FR2777226A1 - HEATING OR AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM INCLUDING AN AIR MIXING CHAMBER WITH SEVERAL INPUTS AND OUTLETS FOR A VEHICLE INTERIOR - Google Patents

Abstract

A mixing chamber has hot and cold air inlet openings and top and bottom outlet openings for mixed air. In order to create a temperature gradient between the outlets, the inlet d cold air (17) extends over the upper outlet and the lower outlet. The shutter (19) of this inlet is made in two parts: an upper part (191) which can completely cover the upper zone and a lower part (192) which can completely cover the lower zone of the cold air inlet (17). ). The two parts are controlled so that the lower part (192) covers a larger passage section of the entrance (17) than the upper part (191) in any position of the shutter. Applicable to passenger cars.

Description

The invention relates to a heating or air conditioning installation.

  for ventilating the passenger compartment of a vehicle, comprising an air conditioner box containing a heat exchanger, which can be traversed by air, and in which is formed at least one air mixing chamber which has an inlet opening d air for hot air passing through the heat exchanger (opening of the hot air), an air inlet opening for the cold air bypassing the heat exchanger (opening of the cold air), as well as outlet openings for mixed air, at least one outlet opening for aerating the foot space and / or the rear of the passenger compartment is arranged at the bottom and at least one opening for outlet for ventilating the median plane and / or the head area of the passenger compartment is arranged at the top in the air mixing chamber, and comprising shutters controlling the passage sections of the inlet openings. In a known heating or air conditioning system of this type (US patent 5,016,704), applicable in particular in passenger cars, the shutter for controlling the opening of the cold air inlet is made as a shutter d air which, in one of its pivot end positions, completely covers this opening and, in its other pivot end position, completely covers the air inlet face of the exchanger heat by simultaneously clearing the cold air inlet opening. By a suitable pivoting position of the air flap, the flows of hot air and cold air entering the mixing chamber can be adjusted so that the air mixed in the distribution chamber has the desired temperature. This air is distributed by the various mixed air outlet openings on the foot space, the median plane and the head area of the passenger compartment, the air flows for the different areas can be metered by means of flaps adjustment

  coordinated with the mixed air outlet openings.

  In this case, all areas of the passenger compartment receive uniformly tempered air. For the well-being of the occupant, it is advantageous to keep the temperature of the temperate air entering the median plane and in the head area at a value lower than the temperature of the air entering the space. feet. In order to achieve this, it has already been proposed, in the case of a heating or air conditioning installation (according to the prior German patent application 198 04 287. 6, not subject to the Public Inspection), to provide for a additional cold air duct, which opens into an air duct leaving the mixed air outlet opening for the median plane and which can be controlled by means of an air shutter. By opening or closing this shutter appropriately, you can add more or less cold air to the mixed air leaving the mixing chamber and thus lower more or less strongly the temperature of the air entering halfway up. or in the median plane, in relation to the temperature of the air entering the space of

occupants' feet.

  The invention aims, in a heating or air conditioning installation of the type indicated at the beginning, to reduce the temperature of the air entering halfway up and / or in the head area of the passenger compartment relative to the air entering the foot space by technical means requiring low expense, and lowering

  thus the manufacturing costs of the installation.

  According to the invention, starting from a heating or air conditioning installation of the generic type specified at the start, this is obtained by the fact that the cold air inlet opening extends both over the region of the upper outlet opening and on the region of the lower outlet opening of the mixed air, that the shutter for the cold air inlet opening is made in two parts, so that a part upper shutter can completely cover the upper area and a lower shutter part can completely cover the lower area of the cold air inlet opening, and the two shutter parts are controlled so that the lower shutter part covers, in any position of the shutter, a larger cross section of the cold air inlet opening than the upper shutter part. The heating or air conditioning installation according to the invention has the advantage that by dividing the shutter of the cold air inlet opening of the mixing chamber and by controlling the parts of this shutter, so that the lower obturator always covers a larger cross section of the cold air inlet opening than the upper obturator, there is always less cold air entering the lower part of the mixing chamber, in which is arranged the outlet opening for the foot space, than in the upper part of the mixing chamber, in which is arranged the outlet opening for the median plane and / or the head area. In the mixing chamber, a temperature stratification is thus established, with a temperature gradient ranging from the warmest for the air outlet opening coordinated with the space of the feet to the coldest for the opening. outlet coordinated to the median plane and / or the head zone, so that the median plane and / or the head zone is always supplied, directly from the mixing chamber, with temperate air of lower temperature than the foot space. Additional devices, such as a cold air duct with a control flap, can thus be omitted and the removal of these components reduces manufacturing costs. According to advantageous embodiments of the invention, the two obturating parts can each be moved by a separate adjusting element or be mutually synchronized or mechanically coupled in a fixed manner. In the first case, the temperature stratification in the mixing chamber is individually adjustable; in the second case, the air stratification is prefixed by the

system design.

