FR2772119A1 - Motor vehicle heating and/or air conditioning unit - Google Patents

Abstract

The unit consists of a housing (20) with an intake (18), two or more outlets (56), and a distributor in the form of a rotary drum shutter (60) with a cylindrical wall (62) controlling one or more of the outlets and a length of film (80), made from a supple plastic material, attached to the drum and controlling another outlet. The shutter wall and film also have apertures for opening the outlets.

Description

Space-saving heating and / or air conditioning device for motor vehicles
The invention relates to a heating and / or air conditioning device for a motor vehicle, of the type comprising an air box provided with an inlet and at least two outlets, and distribution means suitable for selectively controlling the outlets for distributing an air flow between them.

Devices of this type are already known in which the air box is provided with three outlets, namely a defrost outlet, a middle ventilation outlet and a lower ventilation outlet.

In such a device, the defrost outlet is suitable for supplying defrost / demister nozzles of the windshield, while the middle ventilation outlet is suitable for supplying ventilation nozzles located on the dashboard and the outlet lower ventilation is suitable for supplying nozzles opening towards the lower part of the passenger compartment, that is to say towards the feet of the passengers of the vehicle.

Usually, the housing includes an internal chamber, for example a mixing zone, supplied with a flow of treated air, that is to say a flow of cold, conditioned or heated air.

In this internal chamber are provided distribution means which generally comprise two flaps capable of pivoting in a coordinated manner to distribute the flow of treated air between the three aforementioned outlets, which makes it possible to choose a mode of distribution according to the desired aerothermal comfort by vehicle passengers.

The aforementioned flaps are most often butterfly type flaps which occupy a large volume in the housing for their angular movement.

 I1 results in a space requirement of the device which constitutes an obstacle to its use, in particular in small vehicles for which the space allocated to the heating and / or air conditioning device is necessarily limited.

The object of the invention is in particular to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks and to solve this problem of space.

To this end, it offers a heating and / or air conditioning device of the type defined in the introduction, in which the distribution means comprise a drum-shaped flap, mounted for rotation about an axis and having a wall of cylindrical shape suitable for control at least one of the outputs as a function of the angular position of the shutter, as well as a rollable / unwindable film, attached to a generator of the wall of the shutter and suitable for controlling at least one other outlet, as well as means for guiding the movie.

Thus, the distribution means comprise in combination a drum-type shutter, also called a shell shutter, and a rollable / unwindable film attached to the wall of the shutter.

This film can be rolled up or unwound depending on the angular displacement of the flap, occupying a small footprint. The film can in fact come to be wound at least partially against the wall of the drum as it leaves a flat housing and, conversely, unwind from the wall of the shutter to penetrate the flat housing.

This makes it possible to significantly reduce the volume occupied by the distribution means.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the wall of the shutter is provided with at least one opening suitable for facing one of the outlets for an angular position of the shutter, while the film is provided with at least one opening suitable for being placed opposite another of the outlets for another angular position of the flap.

Thus, when one or other of the abovementioned openings is opposite the corresponding outlet, this outlet is open and can let the air flow pass.

Conversely, when one or other of the openings is no longer opposite the corresponding outlet, this outlet is closed preventing the passage of the air flow.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the shutter is suitable for controlling a first outlet and at least a second outlet, while the film is suitable for controlling a third outlet.

Advantageously, the flap wall has a first opening suitable for controlling the first outlet and at least one second opening angularly spaced from the first opening and suitable for controlling the second outlet.

In a preferred application of the invention, the wall of the shutter comprises two second openings aligned in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the shutter and offset angularly relative to the first opening, while the housing comprises a first outlet and two second outputs suitable for being controlled by the cylindrical wall of the shutter and a third output suitable for being controlled by the film.

Advantageously, the first opening is made in a central region of the wall of the shutter, while the two second openings are made respectively in two end regions of the wall of the shutter, and the first outlet is aligned with the two second outlets in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the shutter and located between these second outlets.

Preferably, the first outlet is suitable for supplying at least one central ventilation opening, the second outlets are suitable for supplying at least one defrosting / defogging opening and the third outlet is suitable for supplying at least one ventilation opening lower.

Preferably, the film is deformable in a direction transverse to the axis of rotation of the flap, so as to have a variable cylindrical shape defined by generatrices parallel to the axis of rotation.

This film is advantageously formed from a flexible plastic material.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the film is attached to a longitudinal edge of the wall of the shutter.

The film guide means advantageously comprise a support wall against which the film is able to move during its winding / unwinding and two grooves extending opposite each other along two transverse edges of the support wall to receive respectively two transverse edges of the film.

In the description which follows, given solely by way of example, reference is made to the appended drawings, in which - FIG. 1 is a view in longitudinal section of a heating and / or air conditioning device according to the invention; - Figure 2 is a front view in the direction of arrow II in Figure 1 showing an outlet duct provided with an air outlet framed by two defrost outlets - Figure 3 is a sectional view along the line III-III of Figure 2 - Figure 4 is a side view of the drum shutter of the device of Figure 1 - Figure 5 is a front view of the film attached to the shutter of Figure 4 - Figure 6 is a view in section along line VI-VI of Figure 1; and - Figure 7 is a partial view similar to that of Figure 1 for another position of the distribution means.

