CN219634949U

CN219634949U - Vent with pivotable and slidable operating knob

Info

Publication number: CN219634949U
Application number: CN202320164992.6U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 福尔克尔·多利; 阿尼凯特·蒂瓦里
Original assignee: Faurecia Innenraum Systeme GmbH
Current assignee: Faurecia Innenraum Systeme GmbH
Priority date: 2022-01-28
Filing date: 2023-01-28
Publication date: 2023-09-05
Anticipated expiration: 2033-01-28
Also published as: DE202022100489U1

Abstract

The utility model relates to a vent for a vehicle, comprising: a housing; at least one first flow directing element pivotable about a vertical axis; at least one second flow directing element pivotable about a first horizontal axis; and an operating element which is arranged on the operating side of the vent opening and is supported in such a way that an operating knob of the operating element is pivotable in the vertical direction about a stationary second horizontal axis and slidable in the horizontal direction along the second horizontal axis, wherein the operating knob is arranged below the first flow guiding element and the at least one second flow guiding element, wherein a functional element of the operating element which can be slid together with the operating knob interacts directly with a first transmission element which converts a sliding movement of the operating knob in the horizontal direction into a pivoting movement of the at least one first flow guiding element.

Description

Vent with pivotable and slidable operating knob

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the field of automotive technology, in particular ventilation technology, which can be advantageously applied in passenger cars, but can also be applied in other transportation means, such as airplanes, trains and ships.

Background

Passenger vehicles generally have means for conditioning air and for delivering fresh air or for heating. These devices typically include passages and vents for delivering air that specifically expel air having specific properties, such as temperature or humidity conditioned air, into the passenger car. Such vents can in many cases be controlled directly by the occupants or operators in the field and have an operating element, such as an operating knob, for this purpose. In many cases it is desirable to be able to control, for example, the intensity of the outgoing air flow and the orientation of the outgoing ventilation air flow in the vertical and/or horizontal direction.

In the prior art, various devices for controlling ventilation openings or ventilation air flows exiting from the ventilation openings are known. From US 2015/239325 A1 a vent is known, which has a shutter for guiding the ventilation air flow and a slide switch which, by means of a horizontal sliding movement, causes a pivoting movement of the shutter, thereby controlling the ventilation air flow in the horizontal direction.

From US 2018/099541 A1 a vent is known with an operating knob which by a pivoting movement drives a gear which in itself drives a pivoting movement of a vertical shutter for controlling the ventilation air flow in the horizontal direction.

From US 9 937,774 A1, a vent is known which has an operating knob arranged on the side of the air outlet opening, which operating knob can be pivoted and which drives the vertical shutter via a lever. The lever is itself driven by a gear drive.

WO 2020/060849 A1 discloses a ventilation opening having an operating knob below the air outlet, wherein the operating knob drives a gear wheel via a slidable rack during horizontal sliding movement, which gear wheel in itself controls the pivoting movement of the shutter in a manner not shown further.

EP 3,647,092 A1 discloses a ventilation opening having an operating knob which is arranged on the operating side upstream of the vertical blind and which drives a toothed rack by sliding, which toothed rack cooperates with a gear for driving a pivoting movement of the vertical blind.

A common disadvantage of the prior art solutions is that, on the one hand, in most cases the operating knob is arranged in front of the outlet opening of the respective ventilation opening, or at least during operation, the operator is required to keep his hand in the ventilation air flow during operation. The ventilation air flow is thus interrupted temporarily or continuously, or it is difficult to judge the adjusted ventilation air flow direction during operation due to the blocking of the ventilation air flow. Maintaining the hands in the ventilation air flow is also uncomfortable due to the air temperature. Furthermore, the coupling of the operating knob or other operating element to the shutter or flow guide element which is to be controlled by the movement of the operating knob is cumbersome and lossy, so that a large force has to be exerted on the operating knob and a large number of moving parts are required to transmit the movement, whereby a high error rate is created.

Disclosure of Invention

Against the background of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present utility model to provide a ventilation opening which can be operated by means of an operating knob in such a way that the ventilation flow is as little impeded as possible, wherein the operating knob should be coupled as directly as possible to the flow guiding element to be driven.

