JP2000289449A - Evaporator unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an evaporator unit capable of suppressing the propagation of bacteria in the evaporator unit over a wide scope and for a long period of time and preventing bad odor from an air conditioning device effectively. SOLUTION: In this evaporator unit which constitutes a part of an air conditioning device for motor vehicle and in which an evaporator cooling introduced air is installed, infrared ray irradiation ceramics 22 which irradiates infrared rays 23 by absorbing heat energy in the outside and generates active oxygen by resonance-exciting water molecules existing in the surroundings is added to a seal member 10 provided between a case member constituting an outer shell of the evaporator unit and the evaporator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an evaporator unit which constitutes a part of an automotive air conditioner, and more particularly to an antibacterial means thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 3, air W blown into a vehicle cabin from a vehicle air conditioner 1 mounted on a vehicle A causes a bad smell due to microorganisms propagated in the air conditioner 1 or the like. Influence by bacteria. The inside of the air conditioner 1 has an environment in which bacteria are easily propagated by dew condensation water generated from an evaporator core (heat exchange unit).
As a countermeasure, organic antibacterial and antifungal agents and antibacterial metals (Ag, Cu) are added to the core of the evaporator and the dust filter.
And those treated with antibacterial and antifungal agents containing

[0003]

However, since the breeding place of bacteria is not limited to the above-mentioned place but extends over a wide range, it is required to expand the range of antibacterial treatment. In addition, many of the organic antibacterial agents have volatility, which has a problem that not only the antibacterial life is short but also the occupant's health is not preferable. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the antibacterial agent containing the antibacterial metal exerts a bactericidal action on bacteria 27a in contact with the antibacterial agent 26, but the dirt 25 adhered to the treated surface. As a result, there is a problem that the bactericidal action cannot be exerted on bacteria 27b that do not come into direct contact.

[0004] Therefore, the present invention provides an evaporator unit capable of suppressing the growth of bacteria in the evaporator unit over a wide range and for a long period of time and effectively preventing the generation of offensive odor from the air conditioner. Aim.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an evaporator unit which constitutes a part of an air conditioner for a vehicle and has an evaporator for cooling introduced air. A seal member provided between the case member forming the outer shell and the evaporator absorbs external heat energy, emits infrared light, and resonates and excites water molecules around the infrared light to generate active oxygen. Radiation ceramics are added (Claim 1).

A seal portion, which is disposed between a case member forming an outer shell of the evaporator unit and a peripheral portion of the evaporator and has a function of holding the evaporator and preventing air leakage, is provided with dew water generated in a core portion of the evaporator. It is a part that easily flows and accumulates, and is a place where bacteria can easily propagate alongside the core part and the dust filter.

The infrared radiation ceramics are formed by mixing aluminum oxide or the like as a base material with silicon oxide or titanium oxide at a predetermined ratio, and are mainly used in the form of fine powders. It has the property of absorbing energy and radiating infrared rays semipermanently. With this radiated infrared ray, the water molecules (including water in the body tissues of bacteria) are excited by resonance, and the activity has a bactericidal action. Oxygen can be generated. Due to this property,
Even if the bacteria do not directly touch the infrared-emitting ceramics, the bacteria existing within the range of the emitted infrared radiation can be killed.

[0010] Therefore, the antibacterial effect of the seal portion in the evaporator unit, in which bacteria easily propagate, is remarkably improved by the above-described configuration, and thereby the odor of the air blown out of the air conditioner is effectively prevented. be able to.

Further, the case member may be formed of a resin material mixed with the infrared radiation ceramics (Claim 2), or a paint mixed with the infrared radiation ceramics may be applied to the inner wall surface of the case member. Good (claim 3).

[0010] The case of the evaporator unit is also a place where the condensed water of the evaporator and the like easily adhere and the bacteria easily propagate. Therefore, the antibacterial action inside the case member can be remarkably improved by the above configuration.

Further, a hydrophilic treatment agent mixed with the infrared radiation ceramic may be applied to a core portion of the evaporator.

When the core portion of the evaporator is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment, the drainage property is improved, so that the cooling and heating performance can be improved. However, a thin water film is always formed on the surface of the core portion. So that bacteria can easily propagate. Thus, by including infrared-emitting ceramics in the hydrophilic treatment agent as in the above configuration, it is possible to achieve both the drainage property of the core portion of the evaporator and the antibacterial action.

[0013]

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

An air conditioner 1 for an automobile shown in FIG.
Is formed with an air intake 6 for taking in air,
A blower unit 2 provided with a fan 5 that is driven to rotate by a motor or the like and generates an intake force and an air supply force;
An evaporator unit 3 provided with a dust collecting filter 8 for collecting dust taken in by driving the fan 5 and an evaporator 9 for cooling the taken air;
The heater core 12 for reheating the air cooled by the evaporator 9 and the heater unit 4 provided with the air mix door 11 for adjusting the amount of air in which the cool air from the evaporator 9 flows into the heater core 12 are sequentially arranged in the ventilation direction. It is configured to be connected. The heater core 12
Further downstream, a defroster outlet 13 that blows air toward the windshield in the vehicle compartment, a vent outlet 14 that blows air mainly toward the upper body of the occupant, and a foot outlet 15 that blows air toward the feet of the occupant Is formed so that the air whose temperature has been adjusted can be blown out of the desired air outlet into the vehicle interior by the air outlet switching door 16.