The device of Figure 1 comprises a blower 10 housing a turbine 12 and having an outlet duct 14 in which is placed transversely an evaporator 16 connected to a conventional air conditioning circuit. The duct 14 is connected to an air inlet 18 forming part of a housing 20.

This input is supplied by a forced air flow F, possibly air-conditioned. The housing 20 has internally a branch of cold air 22 and an air heating branch 24 which lead to an internal chamber 26, also called mixing zone.

The air heating branch 24 has a generally U-shaped configuration and internally houses a heating radiator 28, usually a heat exchanger through which the liquid is used for cooling the vehicle engine. A mixing flap 30 of the butterfly type mounted pivoting about an axis 32 makes it possible to distribute the flow F between the cold air branch 22 and the air heating branch 24 to produce, in the internal chamber 26, a flow mixed air at set temperature.

The internal chamber 26 is partially delimited by a wall 34 of generally semi-cylindrical shape centered on an axis XX.

The chamber 26 opens radially onto a conduit 36 provided with an open face 38 of generally rectangular shape (FIG. 2) delimited by two long sides 40 and two short sides 42.

In addition, the long sides 40 are connected by strips or partitions 44, parallel to the short sides 42, to divide the outlet face 38.

The latter thus comprises a first outlet 46 (here a middle ventilation outlet) and two second outlets 48 (here defrost outlets).

The first outlet 46 is aligned with the two second outlets 48 in a direction parallel to the axis XX (that is to say parallel to the long sides 40), and this first outlet 46 is located between the two second outlets 48.

This first outlet 46 is suitable for supplying at least one central ventilation opening 50 (shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2) located on the dashboard (not shown) of the vehicle. Each of the second outputs 48 is suitable for supplying at least one defrosting / defogging mouth 52 (shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2) located at the base of the windshield (not shown) of the vehicle.

The internal chamber 26 communicates, in a substantially tangential manner, with a duct 54 directed downwards and constituting a third outlet 56, here constituted by a lower ventilation outlet, also called "feet" outlet.

This outlet is suitable for supplying at least one nozzle 58 directed towards the lower part of the passenger compartment, in the region of the feet of the passengers.

The device further comprises distribution means, which will now be described, for distributing the flow of treated air accessing the internal chamber 26 between the above-mentioned outlets 46, 48 and 56.

The distribution means comprise a flap 60 in the form of a drum or shell (FIGS. 1, 3 and 4) rotatably mounted around the axis XX inside the chamber 26. The flap 60 comprises a wall 62 of the shape circular cylindrical extending over an angular opening of approximately 1200. This wall 62 extends between two flanges 64 in the form of an angular sector (FIG. 3).

The wall 62 of the flap is between two longitudinal edges 66 and 68 (Figures 1 and 3) which extend parallel to each other and to the axis XX.

The wall 62 of the flap has a first opening 70 of generally rectangular shape suitable for controlling the first outlet 46 and located near the longitudinal edge 66 of the wall 62. The latter further comprises two second openings 72 angularly spaced from the first opening and clean to check the second outputs 48 respectively.

The second outlets 72 are located near the longitudinal edge 68 of the wall 62 and they are aligned in a direction parallel to the axis XX, while being angularly offset with respect to the first opening 70.

The opening 70 is made in a central region of the wall 62, while the openings are made in the end regions of the wall 62, respectively near the flanges 64.

In the position of FIG. 1 (defrosting position), the longitudinal edge 66 of the wall 42 bears against a stop 74 formed at the junction of the air reheating branch 24 and of the duct 54, while the longitudinal edge 68 of the wall 62 is located at an edge 76 of the conduit 36 (Figure 1). The stop 74 is formed at the end of a separating wall 78 located between the branch 24 and the outlet 56.

In the position of FIG. 1, the openings 72 of the flap 60 are respectively opposite the outlets 48 of the conduit 36.

In the position of Figure 7 (ventilation position), the opening 70 of the flap 60 is opposite the outlet 46 of the housing, so that this outlet is open.

The distribution means also comprise a film 80, also called a blind, of generally rectangular shape as shown in FIG. 5.

The film 80 is delimited by two longitudinal edges 82 and 84 parallel to each other. The edge 82 is intended to be attached to the wall 62 of the shutter at or near its longitudinal edge 66 (Figures 1 and 4). The film 80 is further delimited by two transverse edges 86.

An opening 88 of generally rectangular shape is formed in the film 80. It extends between a first longitudinal side 90 located near the longitudinal side 82 of the film and a second longitudinal side 92 (FIG. 5).

The film 80 is a deformable film capable of being rolled up or unwound depending on the angular position of the flap 60 to control the outlet 56. The film is deformable in a direction transverse to the axis of rotation of the flap, it that is to say parallel to its transverse edges 86. In other words, this film must be able to deform to have a variable cylindrical shape defined by generatrices parallel to the axis of rotation XX, that is to say parallel to the edges longitudinal 82 and 84.

