FR2737986A1 - DEVICE FOR ACTUATING VENTILATION, HEATING OR AIR CONDITIONING FLAPS OF A MOTOR VEHICLE - Google Patents

Abstract

Device comprising a control member actuated by an adjusting element, as well as an output member (12) fixed to the pivot axis of the valve and an actuating member (10) which cooperates with the control member ( 11). The control member (11) and the actuating member (10) are shaped as toothed wheels which mesh permanently and which comprise a lug (19) projecting axially on their plane and the output member (12) comprises at least one cavity (20, 20 ') with which the lugs (19) of the toothed wheels (10, 11) can engage in a limited angular range of the entire angle of rotation of these wheels. Application to the control of an air conditioning installation of a motor vehicle using a rotary button with a lever.

Description

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  The invention relates to a device for actuating valves rotatably mounted around a pivot axis and intended for the control of air flow in a ventilation, heating or air-conditioning system of a motor vehicle, comprising a control member actuated by a control element, an output member fixed on a pivot axis of a valve and an actuating member which cooperates with the control member. WO 90/11904 discloses a device for actuating air distribution elements of a heating and air-conditioning system. A slide disc in which pins of several levers penetrate is rotatably mounted on the cage of the heating and air conditioning device, so that the rotation of the disc rotates the levers in predetermined cycles about an axis of rotation. The other end of each lever is in operative relation with an output member disposed on the pivot axis of each valve to be actuated. An adjusting element in the operating apparatus rotates the

  disc to put it in the desired position.

  This known arrangement makes it possible to position simultaneously, by means of a single adjusting element placed in the operating apparatus, several air distribution valves on different outlet orifices situated in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, but it is necessary for this end of many individual pieces of different conformations that consequently require work

important assembly.

  DE 81 26 754 U1 discloses an intermittently locking gear train gear train. This transmission train comprises a control member comprising a gear wheel segment and an output member comprising a corresponding segment of gear wheel. The control member has on the end face and on a part of its circumference at least one

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  annular rib arranged coaxially and oriented in the axial direction. The output member has on the end surface also an annular locking groove which is not arranged coaxially, which is oriented in the axial direction and which corresponds to the rib

locking.

  A rotational actuating member rotates the control member in the desired direction until the corresponding toothed segments engage. Continued rotation results in a corresponding rotational movement of the output member to move an output arm. The output arm is connected to the element to be actuated by another force transmission member, for example a Bowden cable. The gear segment is calculated so that, when the output arm reaches the end position, the toothed segments of the control member and the output member cease to be engaged and then the locking rib is guided in the corresponding groove. Thus, the set position o20 of the output member remains retained even when continuing the rotation of the control member. In this known arrangement, two output members may be associated with a common control member, but it is not possible to simultaneously move two output members. Furthermore, very close manufacturing tolerances are required concerning the distance separating the two axes of rotation of the control member and the output member, since otherwise jamming of the rib in the locking groove causes a

  hardness or even blockage of the mechanism.

  The subject of the invention is a device for actuating valves intended to control the flow of air in a ventilation, heating or air-conditioning installation of a motor vehicle, whose structure is simple and whose mode of operation

be reliable.

  According to an essential feature of the invention, the control member and the actuating member are in the form of permanently meshing gears, each of which is equipped with at least one lug protruding axially on its plane and the outlet comprises at least one cavity in which the lugs of the gears can be engaged over a limited angular range of the entire angle of rotation of the gears so that the lugs of the gears associated with the output member are not simultaneously

  in functional relation with the output member.

  The essential advantages of the device according to the invention reside in the fact that an extremely small number of individual pieces of very simple structure are required to reliably actuate the valve according to a prescribed rotation angle diagram and more than the choice of the toothed wheel that serves as a wheel

  command is perfectly indifferent.

  According to another advantageous feature of the subject of the invention, the toothed wheels comprise a ring gear on their outer circumferential edge and they are in a common plane. Thus, a kinematics with levers of very flat conformation is produced which is only slightly protruding on the contour of the cage of the ventilation, heating or air-conditioning installation. The lug of each toothed wheel is advantageously a stud disposed on a circumferential edge, next to the ring gear. With this arrangement, the tenon is at the maximum possible distance from the axis of rotation of the toothed wheel and consequently a large torque of rotation acts on the output member when

of the engagement of the tenon.

