GB2376215A

GB2376215A - A motor vehicle with an air distribution system

Info

Publication number: GB2376215A
Application number: GB0211867A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian David Lidgard
Original assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Current assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Priority date: 2001-06-08
Filing date: 2002-05-23
Publication date: 2002-12-11
Anticipated expiration: 2022-05-23
Also published as: GB0113957D0; GB2376215B; GB0211867D0; WO2002100668A1

Abstract

The vehicle 102 has a body structure 103, a floor 104, and a fascia 105 for supporting instruments associated with the vehicle. A duct (21, figure 2) has two or more outlets 23 for air to pass from a heater or air-conditioning unit 106 to a footwell 108 with a uniform distribution of the air. The duct is connected to the heater or air-conditioning unit via an outlet 107. The duct is 'U' shaped with two limbs leading to separate footwells and each limb is provided with at least one outlet. The duct is formed as an integral part of a fascia closure panel. The fascia may be made by injection moulding while the duct may be made by gas injection during moulding.

Description

A motor vehicle and an air distribution system therefor This invention relates to motor vehicles and in particular to an air distribution system for a motor vehicle.

It is known to provide a motor vehicle with a system for distributing air from a heater or air conditioning system.

It is further known to provide a supply of air to a front footwell of the motor vehicle so as to cool or heat the feet of a front seated occupant of the motor vehicle.

It is a problem with such prior art systems that the supply of air to the footwell tends to be concentrated on one side of the footwell and so only the foot of the occupant nearest the air supply is able to fully benefit from it. In addition, such prior art systems often result in one foot feeling hotter or colder than the other due to the uneven distribution of air to the footwell. This can be uncomfortable to the occupant and is more noticeable if the occupant is wearing open toed shoes or sandals.

It is an object of the invention to provide a motor vehide having an improved air distribution system.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a motor vehicle having a body structure defining a passenger compartment, a footwell on either side of the motor vehicle to accommodate, in use, the feet and lower legs of a respective front seated occupant of the motor vehicle and an air distribution system to supply air to the footwells wherein the air distribution system to each footwell comprises of at least one air duct connected at one end to a source of air to be supplied to the footwell and two or more outlets from the or each duct at different locations within the footwell to produce a substantially uniformly distributed supply of air to the footwell.

Preferably, there are a number of outlets located at different positions in the footwell.

The flow of air to the footwell may be such that, in use, both feet of an occupant utilising the footwell receive substantially the same flow and temperature of air.

Each footwell may be defined by a part of the floor of the vehicle, a rear wall, two side walls and an upper wall and the outlets may be located in the upper wall so as to direct air downwardly into the footwell at several spaced apart locations.

The upper wall may be formed by a fascia closure panel which is used to close off a gap between a lower front edge of a fascia extending laterally across the vehicle and the rear wall.

The fascia closure panel may be sealingly connected along two opposite edges to the side walls of the footwell.

The rear wall may be formed by a firewall formed as part of the body structure of the motor vehicle.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention outlet apertures are formed in a side wall of the or each duct and each outlet aperture is aligned with an aperture in the upper wall so as to allow air to flow, in use, from the duct into the top of footwell.

There may be a single duct having an end portion in which may be formed a number of spaced apart apertures each for co-operation with a respective outlet.

The end portion of the duct may be sealingly connected to the fascia closure panel.

According to another embodiment of the invention the or each duct and the outlets may be formed as an integral part of the fascia closure panel.

The duct to each footwell may comprise of a single "U" shaped duct defining two limbs.

Each limb may have at least one outlet formed therein.

There may be two outlets formed in each limb.

Each of the outlets may be arranged to cause a divergent flow therefrom.

Each of the outlets may include a diffuser to produce the divergent flow.

The source of air may be the outlet from a passenger compartment heater or may be the outlet from an air conditioning unit.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a fascia closure panel for use as an upper wall of a footwell in a motor vehicle wherein the fascia closure panel has at least one duct formed integrally therewith for distributing air to two or more outlets located at different locations on the fascia closure panel so that, in use, a substantially uniform distribution of air is provided to the footwell.

The fascia closure panel may be made by moulding from a plastics material.