This film can be formed, for example, from a flexible plastic material capable of allowing it to be wound / unwound.

The film 80 is guided by a support wall formed here by the separating wall 78 (Figures 1 and 6). The film can thus bear against this wall, on the side of the duct 54. The guide means further comprise two grooves 94 (FIG. 6) extending opposite each other along two transverse edges of the support wall 78 to receive respectively the two transverse edges 86 of the film. These grooves 94 are delimited here by two ribs 96 which extend near the wall 78 and which project inside the duct 54 from two side walls 98 of the housing.

Thus the wall 78 and the ribs 96 contribute to creating a flat housing for receiving and guiding the film 80.

In the defrosting position shown in FIG. 1, the treated air arriving at the chamber 26 is evacuated by the defrost outlets 48 as indicated above. In this same position, the lower ventilation outlet 56 is closed by the wall 62 of the shutter and also by the film 80 which is largely wound against the outside of the wall 62.

When the flap 60 is pivoted from angle A counterclockwise (FIG. 1), the ventilation position shown in FIG. 7 is reached in which the ventilation outlet 46 is open, due to the fact that that this outlet faces the opening 70 of the shutter. In this position, the access to the lower ventilation outlet 56 is closed by the film 80, and more particularly by a part 100 (FIG. 5) of the film which is devoid of the opening 88. The defrosting position and the position ventilation are designated respectively by the symbols P1 and P4 in Figure 1. These symbols correspond to the position of the longitudinal edge 66 of the wall 62 of the flap.

The distribution means are suitable for further occupying at least two intermediate positions, namely a so-called defrost-foot position (position P2 in FIG. 1) in which the defrost outlets 48 are open and the outlet 56 is open thanks to the opening 88 of film 80.

These means can also take another intermediate position, namely a "feet" position (position P3 in FIG. 1), in which the ventilation outlet 46 and the defrost outlets 48 are closed, while the outlet 56 is open thanks to the opening 88 of the film 80.

Thus, the flap 60 and the film 80 occupy a small volume inside the housing 20, which makes it possible to reduce the overall bulk of the device.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described above by way of example and extends to other variants.

Thus, it could be applied to other types of boxes having at least two outputs.

Claims (11)

Claims 1. Motor vehicle heating and / or air conditioning device, of the type comprising an air box (20) provided with an inlet (18) and at least two outlets (46, 48, 56), and distribution means (60, 80) capable of selectively controlling the outlets to distribute an air flow between them, characterized in that the distribution means comprise a drum-shaped flap (60), mounted for rotation around a axis (XX) and having a wall (62) of cylindrical shape suitable for controlling at least one (46, 48) of the outputs as a function of the angular position of the flap, as well as a film (80), rollable / unrollable, attached to a generator of the wall (62) of the shutter and suitable for controlling at least one other outlet (56), as well as means for guiding (78, 94) of the film. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the wall (62) of the flap (60) is provided with at least one opening (70, 72) suitable for facing one of the outlets (46, 48 ) for an angular position of the shutter, and in that the film (80) is provided with at least one opening (88) suitable for facing another (56) of the outlets for another angular position of the shutter . 3. Device according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the flap (60) is adapted to control a first outlet (46) and at least a second outlet (48), while the film (80) is suitable for controlling a third outlet (56). 4. Device according to claims 2 and 3 taken in combination, characterized in that the wall (62) of the flap (60) has a first opening (70) suitable for controlling the first outlet (46) and at least a second opening ( 72), angularly spaced from the first opening, and suitable for controlling the second outlet (48). 5. Device according to one of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the wall (62j of the shutter comprises two second openings (72) aligned in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation (XX) of the shutter and offset angularly by relative to the first opening 70), and in that the housing (20) comprises a first outlet (46) and two second outlets (48) suitable for being controlled by the cylindrical wall (62) of the shutter and a third outlet (56 ) suitable for being checked by the film (80). 6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the first opening (70) is made in a central region of the wall (62) of the flap, while the two second openings (72) are made respectively in two regions of end of the flap wall, and in that the first outlet (46) is aligned with the two second outlets (48) in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation (XX) of the shutter and located between these second outlets (48 ). 7. Device according to one of claims 5 and 6, characterized in that the first outlet (46) is suitable for supplying at least one central ventilation opening (50), the second outlets (48) are suitable for supplying the at least one defrosting / defogging mouth (52) and the third outlet (56) is suitable for supplying at least one lower ventilation mouth (58). 8. Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the film (80) is deformable in a direction transverse to the axis of rotation (XX) of the flap, so as to have a variable cylindrical shape defined by generators parallel to the axis of rotation. 9. Device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the film (80) is formed from a flexible plastic material. 10. Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the film (80) is attached to a longitudinal edge (66) of the wall (62) of the flap. 11. Device according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the film guide means comprise a bearing wall (78) against which the film (80) is able to move during its winding / unwinding and two grooves (94) extending opposite each other along two transverse edges of the support wall to receive respectively two transverse edges (86) of the film (80).