  The output member advantageously has substantially the shape of a disk which comprises two housing cavities tenons. The gear wheels being mutually engaged, their directions of rotation are reversed, so that a tenon enters one of the cavities to rotate the organ

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  in one direction, while the tenon of the other gear enters the other cavity as a result of the

  rotation to rotate the disc in opposite directions.

  According to a particularly simple embodiment, the cavities have the form of radial slots which are open on the edge of the disc. The angle of rotation of a valve being 90 between its extreme positions, that is to say of total opening and closing, it is advantageous that the slots are arranged so as to register an angle

of 90 in the disc.

  It is advantageous for the disk to have guide surfaces which cooperate with sliding projections of the gears so that the valve remains reliably in its position when none of the pins penetrate one of the slots of the disk. These sliding bosses are advantageously projecting protuberances on the plane of the toothed wheels and having an arcuate contour around the axis of rotation of the latter. This contour may be, for example, that of an arcuate rib shaped accordingly or that of a plate-shaped boss located on the end face of the toothed wheel and

  whose radius ends at a distance from the ring gear.

  The guide surfaces are shaped concave recesses located on the circumferential edge of the disc, one of the guide surfaces being located between the slots. The radius of the contour of the guide surfaces corresponds to the radial distance separating the sliding boss and the axis of rotation of the toothed wheel. It is also very advantageous for the arc angle of the concave recess to be> 85, preferably 88, and its radius to be approximately 0.8 times the radius of the disc. This conformation is particularly advantageous when the gears and the disk are at least approximately the same diameter. The length of the disc slots is more than about 0.7 times the radius of the disc. According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the toothed wheels associated with the output member form a pair of wheels having a specular shape with respect to sliding bosses and tenons. Each toothed wheel is equipped with a pin acting as a pin and the orientation of these wheels is such that their tenons occupy staggered positions of 180 relative to each other.

in the direction of rotation.

  The device of the invention makes it possible to control several valves using standardized components, namely the specular conformation gears and the disc. This kinematics of the valves makes it possible to provide for a toothed wheel to form a common actuating member for two neighboring valve outlet members. Thus, the number of gears required is greater than one of the number of output members or valves actuated. Only one of the multiple gears is controlled and the choice of the one used in the control wheel is

  totally indifferent to the operation.

  The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a partial front view of an operating device comprising a device for adjusting the air inlet on various ports of 2 is a graph of the movements of three valves as a function of a rotation angle of 360 of the adjustment element, FIG. 3 illustrates the individual parts of the kinematics of a valve, FIGS. 4a to 4h. represent the unfolding

  the movement of the control valve of the window defrost

  breaks in accordance with the graph that Figure 2, Figure 5 illustrates a kinematic of two valves, Figure 6 shows a kinematic of three

  valves in accordance with the graph of Figure 2.

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  FIG. 1 is a partial front view of an apparatus 1 for operating a heating installation or an air-conditioning installation of a motor vehicle, this view illustrating the part of the front plate 2 of this apparatus in which there is an element 3 for adjusting the air distribution. The adjustment element 3 consists of a rotary knob 4 comprising a handle 5 disposed along one of its lines of symmetry. Four symbols 6, 7, 8, 9 are placed on the plate 2 being regularly distributed on a circle around the button 4 and have the following meaning: Symbol 6 = Windshield defrosting Symbol 7 = Air outlet of the nozzles arranged at half height Symbol 8 = Air outlet of the nozzles located at the level of the feet Symbol 9 = Defrosting of the windscreen and air outlet of the nozzles located at the level of the feet. Knob 4 is rotatable over the entire circumference, i.e., 360 for the air distribution adjustment, and it can be set to one of four main positions at equal angular distances depending on the symbols 6, 7, 8 and 9 and

  possibly at any intermediate positions.

  FIG. 2 represents a graph of the movements of three valves of the heating installation, these valves controlling the tracks followed by the air for defrosting the windshield, the nozzles placed at the level of the feet and the nozzles arranged at half-way. height. The positions of the rotary knob 4 shown in FIG. 1 and to which a mark on the handle 5 is oriented on the symbol 6, namely the defrosting of the windshield, is the position at 0 in the graph of FIG. ie the position at which the defrost valve (DEF) is fully open, while the valves of the nozzles

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  located at mid-height (BEL) and those located at

  level of the feet (FR) are completely closed.

