JP2001010326A - Air-conditioning device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent mold and bacteria, adhered on an air supply fan, together with air-conditioning air from being transferred into cabin during restarting of air-conditioning operation. SOLUTION: An air introduction port 12 is formed in an end part situated down stream from a casing 2 for an air-conditioning device 1. A reverse air supply fan 13 is situated in the air introduction port 12 and outside air is introduced to an end part situated downstream from an air passage 3 through the air introduction port 12. Introduced air is heated by a heater 6. An evaporator 5 is dried by heated air. The dried air is discharged through a discharge passage 15 to an external part. Further, an opening and closing door 16 to open and close the air passage 3 is situated between the air supply fan 4 and the evaporator 5 so that the dried air is prevented from inflow to the air supply fan 4 side. The opening and closing door 16 is also used for opening and closing of the discharge passage 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle which can prevent mold and the like from growing in and around an evaporator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an air conditioner for a vehicle is provided with a blower fan, an evaporator and a heater which are sequentially arranged in an air passage from an upstream side to a downstream side, and air is blown into the air passage by the blower fan. , The evaporator cools first. Thereafter, a part of the cooled air is heated by a heater, and the heated air and the unheated air are mixed on the downstream side of the heater to bring the air to a desired air conditioning temperature. Then, the conditioned air is blown out from a desired air outlet.

When air is cooled by an evaporator, moisture contained in the air is dewed and adheres to the evaporator. For this reason, in the evaporator and its vicinity,
Bacteria and mold are easily generated.

Therefore, in the air conditioner described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-146713, when the compressor for the evaporator is stopped, air is caused to flow in the air passage in the opposite direction. When the air flows in the opposite direction, the air flows through the heater and the evaporator in this order, and is heated first by the heater. The heated air evaporates the dew condensation water when passing through the evaporator, and makes the evaporator and its vicinity dry. This prevents the growth of mold and the like in and around the evaporator.

[0005]

If the direction of air flow in the air passage is simply reversed as in the above-mentioned conventional air conditioner, molds and the like generated in the evaporator and its vicinity are used for drying. The air is caused to flow to the upstream side of the air passage and adheres to the upstream parts, particularly to the blower fan. Then, when the air-conditioning operation is resumed, there is a possibility that the air-conditioning air may be sent into the vehicle together with the conditioned air.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a blower for sending air into an air passage, an evaporator for cooling the air sent by the blower, and a downstream of the evaporator. A first opening / closing means for opening and closing the air passage between the blowing means and the evaporator, the first opening / closing means being provided on a side of the vehicle and having a heater for heating the air cooled by the evaporator; Communicates with the air passage between the opening / closing means and the evaporator, the other end of which is open to the outside, a second opening / closing means for opening / closing the discharge passage, and a downstream end in the air passage. The air blower further includes reverse air blowing means for sending air from the side to the upstream side and passing the air in the order of the heater and the evaporator. In this case, the first opening / closing means is
Preferably, the discharge passage is closed when the air passage is opened, and the discharge passage is opened when the air passage is closed, so that the discharge passage is also used as the second opening / closing means. One end is connected to the air passage with the blowing means and the first
And a third opening / closing means for opening and closing the bypass passage, the other end being downstream of the heater and communicating with the air passage, and a third opening / closing means for opening / closing the bypass passage. When the air passage is closed and the third opening / closing means is opening the bypass passage, the air blowing means sends air to the air passage downstream of the heater via the bypass passage,
It is desirable to also serve as the reverse air blowing means for passing air in order from the heater to the evaporator. It is preferable that the first opening / closing means is also used as the third opening / closing means by closing the bypass passage when opening the air passage and opening the bypass passage when closing the air passage. The first
A dehumidifying and humidifying rotor that rotates with the circumferential portion facing the air passage upstream of the opening / closing means and the other circumferential portion facing the discharge passage; and faces the discharge passage of the dehumidifying rotor. It is desirable to further include a dehumidifying heater for heating the other part. It is preferable to further include a flow switching unit that switches a range from an intermediate portion to an upper end of the evaporator between a state where air can flow and a state where air cannot flow.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and an air conditioner 1 for a vehicle shown in this figure has a casing 2. An air passage 3 is formed inside the casing 2. The upstream end of the air passage 3 communicates with the inside air inlet 3a and the outside air inlet 3b, and the downstream end thereof has a defrost outlet 3
c, the vent outlet 3d and the foot outlet 3e. Of course, other outlets may be provided in place of or in addition to those outlets.

