JP2001088542A - Air blowoff port device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air blowoff port device provided with a low-cost round grille, capable of adjusting the air quantity by adopting a shutter mechanism of simple structure and high strength while making the most of the advantage of the round grille easily adjustable in the air direction by facilitating the regulation of the rotating range of the grille. SOLUTION: This air blowoff port device is provided with a round grille 2 built in a casing 1 by spherical sliding contact, and a rib 4 disposed on the ventilation duct side of the casing 1 is provided with a stopper 5 for regulating the rotating range of the grille 2. The rotating range of the round grille 2 easily adjustable in the air direction is positively regulated on the ventilation duct side of the casing 1 with simple structure without adding any special parts. In the case of adding an air quantity adjusting mechanism such as a shutter 9 to the simple round grille 2 performing an air direction adjusting function by the tilting of the grille 2 itself, the air quantity adjusting mechanism can be added to an air duct 6 isolated from the mechanism 5 disposed on the ventilation duct side to regulate the rotating range of the grille 2. The degree of design freedom is thereby increased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air outlet device provided with a grill installed in an instrument panel of a motor vehicle to adjust the amount and direction of conditioned air.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a bench grill for an air outlet installed in an instrument panel, a horizontally long or round bench grill is generally used, and a plurality of bench grills at both ends and a center portion of the instrument panel are used. It is prepared in various places, and each adjusts the air volume and the air direction of the conditioned air to improve indoor comfort. In a horizontally elongated grill, generally, the grill main body is vertically rotated by a horizontal rotation shaft in a casing of an air outlet device to adjust a vertical wind direction, and furthermore, a straightening plate inside the grill is horizontally moved. Since the wind direction in the left and right direction is adjusted as a variable, the structure tends to be slightly complicated. On the other hand, with a round grill, the grill itself can be freely turned up, down, left and right and in the direction of rotation in the casing. Therefore, the air blowing direction can be adjusted with a simple structure, and it is suitable for low-cost and inexpensive vehicles from small cars to small cars.

[0003] In these horizontally long and round grilles, a shutter mechanism is installed at each outlet to adjust the air volume of each outlet or to close unnecessary shutters by closing specific shutters. We restrict blowing. In some cases, the air-conditioning effect is increased by concentrating the air volume at a specific air outlet, or the fogging of the door glass is removed. However, with a conventional round grill,
As shown in FIG. 5, one straightening plate 29 disposed in the wind tunnel portion 26 among the straightening plates 28 in the round grille 22 built in the casing 21 is extended to extend the casing 21.
And has a function of restricting rotation of the grill itself so as to be in contact with the cylindrical portion 24. Therefore, in such a round grill, it is difficult to store the shutter mechanism itself, and the shutter mechanism must be installed in a ventilation duct upstream of the grill, and the internal structure of the instrument panel becomes complicated.

In view of this, there have been proposed a number of such round grills which have a built-in shutter function to adjust the air blowing amount (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-72313, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-153106). Official gazette, Shokai 60-1847
No. 13, JP-A-5-27545, JP-A-5-27545
No. 66449), the shutter structure is complicated, and a flexible member must be used for the shutter body, and there is a problem in durability, generation of wind noise and abnormal noise, etc. Was difficult.

[0005] One example will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, in the air outlet device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 60-184713, a frame 112 is formed by cutting both ends of a hollow sphere. A central axis 113 disposed along the center line of the frame 112; and at least two movable blades 115 radially disposed from the central axis 113 and hinged to the central axis 113 and the frame 112. And the central axis 11
Adjustment knob 1 having rod portion 118a inserted in 3
18, and bevel gear mechanisms 119 and 120 for connecting the base hinge shaft 116 of the movable blade 115 and the rod 118a of the adjustment knob 118.
The direction of the wind is adjusted by rotating the frame 112 constituting the grill in the casing 124, and the center shaft 113 is rotated.
By rotating the adjustment knob 118 of the rod portion 118a inserted into the airbag, each movable blade 115 rotates about the hinge shafts 116 and 117 via the bevel gear mechanisms 119 and 120, and the amount of air flowing through the wind tunnel portion. Is adjusted.