  When the button 4 is moved with the handle 5 in the clockwise direction to the symbol 9, that is to say for the defrosting of the windshield and the feeding of the nozzles located at the level of the feet, the valve of the The windshield defroster (DEF) is open and the mid-height nozzle (BEL) is closed, but the nozzle at the feet (FR) opens to the extreme position "open" when the symbol 9 is reached at the end of a rotation of an angle of. During the movement of the button 4 clockwise, it is necessary that the air flow is concentrated on the nozzles located at the level of the feet, which has the consequence that the valve (DEF) defrosting the windshield is gradually closed so that it reaches the position

  extreme "closed" at the end of a rotation of an angle of 180.

  The valve (FR) of the nozzles located at the level of the feet remains completely open in the angular range between the symbols 8 and 9, but against the valve (BEL) of the nozzles located at half height remains completely closed

  in this range of the angle of rotation.

  When the button 4 is further moved clockwise to the symbol 7, the mid-height nozzle (BEL) opens, while the foot valve (RF) opens. closed. The windshield defrost valve (DEF) remains at the "closed" total closing position in the range shown in Figure 1 and which lies between

"FR" and "BEL" positions.

  When continuing the rotation of knob 4 on the remaining 90 to reach the initial position "DEF" of symbol 6, the valve of the nozzles located at the

  feet (FR) remains in the fully closed position.

  In this angular range of 90 between the symbols 7 and 6, the valve of the nozzles located at mid-height (BEL) are gradually closed, while the valve of the

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  Windshield defrost (DEF) is simultaneously opened gradually. At the end of the rotation of an angle of 360, that is to say when the initial position is reached, only the windshield defrost valve (DEF) is again in the open position, while the two other valves (FR, BEL) are in the "closed" end position. As already mentioned with regard to FIG. 1, the adjustments can be made not only at the main positions placed at angular distances of 90, but also at any intermediate position depending on the personal impression of the driver's comfort or

  accompanying persons in the vehicle.

  Figure 3 shows the individual pieces

  which form the kinematics of a valve to be regulated.

  It is a first toothed wheel 10, a second toothed wheel 11 and an output member 12 to be connected to the shaft of a valve and which has the shape of a disk 13. The gears 10 and 11 are equipped on the circumferential edge with identical toothed rings 14 which are engaged in the mounting state. The gears 10, 11 have on their surface a protruding boss 15 which is annular around a central mounting hole 16 and which has a radially oriented plate-shaped extension 17. This plate 17 has at the radially outer end an arcuate contour located around the axis of rotation of the toothed wheel 10, 11 and forming a sliding surface 18 and therefore the protuberance 14 forms a sliding boss having a radius RG from the axis of rotation of the gear wheel

corresponding.

  A pin 19 provided on the edge of the circumference of the toothed wheels 10, 11 and arranged next to the ring gear serves as a pin for actuating the output member 12

  and moves it like a step-by-step mechanism.

  For this purpose, the disc 13 forming the output member 12 is substantially circular and comprises two slots 20, 20 'oriented radially. These slots 20, 20 'register a

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  angle 90 and are open on the edge of the disc 13. The length L of the slots 20, 20 'corresponds to about 0.7 times the radius RS of the disc 13. Other forms than that, rectilinear, slots 20, 20 The exemplary embodiments are also possible and may have a regular or irregular curvature. The shape of the slots

  allows to act on the drive speed of the disc 13.

  A hole 21 is provided in the center of the disk 13 for housing a valve shaft end, the shape of the hole 21 being adapted to that of the square shafts which are frequently used for the valves of heating or air conditioning systems. Of course, other forms of assembly to the shafts of the valves may be provided, for example for a latching assembly. The disc 13 also has two concave recesses 22, 22 'whose radius of curvature is adapted to the radius RG of the sliding surfaces 18. The recess 22 is located between the two slots 20 and the other recess 22' is

  offset by 90 from the first.

  The concave shape extends at an angle of about 88 to the center of the radius of the recesses 22, 22 'the radius thereof corresponding approximately 0.8 times the radius RS of the disc. The gears 10, 11 have the same characteristics and shapes, but the pin 19 is disposed at another point of the circumferential edge with respect to the orientation of the wafer 17. While the pin 19 of the first toothed wheel 10 is downstream of 70 relative to the plane of symmetry of the wafer 17 in the clockwise direction, the pin 19 of the second toothed wheel 11 is upstream of 70 relative to the same direction cd rotation. This therefore results in an exactly specular arrangement of bosses 15 and tenons 19 of the two toothed wheels 10 and 11. The basic elements represented by FIG. 3, namely the toothed wheels 10, 11 and the disc 13 have the same diameter D or the same radius RS (D = 2 RS)

  in the exemplary embodiment shown.