Inside the air passage 3, a blower fan (blower means) 4, an evaporator 5, and a heater 6 are sequentially arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side. Blower fan 4
Takes in air from the inside air intake 3a or the outside air intake 3b and sends the air to the downstream side of the air passage 3. Intake 3a,
Which of 3b air is taken in is determined by the rotational position of the intake door 7. The evaporator 5 constitutes a refrigeration cycle together with a compressor (not shown), and cools the air taken into the air passage 3. The heater 6 heats the air flowing in the air passage 3 with cooling water of an engine (not shown), and heats part or all of the air cooled by the evaporator 5. The proportion of air to be heated is determined by the opening of the air mix door 8. The heated air and the unheated air are mixed downstream of the heater 6 to reach a desired temperature. The conditioned air at the desired temperature is
A part or all of the defrost outlet 3c, vent outlet 3d and foot outlet 3e are blown into the vehicle. Which outlet the conditioned air is blown from is determined by the open / close state of the open / close doors 9, 10, and 11 provided at the outlets 3c, 3d, and 3e, respectively.

The above configuration is the same as that of a conventional vehicle air conditioner, but the air conditioner 1 further has the following configuration. That is, the casing 2 is formed with the air inlet 12. One end of the air inlet 12 is connected to the heater 6.
It is connected to the air passage 3 on the further downstream side. The other end of the air inlet 12 is open either inside or outside the vehicle, but is preferably open outside the vehicle. A reverse blower fan (reverse blower) 13 is provided in the air inlet 12.
Is provided. When the reverse blower fan 13 is started and the opening / closing door 14 for opening / closing the air inlet 12 is opened, the air inside or outside the vehicle is sent from the air inlet 12 into the air passage 3, and the downstream side of the air passage 3 Flows upstream from.

The casing 2 is provided with a discharge passage 15. One end of the discharge passage 15 communicates with the air passage 3 between the blower fan 4 and the evaporator 5. The other end of the discharge passage 15 is open to the outside of the vehicle.

An opening / closing door (first opening / closing means) 16 is provided in the air passage 3. The opening / closing door 16 is provided between the blower fan 4 and the evaporator 5 to form the air passage 3.
Open and close. In addition, when the air passage 3 is opened by rotating to the position indicated by the imaginary line in FIG. 1 (hereinafter referred to as the air-conditioning position), the discharge passage 15 is closed, and the position indicated by the solid line (hereinafter referred to as the drying position). When the air passage 3 is closed by rotating to the right, the discharge passage 15 is opened. As is apparent from this, the opening / closing door 16 is also used as the first opening / closing means and the second opening / closing means. As a result, manufacturing costs are reduced. Of course, the air passage 3 and the discharge passage 15 may be opened and closed by separate opening and closing doors.

In the vicinity of the downstream side of the evaporator 5,
A switching door (flow switching means) 17 is provided. The switching door 17 is for switching the range from the center to the upper end of the evaporator 5 between a state in which air can flow and a state in which air cannot flow. As shown by an imaginary line in FIG. When rotated to the open position along the inner surface of the evaporator 3, the back surface of the evaporator 5 is opened. Therefore,
Air can flow through the entire evaporator 5. On the other hand, when the switching door 17 is rotated to a closed position along the back surface of the evaporator 5 as shown by a solid line in FIG. 1, the switching door 17 covers the evaporator 5 from the center to the upper end. Thereby, the flow of air in the range from the center to the upper end of the evaporator 4 is blocked. Switching door 17
May be arranged on the upstream side of the evaporator 5.

The casing 2 is provided with a drying heater 18 at a position facing the lower end of the evaporator 5. The heater 18 is for heating and drying the lower end portion of the evaporator 5 and the vicinity thereof, and may use the cooling water of the engine, or may use a heat source such as a nichrome wire. There may be.

In the vehicle air conditioner having the above configuration, when performing normal air conditioning, the opening and closing door 16 is located at the air conditioning position, the switching door 17 is at the open position, and the opening and closing door 14 is at the closed position. The drying heater 18 is turned off. When the blower fan 4 is started in this state, air is introduced into the air passage 3 from one of the air intakes 3a and 3b. The introduced air is cooled by the evaporator 5. Part of the cooled air is heated by the heater 6. The desired temperature is adjusted by mixing the heated air and the unheated air on the downstream side of the heater 6. The temperature-controlled conditioned air is supplied to the outlets 3c, 3c.
Air is blown into the vehicle from the outlet selected from d and 3e.

In order to dry the evaporator 5 to which dew condensation water has adhered, the opening and closing doors 9, 10, and 11 are previously set to the closed position, the opening and closing door 14 is set to the open position, the switching door 17 is set to the closed position, and the opening and closing door 16 is set in advance. Keep each in the drying position. The air mix door 8 is rotated so that all the air that has passed through the evaporator 5 passes through the heater 6. Further, the drying heater 18 is turned on. Of course, the compressor for the evaporator 5 is stopped.

