JP2000016075A - Air conditioner for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To set a vent outlet in a suitable size or shape decrease an air velocity and to reduce noise by disposing a vehicular information indicating part in about a central part of an instrument panel in a vehicular right and left direction, and disposing the vent outlet for a driver's face at a position opposite to a steering wheel. SOLUTION: On a back side of an instrument panel 1, a duct connected to each of vent outlets 3, 4, 5, and 6 is stored. A vehicular information indicating part is disposed in about a center part of an instrument panel 1 in a vehicular right and left direction, and a vent outlet 6 for a driver's face is disposed at a position 1a opposite to a steering wheel 7. Therefore, an opening area or a shape of the vent outlet 6 for a driver's face can be freely designed. In other words, a size or a shape of the vent outlet 6 for a driver's face is not limited by the vehicular information indicating part 2. Further, the vent outlet 6 for a driver's face can be set in a suitable size, or a suitable shape in respects of an air velocity and noise.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conventional automobile air conditioner.

[0003] As shown in FIG.
Reference numerals 104 and 105 are arranged at substantially the center and both ends of the instrument panel 101 in the vehicle left-right direction.

[0004] Air is blown from the vent outlets 104 and 105 toward the driver's face.

However, since the air blown out from the vent outlets 104 and 105 hits the driver's arm and the steering wheel 107 before reaching the driver's face, there is a problem that the driver's face lacks cool feeling.

As conventional air conditioners for automobiles which solve this problem, there are those described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 58-185313, 3-28071 and 6-286456.

[0007] In the case of an air conditioner for a vehicle disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-185313 (conventional example 1), an instrument panel in front of a driver's seat has one horizontally elongated air outlet extending in the left and right direction of the vehicle and a vertical direction of the vehicle. Two elongated air outlets are provided. The upper ends of both vertically elongated air outlets are connected to both ends of the horizontally elongated air outlet. This air outlet is formed by integrating a vent outlet and a foot outlet, and is a so-called shower duct type air outlet.

In the case of an air conditioner for a vehicle disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-28071 (prior art 2), a column cover is provided on an instrument panel in front of a driver's seat, and a part of a steering member is accommodated in the column cover. Have been. The column cover and the steering member can be tilted.
An air outlet is provided above the column cover, and air is blown out from the air outlet toward the driver's face. On the back side of the instrument panel, a duct communicating with the air conditioner unit case is accommodated, and an outlet duct for guiding the air in this duct to the air outlet is accommodated. The duct and the outlet duct communicate with each other via a sheet member.

In the case of the air conditioner for a vehicle disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-286456 (conventional example 3), a projection screen is provided on an instrument panel in front of a driver's seat, and the projection screen is disposed behind the instrument panel. The vehicle information such as speed is displayed by the projector. An air outlet is provided above the projection screen. Air is blown from the air outlet toward the driver's face.

[0010]

In the case of Conventional Example 1, since the opening area of the air outlet is too large, the wind speed becomes low,
Cool air does not reach the rear seats during maximum cooling, resulting in insufficient cooling sensation. To solve this problem, a fan motor having a large output may be used, but this will increase power consumption.

Further, in order to secure a large opening area as in the conventional example 1, the duct to be accommodated on the back side of the instrument panel becomes large, and a large accommodation space is required.

In the case of the prior art 2, since the outlet duct is deformed according to the tilt of the column cover, in order to maintain the state of communication between the duct and the outlet duct, a specially shaped part having a high elasticity is used for the seat member. Must be used as
There is a problem that the manufacturing cost is increased.

In the case of Conventional Example 3, a structure in which the air outlet is provided above the projection screen is employed so as not to deteriorate the visibility of the vehicle information displayed on the projection screen, so that the shape of the air outlet is thin. There is a problem that the belt is shaped like a belt, a large opening area cannot be secured, noise is increased, and adjustment of the wind direction becomes difficult.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a driver face vent outlet having an appropriate size and shape capable of preventing a decrease in wind speed and an increase in noise. An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle which can be set and can reduce the manufacturing cost.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein the vent holes are distributed in an instrument panel. A vehicle information display section is disposed at a substantially central portion of the instrument panel in the lateral direction of the vehicle, and a vent opening for the driver's face is disposed at a location facing the steering wheel of the instrument panel.

