FR2854104A1 - Heat ventilation and air-conditioning device for vehicle passenger compartment, has exterior duct including inlet that opens in outlet chamber and outlet that feeds lower nozzle at interior of passenger compartment - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a casing (10) including a frontal wall and accommodating a heat radiator for producing an air flow at controlled temperature to an upper part of the casing. An exterior duct passing around a divergent wall includes an inlet that opens out in an outlet chamber and an outlet (54) opening towards the bottom. The outlet is arranged for feeding a lower nozzle at the interior of the passenger compartment. The frontal wall accommodates an air inlet for pulsed air coming from an air inlet duct extending parallel to the frontal wall and terminated by the divergent wall that is spaced from the frontal wall. The outlet chamber feeds air outlets opening in chosen places of the passenger compartment.

Description

i i 2854104

  The invention relates to a heating-ventilation and / or air conditioning device for the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle.

  Devices of this type are already known which include a housing having a front wall in which an air inlet is arranged for forced air coming from an air inlet duct which extends in a direction substantially parallel to the front wall and ends in a divergent wall spaced from the front wall, and in which the housing accommodates at least one heat exchanger to produce a temperature-controlled air flow which is sent to an outlet chamber arranged in the upper part of the housing, the outlet chamber supplying air outlets 20 opening out at selected locations in the passenger compartment.

  In such a device, the air intake duct is supplied by an air blower, also called a "blower", which is itself supplied by outside air taken from outside the passenger compartment and / or by recirculated air taken from inside the passenger compartment. The air blower includes a turbine which accelerates the air flow to produce a forced air flow which is sent into the housing via the air intake duct. In a device of this type, the blower is generally installed laterally, that is to say in the transverse direction of the vehicle, relative to the housing. As a result, the air flow from the air inlet duct 35 must undergo a change of direction, substantially at a right angle, to enter the housing through an opening in the front wall thereof. This front wall is generally located in the transverse direction of the vehicle, while facing the front of the vehicle, that is to say on the side of the engine compartment.

  The air flow which enters the housing then passes through one or more heat exchangers to produce a temperature-controlled air flow. This air flow is received in an outlet chamber which feeds various air outlets opening into selected locations in the passenger compartment.

  Usually, these air outlets include at least one windshield defrost / demister outlet, at least one ventilation outlet leading to aerators placed on the dashboard of the vehicle, and at least one lower outlet suitable for supply nozzles opening towards the front part of the passenger compartment, and in the region of the feet of the passengers.

  To improve passenger comfort, it is also known to provide at least one air outlet to supply one or more additional nozzles placed inside the passenger compartment, in the region of the feet of the passengers, for example at the rear of the passenger compartment. Such an air outlet, which can be called "additional foot outlet", in particular "rear foot outlet", is most often installed laterally in the housing. This therefore requires the provision of at least one lateral air intake, which has the drawback of increasing the volume and therefore the bulk in the transverse direction.

  In addition, this requires additional parts, namely at least two conduits and at most four conduits produced most often by an extrusion / blow molding technique.

  These known solutions also have the drawback of increasing the pressure drops because the air has to be forced to take a bend to go into the conduits leading to these exits for an additional 35 feet.

  The object of the invention is in particular to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.

  It aims in particular to provide a device of the type defined above, which makes it possible, in a particularly simple manner, to supply air for air outlets placed in the lower part of the passenger compartment, and in particular at the rear of the cabin.

  The invention also aims to provide a device of this type, particularly compact, both in the transverse direction than in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. 10 It also aims to produce such a device which does not require additional parts and in which the pressure losses of the air flow are optimized. The invention provides for this purpose a device of the type defined in the introduction, which comprises at least one external duct which bypasses the divergent wall and comprises an inlet opening into the outlet chamber and an outlet 20 opening downwards and arranged to supply at least one lower nozzle inside the passenger compartment. This lower nozzle is preferably placed at the rear of the passenger compartment.

  In a device of this type, the divergent wall is usually slightly inclined relative to the front wall and it is connected, upstream, to an enlarged part of the air intake duct.

  The invention thus takes advantage of the existence of a volume left by this divergent wall to place an external conduit there which makes it possible to supply at least one lower nozzle inside the passenger compartment.

  The outer duct is therefore turned towards the front of the vehicle, ie towards the engine compartment. Its inlet opens into the outlet chamber, in the upper part of the housing, while its outlet opens downwards to supply one or more lower nozzles inside the passenger compartment.