When the reverse blower fan 13 is started in such a state, air is introduced from the air inlet 12 to the downstream end of the air passage 3. In this case, if the air inlet 12 is communicated with the outside of the vehicle, the temperature-controlled air in the vehicle will not be discharged to the outside. In addition, when air outside the vehicle is introduced, since the inside of the vehicle does not have a negative pressure, it is possible to prevent contaminated outside air from entering the vehicle and to prevent the efficiency of the reverse blower fan 13 from decreasing. it can.

The air introduced from the air inlet 12 into the air passage 3 flows toward the upstream side and is heated by the heater 6. Here, since the heater 6 heats the air with the cooling water of the engine, the drying of the evaporator 5 is desirably performed in a state where the engine is turned on and the air conditioning is turned off. The air heated by the heater 6 dries the evaporator 5 and its vicinity when passing through the evaporator 5. In this case, since the range from the center to the upper end of the evaporator 5 is shielded by the switching door 17, only the lower half of the evaporator 5 is dried. However, since the dew water gradually flows down the evaporator 5, a large amount of dew water exists below the evaporator. Therefore, the upper half of the evaporator 5 hardly needs to be dried,
Only the lower half needs to be dried. From such a viewpoint, the heating air is passed only through the lower half of the evaporator 5, thereby improving the drying efficiency. The drying heater 18 is arranged adjacent to the lower end of the evaporator 5 for the same reason. Since the evaporator 5 and the vicinity thereof are dried, it is possible to prevent the growth of mold and bacteria.

The air that has dried the evaporator 5 does not flow upstream in the air passage 3 but immediately flows into the discharge passage 15 because the opening / closing door 16 closes the air passage 3. Then, the fuel is discharged from the discharge passage 15 to the outside of the vehicle.

In the vehicle air conditioner 1 described above, the air obtained by drying the evaporator 5 is immediately discharged to the outside from the discharge passage 15 without flowing into the air passage 3 to the blower fan 4 side. Moreover, the conditioned air does not pass through the discharge passage 15 during the normal air conditioning operation. Therefore,
Mold and the like can be reliably prevented from being sent into the vehicle together with the conditioned air.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 will be described. In this embodiment, only the configuration different from that of the above-described vehicle air conditioner 1 will be described, and the same portions will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

In the vehicle air conditioner 1 'of this embodiment, the reverse blower fan 13 is not provided, and the blower fan 4 is also used as the reverse blower fan.
In order to be able to use the blower fan 4 together, the casing 2
Is provided with a bypass passage 21. One end of the bypass passage 21 communicates with the air passage 3 between the blower fan 4 and the evaporator 5. Bypass passage 2
1 has an air passage 3 downstream of the heater 6.
Is in communication with

The bypass passage 21 is opened and closed by an opening and closing door 16. That is, the opening / closing door 16 is used for both opening and closing of the air passage 3 and opening and closing of the bypass passage 21. When the opening / closing door 16 is rotated to the drying position shown by the solid line in FIG. When the air conditioner 21 is opened and turned to the air conditioning position indicated by the imaginary line, the air passage 3 is opened and the bypass passage 21 is closed. Therefore, in this embodiment, the opening / closing door 16 is connected to the first opening / closing means and the third opening / closing means.
Is also used as opening / closing means. Opening door 16 is third
The discharge passage 15 is provided with a dedicated opening / closing door (second opening / closing means) 22 because the opening / closing means is also used as the opening / closing means. Of course, the opening / closing door 16 may be used as the first and second opening / closing means, and an opening / closing door (third opening / closing means) for opening and closing the bypass passage 21 may be separately provided.

Further, a circular dehumidifying / rotating rotor 23 is rotatably provided in the casing 2, and is rotatably driven by a rotary drive source (not shown). This dehumidifying / humidifying rotor 23 blows approximately half of the circumferential direction of the blowing fan 4.
It is arranged so that it faces the air passage 3 on the more upstream side and the other half in the circumferential direction faces the discharge passage 15. In addition, a heater 24 for dehumidification is provided in the discharge passage 15. The heater 24 is arranged so as to be close to the dehumidifying and humidifying rotor 23 and further closer to the air passage 3 therefrom.

When normal air conditioning is performed in the vehicle air conditioner 1 'having the above configuration, the opening / closing door 16 is set to the air conditioning position.
The opening / closing doors 22 are respectively located at the closed positions. Further, the dehumidifying / humidifying rotor 23 and the dehumidifying heater 24 are stopped.
Others are the same as in the air conditioning of the air conditioner 1. By activating the blower fan 4, air conditioning can be performed in the same manner as in the air conditioner 1.