The utility model thus relates to a vent for a passenger vehicle, in particular a vehicle, comprising: a housing; at least one first flow directing element pivotable about a vertical axis; at least one second flow directing element pivotable about a first horizontal axis; and an operating element which is arranged on the operating side of the ventilation opening and is supported in such a way that an operating knob of the operating element is pivotable in the vertical direction about a stationary second horizontal axis and is slidable in the horizontal direction along the second horizontal axis, wherein the operating knob is arranged below the at least one first flow guiding element and below the at least one second flow guiding element. The object of the utility model is achieved in that the functional element of the operating element, which is firmly connected to the operating knob and can slide together with the operating knob, cooperates directly with a first transmission element, which is firmly connected to the shaft of the first flow guiding element and converts a sliding movement of the operating knob in the horizontal direction into a pivoting movement of the at least one first flow guiding element.

The shaft of the first flow guiding element can furthermore be understood as a short journal or another equally effective element which is suitable for transmitting torque and rotational movement.

Since the operating knob is arranged below the one or more flow guiding elements, it does not itself obstruct the outgoing ventilation gas and can also be operated by one hand, i.e. this hand is not located in the ventilation gas flow during operation and the result of the re-control of the ventilation gas flow direction can thus be well judged. By the direct coupling of the operating element with the transfer element which directly transfers the movement to the one or more flow guiding elements, inefficiency and high consumption of force during operation of the operating element is avoided. Coupling the operating element with the shaft of the one or more first flow guiding elements is particularly easy to achieve below the flow guiding elements in the region of the extension of the shaft on which the flow guiding elements are pivotably fastened. In prior art solutions, the area of the flow guiding element is in many cases covered by the operating element or has to be removed in order to provide space for the operating element.

The terms "lower", "upper", "lower" and "above" should be understood to describe only possible orientations of the vent during use after installation in a motor vehicle. For example, the operating knob may be located below the flow guiding element after installation in a vehicle.

An advantageous embodiment of the ventilation opening can provide that a horizontally extending, in particular fixed, flow separation element is arranged in the housing between the second flow guiding element pivotable about the horizontal axis and the outlet opening, which flow separation element divides the space available for the ventilation air flow into a lower sub-channel and an upper sub-channel, and that the pivotable second flow guiding element guides a different proportion of the ventilation air flow into the lower sub-channel and the upper sub-channel respectively in different pivot positions.

By controlling the flow isolation element, the ventilation air flow is directed through the lower sub-channel or the upper sub-channel. In the case of directing a large part of the ventilation air flow through the lower sub-channel, the ventilation air flow is directed upwards by the groove-like ridge at the bottom of the outlet. If the ventilation air flow passes completely or largely through the upper sub-channel, it is directed downwardly by a ridge of the upper outlet hood. In both cases, the ventilation air flow is directed in the horizontal direction by the first flow guiding element, respectively.

The ventilation opening can advantageously be formed further in that the first transmission element is a circular gear, preferably a pitch circular gear, and the functional element of the actuating element, which is connected to the actuating knob and can slide together with the actuating knob, is or has a toothed rack. In this case, the actuating knob is directly connected to a toothed rack which, when the actuating knob is slid horizontally, rotates a circular gear wheel which is fixed in a rotationally fixed manner, for example, directly on the shaft of the flow guide element. Thus, only a single gear stage is produced, in which no more than two parts are in contact with each other, which parts can move relative to each other, resulting in a high efficiency with little wear and friction.

Another possibility for forming the ventilation opening is that the first transmission element is a pivotable lever and the functional element of the operating element, which is connected to the operating knob and can slide with the same, is a follower which drives the pivotable lever when it slides in the horizontal direction. In this case, the actuating knob is, for example, directly connected to a follower which, when the actuating knob is slid horizontally, brings about a pivotable lever, wherein the lever is, for example, connected to the shaft of the first flow-guiding element in a rotationally fixed manner, so that a horizontal linear movement of the actuating knob is efficiently converted into a pivoting movement of the first flow-guiding element.