  Advantageous embodiments of the heating or air conditioning installation according to the invention, as well as timely developments of

  the invention emerge from what follows.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a partition dividing the cold air inlet opening is disposed between the two shutter parts. This partition extends into the mixing chamber up to its rear wall, located opposite the cold air inlet opening, and separates the upper and lower mixed air outlet openings one of the other. It is preferable that the partition separates the air mixing chamber only in the area of the two obturating parts and that it does not divide it completely. This arrangement in the construction makes it possible to obtain, by technical means requiring only a small expense, a very good stratification of the air in the mixing chamber between the lower outlet opening for the foot space and the opening. upper output for the midplane

and / or the head area.

  Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly from the

  description which follows of an exemplary embodiment

  not limiting, as well as the accompanying drawing, in which: - Figure 1 is a horizontal section of the air conditioner box of a heating or air conditioning installation according to the invention; and - Figure 2 is a section along the line

II-II of Figure 1.

  The air conditioner box 10 of a heating or air conditioning installation represented schematically by a top view, in section, in FIG. 1, is connected in a known manner, by its input, to a fan which is not shown here. The box contains a heat exchanger 11 which can be traversed by air and is preceded, in the execution as an air conditioning system, by an evaporator 2 in the direction of the air flow. The exchanger 11 is traversed in a known manner by a coolant, usually constituted by the cooling water of the internal combustion engine of a vehicle. Downstream of the exchanger 11, in the direction of the air flow, are formed, inside the air conditioner box 10, two air mixing chambers 13, 14 arranged one beside on the other and separated by a partition 15, which serve to supply air to the right side and the left side respectively of the passenger compartment of the vehicle. The mixing chambers 13 and 14 are of identical construction and equipped with the same elements for controlling the air, so that reference will only be made, in what will

  follow, to mixing chamber 13, but its description

  also applies to air mixing chamber 14.

  The mixing chamber 13 has a hot air inlet opening 16 disposed behind the heat exchanger 11 and located directly on the air outlet face 111 of this exchanger, as well as an inlet opening cold air 17, located next to the exchanger 11, through which cold air, coming directly from the evaporator 12 and bypassing the exchanger 11, can enter the mixing chamber 13. The inlet openings 16 and 17 are each provided with respective shutters, 18 and 19, for controlling the passage section of the coordinated opening 16 or 17. In the example according to FIG. 1, the shutter 18 of the hot air inlet opening 16 is a space-saving shutter shutter 20, having a large number of narrow pivoting slats placed one next to the other. and able to

  cover the hot air inlet opening 16 together.

  The shutter 19 for the cold air inlet opening 17

  will be described in detail in the following.

  For sending temperate air into the passenger compartment, the mixing chamber 13 has several outlet openings which are extended by air outlet pipes for the connection of air ducts leading to different areas of the passenger compartment. . Thus, the outlet opening 22, disposed at the top in the mixing chamber 13 and to which a tube 23 is connected (FIG. 2), is used for supplying air to the median plane and / or the zone head of the passenger compartment, more exactly the right half thereof, while the outlet opening 24, arranged at the bottom in the mixing chamber 13 and to which the connection pipe 25 is coordinated, serves to ventilate foot space and / or rear of the right side of the passenger compartment. The mixing chamber 14 has outlet openings and corresponding connecting pipes for

  the ventilation on the left side of the passenger compartment.

  The two air inlet openings 16 and 17 are made with a large surface area and extend both over the region of the upper outlet opening 22 and over the region of the lower outlet opening 24. The shutters 18 and 19 for controlling the passage section of the inlet openings 16 and 17 have corresponding large areas. In order to obtain a temperature stratification in the air mixing chamber 13, with a temperature gradient going from the warmest at the bottom to the coldest at the top, therefore from the region of the lower outlet opening 24 at the upper outlet opening 22, the shutter 19 is produced in two parts: an upper shutter part 191 capable of completely covering the upper zone of the cold air inlet opening 17 and a lower shutter part 192 capable of completely covering the lower area of this opening. The two shutter parts 191, 192 are controlled so that the lower shutter part 192 covers, in any position of the shutter, a larger passage section of the cold air inlet opening 17 than the upper shutter part 191. According to a particular characteristic of the invention, the two shutter parts 191, 192 are mutually synchronized so that the difference in the degree of overlap of the upper region and the lower region of the air inlet opening cold 17 by the obturating parts 191, 192 is constant in any position

shutter 19.