The or each duct may be made by gas injection during the moulding process The or each duct may be a single "U" shaped duct defining two limbs, each limb may have at least one outlet formed therein.

There may be two outlets formed in each limb.

The fascia closure panel may have a noise attenuating material attached to a rear surface thereof.

The attenuating material may be a foam pad.

The foam pad may be bonded to a rear surface of the fascia panel.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings of which :- Fig. 1 is a partly cross-sectioned view of a front portion of a passenger compartment showing a prior art motor vehicle on the left hand side of a central break line Z-Z and a motor vehicle according to a first aspect of the invention on the right hand side of the central break line Z-Z; Fig. 2 is a pictorial view from above of a fascia closure panel according to a second aspect of the invention which forms part of a first embodiment of an air distribution system of the motor vehicle shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross-section along the line X-X on Fig. 2; Fig. 3a is a cross-section which is similar to that shown in Fig. 3 but showing a modified outlet arrangement; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the fascia panel shown in Figs. 2 and 3 when viewed from the footwell in an upward direction; Fig. 5 is a pictorial view of part of a second embodiment of an air distribution system for use in a motor vehicle according to the fist aspect of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a pictorial view of an air duct forming part of the air distribution system shown in Fig. 5.

With reference to Fig 1 there is shown on the left hand side of the central break line Z-Z a prior art motor vehicle.

The motor vehicle 2 has a body structure 3 including a floor 4. A fascia 5 is fitted to the motor vehicle to support the instruments associated with the motor vehicle. A heater or air conditioning unit 6 is mounted behind the fascia 5 and has an outlet 7 arranged to supply air to a footwell 8 through a vent in a side panel 9 forming one side wall of the footwell.

The footwett 8 is defined by part of the floor 4, the side panel 9, a rear wall in the form of a firewall 10 and a side wall 12 both forming part of the body structure 3 and a fascia closure panel 11.

The fascia closure panel 11 is provided to close off a gap between a lower front edge of the fascia 5 and the firewall 10 and to reduce the transmission of noise from behind the fascia 5 into the passenger compartment.

As can be seen, air from the outlet 7 enters the footwell 8 at a single location and because of this the distribution of air within the footwell 8 is very uneven. For example if warm air is entering the footwell 8 then an occupant's right foot is likely to become warm or hot whereas their left foot may remain cool or cold.

With reference to Fig 1 there is shown on the right hand side of the central break line Z-Z a motor vehicle according to the invention that is in most respects the same as that previously described and for which the same reference numerals with the addition of 100 will be used.

The motor vehicle 102 has a body structure 103 including a floor 104. A fascia 105 extending laterally across the motor vehicle is provided to support the instruments associated wltn the motor vehicle. A heater or air conditioning unit 106 is mountea behind the fascia 105 and has an outlet 107 arranged to supply air to a footwell 108.

For convenience a central console of the motor vehicle is assumed for the purposes of this description to be part of the fascia even though in practice it may constitute a separate component.

The footwell 108 is defined by part of the floor 104, a first side wall in the form of a side panel 19, a firewall 110, a second side wall 112 and an upper wall in the form of a fascia closure panel 20.

The fascia closure panel 20 closes of a gap between a lower front edge of the fascia 105 and the firewall 110 and is sealingly connected along each edge to the two side walls 19, 112.

In accordance with a first embodiment and as can best be seen with reference to Figs. 2 to 4 the fascia closure panel 20 has a single duct 21 formed as an integral part thereof.

The duct 21 is"U"shaped and extends away from an inlet port 22 to define two limbs 21a, 21b. The inlet port 22 is sealingly connected to the outlet 107 from the heater or air conditioning unit 106.

Each of the limbs 21 a, 21 b has two apertures formed therein to form outlets 23 to allow air to exit from the duct 21 into the footwell 108.

Each of the outlets 23 is arranged to promote a divergent flow therefrom. As shown in Fig. 3 this is achieved by arranging for the sides of the apertures 23 to diverge so that the area of the outlet increases as the air exits.

In Fig. 3a a diffuser in the form of a triangularly shaped flow splitter 123a is provided to encourage the spread of air from the outlets 123. However, it will be appreciated that other structures could be used as diffusers to encourage a divergent flow from the outlets.