Furthermore, a design of the vent opening may provide that the actuating element has a drive lever which can be pivoted together with the actuating knob and is firmly connected to the horizontal axis of the actuating element, and that the at least one second flow guiding element is driven about the first horizontal axis by a lever transmission during the pivoting movement of the actuating knob. In many cases it will be appropriate that the operating knob is pivotable in a vertical direction and in such cases an annular track is drawn, however only a small section of this annular track is available for movement of the operating knob, so that this small section of annular track can be regarded as vertically oriented. For this purpose, the actuating knob is mounted on a horizontal shaft in such a way that a pivoting of the actuating knob in the vertical direction rotates the horizontal shaft, to which a pivotable drive lever is connected elsewhere, which drive lever is correspondingly pivoted in the vertical plane and at the same time drives a lever transmission for driving the second flow guide element. Thus, by the movement (linearity) of the operating knob in the horizontal direction and the movement (as a pivoting movement) in the vertical direction, both the vertical first flow guiding element and the horizontal second flow guiding element are moved, so that the ventilation air flow can be swung in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. In this way, the ventilation air flow can cover a defined space in a targeted manner.

An optimized design of the lever mechanism can provide that the lever mechanism has a horizontal drive shaft with a first drive lever which drives a shaft via a second drive lever, to which the at least one second flow guide element is fastened.

A further lever can be firmly connected to the drive shaft, which lever can be driven by an actuating lever as an integral part of the actuating element. The pivoting movement of the operating knob can thus be transmitted via the actuating lever and the further lever to the horizontal drive shaft and from there via the first and second drive levers to the shaft directly connected to the second flow guiding element. The relative movement of the two elements is substantially generated between the actuating lever of the operating element and the lever which is driven by the actuating lever and is firmly connected to the horizontal drive shaft. In this way, friction losses are reduced to a minimum, so that the reliability and energy or force efficiency of the transmission of the operating knob is optimized.

A further advantageous embodiment of the ventilation opening can provide that the at least one first flow-guiding element is coupled to a set of further first flow-guiding elements which are pivotally mounted about axes which are parallel to one another. The plurality of first flow guiding elements may be interconnected by a coupling rod, so that a drive of a single first flow guiding element may be transmitted to the further first flow guiding element by the operating element.

It may further be provided that a plurality of second flow guiding elements are provided which are pivotable about mutually parallel axes and which are coupled to one another. In particular, two second flow guiding elements may be provided. For example, an upper second guiding element may be arranged at the upper sub-channel and a lower second guiding element may be arranged at the lower sub-channel.

A further advantageous embodiment of the ventilation opening can provide that the actuating knob or the component of the actuating element can slide horizontally on the strand, in particular on the horizontal axis of the actuating element.

For this purpose, it can be further provided that the slidable functional element of the operating button or of the operating element has an opening into which the strand can be inserted, wherein the shape of the opening and the cross-sectional shape of the strand are formed in such a way that the operating button or the functional element is connected to the strand in a rotationally fixed manner.

This can be achieved further in that the slidable functional element of the operating element can slide as a fork on the strand and can be arranged rotatably relative to the strand.

The operating element thus has a plurality of elements which can be slid or rotated partially relative to one another, so that the operating knob can be slid in the horizontal direction, wherein some elements of the operating element are slid together, while other elements do not perform a sliding movement together. Furthermore, the operating element is provided for bringing about a pivoting movement of some of the elements of the operating element together during the movement of said operation Niu Shu, while the other elements do not participate in the pivoting movement. Thereby, the first and second flow guiding elements can be controlled independently of each other, their position determining the orientation of the ventilation air flow in the horizontal and vertical direction.

Drawings

The utility model is illustrated and described below with reference to the embodiments in the drawings. In the accompanying drawings:

fig. 1 shows a perspective view of the first and second flow guiding elements of the vent, with the housing omitted and the operating element with the operating knob on the operating side of the vent;

fig. 2 shows a cross section of an operating element of the vent;

fig. 3 shows a further embodiment of a vent with modified operating elements and correspondingly modified transmission mechanisms relative to fig. 1 and 2;

fig. 4 shows a cross section of a vent.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a part of the ventilation opening in perspective, with the housing parts omitted, whereby the individual elements can be better seen. In particular, the figure shows the mechanism of a vent with an upper sub-channel and a lower sub-channel.