When drying the evaporator 5, the opening / closing door 16 is turned to the drying position. Thereby, the air passage 3 is closed between the blower fan 4 and the evaporator 5, the bypass passage 21 is opened, and the upstream portion of the air passage 3 on the blower fan 4 side is connected to the bypass passage 21 on the downstream side of the heater 6. To communicate through Further, the discharge passage 15 is opened by rotating the opening / closing door 22 to the open position. Further, the dehumidifying / humidifying rotor 23 is driven to rotate, and the dehumidifying heater 24 is turned on.

When the blower fan 4 is started in this state, air is introduced into the air passage 3 from the air inlet 3a or 3b. In this case, for the reason described above, the outside air intake 3b
It is desirable to introduce from. When air is introduced from the outside air intake 3b, the temperature-controlled air inside the vehicle is not discharged to the outside. Further, since the air inside the vehicle is not discharged to the outside, the inside of the vehicle does not have a negative pressure. Therefore,
This is because it is possible to prevent the contaminated outside air from entering the inside of the vehicle and prevent the efficiency of the blower fan 4 from decreasing.

The air introduced into the air passage 3 is dehumidified by the dehumidifying / rotating rotor 23. Thereafter, the air flows into the downstream end of the air passage through the bypass passage 21. Then, the evaporator 5 and the vicinity thereof are dried by passing through the heater 6 and the evaporator 5 in this order. In this case, the air introduced into the air passage 3 is
3, the evaporator 5 can be more efficiently dried.

The air obtained by drying the evaporator 5 flows into the discharge passage 15. The air flowing into the discharge passage 15 is
The air passes through the drying heater 24 and the dehumidifying / rotating rotor 23 sequentially and is discharged outside the vehicle. Here, the air is supplied to the drying heater 2.
4 through which the relative humidity is reduced. As a result, when passing through the dehumidifying / humidifying rotor 23, the portion of the dehumidifying / humidifying rotor 23 facing the discharge passage 15 is dried. In addition, the portion of the dehumidifying / rotating rotor 23 facing the discharge passage 15 is directly heated by the drying heater 6 to be dried. Then, the dried portion rotates and enters the air passage 3 so that the intake 3
Dehumidifies the air introduced into the air passage 3 from a or 3b.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably prevent the growth of mold and bacteria in and around the evaporator, and to prevent the mold from being sent into the vehicle together with the conditioned air. This has the effect of preventing it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 vehicle air conditioner 1 'vehicle air conditioner 3 air passage 4 blower fan 5 evaporator 6 heater 13 reverse blower fan (reverse blower means) 15 discharge passage 16 opening / closing door (first opening / closing means) 17 switching door (distribution) Switching means) 21 bypass passage 22 opening / closing door (second opening / closing means) 23 dehumidifying / humidifying rotor 24 dehumidifying heater

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An air blower for sending air into an air passage, an evaporator for cooling the air sent by the air blower, a heater disposed downstream of the evaporator and heating the air cooled by the evaporator. A first opening / closing means for opening / closing the air passage between the blowing means and the evaporator, and one end communicating with the air passage between the opening / closing means and the evaporator. A discharge passage having the other end open to the outside, a second opening / closing means for opening / closing the discharge passage, and sending air from the downstream side to the upstream side into the air passage, the heater and the evaporator. An air conditioner for a vehicle, further comprising: a reverse air blowing means for sequentially passing air. 2. The first opening / closing means is also used as the second opening / closing means by closing the discharge passage when opening the air passage and opening the discharge passage when closing the air passage. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A bypass passage having one end communicating with the air passage between the blowing means and the first opening / closing means, and the other end communicating with the air passage downstream of the heater. And a third opening / closing means for opening / closing the air passage, wherein when the first opening / closing means closes the air passage and the third opening / closing means opens the bypass passage, the air blowing means is connected to the bypass passage. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the air is sent to an air passage downstream of the heater through the heater, thereby being also used as the reverse air blowing unit that passes air from the heater to the evaporator in order. Air conditioner. 4. The first opening / closing means is also used as the third opening / closing means by closing the bypass passage when opening the air passage and opening the bypass passage when closing the air passage. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein: 5. A dehumidifying and humidifying rotor that rotates with a part in the circumferential direction facing the air passage upstream of the first opening / closing means and the other part in the circumferential direction facing the discharge passage. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 4, further comprising a dehumidification heater for heating another portion of the humidification rotor facing the discharge passage. 6. The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a flow switching unit for switching a range from an intermediate portion to an upper end of the evaporator between a state in which air can flow and a state in which air cannot flow. An air conditioner for a vehicle according to any one of the claims.