  In addition, the external duct can be easily attached to the housing to take air from the outlet chamber and send it to the interior of the passenger compartment. The presence of such an external duct does not increase the overall size of the housing and it makes it possible to send an air flow towards the rear of the passenger compartment without creating significant pressure losses.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the entry of the external duct is controlled by at least one flap. It is particularly advantageous that this flap is arranged to also control an outlet for defrosting / demisting the windshield of the vehicle. Thus, a single flap makes it possible to carry out two functions, which contributes to the simplification and the reduction of the bulk.

  The aforementioned shutter is advantageously a drum shutter movable in rotation between a first position (defrosting position) in which the inlet of the external duct is closed, while the defrosting / demisting outlet is open and a second position (feet position) in which 25 the inlet of the outer duct is open, while the defrost / demister outlet is closed.

  According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the device comprises a ventilation outlet controlled by at least one flap and arranged to supply at least one aerator.

  In an advantageous embodiment, the device comprises at least one lateral outlet arranged in a lateral wall of the housing, controlled by a lateral flap and arranged to supply at least one nozzle lower than the front part of the passenger compartment. This side flap is preferably of the flag type.

  The housing can accommodate different heat exchangers.

  Advantageously, it comprises an evaporator placed immediately after the air inlet of the housing and at least one heating radiator placed downstream of the evaporator.

  In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the device comprises a branch for transmitting cold air and a branch for reheating the air containing the heating radiator, as well as at least one mixing flap placed at 10 l intersection of the two branches to distribute the proportion between cold air and hot air and produce the air flow at adjusted temperature.

  The outer conduit is advantageously molded and attached to the housing.

  The divergent wall is preferably inclined relative to the front wall of the housing. Under these conditions, the outer duct advantageously has an inner cross section 20 of substantially trapezoidal shape.

  The invention applies very particularly to the case where the air intake duct is connected to the outlet of an air blower located laterally relative to the housing. The air intake duct and the air blower are arranged to be substantially aligned in the direction of the transverse axis (axis Y) of the vehicle.

  In the description which follows, given solely by way of examples, reference is made to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device according to the invention, comprising a distribution box connected to an air blower through an air intake duct; Figure 2 is a side view of the device of Figure 1; - Figure 3 is a side view of the housing, the side wall being removed; and FIG. 4 is a partial view in horizontal section of the housing of FIG. 3.

  Reference is first made to FIG. 1 which shows a device for heating, ventilation and air conditioning of the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. It includes a housing 10 supplied with air forced by a blower 12 (also called "blower"), via an air inlet duct 14. The blower 12 includes an inlet 16 for outside air taken from outside the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle and an air inlet (not shown) for recirculated air taken from inside the passenger compartment. The blower comprises, in known manner, a turbine capable of accelerating the flow of outside and / or recirculated air to send it into the housing 10.

  The device of FIG. 1 is designed to be installed in such a way that the housing 10 and the blower 12 are substantially aligned in the transverse direction (axis Y) of the vehicle. In this position, the housing 10 is located substantially in the center, while the blower is installed laterally (here on the right side of the passenger compartment). In FIG. 1, the front part of the device can be seen which is turned towards the engine compartment M, the opposite side being turned towards the passenger compartment H (see also FIG. 2). The housing 10 is delimited by a front wall 18 facing forwards (side of the engine compartment) and in which an opening 20 (FIG. 4) of generally rectangular shape is formed which constitutes the air inlet of the housing.

  The air intake duct 14 extends in a direction substantially parallel to the front wall 18 and has a complex evolutionary shape which makes it possible, at the outset, to direct the air in a direction F1 (FIG. 4) parallel to the front wall 18 and then to deflect it substantially at 90 so that it circulates rearward substantially in the longitudinal direction (axis X) of the vehicle (Figure 4). The air inlet duct 14 ends, for this purpose, by a divergent wall 22 (FIG. 4) which is spaced from the front wall 18 and which makes it possible to divert the air flow so that it flows in a direction F2 substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. Behind the air inlet 20 of the housing is placed an evaporator 24 connected to a conventional air conditioning circuit (not shown). The divergent wall 22 is arranged to allow the air flow to be distributed over the entire extent of the evaporator 24.

  In its part located opposite the front wall 18, the diverging wall 22 is slightly inclined relative to the front wall, as can be seen in FIG. 4. Upstream of the diverging wall 22 is a wall 26 which s widens 15 towards the blower as seen in Figures 1 and 4. On this wall 26 is placed a fixing flange 28 (Figures 1 and 2).

