JP2001150941A - Vehicular air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a space for sealing a periphery of an expansion valve, and to improve assembling workability for a packing, in an air conditioner of which the expansion valve is arranged outside a sideway side with respect to a vehicle advancing direction of a case 11. SOLUTION: A rib 3 is provided to be projected from the case 11 or a duct 5 in a shape surrounding the periphery of the expansion valve 1, and the packing 4 is attached directly to the vicinity of a tip of the rib 3 to cover the whole face of the expansion valve 1. The packing 4 is thereby required only to be attached to the vicinity of the tip of the rib 3 and an exposed part of the valve 1, and the packing 4 is made compact thereby. Since the greater part of an attaching part is for the rib 3 of the case 11, a shape of the attaching part is simplified to be easily attached so as to enhance the assembling workability. A cost is suppressed by making the packing 4 compact and by enhancing the assembling workability.

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 in which an expansion valve of a refrigeration cycle is mounted outside a side of an air conditioning case in a vehicle compartment with respect to a traveling direction of the vehicle. The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner in which a dew-prevention packing covering the periphery of a valve can be easily assembled.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an air conditioner in which an expansion valve is disposed outside an air conditioning case, in order to prevent condensed water (dew) from dripping into a vehicle interior, an expansion valve, an evaporator, and a refrigerant pipe exposed from the air conditioning case are used. A packing (seal member) made of butyl rubber or the like is attached to the outer surface of the connection block portion so as to cover the entire surface while shaping it according to a complicated shape.

[0003]

However, in order to cover the entire surface, a large sealing member is required, and a complicated shape is wrapped, resulting in a poor yield. In addition, assembling the seal member while shaping it in accordance with a complicated shape has a problem that workability is poor.

When an expansion valve is arranged on the side of the blower, a space for attaching a seal member around the expansion valve is required, so that an evaporator formed immediately beside the expansion valve is required. There is a problem in that the ventilation part is narrow and the ventilation area is small, so that the ventilation amount is insufficient.

[0005] As for the seal structure of the expansion valve, Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2504771 discloses a case in which a rib is formed around the expansion valve by a case, and the rib is connected to a dash panel (partition between a vehicle compartment and an engine room). Board)
There has been proposed a structure in which the sealing property is maintained by abutting the sealing member attached to the dash panel. However, this proposal assumes that the sealing member is directly attached to the dash panel and a part of the dash panel is used as a sealing means. Structure. But,
In the air-conditioning case having the expansion valve on the outside on the side with respect to the traveling direction of the vehicle, there is no structural member such as the dash panel as the premise described above, and it is not possible to adopt the conventional structure as it is. difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in an air conditioner in which an expansion valve is disposed outside a side of an air conditioning case in a vehicle traveling direction, a seal around the expansion valve is provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle air conditioner that can reduce the space of the vehicle and improve the workability of assembling the seal member.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a rib protruding from an air passage member (air conditioning case or air conditioning duct) is provided so as to surround the periphery of the expansion valve. A seal member was directly attached near the tip of the rib so as to cover the entire surface of the valve.

This is based on the conventional technology (utility model registration No. 250).
In the present invention, the seal member is directly attached to the rib of the case, whereas the seal member in contact with the rib of the case is attached to the dash panel.

Thus, even if the rib is provided on the outer side of the side with respect to the traveling direction of the vehicle, since the seal member is directly attached to the vicinity of the tip of the rib, even if there is no structural member for holding the seal member. Since a seal structure can be formed, and the structure is not a structure that maintains the sealing property at a position relative to other structural members, a reliable seal is maintained.

The seal member need only be attached to the vicinity of the tip of the rib and to the exposed portion of the expansion valve, and the seal member can be reduced in size. In addition, since most of the mounting portion is on the rib of the case, the mounting portion can be easily and easily assembled, so that the mounting workability is improved. Further, the cost can be reduced due to the miniaturization of these seal members and the improvement of the assembling workability.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the air passage member has a left-right split structure having a fitting portion in the vertical direction, and an evaporator is built in the air passage member. It was arranged to ventilate in the direction.

