GB2095819A

GB2095819A - Heating and ventilation system for a motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2095819A
Application number: GB8209160A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Ford Motor Co Ltd; Ford Motor Co
Current assignee: Ford Motor Co Ltd; Ford Motor Co
Priority date: 1981-03-31
Filing date: 1982-03-29
Publication date: 1982-10-06
Also published as: DE3112684A1; GB2095819B; DE3112684C2

Abstract

In a heating and ventilating system for a motor vehicle, an air distribution device comprises a chamber having a demister nozzle outlet 10, a foot-well outlet 11, a flap 14 and a sector flap 15 pivotable independently about a common axis 13, wherein the flap 15 serves to regulate air flow through outlet 11 and the position of flap 14 relative to flap 15 serves to regulate air flow through outlet 10. In its closed position, the sector- flap (15) blocks the foot-well outlets (11) with its axial end vanes (16) and its closure member (17). The vane flap (14) blocks the flow to the demister nozzle channels (10), in its closed position in which it rests from above against the sector-flap (15). When the two flaps are in their open positions, they divide the flow of air to the foot- well outlets (11) and to the demister nozzle channels (10) in a ratio of 75% to 25%. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Heating and ventilating system for a motor vehicle The present invention relates to a heating and ventilation system for a motor vehicle.

There is known from German Offenlegungsschrift 1,555,365 a heating and ventilation system for a motor vehicle which comprises a blower, a channel containing a heat exchanger and a by-pass channel both located down stream of the blower, a common mixing flap for directing air selectively to any one channel or partially to both channels and a mixing chamber into which both channels open and having outlets which lead to ventilation nozzles, side nozzles, demister nozzles and to the footwell, a distributor device being provided for directing the air alternately or partially to the outlets.

In this known system, the distributor flap is located in the lower region of the mixing chamber to enable the demister nozzles and the footwell outlets to be supplied with air alternately or partially.

This known heating and ventilating system has the disadvantage that the distributor flap alone is not capable of maintaining a desired temperature gradient between the demister nozzles and the footwell outlets and air guide-vanes or further partition walls had to be provided for this purpose in the heater-housing. These led both to a reduction in the. efficiency of the air throughput of the heating system and, to an increase in the size of the heater-housing.

With a view to mitigating the foregoing disadvantages, the present invention provides a heating and ventilation system as herein set forth in Claim 1. The invention also provides a distributor device as set forth in Claim 5.

Because of the provision of two separately movable flaps to regulate the air flow to the footwell outlets and the demister nozzles, the air distribution may be controlled more readily.

Furthermore, because the flaps are pivotable about a common axis, the heater-housing can be made compact.

The invention will now further be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic section through a heating and ventilation system according to the invention.

Figure 2 shows a diagrammatic representation of the distributor-device of Figure 1 in the closed position of the two flaps.

Figure 3 shows a diagrammatic view of the distributor-device il7 the open position of the two flaps and Figure 4 shows a diagrammatic view of the distributor-device in the position of the flaps for defrosting or demisting the windscreen.

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically in cross section, a housing 1 of a heating and ventilation system for a motor vehicle. The housing 1 is located, in a known manner, underneath the scuttle and adjacent the engine compartment bulkhead of a motor vehicle body. The heaterhousing 1 is connected via an orifice 2 to a blower or fan 3 located in the scuttle part of the motor vehicle body.

A heat-exchanger channel 4 with a heat exchanger 5 located transversely to the air-flow direction and a by-pass channel 6 are provided downstream of the orifice 2. The channels can be supplied with air, alternately or partially, via a common mixing flap 7 and open into a mixing chamber 8 provided with lateral channels 9 leading to ventilation nozzles and side nozzles, channels 10 leading to demister nozzles and footwell outlets 11.

A distributor-device 12, which consists of two flaps 14 and 1 5 individually pivotable about a common axis 13, is provided for supplying air to the demister nozzle channels 10 and the footwell outlets 11, alternately or partially.

One of these flaps is designed as a plane vane flap 14 and the other as a three-dimensional sector-flap 1 5. The term "three-dimensional sector-flap" is herein used to means a flap in the form of a sector of a hollow body. More particularly, the sector-flap 1 5 comprises a pair of sector shaped axial end vanes 1 6 supporting a closure member 1 7 which is radially spaced from the axis of rotation and is disposed in a generally tangential plane.

In its closed position (see Figure 2) the sectorflap 1 5 blocks the lateral parts of the footwell outlets with its axial end vanes 1 6 and blocks the lower parts of the footwell outlets 11 with its smooth closure member 1 7. In its closed position (see Figure 2), the vane flap 14 rests against the sector-flap 1 7 from above (as viewed) and shuts off the flow to the demister nozzle channel 10.

When the two flaps 14 and 1 5 are in their open positions (see Fig. 3), they divide the flow of air to the foot-well outlets 11 and to the demister nozzle channels 10 in a ratio of approximately 3 to 1.

When the sector-flap 1 5 is in its closed position and the vane flap 14 is open (see Figure 4), the flow of air is directed only to the demister nozzles.

It is, of course, also possible to supply air only to the foot-well outlets if the sector-flap 1 5 remains in the position shown in Figure 3, while the vane flap 14 is brought into its closed position in which it rests against the sector-flap 1 5. In this case, the flow of air is provided essentially only to the foot-well outlets.

The sector-flap 1 5 is preferably so articulated on the axis 13 that in its closed position, it comes to rest with the lower edge 1 8 of its closure member 17, against a housing edge 19 in a peripheral direction, while the upper edge 20 of its closure member 1 7 makes radial contact with a housing edge 21. The edges may appropriately be sealed off, in a conventionally manner, by coatings of a foamed material.

Claims

1. A heating and ventilation system for motor vehicles comprising a channel containing a heat exchanger and a by-pass channel located downstream of a blower, a mixing flap for directing air selectively to any one channel or partially to both channels, and a mixing chamber into which both channels open and having outlets which lead to demister nozzles and to vehicle footwells, wherein a distributor device is provided for selectively supplying air, alternately or partially, to the demister nozzles and the footwell outlets, the distributor device comprising a vane flap and a sector-flap pivotably mounted about a common axis the sector-flap serving to regulate the air supply to the footwell outlets and the position of the vane flap relative to the sector-flap serving to regulate the air supply to the demister nozzles.

2. A heating and ventilation system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the axial end vanes and the closure member of the sector-flap serve to block the footwell outlets.

3. A heating and ventilation system for motor vehicles as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein when both flaps are in their open position, the flow of air to the footwell outlets and to the demister nozzles is in the ratio of substantially 75% to 25%.

4. A heating and ventilation system as claimed in any preceeding claim, wherein in its closed position one edge of the sector-flap is in peripheral contact with the mixing chamber housing and the other edge of the closure member of the sector-flap is in radial contact with a portion of the mixing chamber housing,

5. A distributor device for use in a vehicle heating and ventilation system for regulating the air flow between a chamber and two inlet or outlet channels leading to the chamber, the arrangement comprising a vane flap and a sector flap pivotably mounted about a common axis within the chamber, the sector flap being movable to open and close one of the channels while the position of the vane flap relative to the sector flap serves to regulate the air flow through the second channel.

6. A heating and ventilation system constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as herein before described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.