  The housing 10 is further delimited by two side walls 20 generally perpendicular to the front wall 18, and by a rear wall 32 facing the side of the passenger compartment H. Outside the evaporator 24, the housing 10 houses, preferentially, also two other heat exchangers, namely a heating radiator 34 (also called "air heater") and an electric radiator 36 which is preferably of the type with resistors with a positive temperature coefficient (PTC resistors).

  The heating radiator 34 is traversed by a heat transfer fluid 30, usually the fluid used for cooling the vehicle engine. It includes a manifold 38 (Figures 1 and 2) which projects from the side wall 30 located to the left of the housing. This manifold 38 is connected to two conduits 40 and 42 for the intake and evacuation of the heat transfer fluid. The electric heater 36 is intended to provide additional heating, if necessary.

  The air flow having passed through the evaporator 24 can be divided into two branches, namely a cold air transmission branch 44 and an air reheating branch 46 in which the radiators 34 and 36 are housed. The air reheating branch 46 forms a pocket and communicates at the inlet and at the outlet of the cold air transmission branch.

  A mixing flap 48, mounted in rotation about an axis 50 makes it possible to control the distribution of the air flow between the branches 44 and 46 to produce an air flow at adjusted temperature. This flow of air at adjusted temperature is received in an outlet chamber 52, also called mixing chamber, which is placed in the upper part of the housing, as seen in FIG. 3.

  The mixing flap 48 can come in a first extreme position called "maximum hot position" (shown in solid lines in FIG. 3) in which all the air flow coming from the evaporator is forced to pass through the radiators 34 and 36 as represented by arrow F3. The mixing flap 48 can also come into another extreme position, called "maximum cold position" (shown in broken lines) in which all the air flow from the evaporator is forced to pass through the transmission branch d cold air 44 without passing through the radiators, as shown by arrow 25 F4. The flap 48 can occupy intermediate positions to modulate the proportion between the cold air passing respectively through the branches 44 and 46, and this in a manner known per se.

  The exit chamber. 52 supplies several air outlets intended to open at selected locations in the passenger compartment H. The housing 10 includes an outlet 54 for defrosting / demisting the windshield (FIGS. 1 and 3), which is controlled by a pivoting flap 56 of drum type mounted in rotation about an axis 58 and comprising a cylindrical wall 60.

  * The housing also includes a ventilation outlet 62 intended to supply aerators (not shown) placed on the dashboard of the vehicle. This outlet 62 is controlled by a pivoting flap 64 also of the drum type mounted in rotation about an axis 66 and comprising a cylindrical wall 68. The axes 58 and 66 are parallel to each other and parallel to the transverse direction (axis Y) of the vehicle. The respective ends of the axes 58 open onto the side walls 30 of the housing.

  Furthermore, the housing has two lateral outlets 70 arranged respectively in the two lateral walls 30 and 10 controlled by respective lateral flaps 72. These lateral flaps are of the flag type and each mounted in rotation about an axis 74. The respective axes 74 of the two flaps are parallel to each other, as can be seen in FIG. 1.

  The lateral outlets 70 are intended to supply lower nozzles (not shown) to the front part of the passenger compartment to send air into the region of the feet of the passengers occupying the front seats of the vehicle.

  The housing of the invention also comprises an external conduit 20 76 which is placed at the front of the housing (FIGS. 1, 2 and 4) and which bypasses the divergent wall 22 from the front. The outer conduit 76 has an inlet 78 which opens into the outlet chamber 52 and an outlet 80 which opens downwards. This outlet 80 is arranged to supply at least one lower nozzle 82 (shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 2 and 3) placed at the rear of the passenger compartment.

  The external conduit 76 is advantageously produced by molding and attached to the housing and more particularly to the divergent wall 22 as seen in FIG. 4.

  The presence of this external duct 76 does not generate bulk since this duct is placed on the divergent wall 22, that is to say on a narrower part of the air inlet duct 14. It avoids the use of Bulky air intakes 35 located laterally. The outer conduit 76 is placed at the front of the housing 10 and immediately behind the bulkhead 84 (FIG. 3) which separates the engine compartment M from the cabin H of the vehicle.

  According to an advantageous feature, the inlet 78 of the conduit 76 is also controlled by the flap 56. This flap 56 is movable between two extreme positions, as can be seen in FIG. 3. In the position shown in solid lines 5, the flap 56 closes the defrosting / demisting outlet 54 and completely opens access to the duct 76 which allows air to be sent at adjusted temperature to the lower nozzles 82 placed at the rear of the passenger compartment. In the other extreme position (shown in dashed lines), the flap 56 closes the access to the duct 76 and completely opens the access to the defrost / demister outlet 54. Of course, this flap can occupy other positions intermediate to distribute the air flow between the defrost / demister nozzles of the windscreen and the lower nozzles 15 placed at the rear of the passenger compartment. The use of a single flap 56 simplifies the structure of the device and limits its size. Of course, it would be possible, as a variant, to provide two separate flaps to respectively control the outlet 54 and the access to the conduit 20 76.