[0012] Since the rib surrounding the expansion valve can be formed in the direction in which the air-conditioning case is removed at the time of molding the air-conditioning case, an arbitrary routing shape can be formed without complicating the mold structure of the air-conditioning case.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the rib is provided so as to protrude around the expansion valve at a portion adjacent to the ventilation portion in the air passage member.

This is because when an expansion valve is arranged on the side of the blower unit, a ventilation section for the evaporator is formed immediately beside the expansion valve. By providing a rib, a seal is provided between the expansion valve and the ventilation section. It is not necessary to put a hand in order to hold down the member, and the seal member can be attached only in the vicinity of the protruding tip of the rib, so that the distance between the expansion valve and the ventilation section can be made smaller than before.

Further, in the invention according to claim 4, in a portion adjacent to the ventilation portion around the expansion valve, a part of the wall surface of the ventilation portion also serves as a part of the rib.

[0016] Thus, the distance between the expansion valve and the ventilation section can be further reduced, and thereby, the ventilation area of the ventilation section can be made large and the amount of air blown can be increased.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of an air conditioning unit 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The ventilation system of the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present embodiment is roughly divided into a blower unit (not shown) and an air conditioning unit 10 shown in FIG. The blower unit is arranged offset from the center to the passenger seat side in the lower part of the instrument panel in the passenger compartment, whereas the air conditioning unit 10 is arranged in the lower part of the instrument panel in the passenger compartment.
It is arranged at a substantially central portion in the vehicle left-right direction.

As is well known, the blower unit includes an inside / outside air switching box for switching and introducing inside air (vehicle interior air) and outside air (outside vehicle air), and a blower for sucking air through the inside / outside air switching box to blow air. ing.

The air conditioning unit 10 is of a type in which an evaporator (cooling heat exchanger) 12 and a heater core (heating heat exchanger) 13 are both integrally incorporated in one common air conditioning case 11. . The air-conditioning case 11 is made of a molded article of a resin such as polypropylene having a certain degree of elasticity and excellent strength. The air-conditioning case 11 is specifically composed of a plurality of divided cases. The plurality of divided cases accommodates the heat exchangers 12 and 13 and devices such as doors to be described later, and then includes fastening means such as metal spring clips and screws. To form the air-conditioning unit 10.

The air-conditioning unit 10 is disposed in the form shown in FIG. 1 in the front-rear, left-right and up-down directions substantially in the center of the lower part of the instrument panel in the vehicle interior. A ventilation section 14 is formed at the most forward part of the vehicle. The conditioned air blown from the above-described blower unit flows into the ventilation unit 14.

An evaporator 12 is disposed in the air-conditioning case 11 immediately after the ventilation section 14. The evaporator 12 is vertically arranged so as to cross the passage in the air-conditioning case 11 in a thin form in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. Therefore, the blown air from the ventilation section 14 flows into the front surface of the evaporator 12 extending in the vehicle vertical direction. As is well known, the evaporator 12 cools the conditioned air by absorbing the latent heat of evaporation of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle from the conditioned air.

An expansion valve 1 for decompressing and expanding the liquid refrigerant is disposed on a side surface of the evaporator 12 (outside of the air-conditioning case 11 on the side of the vehicle) and is attached together with a refrigerant pipe 2 extending to a dash panel penetration portion. Have been.

The periphery of the expansion valve 1 is surrounded by a rib 3 formed in an air conditioning duct 5 for connection to a blower unit, and the remaining exposed portion is covered with a packing (seal member) 4. The expansion valve 1, the refrigerant pipe 2, the rib 3, the packing 4, and the air conditioning duct 5 are essential parts of the present invention, and will be described later in detail.

