing the airflow in the closed state of the first flap.
5. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein the surface of the first flap on a second side facing the airflow in the open state of the first flap comprises an S-shaped cross-section.
6. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein the first flap is rotatable through a larger rotational angle than the other flaps of the shutter unit, when the shutter unit transitions from one of the first state and the second state to the other one of the first state and the second state.
7. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein the first flap is asymmetric.
8. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein the first flap comprises two portions on each side of a center of rotation of the first flap, wherein:
in the first state a first portion of the first flap is configured to at least reduce the supply of air through the shutter unit, and allow an airflow to pass through the inlet of the air duct, and a second portion of the first flap is arranged at least partly along the air flow direction in the air duct such as to allow the airflow to pass through the inlet of the air duct, and
in the second state, the first portion is configured to allow the supply of air through the shutter unit, and the second portion is configured to at least partly block the air flow through the air duct.
9. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein the shutter unit comprises multiple flaps, wherein the first flap has a shape that is different from the shape of the other flaps.
10. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein the first flap is a top flap of the shutter and the outlet of the air duct is arranged to guide the air to a hood of the vehicle.
11. The vehicle front structure according to claim 1 , wherein the first flap is a bottom flap of the shutter and the outlet of the air duct is arranged to guide the air to below the vehicle.
12. The vehicle front structure according to claim 11 , comprising the top flap and the bottom flap.
13. A vehicle comprising the vehicle front structure according to claim 1 .
14. The vehicle according to claim 13 , comprising the vehicle component.
15. A method for controlling a supply of air that passes through a shutter unit towards at least one vehicle component, and for controlling an airflow through an air duct extending in a rearward direction from a front part of the vehicle, the air duct comprising an inlet arranged adjacent a first flap of the shutter unit, the method comprising the steps of:
controlling the shutter to be in a first state in which the first flap reduces the supply of air through the shutter unit, and allows an airflow to pass through the inlet of the air duct, and
controlling the shutter to be in a second state in which the first flap in an open state to thereby increase the supply of air through the shutter unit, and at the same time closes the inlet of the air duct to thereby at least partly block the air flow through the air duct.