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  Figures 4a to 4h show the unfolding

  the movement of the defrost control valve

  breeze DEF according to the graph of Figure 2. The two gears 10 and 11 are located in a plane and their toothed crowns 14 meshing with each other. This results in rotational movements in opposite directions of the two gears 10 and 11. When mounting the two gears, their angular positions are oriented so that the two pins 19 are always in opposite movements, that is to say that while the tenon 19 of the first gear 10 performs an upward movement, the post 19 of the second gear 11 executes

  a downward movement and vice versa.

  The output member 12 is arranged so that the axis of rotation of the disk 13 is on a tangent

  common to both gears 10 and 11, namely halfway between

  distance between the axes of rotation of the gears 10 and 11. Thus, the axes of rotation of the gears 10, 11 and the disc 13 form an equilateral triangle. A valve 23 is connected to the disk 13 so that it always executes the same movement as the latter. The maximum angle of rotation of the valve 23, which is in an air inlet channel 24, is 90 between the two extreme positions, ie "closed (fully closed) and" open "(totally closed).

  open) that represents Figure 2.

  The position of the defrost valve 23 of the cover

  FIG. 4a corresponds to the positioning of the adjusting element 3 of FIG. 1, that is to say the position at 0 in the flow diagram of FIG. 2. Independently of that of the toothed wheels 10 and 11, which is used as a control member, the two gears turn when the button 4 is actuated so that the pin 19 disposed on the toothed wheel 11 leaves the slot 20 'of the disk 13 and the sliding surface 18 of the the toothed wheel 10 enters the arc of the concave recess 22 so that this arc constitutes a surface for guiding the sliding surface 18 of the boss 15. The position of the toothed wheels, 11 and the disc 13 at the end of a rotation of the gears at an angle of 45 in the direction of the arrows 25 is

represented in FIG. 4b.

  Further rotation of the gears 10, 11 at an angle of 90 in the graph of Fig. 2 leads to the position shown in Fig. 4c. In this case, the tenon 19 of the toothed wheel 10 reaches the outer end of the slot 20 of the disc 13. As the rotation continues, the post 21 moves further in the slot 20 and results from the curved track of displacement of the tenon 19 that the disk 13 is also caused to perform a rotational movement in the direction of the arrow 26 of Figure 4d. This rotation of the disk 13 similarly involves a rotational movement of the valve 23, so that the passage section of the channel 24

  air intake is greatly reduced.

  Continuing the rotation of the adjusting element 45 makes it possible to reach the position of FIG. 4e, to which the disk 23 and the valve 24 have been turned in a total of 90 and therefore to which the valve 23 is at the full shutter position of the air inlet channel 24. At this position, the pin 19 of the first gear 10 leaves the slot 20 and the sliding surface 18 of the boss 15 of the second gear 11 enters the concave contour of the recess 22 '. At the end of another rotation of 45, the toothed wheels 10 and 11 reach the position shown in FIG. 4f and at which the

  valve 23 completely closes the air inlet channel 24.

  FIG. 4g shows the position of the gears 10, 11 as well as the disc 13 at the end of a rotation of an angle of 270. At this position, the tenon 19 of the toothed wheel 11 enters the slot 20 'of the disk 13 and the further rotation of the toothed wheels 10, 11 in the same direction then rotates the disk 13 in the opposite direction along the arrow 29 of Figure 4h. The valve 23 fixed to the disk 13 is thus moved in the direction of

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  the opening of the air inlet channel 24, the position represented by FIG. 4h corresponding to an angle of

  rotation of 315 of the graph represented in FIG.

  Two or more valves, whose movements are different or staggered in time, can be operated according to the principle shown in Figures 4a to 4h. Figure 5 shows an example of control of two valves. In this example, it is the windshield defrost valve 23 (DEF) and the valve 27 for controlling the air outlet of the nozzles (FR) located at the level of the feet. The valves 23 and 27 are in parallel air inlet channels 24 and 28, the valve 23 occupying the closed position and the valve 27, the open position. The valves 23 and 27 are secured with output members 12, 12 * in the form of discs 13, 13 *. Three gear wheels 10, 11, 30 are provided for actuating the two discs 13, 13 *. two toothed wheels cooperating in each case with one of the disks 13, 13 *, namely the gears 10 and 11 with the disk 13 and the gears 11 and 30, with the disk 13 *. Thus, the second gearwheel 11 in the middle serves as a common actuating member of the two output members 12. As shown in Figure 5 by arrows' in broken lines, a reversal of the direction of rotation of the gears 10 , 11, 30 is possible without difficulty, so that there also occurs an opposite movement of the disks 13, 13 * and valves 23, 27 connected thereto. The toothed wheel 30 and the first toothed wheel 10 are identical and they also occupy the same angular orientation with respect to the orientation of the tooth.

  plate 17 and the position of the post 19.

