GB2532135A

GB2532135A - Air vent, ventilation system and vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2532135A
Application number: GB1518295.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Devesh Ravindran Abhiram
Original assignee: Daimler AG
Current assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Priority date: 2015-10-16
Filing date: 2015-10-16
Publication date: 2016-05-11
Also published as: GB201518295D0

Abstract

An air vent 10 for a ventilation system of a vehicle, the air vent comprising an iris mechanism 12 for varying a diameter through which conditioned air can be passed such that an outflow direction of the air substantially coincides with an axial direction 24 of the vent. The iris mechanism may comprise a plurality of blades (28, figure 5), and the inclination of the blades may be varied to form a tapering cone or a widening cone. The vent may incorporate an actuating element 18 and the flow rate through the vent may be variable. The vent may be for a passenger of a vehicle. Also claimed is a ventilation system comprising at least one air vent as described, and a vehicle with that ventilation system.

Description

Air vent, ventilation system and vehicle The invention relates to an air vent for a ventilation system of a vehicle. The air vent comprises an iris mechanism for varying a diameter through which the conditioned air flowing through the air vent can be passed. The invention further relates to a ventilation system with at least one such air vent and to a vehicle with a ventilation system.

In heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC-systems) for vehicles it is possible to control the flow rate of the air and thus the volume of air which is blown into the passenger compartment of the vehicle per time unit. Also, the volumetric flow rate through an individual air vent can be modified by means of a control wheel usually placed next to the air vent. Further an outflow direction of the air leaving the air vent can be varied by modifying an inclination of lamellas arranged at an outlet of the air vent.

Document US 4 672 886 A describes an oscillating air stream apparatus for an automobile defroster. Herein, nozzles are arranged at opposite end sections of a groove formed in a support structure. Through the nozzles air jets are projected towards each other. Where the air jets collide, a combined air stream is projected outwards from the groove. The region in which the air jets collide to create the combined air stream depends on the relative strength of the two air jets. This strength or energy can be controlled by physically constricting the flow area, for example by means of an iris. By varying the relative strength of the air jets leaving the nozzles, the location at which the combined air jet or air stream leaves the groove can be varied.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an air vent of the initially mentioned kind which enables an improved ventilation control, a ventilation system with such an air vent and a vehicle with such a ventilation system.

This object is solved by an air vent having the features of claim 1, a ventilation system having the features of claim 8 and a vehicle having the features of claim 9. Advantageous configurations with convenient further developments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

The air vent according to the invention comprises an iris mechanism for varying a diameter through which conditioned air which can be passed through the air vent. Herein, an outflow direction of the air leaving the air vent substantially coincides with an axial direction of the air vent. This allows blowing the air towards a passenger within a passenger compartment of the vehicle. In other words the air passing through the iris mechanism is not, as described in document US 4 672 886 A, deflected perpendicularly before it leaves the air vent. Rather, the air is blown directly towards the passenger. Herein, the flow velocity or the flow rate of the air leaving the air vent can be controlled by varying the diameter of an opening in the iris mechanism. This allows in particular to control the flow velocity of each air vent individually. Therefore the air vent enables an improved ventilation control. Further the direction oft the air flow is not affected without affecting the flow velocity.

Also no centralized control for regulating the flow velocity is needed. This simplifies the climate control in various zones of the passenger compartment, for example if the ventilation system is configured as a two zone control climate control system or as a four zone climate control system. In particular, such a climate control of different zones within the passenger compartment is particularly easy through the utilization of the air vent. Further, the flow of air, in particular conditioned air, to a rear passenger can be improved.

It has proven advantageous if the iris mechanism, which can in particular be operated by a passenger of the vehicle, comprises a plurality of blades. By moving these blades, the diameter of the opening in the iris mechanism can be varied particularly easily and in a particularly reliable manner.

Means can be provided for varying an inclination of the blades with respect to the axial direction. In this way a three-dimensional iris mechanism is provided, and the diameter which can be passed by the air flowing through the air vent can be varied particularly easily.