The first flow guiding element 3 is shown in the form of a ventilation flap connected to the shaft 2 a. In this embodiment, the flow guiding element 3 comprises two sub-flow guiding elements, wherein an upper sub-flow guiding element is arranged in an upper sub-channel and a lower sub-flow guiding element is arranged in a lower sub-channel. The shaft 2a has an axis 2 about which it can be driven by a pitch circle gear 14. The pitch circle gear 14 is firmly connected to the shaft 2a for this purpose. Furthermore, the operating elements 7, 11, 12, 16, 17 are shown, the functional elements 7, 11, 12 of which can be slid in the horizontal direction indicated by the arrow 10. For this purpose, an actuating button 7 is provided on the actuating side of the vent, which button can be slid horizontally. The operating knob 7 is firmly connected to the functional element 11 carrying the rack 12. If the operating knob is slid horizontally, the shaft 2a is rotated and the first flow guiding element 3 is pivoted in a horizontal plane, so that the ventilation air flow swings in a horizontal direction. The first flow guiding element 3 is connected to further first flow guiding elements 3a, 3b by means of coupling rods, not shown further, which are each rotatable about axes parallel to each other.

The operating knob can be pivoted in the vertical direction as indicated by arrow 8, in addition to being horizontally slidable. The operating knob 7 is connected to the shaft 17 in a rotationally fixed manner, but can slide relative to the shaft in its axial direction. By pivoting the operating knob 7, the shaft 17 is turned and thus the actuating lever 16 of the functional element constituting the operating element becomes pivotable. By actuating the pivoting of the lever 16, the lever 30, which is firmly connected to the transmission shaft 18, is likewise pivoted. Furthermore, a transmission lever 19 is also firmly connected to the transmission shaft 18, which in itself drives a further transmission lever 20 firmly connected to a horizontal shaft 21. The horizontal shaft 21 is in itself firmly connected to the second flow guiding element 5, which pivots up and down during the rotational movement of the shaft 21, thus controlling the ventilation flow in the vertical direction. The shaft 21 is rotatable about a horizontal axis 4.

As can be readily seen from fig. 1, the operating knob 7 and the operating element together with all of their functional elements are located below the first flow guiding elements 3, 3a, 3b and below the second flow guiding element 5, so that they do not obstruct the ventilation air flow flowing out of the ventilation opening.

Fig. 2 shows a detailed cross section of fig. 1, in which the operating knob 7 on the operating side 6 of the ventilation opening is shown, which is connected to the functional element 11 in such a way that the functional element 11 moves slidingly with the operating knob 7, whereas the operating knob 7 can pivot relative to the functional element 11 in such a way that the functional element 11 does not move pivotally with the operating knob 7. On the side of the functional element 11 facing away from the operating knob 7, this functional element carries a toothed rack 12 which cooperates with a pitch circle gear 14. As already shown with reference to fig. 1, this pitch circle is firmly connected to the shaft 2a carrying the first flow guiding element 3.

Fig. 3 shows a case in which the vent differs from fig. 1 and 2 in that this case differs from the above case essentially in the change in the way in which the sliding movement of the operating knob 7 is transmitted to the shaft of the first flow guiding element.

The operating knob 7 is connected to the functional element 11 in the same way as described with reference to fig. 1 and 2. However, the functional element 11 has no toothed rack, but rather a follower 13 which, when slid, brings about a pivotable lever 15, wherein the lever 15 is firmly connected to the shaft 2a of the first flow guide element 3. The pivoting movement of the lever 15 causes a rotational movement of the shaft 2a about the axis 2, which in turn causes the first flow guiding element 3 to move in a horizontal direction, so that the exiting ventilation air flow swings in a horizontal direction.

Similar to the principle of action of the embodiment in fig. 1 and 2, the pivoting movement of the operating knob 7 about the axis 9 with the shaft 17 is transmitted via the lever 16 to the lever 30 and the shaft 18, which transmits this movement via the lever 19 to the shaft 21 which is not visible in fig. 3 and rotates about the axis 4. The shaft also carries in this example a second flow guiding element which functions to orient the ventilation air flow vertically. In this figure, it is also possible to see a flow isolation element, which is arranged between the upper and lower sub-flow guiding elements.