If the flow from the outlets is encouraged to diverge in this way then a more uniform distribution of air can be produced. However it should be appreciated that even without this feature the provision of a number of outlets at different locations produces a substantially uniformly distributed supply of air to the footwell such that, in use, both feet of an occupant utilising the footwell receive substantially the same flow and temperature of air.

A foam pad 24 is bonded to a rear surface of the fascia closure panel 20 to reduce the transmission of noise through the fascia panel 20.

The fascia closure panel 20 has three apertures 25 spaced out along a front edge for use in securing the fascia closure panel 20 to the lower edge of the fascia 105 by means of screws 26.

The fascia closure panel 20 is made from a plastics material by moulding and has the duct 21 formed during the injection process by injecting gas into the mould to blow the plastic material into the required shape.

In use air exiting from the heater or air-conditioning unit 106 intended for the footwells passes into the duct 21 and flows out of the outlets 23 into the footwell 108.

Because the outlets 23 are located in the fascia closure panel 20 at the top of the

footwell 108 and are spaced apart a more uniform distribution of air within the footwell 108 is produced which improves the comfort for an occupant of the motor vehicle. In particular, the air is directed downwardly from the outlets Z onto the feet of an occupant and so both feet directly benefit from the flow of air. That is to say the air flow for one foot is not obstructed by the presence of the other foot in the path of the airflow.

In addition, because there are several outlets the total cross-sectional area of all of the outlets is relatively large compared to a single outlet.

This has the advantage that the flow velocity from each outlet is relatively low because for a constant flow rate, the flow velocity is inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area of the outlet. This lower flow velocity feels more comfortable to an occupant and in addition the noise produced is lower.

With reference to Figs 5 and 6 there is shown a second embodiment of the invention which is in many respects is the same as that previously described.

As previously described the motor vehicle has a body structure including a floor and has a fascia 205 (only a small part of which is shown in Fig. 5) extending laterally across the motor vehicle to support the instruments associated with the motor vehicle.

A heater or air conditioning unit (not shown) is mounted behind the fascia 205 and has an outlet arranged to supply air to a footwell.

The footwell is defined by part of the floor, two side walls, a rear wall forming part ) f the body structure and an upper wall in the form of a fascia closure panel 220.

The fascia closure panel 220 closes a gap between a lower front edge 205e of he fascia 205 and the rear wall (not shown) and is sealingly connected along each

edge to the two side walls (not shown). A glove box 231 is pivotally connected on the passenger side of the fascia 205.

As can best be seen with reference to Fig. 5 the fascia closure panel 220 has a single duct 221 attached to a rear surface thereof.

The duct 221 is blow moulded from a plastic material and has a side wall 228 which defines a conduit through which air can flow. At one end of the duct 221 there is formed an inlet port 222 which, in use, is sealingly connected to the outlet from the heater or air conditioning unit.

At the opposite of the duct 221 there is formed an end portion 224 in which is formed a number of apertures 223 in the side wall 228. As shown there are four apertures 223 but it will appreciated that a differing number of apertures could be used if required. The end portion 224 is sealingly connected to the fascia closure member panel 220 by being bonded thereto, other means of sealingly connecting the duct 221 to the fascia closure member 220 could be used. The duct could, for example, simply be fastened tightly to the fascia closure panel.

Each of the apertures forms an outlet 223 from the duct 221 and is aligned with an opening (not shown) in the fascia closure panel 220 so as to allow air to exit from the duct 221 into the footwell. It will be appreciated that there may be a like number of openings as there are apertures or there could be one or more larger openings so that more than one aperture is aligned with each opening.

The apertures or the openings can be arranged to encourage a divergent flow from the duct 221 but, as shown, no specific divergent flow creating features are used. If the flow from the outlets 223 is encouraged to diverge a more uniform distribution of air can be produced but even without this feature the provision of four

outlets 223 at different locations and the downwardly flow of air produced creates a substantially uniformly distributed supply of air to the footwell. Therefore with such an arrangement boih reei oi lll Ul ; cupant utilising the footwell receive substantially the same flow and temperature of air.

A foam pad (not shown) is bonded to a rear surface of the fascia closure panel 220 to reduce the transmission of noise through the fascia closure panel 220.