The heater core 1 is arranged at a predetermined interval downstream of the evaporator 12 in the air flow (rear side of the vehicle).
3 are arranged. The heater core 13 is disposed at a lower side in the air conditioning case 11 so as to be inclined toward the vehicle rear side. The heater core 13 reheats the cold air that has passed through the evaporator 12, and high-temperature hot water (engine cooling water) flows therein, and heats the air using the hot water as a heat source.

In the air passage in the air conditioning case 11, a cool air bypass passage 15 in which air (cool air) flows by bypassing the heater core 13 is provided above the heater core 13.
Are formed. Further, at a portion between the heater core 13 and the evaporator 12, the hot air heated by the heater core 13 and the cold air bypass passage 15 pass through the heater core 13.
A flat air mix door 16 that adjusts the ratio of the amount of cold air to the air that bypasses the cold air is disposed.

Here, the air mix door 16 is integrally connected to a rotating shaft 17 arranged in a horizontal direction, and is rotatable in the vertical direction of the vehicle together with the rotating shaft 17. The air mix door 16 serves as a temperature adjusting means for adjusting the temperature of the air blown into the vehicle compartment by adjusting the air flow rate.

The rotating shaft 17 is rotatably supported by the air conditioning case 11, and one end of the rotating shaft 17 is connected to the air conditioning case 11.
And is connected to an actuator mechanism or a manual operation mechanism using a servo motor or the like via a link mechanism (not shown), and the rotational position of the air mix door 16 is adjusted by the actuator mechanism or the manual operation mechanism. It has become.

In the air-conditioning case 11, a wall surface 18 extending in the vertical direction with a predetermined interval between the heater core 13 and the heater core 13 is formed integrally with the air-conditioning case 11 downstream of the heater core 13 (portion on the rear side of the vehicle). Have been. The wall surface 18 forms a warm air passage 19 that extends upward from immediately after the heater core 13. In the air-conditioning case 11, an air mixing unit 20 that mixes cold air and hot air is formed on the downstream side (upper side) of the cold air bypass passage 15 and the hot air passage 19 in the air.

In the air-conditioning case 11, a defroster opening 21 is opened above the cold air bypass passage 15 and the air mixing section 20 toward the front of the vehicle, and a face foot opening 22 is formed toward the rear of the vehicle. Is open.

The defroster opening 21 allows temperature-controlled conditioned air to flow in from the air mixing section 20, and a defroster duct connecting portion 23 is formed substantially horizontally on the upper surface of the air conditioning case 11 and on the front side of the vehicle. From there, it is connected to a defroster outlet via a defroster duct (not shown), and blows wind from the defroster outlet toward the inner surface of the vehicle front window glass.

The defroster opening 21 and the face foot opening 22 are opened and closed by a flat defroster door 24 disposed between the two openings. The defroster door 24 is disposed upstream of the defroster opening 21 and the face / foot opening 22 on the air side.
Shaft 25 arranged in the horizontal direction substantially at the center near the upper surface of the
And are rotatably supported.

A face opening 26 is provided on the upper surface of the air-conditioning case 11 at a position rearward of the defroster duct connection portion 23 (closer to the occupant) than the defroster duct connection portion 23. The face opening 26 is provided through a face duct (not shown). hand,
It is connected to a center face outlet located on the upper side of the instrument panel, and blows out wind from this outlet toward the head of the occupant in the passenger compartment.

Next, in the air-conditioning case 11, a foot opening 27 is opened at a position below the face opening 26. A foot passage 28 for a front seat is opened downstream of the foot opening 27 in the air. This front seat foot passage 28
The air from the vehicle passes through a foot duct for the front seat (not shown) and a foot outlet for the front seat, and is blown out to the feet of the occupant in the front seat.

A foot passage 29 for the rear seat is formed below the foot passage 28 for the front seat, and air from the foot passage 29 for the rear seat is blown by a foot duct for the rear seat (not shown) and a foot blowing for the rear seat. The air blows out to the feet of the rear passengers via the exit.