  In the embodiment shown, the two shutter parts 191, 192 are produced as air flaps 26, 27 mounted on a common pivot shaft 28, itself pivotally mounted in the air conditioner box 10. More precisely, the two air flaps 26 and 27 are mutually offset in rotation by a fixed pivot angle a and rigidly connected to each other, in particular by their setting on the shaft 28. As shown in Figure 1 , during the opening movement of the shutter 19, the upper air flap 26 is always in advance, of this pivoting angle a constant, relative to the lower air flap 27, so that, in each position in pivoting, the lower flap 27 always covers a larger cross section of the cold air inlet opening 17 than the upper flap 26. FIG. 1 shows in continuous lines the closed position of the shutter 19 and, in broken lines, an intermediate position, in pivoting, of the obtu rator 19 during the opening movement. In this intermediate position, the upper flap 26 releases the passage section "a" from the cold air inlet opening, while the lower flap 27 releases the passage section "b" from the inlet opening cold air 17. In this way, in each pivoting position, there is more cold air entering through the upper zone of the cold air inlet opening 17 than through the lower zone of this opening, so that the desired temperature stratification is established with the temperature gradient going from the warmest down to

the coldest upstairs.

  In order to improve this stratification of the air, a partition 29 is disposed between the upper flap 26 and the lower flap 27. This partition subdivides the cold air inlet opening 17 horizontally and extends into the mixing chamber 13 to its wall 131 located opposite said inlet opening. The partition 29, which extends only over a part of the mixing chamber 13, up to the side wall 132 thereof, in which the two outlet openings 22 and 24 for the mixed air are arranged, blocks consequently the direct flow of air between these two outlet openings 22 and 24, so that, in the case of a mixed air control, the warmer air is located under the partition 29 and the colder air is above this partition, their mixing being possible only after

bypassing this partition.

  The invention is not limited to the embodiment described. Thus the two air flaps 26 and 27 are not necessarily rigidly connected to each other by means of a common and controlled pivoting shaft5; it is also possible to coordinate an autonomous adjustment command to each of the

  flaps 26 and 27, in which case their respective controls can be controlled synchronously or individually.

Claims (5)

RESELL I CATIONS   1. A heating or air conditioning installation for ventilating the passenger compartment of a vehicle, comprising an air conditioner box containing a heat exchanger, which can be traversed by air, and in which at least one air mixing chamber is formed which has an air inlet opening for hot air passing through the heat exchanger (hot air inlet opening), an air inlet opening for cold air bypassing the heat exchanger heat (cold air inlet opening), as well as outlet openings for mixed air, at least one outlet opening for ventilating the foot space and / or the rear of the passenger compartment is arranged at the bottom and at least one outlet opening for ventilating the median plane and / or the head area of the passenger compartment is arranged above in the air mixing chamber, and comprising shutters controlling the passage sections of the openings d inlet, characterized in that the cold air inlet opening (1 7) extends both over the upper outlet opening region and over the lower outlet opening region (22, 24) of the mixed air, than the shutter (19) for opening cold air inlet (17) is made in two parts, so that an upper obturator part (191) can completely cover the upper zone and a lower obturator part (192) can completely cover the lower zone the cold air inlet opening (17), and that the two shutter parts (191, 192) are controlled so that the lower shutter part (192) covers, in any position of the shutter, a larger passage section of the cold air inlet opening (17) that the part upper shutter (191).   he 2. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that a partition (29) dividing the cold air inlet opening (17) is disposed between the two obturating parts (191, 192), partition which extends into the air mixing chamber (13) up to its rear wall (131), located opposite the cold air inlet opening (17), and which separates one of the the other the upper outlet opening (22) and the lower outlet opening (24) of the mixed air, preferably without completely dividing the air mixing chamber (13).   3. Installation according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the two shutter parts (191, 192) are mutually synchronized so that the difference in the degree of overlap of the upper region and the lower region of the opening d cold air inlet (17) through the shutter parts (191, 192) is constant in any position shutter.   4. Installation according to claim 3, characterized in that the two shutter parts (191, 192) are made as air flaps (26, 27) pivotally mounted around the same pivot shaft (28), and that the two air flaps (26, 27) are   mutually offset in rotation by a pivot angle (a) and are fixedly connected to each other.   5. Installation according to claim 4, characterized in that the two air flaps (26, 27) are wedged on a pivot shaft (28) mounted   swivel in the air conditioner box.