The evaporator unit 3 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), this evaporator unit 3
A sealing material 10 made of an elastic material such as urethane is provided between the plastic casing 20 forming the outer shell of the evaporator 9 and the evaporator 9. The sealing material 10 holds the evaporator 9. Along with
This is for preventing air from leaking from around the evaporator 9 so that the air passes through the core portion 9a in which the tubes 17 and the corrugated fins 18 in which the refrigerant flows are alternately stacked. Also, on the surface of the core portion 9a,
A hydrophilic film 19 made of an organic polymer is formed,
The drainage is improved.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, an infrared radiating ceramic 22 is provided in the casing 20, the sealing material 10, and the hydrophilic film 19 formed on the surface of the core 9a. Fine powder is added. The infrared radiating ceramics 22 is formed, for example, by mixing silicon oxide or titanium oxide at a predetermined ratio with aluminum oxide as a base material, and radiates infrared rays 23 semipermanently by absorbing external heat energy. The radiated infrared rays 23 cause the water molecules (including water contained in the body tissue of bacteria) to be resonantly excited by the emitted infrared rays 23 to generate active oxygen having a bactericidal action.

As a result, the bacteria 2 existing on the inner wall of the casing 20, the sealing material 10, and the surface of the hydrophilic film 19 are removed.
Of the 4a and 24b, the radiated infrared rays 23 are emitted not only to the bacteria 24a that come into contact with the infrared-emitting ceramics 22 but also to bacteria 24b that do not come into direct contact with the infrared ceramics 22 due to dirt 25 attached to the surface. The water reaches the bacteria 24b, and the water molecules existing around the bacteria 24b and the water molecules in the somatic cells are resonantly excited to generate active oxygen, thereby exhibiting a bactericidal action.
As described above, according to the antibacterial treatment using the infrared-emitting ceramics 22, a halo effect that exerts an effect on bacteria that do not directly touch the infrared-emitting ceramics 22 powder is obtained. It is enlarged and the antibacterial action is dramatically improved.

In the above configuration, the infrared radiation ceramics 22 is kneaded into a plastic casing 20. A coating containing the infrared radiation ceramics 22 is applied to the inner wall surface 20a of the casing 20. However, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

FIG. 5 shows the effect of the above-mentioned infrared radiation ceramic antibacterial agent compared with the conventional organic antibacterial agent and silver inorganic antibacterial agent. According to this, the organic antibacterial agent is unfavorable to the occupant's health because it has volatility, and if volatilized, the effect is lost, so the antibacterial life is short, and the antibacterial range (the range of bacterial species that can be sterilized) is narrow, and some It is effective only for this species. As for the halo effect, a bactericidal effect can be obtained in a range where a volatilized gas can reach, but the effect is lost when the volatilization is completed.

The silver-based inorganic antibacterial agent has no volatility, has a semi-permanent antibacterial life, and can be effective against almost all bacterial species. As shown in FIG. It has no effect on bacteria 27b that do not directly touch the antibacterial metal 26, and has the property of discoloring when exposed to ultraviolet rays such as sunlight.

The infrared-radiating ceramic antibacterial agent has good properties such as no volatility, a semi-permanent antibacterial life, an extremely wide antibacterial range, a halo effect and no discoloration due to UV. Therefore, the growth of bacteria in the evaporator unit 3 can be suppressed over a wide range and for a long time, so that the odor from the air conditioner 1 can be effectively prevented.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an evaporator unit which can suppress the growth of bacteria in the evaporator unit over a wide range and for a long period of time, and can effectively prevent the odor from the air conditioner. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a schematic view showing a structure of a duct of an automotive air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an enlarged perspective view showing an evaporator unit of the duct. FIG.

FIG. 2 is an image diagram showing an antibacterial treatment using infrared radiation ceramics applied to the evaporator unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an automotive air conditioner.

FIG. 4 is an image diagram showing a conventional antibacterial treatment.

FIG. 5 is a table showing a comparison of the effects of an organic antibacterial agent, a silver-based antibacterial agent, and an (infrared radiation) ceramics antibacterial agent.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 air conditioner for automobile 2 blower unit 3 evaporator unit 4 heater unit 5 fan 6 air inlet 8 dust filter 9 evaporator 9a core part 10 sealing member 11 air mix door 12 heater core 19 hydrophilic film 22 infrared radiation ceramics 23 radiation infrared radiation 24a , 24b bacteria 25 dirt

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An evaporator unit which constitutes a part of an automotive air conditioner and is provided with an evaporator for cooling introduced air, wherein the evaporator unit is provided between a case member forming an outer shell of the evaporator unit and the evaporator. An evaporator unit characterized by adding infrared radiation ceramics, which absorbs external heat energy, emits infrared radiation, and resonates and excites water molecules present around the seal member to generate active oxygen, to the seal member. 2. The evaporator unit according to claim 1, wherein said case member is formed of a resin material mixed with said infrared radiation ceramics. 3. The evaporator unit according to claim 1, wherein a paint in which said infrared radiation ceramic is mixed is applied to an inner wall surface of said case member. 4. The evaporator unit according to claim 1, wherein a hydrophilic treatment agent mixed with the infrared radiation ceramic is applied to a core portion of the evaporator.