[0006]

However, in the case where such a large number of movable blades 115 are installed, an uneven pressure is generated between the plurality of movable blade portions 115 so that the adjustment knob 1 is not provided.
In addition to the possibility that a force for rotating the rotating blade 18 may be generated, the movable blade 115 itself is a set of relatively small parts, and the structure is complicated. It could be damaged by careless force.

Accordingly, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional air blow-out device for a round grill, and makes it possible to easily regulate the rotation range of the grill so that the wind direction can be easily adjusted. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive round grille air outlet device that can adjust the air volume by employing a simple structure and a high-strength shutter mechanism while utilizing the advantages as they are.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an air outlet device having a round grill built in a casing by spherical sliding contact, wherein a rib provided on the ventilation duct side of the casing. A stopper for restricting a rotation range of the grill is provided. Further, the invention is characterized in that a shutter mechanism is incorporated in an air tunnel portion of the grill. Further, in the invention, it is preferable that the shutter mechanism includes a knob disposed in the axial direction of the wind tunnel portion, a shaft extending from the knob and having a bevel gear at an opposite end, and a bevel gear of the shaft. A bevel gear having an axis that intersects at right angles,
And a shutter fixed to the bevel gear. Further, the invention is characterized in that the stopper is formed in a ring shape. Further, the present invention is characterized in that the stopper is installed eccentrically with respect to a ventilation duct of a casing, and these are used as means for solving the problem.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of an air outlet device of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view in which a grill is in a direction parallel to a ventilation duct and a shutter is in a fully opened state. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view in which the rotation of the grill is restricted in a direction inclined with respect to the ventilation duct and the shutter is in a fully closed state, and FIG. 2A is the direction opposite to FIG. 1B. 2B is a cross-sectional view in which the rotation is restricted and the shutter is in a fully open state, and FIG. 2B is a plan view of the ventilation duct portion of FIG. 2A. As shown in FIG. 1, the air outlet device of the present invention includes a round grill built in a casing by spherical sliding contact. That is, the casing 1, which is attached to an appropriate portion of the front surface such as an instrument panel by an appropriate means, has a spherical inner cylindrical portion 3 formed in a spherical shape, and the spherical cylindrical portion 3 is provided inside the spherical cylindrical portion 3. The outer spherical surface portion 7 of the grill 2 that matches the inner surface of the grill 2 is fitted.

The ventilation duct 14 of the casing 1 (an air intake portion connected to a duct from an air conditioner (not shown), see FIG.
As shown in (B), four ribs 4 are radially arranged, and a stopper 5 having a function of restricting the rotation range of the grill 2 is provided in a form in which these ribs 4 are connected. The stopper 5 is formed in a ring shape in the present embodiment. Although the ribs 4 are not provided on the inner peripheral side of the stopper 5 in the illustrated example, they may be provided if necessary. The air from the air conditioner flows down through the gap formed between the rib 4 and the stopper 5, that is, the ventilation duct 14.

On the other hand, in the round grill 2, the spherical portion 7 of the outer peripheral portion is brought into spherical sliding contact with the spherical cylindrical portion 3 of the casing 1, and the spherical portion 7 is also referred to as the main body of the grill 2. By being formed at an interval from the cylindrical wind tunnel portion 6,
Although it is preferable that the surface of the casing 1 is slightly in contact with the spherical cylindrical portion 3 of the casing 1 with some elasticity, the interval is not necessarily required. A plurality of fins 8 are planted in the grill 2 on the front surface of the wind tunnel 6 in the axial direction of the wind tunnel 6, and a knob 10 is provided with a bracket 15 planted in the axial direction of the wind tunnel 6. Supported. A pinion 11 is engraved at the tip of the knob 10, and a bevel gear 12 having an axis (shutter shaft) 13 that is in mesh with the pinion 11 and beveled and that is substantially perpendicular to the knob 10 is provided. One shutter 9 is fixed to the bevel gear 12, and rotation of the bevel gear 12 about the shutter shaft 13 is an opening and closing operation of the shutter 9. The shutter shaft 13 is located at a substantially middle portion of the wind tunnel portion 6 in the axial direction.