  It will be noted that the structure of the conduit 76 makes it possible to limit the pressure losses which the air undergoes. Indeed, the air flow can penetrate directly into the lower nozzle or nozzles 82 without undergoing a bend liable to generate pressure losses.

  The device of the invention thus has a particularly compact structure both in the. longitudinal direction (X axis) than in the transverse direction (Y axis) of the vehicle. This solution is also economical because the outer conduit 76 can be produced by a conventional plastic injection technique. It constitutes a cover which it suffices to attach externally to the housing 35 in order to supply the lower nozzle (s) 82.

  In addition, the fact of using a single flap to control both access to the external duct 76 and access to the defrost / demister outlet there makes it possible to simplify the structure and to limit the size.

  In the embodiment shown, the conduit 76 delimits a cross section of substantially trapezoidal shape (FIG. 4) taking into account the inclination of the divergent wall 22. Of course, this conduit may have a different interior cross section, depending in particular on the shape of the divergent wall 22.

  The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above by way of example and is capable of numerous variant embodiments. In particular, the lower nozzle supplied by the external duct is not necessarily situated at the rear of the passenger compartment, but can be placed in any other place inside the latter.

  In addition, the different components of the device can be chosen from those of the butterfly, flag, drum, etc. types.

Claims (12)

claims   1 - Device for heating-ventilation and / or air conditioning of the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, comprising a housing (10) having a front wall (18) in which an air inlet (20) is arranged for forced air from an air inlet duct (14) which extends in a direction substantially parallel to the front wall and ends in a divergent wall (22) spaced from the front wall, and in which the housing (10) houses at least one heat exchanger (24, 34, 36) to produce a flow of air at adjusted temperature which is sent into an outlet chamber (52) arranged in the upper part of the housing, the outlet supplying air outlets (54, 62, 70) 15 opening into selected places in the passenger compartment, characterized in that it comprises at least one external duct (76) which bypasses the divergent wall (22) and comprises an inlet (78) opening into the outlet chamber (52) and an outlet (80) opening downwards and arranged to supply at least one lower nozzle (82) inside the passenger compartment.   2 - Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the inlet (78) of the outside air duct (76) is controlled by at least one flap (56).   3 - Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the flap (56) which controls the inlet (78) of the outer duct (76) is arranged to also control an outlet (54) defrosting / demisting of the windshield of the vehicle.   4 - Device according to one of claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the flap (56) is a drum flap 35 movable in rotation between a first position (defrost position) in which the inlet (78) of the outer duct ( 76) is closed, while the defrosting / demisting outlet (54) is open and a second position (rear feet position) in which the inlet (78) of the external duct (76) is open, while the outlet (54 ) defrost / demister is closed.   - Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a ventilation outlet (62) controlled by at least one flap (64) and arranged to supply at least one aerator.   6 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, caracté10 risé in that it comprises at least one lateral outlet (70) arranged in a side wall (30) of the housing, controlled by at least one side flap (72) and arranged to supply at least one nozzle lower than the front part of the passenger compartment.   7 - Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the side flap (72) is of the flag type.   8 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the heat exchangers comprise an evaporator (24) placed immediately after the air inlet (20) of the housing (10) and at least one radiator heater (34, 36) placed downstream of the evaporator.   9 - Device according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises a cold air transmission branch (44) and an air heating branch (46) containing the heating radiator (34, 36), as well as 'at least one mixing flap (48) placed at the intersection of the two branches (44, 30 46) to distribute the proportion between the cold air and the hot air and produce the air flow at adjusted temperature.   - Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the outer conduit (76) is molded and attached to the housing (10).   11 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the divergent wall (22) is inclined relative to the front wall (18) of the housing and in that the outer conduit (76) is attached to the divergent wall (22).   12 - Device according to claim 11, characterized in that the outer conduit (76) has an inner cross section of substantially trapezoidal shape.   13 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the air inlet duct (14) is connected to the outlet of an air blower (12) located laterally relative to the housing (10).   14 - Device according to claim 13, characterized in that the air intake duct (14) and the air blower (12) are arranged to be substantially aligned in the direction of the transverse axis (Y axis ) of the vehicle.