Herein, a shape of an end section of the air vent can be varied with respect to the axial direction of the air vent between a tapering cone and a widening cone by varying the inclination of the blades. Thus, a converging air flow through the end section or nozzle can be achieved to increase the flow velocity through the air vent in its end section. The convergent nozzle can in particular be used for diverting the conditioned air to a rear passenger in case there is no possibility to deliver conditioned air to the rear passengers by means of other air vents. Further, a diverging end section can be provided which leads to a decrease of the flow velocity of the air leaving the air vent. Therefore, the air flow can be focused or widened as desired by the passenger, to whom the air is blown through the air vent.

The air vent can comprise an actuating element such as an actuating ring in order to modify a radial position of the blades with respect to an axis of the air vent, which coincides with the axial direction. This changes the orientation of the blades from a convergent orientation to a divergent orientation. This in turn changes the area of the air vent through which conditioned air is delivered to the passengers. Each blade can overlap with at least one adjacent blade. Such an iris mechanism also allows to vary the diameter of the opening in the iris mechanism in a particularly easy and reliable manner. Herein, the overlapping blades can also particular be arranged substantially in the same plane.

The air vent preferably comprises means for modifying a flow rate of the air flowing through the air vent and of the outflow direction of the air leaving the air vent. Further, the air vent can in particular be formed as an air vent for a passenger of the vehicle.

The ventilation system according to the invention comprises at least one air vent according to the invention. The ventilation system is preferably a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

The vehicle according to the invention comprises a ventilation system according to the invention. The advantages and preferred embodiments described with respect to the air vent correspondingly apply to the ventilation system and to the vehicle according to the invention.

The features and feature combinations mentioned above in the description as well as the features and feature combinations mentioned below in the description of figures and/or shown in the figures alone are usable not only in the respectively specified combination, but also in other combinations or alone, without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, implementations are also to be considered as encompassed and disclosed by the invention, which are not explicitly shown in the figures or explained, but arise from and can be generated by separated feature combinations from the explained implementations.

Further advantages, features and details of the invention are apparent from the claims, the following description of preferred embodiments as well as based on the drawings. Therein show: Fig. 1 schematically an air vent of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system for a vehicle, wherein by means of an actuating element a diameter which can be passed by air flowing through the air vent can be varied; Fig. 2 the air vent of Fig. 1 in a front view; Fig. 3 the air vent of Fig. 1, wherein an end section of the air vent has the shape of a widened cone, leading to a decrease in the flow velocity of the air passing through the end section; Fig. 4 the air vent of Fig. 1, wherein the end section has the shape of a tapering cone providing for an increased flow velocity of the air passing through the end section; and Fig. 5 blades of an iris mechanism allowing to vary the diameter which can be passed by the air flowing through the air vent.

Fig. 1 schematically shows an air vent 10 of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system for a vehicle, which enables a flow velocity control using an iris mechanism 12, of which one possible variant is shown in Fig. 5. Through a plurality of such air vents 10 heated or cooled air can be blown towards passengers in a passenger compartment of the vehicle. The air vent 10 comprises a first section 14 with an invariable diameter and an end section 16 downstream of the first section 14. By means of the iris mechanism 12, a diameter through which conditioned air passes, when the air flows through the air vent 10, can be varied within the end section 16. Herein, the orientation of blades 28 (see Fig. 5) of the iris mechanism 12 can be changed with respect to a central axis 24 of the air vent 10. This in turn changes the diameter 30 (see Fig. 5).

To achieve this, the air vent 10 comprises an actuating element 18, which can be formed as a ring with a pin 20 projecting in a radial direction (see Fig. 2). A passenger of the vehicle equipped with the HVAC-system can operate the iris mechanism 12 by moving the pin 20 in the directions indicated by an arrow 22 in Fig. 2. As the actuating element 18 is rotated about the central axis 24 of the air vent 10, a shape of the end section 16 can be modified. This central axis 24 also indicates the axial direction, i.e. the direction from the invariable diameter first section 14 of the air vent 10 to the end section 16 of the air vent.

In the configuration of the end section 16 shown in Fig. 1, the air leaves the air vent 10 with a given velocity vo and a given pressure Po. However, by rotating the actuating element 18 of the iris mechanism 12, the flow velocity of the air leaving the air vent 10 can be modified.