The face opening 26 and the foot opening 27 are formed by a flat face-like face disposed between the two openings.
It is opened and closed by the foot door 30. The face foot door 30 is arranged on the air upstream side of the face opening 26 and the foot opening 27, and the rotating shaft 3 horizontally arranged at a position on the vehicle rear side (closer to the occupant) of the air conditioning case 11.
1 rotatably supported.

The defroster door 24 and the face foot door 30 are door means for switching the blowing mode.
It is connected to a blow mode switching actuator mechanism such as a servo motor or a manual operating mechanism via a link mechanism (not shown), and is operated in conjunction with the actuator mechanism or the manual operating mechanism.

The operation of this embodiment in the above configuration will be described. First, the temperature of the air blown into the vehicle interior is adjusted by the air mix door 16 by comparing the air volume ratio between the cool air cooled by the evaporator 12 and flowing directly to the cool air bypass passage 15 side and the warm air heated by the heater core 13. It is done by adjusting. After the cold air and the hot air are mixed in the air mixing section 20, the opening and closing directions of the defroster door 24 and the face / foot door 30 are switched according to the blowing mode, and are blown out to a predetermined portion in the vehicle compartment.

Next, the structure around the expansion valve 1 which is a main part of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a front view and a side view showing a detailed configuration around an expansion valve when a rib is formed by an air conditioning duct, according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

In this embodiment, the engine room (outside the vehicle compartment)
A compressor (not shown) that compresses the drawn refrigerant, a condenser (not shown) that condenses and liquefies the refrigerant that flows in from the compressor, and a gas-liquid refrigerant that flows in from the condenser A receiver (not shown) that separates and supplies only the liquid refrigerant to the evaporator 12 is used.

The integrated expansion valve 1 is used as an air conditioner on the vehicle interior side. The integrated expansion valve 1 includes an expansion valve (not shown) for adiabatically expanding the refrigerant flowing therein, an expansion valve main body (not shown) having a diaphragm 1a for operating the expansion valve, an expansion valve main body, and an evaporator. 12 and an expansion valve block 1b for connecting the refrigerant pipe 2 with the expansion valve block 1b.

The evaporator 1 is provided on the side wall of the air conditioning duct 5.
A through hole (not shown) having a round hole shape through which the two refrigerant inlet / outlet blocks 12a pass is formed. The expansion valve 1 is connected to and connected to the refrigerant inlet / outlet block 12a exposed from the through hole, and the refrigerant pipe 2 is also connected to and connected to the expansion valve 1;
Through bolts (not shown) are inserted through these and screwed and fixed to the refrigerant inlet / outlet block 12a of the evaporator 12.

The other end (not shown) of the refrigerant pipe 2 is inserted through the through hole of the dash panel to the engine room side, the high pressure side is connected to the pipe from the outlet of the receiver, and the low pressure side is connected to the pipe to the suction side of the compressor. Connected.

A rib 3 is provided around the expansion valve 1 so as to protrude from the air conditioning duct 5 so as to surround the periphery of the expansion valve 1. The vicinity of the tip of the rib 3 and the exposed portion of the expansion valve 1 (the vicinity of the connection portion of the pipe 2 and the diaphragm 1a (In the vicinity) is covered with a packing 4 as a seal member.

In the present embodiment, the packing 4 is disposed outside the air conditioning case 11 on the side of the vehicle, in which the expansion valve 1 is disposed substantially in the center of the instrument panel below the instrument panel. In the other embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the expansion valve 1 is located on the feet of the driver on the driver's seat side in the other embodiment shown in FIG. 4, and the expansion valve 1 cools down and dew drops on the feet of the occupant. Is preventing.

The rib 3 does not completely surround the periphery of the expansion valve 1, and the vicinity of the diaphragm 1a corresponding to the upper side in FIG. This is because, when covered directly with packing, the finished outer shape can be slightly more compact than covered with ribs and covered with packing. Are directly covered with packing without the ribs 3. Of course, if space is available, the expansion valve 1 may be completely surrounded by the ribs 3 and covered with the packing 4.