Fig. 4 shows a cross section of an embodiment of a vent with a first flow guiding element 3 pivotable about an axis 2 to guide the flow of vent air in a horizontal direction. A second flow guiding element 28 is arranged behind the first flow guiding element 3, seen from the vent operating side on the right in the figure, which flow guiding element is pivotable about a horizontal axis and, depending on its pivoting position, directs the ventilation air flow mainly or completely either into the upper sub-channel 32 or into the lower sub-channel 31. The lower sub-channel 31 has a trough-like bottom 26 which directs the ventilation air flow upwards. While the upper sub-channel 32 has a trough-like upper shroud 27 that directs the ventilation air flow downwardly. The flow isolation element 25 is formed by a continuous horizontal air guide that separates the lower sub-channel 31 from the upper sub-channel 32. The cross-section of the flow separation element has the shape of a droplet with an end tapering towards the outflow opening 29. The operating knob is indicated with 7 in the figure.

The structure shown above constitutes an optimized design of the ventilation opening, which minimizes the obstruction of the ventilation air flow by the operating element or the operating knob and/or the operating arm of the person and makes it possible to optimally transmit the operating movement to the corresponding flow guiding element.

Claims

1. A vent for a passenger vehicle, the vent comprising: a housing (1); at least one first flow guiding element pivotable about a vertical axis (2); at least one second flow guiding element (5) pivotable about a first horizontal axis (4); and an operating element which is arranged on the operating side (6) of the vent and is supported in such a way that an operating knob of the operating element is pivotable in a vertical direction (8) about a stationary second horizontal axis (9) and is slidable in a horizontal direction (10) along the second horizontal axis (9), wherein the operating knob is arranged below the at least one first flow guiding element and below the at least one second flow guiding element, characterized in that: the functional element of the actuating element, which is firmly connected to the actuating knob and can slide together with the actuating knob, interacts directly with a first transmission element, which is firmly connected to the shaft (2 a) of the first flow guiding element and converts the sliding movement of the actuating knob in the horizontal direction (10) into a pivoting movement of the at least one first flow guiding element.

2. The vent of claim 1, wherein the passenger vehicle is a vehicle.

3. The vent according to claim 1, wherein: in the housing, a horizontally extending flow separation element (25) is arranged between a second flow guiding element pivotable about a horizontal axis and the outlet opening (29), which flow separation element divides a space available for the ventilation air flow into a lower sub-channel (31) and an upper sub-channel (32), and the pivotable second flow guiding element directs a different proportion of the ventilation air flow into the lower sub-channel and the upper sub-channel, respectively, in different pivot positions.

4. A vent according to claim 3, wherein the flow isolation element is stationary.

5. A vent according to claim 1 or 3, wherein: the first transmission element is a circular gear, and the functional element of the operating element connected with the operating button and capable of sliding together with the operating button is a rack or

The first transmission element is a pivotable lever, and the functional element of the operating element, which is connected to the operating knob and can slide with the operating knob, is a follower which drives the pivotable lever when it slides in the horizontal direction (10).

6. A vent according to claim 1 or 3, wherein: the actuating element has a drive lever which can be pivoted together with the actuating knob and is firmly connected to the horizontal axis of the actuating element and drives the at least one second flow guide element (5) about the first horizontal axis (4) by means of a lever transmission during the pivoting movement of the actuating knob.

7. The vent according to claim 6, wherein: the lever transmission has a horizontal transmission shaft (18) with a first transmission lever (19) which drives a shaft (21) by means of a second transmission lever (20), to which the at least one second flow guiding element (5) is fastened.

8. A vent according to claim 1 or 3, wherein: the at least one first flow guiding element is coupled with a set of further first flow guiding elements which are pivotally supported about mutually parallel axes.

9. A vent according to claim 1 or 3, wherein: a plurality of second flow guiding elements (5) are provided which are pivotable about mutually parallel axes and are mutually coupled.

10. A vent according to claim 1 or 3, wherein: the parts of the actuating element can slide horizontally on the strand.

11. The vent of claim 10, wherein the member capable of sliding over the strand is an operating knob.

12. The vent of claim 10, wherein the strands are horizontal axes.

13. The vent according to claim 10, wherein: the slidable functional element of the actuating element has an opening into which the strand can be inserted, wherein the shape of the opening and the cross-sectional shape of the strand are designed in such a way that the actuating button or the functional element is connected to the strand in a rotationally fixed manner.

14. The vent of claim 13, wherein the slidably movable functional element is an operating knob.

15. The vent according to claim 13, wherein: the slidable functional element of the operating element can slide as a fork on the strand and can be arranged rotatably relative to the strand.