  Figure 6 shows an arrangement extended to another valve 31 and it is in this case the ventilation valve which directs the flow of air in a channel 32 leading to the nozzles located at mid-height. It is necessary, for the actuation of this valve, a fourth gear 33 whose embodiment and the angular position of the plate 17 and the post 19 correspond exactly to those of the second toothed wheel 11. The disc 13 cooperates - as already described - with the gears 10 and 11, while the disc 13 * is controlled by the tenons 19 of the gears 11 and 30. The disc 13 * of the valve 31 is in operative relationship alternating and interrupted with the pins 19 of the gearwheels 30 and 33. The movements of the valve 31 located in the air intake channel 32 correspond to those of the graph of FIG. 2. The position of the valves represented in FIG.

  at the 180 angular position of the graph.

  As is clear from the representations of FIGS. 5 and 6, two or more valves can be actuated by means of the basic elements shown in FIG. 3, so that the multiplicity of parts is reduced to a minimum. The gears 10, 11, 30, 33 and

  the discs 13 are preferably made of plastic and are made by an injection molding process.

Claims (10)

  1. Device for actuating valves (23, 27, 31) rotatably mounted about a pivot axis and intended for the control of air flow in a ventilation, heating or air-conditioning system of a motor vehicle , comprising a control member actuated by an adjusting element (3), an output member (12) fixed to the pivot axis of the valve and an actuating member which cooperates with the control member, characterized in that the control member and the actuating member are in the form of continuously toothed gears (10, 11), each of which comprises a pin (19) projecting axially on its plane and the output member ( 12) comprises at least one cavity (20, 20 ') in which the lug (19) of the gears (10, 11) can be engaged within a limited angular range of the entire angle of rotation of the wheels teeth (10, 11) so that the lugs (19) of the toothed wheels (10, 11) associated with the orga no output (12) are not simultaneously in functional relation with the latter.   2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the toothed wheels (10, 11, 30, 33) are equipped with a ring gear (14) located on their outer circumferential edge and they are in a common plane. 3. Device according to one or the other   preceding claims, characterized in that a tenon   (19) arranged next to the ring gear (14) is provided in a lug placed on the circumferential edge of the wheel toothed (10, 11, 30, 33).   4. Device according to one or the other   Claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the   outlet (12) has substantially the shape of a disc (13. 13 *.   13 **) which comprises two housing cavities of the post (19).   5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the cavities are shaped in radial slots (20, ') and open on the edge of the disc (13, 13 *, 152 2737986   13 **), the slots (20, 20) preferably registering an angle of 90 between them and the length (L) of the slots (20, ') corresponds in particular to approximately 0.7 times the radius (RS) of the disc (13, 13 *).   6. Device according to one or the other   Claims 4 and 5, characterized in that the disk (13,   13 * 13 **) has guide surfaces which cooperate with sliding bosses of the toothed wheels (10, 11). the sliding projections being advantageously shaped as protuberances (15) projecting from the plane of the gears and comprising a sliding surface (18) which is arranged in an arc around the axis of rotation of these gears (10, 11, 30 33) and the guide surfaces being in particular shaped as concave recesses (22, 22 ') on the circumferential edge of the disc (13, 13 *), one of the guide surfaces being arranged between the slots (20, 20 ').   7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the angle (D) of the arc of the concave recess (22, 22 ') is> 85 preferably 88 and the radius of the recess corresponds to approximately 0, 8 times the radius (Rs) of the disc (13, 13 * '13' *).   8. Device according to any one of   Claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the wheels   teeth (10, 11, 30, 33) and the disc (13. 13 *, 13 **) have   at least approximately the same diameter (D).   9. Device according to any one of   Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the wheels   teeth (10, 11, 30, 33) associated with one of the output members (12, 12 * 12 **) form a pair (10, 11 1111, 30;, 33) which consists of specular shaped gears . 10. Device according to any one of   preceding claims, characterized in that a wheel   gear (11, 30) is provided as a common actuating member for two outlet members (12, 12 *, 12 **) of valves neighbors (23, 26 and 26, 31).