In use the air exiting from the heater/air-conditioning unit which is intended for the footwells passes into the duct 221 and flows out of the outlets 223 into the footwell. A substantially uniform distribution of air within the footwell is produced which improves the comfort for an occupant of the motor vehicle because the outlets 223 are located at the top of the footwell and are spaced apart. In particular, the air is directed downwardly from the outlets 223 onto the feet of an occupant and so both feet directly benefit from the flow of air.

In addition, as previously discussed, because there are several outlets the total cross-sectional area of all of the outlets is relatively large and so the flow velocity from each outlet 223 is relatively low. This lower flow velocity feels more comfortable to an occupant and, in addition, the noise produced is lower.

It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein and modifications or alternatives can be conceived without departing from the scope of this invention.

For example, although it is preferably for the outlets to be positioned in the upper wall of the footwell it would be possible to arrange for outlets to be located in both side walls or to have outlets in both the upper wall and both side walls.

It will be appreciated that more than one duct could be used to transport air from the heater/air-conditioner to the footwell or each duct could have a number of limbs to dlstnoute afr to different locations in the footwell.

The fascia closure panel could be an essentially hollow structure forming a large duct and there could a large number of small apertures formed in one side of the fascia closure member to act as outlets.

The process of manufacture of the fascia closure panel could utilise injection moulding with gas injection or could be blow moulding.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle having a body structure defining a passenger compartment, a footwell on either side of the motor vehicle to accommocate, in use, me reet and lower legs of a respective front seated occupant of the motor vehicle and an air distribution system to supply air to the footwells wherein the air distribution system to each footwell comprises of at least one air duct connected at one end to a source of air to be supplied to the footwell and two or more outlets from the or each duct at different locations within the footwell to produce a substantially uniformly distributed supply of air to the footwell

2. A motor vehicle as claimed in claim 1 in which each footwell is defined by a part of the floor of the vehicle, a rear wall, two side walls and an upper wall and the outlets are located in the upper wall so as to direct air downwardly into the footwell at several spaced apart locations.

3. A motor vehicle as claimed in claim 2 in which the upper wall is formed by a fascia closure panel which is used to close off a gap between a lower front edge of a fascia extending laterally across the vehicle and the rear wall.

4. A motor vehicle as claimed in claim 2 or in claim 3 in which outlet apertures are formed in a side wall of the or each duct and each outlet aperture is aligned with a corresponding aperture in the upper wall so as to allow air to flow, in use, from the duct into the top of footwell.

5. A motor vehicle as claimed in claim 3 in which the or each duct and the outlets are formed as an integral part of the fascia closure panel.

6. A motor vehicle as claimed in claim 5 in which the duct to each footwell comprises of a single "U" shaped duct defining two limbs.

7. A motor vehicle as claimed in claim 6 in which each limb has at least one outlet formed therein.

8. A motor vehicle as claimed in claim 6 or in claim 7 in which there are two outlets formed in each limb.

9. A motor vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim in which each of the outlets is arranged to cause a divergent flow therefrom.

10. A motor vehicle as claimed in claim 9 in which each of the outlets includes a diffuser to cause a divergent flow therefrom.

11. A motor vehicle as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 10 in which the source of air is the outlet from a passenger compartment heater.

12. A motor vehicle as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 10 in which the source of air is the outlet from an air conditioning unit.

13. A fascia closure panel for use as an upper wall of a footwell in a motor vehicle wherein the fascia closure panel has at least one duct formed integrally therewith for distributing air to two or more outlets located at different locations on the fascia closure panel so that, in use, a substantially uniform distribution of air is provided to the footwell.

14. A fascia closure panel as claimed in Claim 13 in which the fascia closure panel is made by moulding from a plastics material.

15. A fascia closure panel as claimed in Claim 14 in which the or each duct is made by gas injection during the moulding process

16. A fascia closure panel as claimed in any of Claims 13 to 15 in which the or each duct is a single "Un shaped duct defining two limbs, each limb having at least one outlet formed therein.

17. A fascia closure panel as claimed in claim 16 in which there two outlets formed in each limb.

18. A fascia closure panel as claimed in any of claims 13 to 17 in which the fascia closure panel has a noise attenuating material attached to a rear surface thereof.

19. A motor vehicle substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

20. A fascia closure panel substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.