Thus, the packing 4 only needs to be attached to the vicinity of the tip of the rib 3 and the exposed portion of the expansion valve 1, and the packing 4 can be reduced in size. In addition, since most of the mounting portion is on the rib 3 of the case 11, the shape of the mounting portion can be easily and easily assembled, so that the assembling workability is improved. In addition, the cost can be reduced due to the downsizing of the packing 4 and the improvement of the assembling workability.

FIG. 3A is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. When the expansion valve 1 is arranged on the side of the blower unit as in the present embodiment, the evaporator 12 is located immediately beside the expansion valve 1.
Although the ventilation portion 14 is formed, since the sticking of the packing can be performed only near the tip of the rib 3 by projecting the rib 3, the distance L1 between the expansion valve 1 and the ventilation portion 14 can be made smaller than before.

FIG. 3 (b) shows a modification of FIG. 3 (a), wherein a part of the wall surface of the ventilation part 14 and a part of the rib 3 are combined so that the expansion valve 1 and the ventilation The distance L2 between the parts 14 can be further reduced. Thus, the ventilation area of the ventilation section 14 can be made large and the amount of air blown can be increased.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment,
The connection part with the blower unit is constituted by the air-conditioning duct 5, but this is for forming the attachment / detachment opening of the evaporator 12, and when it is not necessary, the shape formed by the air-conditioning duct 5 is changed to the air-conditioning case. 11 in some cases.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment to which the present invention is applied. For example, the expansion valve 1 is arranged outside the driver's seat side of an air conditioning case 11 and a rib is formed in the air conditioning case. It is the front view and side view which show a surrounding structure.

Also in this embodiment, the rib 3 does not completely surround the periphery of the expansion valve 1, and the vicinity of the diaphragm 1a corresponding to the upper side in FIG. This is because if the area around the diaphragm 1a is completely enclosed,
Since the portion protruding from the upper surface in 1 has an undercut shape in molding, in this embodiment, since the mold is to be simplified,
The vicinity of the diaphragm 1a is directly covered with packing without forming the ribs 3. Of course, if there is no problem in molding, the periphery of the expansion valve 1 may be completely surrounded by the ribs 3 and covered with the packing 4.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of an air conditioning unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are an embodiment to which the present invention is applied, and are a front view and a side view showing a detailed configuration around an expansion valve when a rib is formed by an air conditioning duct.

3A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2, and FIG.
It is sectional drawing which shows the modification of.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a front view and a side view showing a configuration around an expansion valve when ribs are formed in an air conditioning case according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 expansion valve 3 rib 4 packing (seal member) 5 air conditioning duct (air passage member) 11 air conditioning case (air passage member) 12 evaporator 14 ventilation section

Claims (4)

[Claims] An air passage member (11) arranged in a vehicle interior and to which an air conditioner is assembled is provided, and an expansion valve (11) is provided on an outer side of the air passage member (11) on a side of a vehicle traveling direction. In the air conditioner for a vehicle in which 1) is arranged, a rib (3) protruding from the air passage member (11) is provided so as to surround the periphery of the expansion valve (1), and the entire surface of the expansion valve (1) is provided. An air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein a sealing member (4) is directly attached near a tip of the rib (3) so as to cover. 2. The air passage member (11) has a left-right split structure having a fitting portion in the vertical direction, and an evaporator (12) is built in the air passage member (11). 2.) is arranged so as to ventilate in a vehicle longitudinal direction or a vehicle vertical direction.
A vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1. 3. The rib (3) protrudingly provided at a portion adjacent to the ventilation portion (14) in the air passage member (11) around the expansion valve (1). The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2. 4. A portion of the periphery of the expansion valve (1) adjacent to the ventilation portion (14), the ventilation portion (14).
The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a part of a wall of the vehicle also serves as a part of the rib (3).