For example, the diameter of the end section 16, which can be passed by the air flowing through the air vent 10, can be increased. This is schematically shown in Fig. 3. Here, the air flow which has passed the end section 16 having the shape of a diverging nozzle, and which leaves the air vent 10, is indicated by diverging lines 26. This shape of the end section 16 can, for example, be obtained by varying an inclination of a plurality of blades with respect to the axial direction of the air vent 10. The blades can partially overlap and circumferentially surround a section of the air vent 10 through which the air flows. Thus, a major surface of the plate-like blades can face the interior of the end section 16, wherein the opposite major surface of each blade faces an exterior of the end section 16.

To create the shape of the end section 16 shown in Fig. 3 these blades can in particular be inclined such that there is almost no overlap between adjacent blades forming the end section 16. By providing this end section 16 with the shape of a widened cone (see Fig. 3) or a tapering cone (see Fig. 4), a three-dimensional iris mechanism 12 can be utilized to control the flow velocity of the air leaving the air vent 10.

If the end section 16 has the diverging shape shown in Fig. 3, a pressure P2 of the air leaving the air vent 10 is increased with respect to the pressure Po. On the other hand, a flow velocity v2 is decreased with respect to the flow velocity vo of the air within the first section 14.

The end section 16 can also have the shape of a tapering cone as shown in Fig. 4. To achieve this, the blades can for example be inclined towards the axial direction of the air vent 10. With such a converging nozzle and a consequently decreased diameter which can be passed by the air flowing through the air vent 10, a higher flow velocity v1 can be achieved with respect to the flow velocity vo within the first section 14. This increase in flow velocity goes along with a decrease of a pressure P1 within the end section 16 and in the air stream leaving the air vent 10.

Fig. 5 shows one possibility for varying the diameter 30 of the air vent 10, which can be passed by the air flowing through the air vent 10 by means of the iris mechanism 12. To achieve this, the actuating element 18 having the pin 20 can be formed as a ring-like structure with elongated holes 32. By rotating the actuating element 18, bolts 34 move within the elongated holes 32. As each bolt 34 is fixed to a respective blade 28 of the iris mechanism 12, the blades rotate about further bolts 36, which provide respective axes of rotation for each one of the blades 28. The blades 28 therefore rotate about the further bolts 36, when the actuating element 18 is moved in one of the directions indicated by an arrow in Fig. 5. Consequently a size of respective areas of the blades 28 changes, in which the blades 28 overlap with adjacent blades 28. This leads to a variation of the diameter 30, which can be passed by the air flowing through the air vent 10.

Through the use of this iris mechanism 12, the flow velocity of each one of the air vents 10 of the HVAC-system can therefore be controlled individually. No centralized control is needed for regulating the flow velocity, and a simplified two zone climate control or four zone climate control can be achieved. And in particular, the flow of conditioned air to a rear passenger can be improved.

List of reference signs air vent 12 iris mechanism 14 first section 16 end section 18 actuating element pin 22 arrow 24 axis 26 line 28 blade diameter 32 elongated hole 34 bolt 36 bolt

Claims

Claims 1. Air vent for a ventilation system of a vehicle, comprising an iris mechanism (12) for varying a diameter (30) through which conditioned air can be passed through the air vent (10), characterized in that an outflow direction of the air leaving the air vent (10) substantially coincides with an axial direction (24) of the air vent (10).
2. Air vent according to claim 1, characterized in that the iris mechanism (12), which can in particular be operated by a passenger of the vehicle, comprises a plurality of blades (28).
3. Air vent according to claim 2, characterized by means for varying an inclination of the blades (28) with respect to the axial direction (24) in order to vary the diameter (30) which can be passed by the air flowing through the air vent (10).
4. Air vent according to claim 3, characterized in that a shape of an end section (16) of the air vent (10) can be varied with respect to the axial direction (24) of the air vent (10) between a tapering cone and a widening cone by varying the inclination of the blades (28).
5. Air vent according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that by operating an actuating element (18) a radial position of the blades (28) with respect to the axial direction (24) of the air vent (10) can be modified in order to vary the diameter (30) through which the conditioned air flowing through the air vent (10) can be passed.
6. Air vent according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by means for modifying a flow rate of the air flowing through the air vent (10) and/or of the outflow direction of the air leaving the air vent (10).
7. Air vent according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the air vent (10) is formed as an air vent for a passenger of the vehicle.
8. Ventilation system with at least one air vent (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the ventilation system is a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
9. Vehicle with a ventilation system according to claim 8.