[0012] With this configuration, when the air blowing direction, that is, the wind direction in the air outlet device is to be changed, an appropriate portion of the grill 2, for example, the bracket 15, the knob 10 or the fin 8 is picked up with a finger. In the spherical cylindrical portion 3 of the casing 1, the grill 2
The spherical portion 7 is brought into sliding contact with the spherical surface, and the grill itself is inclined as shown in FIG. Thus, the air from the air conditioning equipment duct passes through the ventilation duct 14 and the grill 2
The air-conditioning air that has been filled on the upstream side of the spherical sliding portion formed between the spherical surface portion 7 of the casing 1 and the spherical cylindrical portion 3 of the casing 1 is deflected by the wind tunnel portion 6 of the grill 2 at the inclined position. 8, it is ejected from the front of the instrument panel as a deflected wind. At this time, the edge of the wind tunnel 6 of the grill 2 abuts against the outer periphery of the stopper 5 provided on the rib 4 of the casing 1 to easily, reliably and appropriately regulate the rotation range despite its simple structure. Is done.

In the state shown in FIG. 1 (A), the bevel gear 12 which meshes with the pinion 11 on the tip side of the knob 10 by rotating the knob 10 by gripping the hand side of the knob 10 with a finger is rotated. The butterfly-shaped shutter 9 fixed to the bevel gear 12 performs a closing operation with the shutter shaft 13 as an axis to obtain an appropriate air volume.
FIG. 1B shows a state in which the shutter 9 is completely closed. The front shape of the shutter 9 is a cross-sectional shape of the wind tunnel portion 6 of the grill 2, that is, a substantially circular shape.
Its cross-sectional shape has a crank shape displaced only by the shaft portion of the knob 10 with the shutter shaft 13 as a boundary. With this structure, the cut-off ratio at the time of full closing can be increased by a simple structure, the flow resistance of air at the time of full opening can be reduced, and high strength can be secured at the same time.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the air outlet device of the present invention. FIG. 2 (A) is a plan view of a ventilation duct portion in a casing, and FIG. 3 (B) is a side sectional view thereof. FIG. In the present embodiment, four ribs 4 are radially arranged from the center of the ventilation duct 14 in the casing, and a stopper 5 is protruded at an appropriate position of each of the ribs 4 to rotate the grill 2. The movement range is restricted. In the present embodiment, since the configuration is made as described above, an appropriate grill regulating function is obtained in the up, down, left, and right directions, and although the regulating range is somewhat widened between them, the shape of the rib 4 is further simplified. .

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the air outlet device of the present invention. FIG. 4A is a sectional view of the entire air outlet device with the shutter fully opened, and FIG. () Is a plan view of a ventilation duct portion in the casing. The arrangement of the four ribs 4 and the ring-shaped stopper 5 in the ventilation duct 14 of the casing is the same as that of the first embodiment. The stopper 5 is characterized by being installed eccentrically with respect to the ventilation duct 14 of the casing 1. With such a configuration, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 4A, the eccentricity of the stopper 5 from the center of the ventilation duct 14 makes the regulation range of the grill 2 asymmetric. That is, in FIG. 4 (B), it is small on the right side of the stopper 5, large on the left side, and medium on the upper and lower sides. Thus, an air outlet device which is disposed at both ends of the instrument panel and is suitable for a case where small tilting regulation with respect to the door side is sufficient is obtained.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, within the scope of the present invention, the shapes of the casing and the grill, the sliding contact between them, the arrangement of the ribs, and the shape of the stopper ( It is not limited to a circular shape, and an elliptical shape or the like may be adopted depending on the required regulation range of the grill.) And the installation form in the rib, the shape of the wind tunnel in the grill, the arrangement form of the fins, the form of the knob and its arrangement form, The shape of the shutter, the form of installation on the bevel gear, and the like can be appropriately selected.

[0017]

As described above in detail, the present invention relates to an air outlet device having a round grill built in a casing by spherical sliding contact, the device being disposed on the ventilation duct side of the casing. By providing a stopper for restricting the rotation range of the grill on the rib provided, it is possible to restrict the rotation range of the round grille, which is easy to adjust the wind direction, and to add extra parts on the ventilation duct side of the casing. Without a simple structure. In addition, if a simple round grille with a function of adjusting the wind direction is attached to the grill itself, and a wind volume adjustment mechanism such as a shutter is installed, it is isolated from the rotation range regulating mechanism of the grill provided on the ventilation duct side. Since the air volume adjusting mechanism can be attached to the wind tunnel or the like, the degree of freedom in design is increased.