As described above, the vehicle information display section is disposed substantially at the center of the instrument panel in the lateral direction of the vehicle, and the vent opening for the driver's face is disposed at a location opposite to the steering wheel of the instrument panel.
The driver face vent outlet can be set to an appropriate size and shape in terms of wind speed, noise, and the like.

Further, since the vent outlets are arranged in a distributed manner, the wind speed does not greatly decrease.

Furthermore, since the face vent is not provided in the column cover, the structure for guiding air to the face vent can be simplified.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the air conditioner for an automobile according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the vent outlet is provided at a substantially central portion of the instrument panel in the lateral direction of the vehicle. It is characterized by being arranged at both ends.

As described above, the vent outlets are disposed at substantially the center and both ends of the instrument panel in the vehicle left-right direction, respectively. In addition, the vent outlet for the driver's face is provided at a position facing the steering wheel of the instrument panel. Is arranged, so that the air volume increases as a whole and noise is suppressed.

Further, since the four vent outlets are dispersedly arranged, the wind speed does not significantly decrease.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an air conditioner for a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention.

A vehicle information display unit 2 (for example, an LCD) such as a speedometer is disposed substantially at the center of the instrument panel 1 in the left-right direction of the vehicle.

At the substantially central portion and both end portions of the instrument panel 1 in the vehicle left-right direction, vent vents 3 and 3 are provided, respectively.
4, 5 are arranged.

At a place 1a of the instrument panel 1 which faces the upper half of the steering wheel 7, a vent opening 6 for the driver's face is arranged. A place 1a of the instrument panel 1 facing the upper half of the steering wheel 7 is a place where the conventional vehicle information display unit 102 is arranged (see FIG. 2).

On the back side of the instrument panel, ducts (not shown) connected to the vent outlets 3, 4, 5, and 6 are accommodated.

As described above, the vehicle information display section 2 is disposed substantially at the center of the instrument panel 1 in the lateral direction of the vehicle, and the vent opening 6 for the driver's face is disposed at the location 1a facing the steering wheel 7. The opening area and shape of the driver face vent outlet 6 can be freely designed. That is, the size and shape of the driver face vent outlet 6 are not restricted by the vehicle information display unit 2.

As described above, the vent outlets 3, 4,
5 are arranged at substantially the center and both ends of the instrument panel 1 in the vehicle left-right direction, and in addition to a place 1 facing the steering wheel 7 of the instrument panel 1.
Since the driver face vent outlet 6 is arranged at a, the air volume increases by the amount corresponding to the driver face vent outlet 6.

The four vent outlets 3, 4, 5,
6 are arranged in a distributed manner, so that the wind speed does not greatly decrease.

According to the vehicle air conditioner of this embodiment, since the opening area of the vent opening 6 for the driver's face can be sufficiently ensured, the generation of noise can be suppressed.
Wind direction adjustment is also easy. Further, since the face vent outlet 6 is not provided in the column cover, the structure for guiding air to the face vent outlet 6 can be simplified, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Further, since the number of vent outlets is increased by one as compared with the conventional example, the air volume increases and noise is suppressed.

Further, four vent outlets 3, 4, 5,
6 are distributed, so that the wind speed does not decrease significantly,
At the time of maximum cooling, the cooling air does not reach the rear seat and the cooling feeling does not become insufficient.

[0034]

As described above, according to the automotive air conditioner of the first aspect of the present invention, the driver face vent outlet is set to an appropriate size and shape in terms of wind speed and noise. Can be.

Further, since the face vent outlet is not provided in the column cover, the structure for guiding air to the face vent outlet can be simplified, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In the vehicle air conditioner according to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first aspect, the number of vent outlets is increased, so that the air volume is increased as a whole and noise is suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an automotive air conditioner according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conventional air conditioner for a vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Instrument panel 2 Vehicle information display part 3,4,5 Vent outlet 6 Driver face vent outlet 7 Steering wheel

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automotive air conditioner in which vent air outlets are dispersedly arranged in an instrument panel, wherein a vehicle information display section is arranged at a substantially central portion of the instrument panel in the vehicle left-right direction, An air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein a vent outlet for a driver's face is arranged at a position facing a steering wheel. 2. The air conditioner for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the vent outlets are arranged at substantially a center portion and both end portions of the instrument panel in the vehicle left-right direction.