When a shutter mechanism is incorporated in the wind tunnel of the grill, a wind volume adjusting mechanism is provided by utilizing a substantial portion of the wind tunnel, which is a main air passage of the grill itself having a wind direction adjusting function. Therefore, the airflow adjusting mechanism having a simple structure that is also fluidly preferable can be provided with a high degree of freedom. Further, the shutter mechanism includes a knob disposed in the axial direction of the wind tunnel portion, a bevel gear having an axis substantially perpendicular to the knob by meshing with the knob and a single shutter fixed to the bevel gear. In the case of this configuration, no turbulence is generated by disposing a single shutter having a rotation axis substantially at the center, and the possibility of unnecessary rattling noise, wind noise, and failure of each part can be reduced. Even when a wind pressure is applied during the adjustment, the force acts almost uniformly on the shutter surface, so that unnecessary behavior such as rotating the shutter itself is unlikely to occur. In addition, when the shutter is fully opened, the shutter itself functions in the same manner as the conventional rectifying plate, so that the rectifying effect can be doubled by greatly changing the blowing direction.

Thus, while a single shutter having a simple structure can be opened and closed by beveling engagement by simply rotating the knob, unnecessary force from the shutter side due to wind pressure is not easily received. Thereby, the rotational friction resistance of the knob itself can be set small, and a smooth operation can be performed. Further, when the stopper is formed in a ring shape, the rotation restriction range of the grill is made uniform in all directions, up, down, left, and right. Further, when the stopper is installed eccentrically with respect to the ventilation duct of the casing, it can be used as a grill in which the required range of the wind direction is different in the vertical and horizontal directions. As described above, according to the present invention, a simple structure and a high-strength shutter mechanism are employed while easily utilizing the advantages of the round grille, which allows easy regulation of the rotation range of the grille and allows easy adjustment of the wind direction. The invention provides an inexpensive round grille air outlet device that can also adjust the air volume.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 shows a first embodiment of an air outlet device of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (A) is a cross-sectional view in which a grill is in a direction parallel to a ventilation duct and a shutter is in a fully opened state; (B) is a sectional view in which the rotation of the grill is restricted in a direction inclined with respect to the ventilation duct and the shutter is in a fully closed state.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view in which rotation is restricted in a direction opposite to that of FIG. 1B and a shutter is in a fully opened state;
FIG. 2B is a plan view of the ventilation duct part of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the air outlet device of the present invention, wherein FIG. 3 (A) is a plan view of a ventilation duct portion in a casing, and FIG. 3 (B) is a side sectional view thereof. .

4A and 4B show a third embodiment of the air outlet device of the present invention, wherein FIG. 4A is a sectional view of the entire air outlet device with a shutter fully opened, and FIG. 4B is a casing. It is a top view of a ventilation duct part in.

FIG. 5 is an overall sectional view of a conventional air outlet device having a round grill.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an air volume adjusting mechanism in a conventional round grill.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Casing 2 Grill 3 Spherical cylinder part 4 Rib 5 Stopper 6 Air tunnel part 7 Spherical part 8 Fin 9 Shutter 10 Knob 11 Pinion 12 Bevel gear 13 Shutter shaft 14 Ventilation duct 15 Bracket

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An air outlet device having a round grille built in a casing by spherical sliding contact, wherein a rib provided on a ventilation duct side of the casing regulates a rotation range of the grill. An air outlet device provided with a stopper. 2. The air outlet device according to claim 1, wherein a shutter mechanism is incorporated in a wind tunnel portion of the grill. 3. The shutter mechanism comprises: a knob disposed in the axial direction of the wind tunnel portion; a shaft extending from the knob and provided with a bevel gear at an opposite end; and a bevel gear of the shaft. 3. The air outlet device according to claim 2, comprising a bevel gear having a shaft center that meshes at right angles, and one shutter fixed to the bevel gear. 4. The air outlet device according to claim 1, wherein the stopper is formed in a ring shape. 5. The air outlet device according to claim 1, wherein the stopper is installed eccentrically with respect to a ventilation duct of a casing.