JP2001260631A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner allowing smooth operation of a door even if the door is mounted to the inside of the air conditioner with the axial center of a door shaft displaced. SOLUTION: This air conditioner 1 comprises case members 2, 3 constituting a duct, a blast means 12, and at least one of heating means 5 and a cooling means 4. The inside of a case member is provided with the door 6 for blocking a ventilation passage or changing a ventilation direction, the case member is provided with receiving parts 2A, 3A or receiving grooves 2B, 3B for receiving the door shafts 6A, 6B of the door, and the door shafts are provided with spherical mounting parts 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d mounted to the receiving parts.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to an air conditioner mounted on a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An air conditioner mounted on a vehicle or the like has an evaporator serving as a cooling means, a heater core serving as a heating means and the like housed in a case forming a duct, and further provided with a blower serving as a blowing means. And constitute one unit.

There is a high demand for miniaturization of an air conditioner mounted on a vehicle or the like in order to secure a space for a vehicle occupant and to secure a space for mounting a safety device such as an airbag.

The air conditioner is provided with an air mixing door or the like in a case to change the ventilation direction of the duct to blow hot or cold air into the vehicle. Etc. are adjusted so that they are not blown.

[0005] In order to reduce the size of the air conditioner, it is conceivable to reduce the working space of an air mix door and the like provided in the case.

When a rotating door is provided, the plate constituting the door rotates about a rotation axis, so that the operating area of the door becomes large and it is difficult to reduce the size of the air conditioner.

For this reason, for example, it is conceivable to use a folding door to reduce the operating area of the door and downsize the air conditioner.

In the folding door, at least two plate members are connected by a hinge, the door is rotated with one end of one plate member as a rotation axis of the door, and the other end of the other plate member is used as a slide shaft. By sliding, the two plates can be folded by the operation of the hinge,
It is possible to reduce the operating area of the door.

[0009]

However, when the heater core or the evaporator and the like and the air mix door are mounted in a case forming a duct for hot air or cold air to form a unit forming an air conditioner, Due to the installation space in the instrument panel of the vehicle and the like, the case is often constituted by a plurality of members.

The case member is formed of, for example, a resin or the like, and a dimensional error may occur after the molding due to an environmental atmosphere at the time of molding the case.

When a duct is constituted by two or more case members, one end and the other end of the rotation shaft of the air mix door may be mounted on separate case members.

As described above, when a dimensional error occurs in the case member, if one end and the other end of the rotation shaft of the air mixing door are mounted on separate case members, there is a problem that the center of the shaft is shifted. is there.

For example, when the air mix door is mounted on the case member in a state where the axis of the door shaft mounted on another member is shifted, the contact portion between the inner surface of the receiving portion on the case member side and the outer peripheral surface of the door shaft is changed. As a result, the door shaft and the receiving portion are squeezed, and the door shaft is restrained by the receiving portion, which causes a problem that the operating state of the door deteriorates.

The folding door is opened and closed by using a main shaft as a rotating shaft and sliding a sliding shaft.

FIG. 10 shows that the main shaft 30A and the sliding shaft 30B of the folding door 30 are connected to the receiving portion 20A of the case 20.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the device is mounted in a receiving groove 20B.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the end of the main shaft 30A is inserted into the receiving portion 20A of the case 20, and the end of the sliding shaft 30B is mounted in the receiving groove 20B of the case 20.

The inner peripheral surface of the receiving portion 20A or the receiving groove 20B and the outer peripheral surfaces of the main shaft 30A and the sliding shaft 30B are rotatably or slidably contacted.

As described above, when the main shaft 30A or the sliding shaft 30B is inserted into the receiving portion 20A or the receiving groove 20B, the receiving portion 20A
And the contact portion between the main shaft 30A and the receiving groove 20B and the sliding shaft 30B becomes large, and the main shaft 30A and the sliding shaft 30B are restricted by the receiving portions 20A and 20B, so that the door cannot be easily operated. Is generated.

In particular, in the case of a folding door, since the sliding shaft 30B slides in the receiving groove 20B, the movement of the sliding shaft 30B is restricted, and the operation becomes difficult.

Further, in order to facilitate the operation of the air mix door and the like, a lubricant such as grease may be applied to a portion where the door shaft is mounted.

However, in the case of a folding door or the like, there is a case where the grease applied to the groove is offset due to the sliding of the sliding shaft, and there is a problem that the operation of the door is not improved.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a smooth air conditioner in which a door is mounted on a case, even if the door is mounted in a state where the center of the door axis is shifted. It is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner provided with a door that operates at a time.

[0022]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a case member forming a duct, a door for closing a ventilation path in the case to change a ventilation direction, a blowing means, In an air conditioner provided with at least one of a heating unit and a cooling unit, the case member includes a receiving portion to which a door is attached, and the door has a door shaft serving as an operation center of the door and an end portion of the door shaft. An air conditioner including a mounting part mounted on the receiving part, wherein at least one of the mounting parts is a sphere.

As described above, when the mounting portion of the door provided in the air conditioner is a sphere, the mounting portion has a reduced number of contact portions in the receiving portion of the case, and the degree of freedom of movement of the mounting portion up, down, left and right is improved, and Even when the shaft is mounted with the shaft center slightly shifted, the shift of the shaft center is absorbed to facilitate the operation of the door.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the door shaft is a rotary shaft for rotating the door or a sliding shaft for sliding the door.

As described above, the door shaft having the mounting portion as a sphere may be a rotating shaft or a sliding shaft.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the door includes a rotating shaft and a sliding shaft, and a plurality of plate members are provided between the rotating shaft and the sliding shaft. And a folding door having a hinge portion.

In the folding door, the plate can be folded around the hinge portion, and the operating area of the door can be reduced.

Therefore, if the folding door is used in the case of the air conditioner, the size of the air conditioner can be reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of the case members are provided, the door is provided with mounting portions at both ends of a door shaft, and the door shaft is provided. The air conditioner has a configuration in which a mounting portion at one end is mounted on a receiving portion of one case member, and a mounting portion at the other end of the door shaft is mounted on a receiving portion of the other case member.

As described above, if one end of the door shaft is attached to one of the two or more case members and the other end of the door shaft is attached to the other case member, the case member may have a dimensional error. Along with the dimensional error of the case member, the center of the door shaft is displaced, which causes deterioration of the operation state of the door.

The air conditioner of the present invention is provided with mounting portions at both ends of the door shaft. Even when the mounting portion at one end and the mounting portion at the other end are mounted on separate case members, at least one of the mounting portions is mounted. Due to the spherical shape, the number of contact areas between the mounting part and the receiving part in the receiving part is reduced, the freedom of movement of the mounting part up, down, left and right is improved, the displacement of the center of the axis is absorbed, and the door is easily operated. It becomes possible.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the case member has a concave portion in at least a part of the receiving portion.

As described above, if the receiving portion of the case for mounting the door mounting portion is provided with the concave portion, lubricant such as grease can be stored in the concave portion, and the lubricant is supplied from the concave portion. Therefore, the operation of the door becomes smooth.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, the door has a concave portion in at least a part of a mounting portion.

For example, when a lubricant such as grease is applied to a mounting portion, a receiving portion, a receiving groove, or the like, a grease or the like can be stored in the concave portion, Grease is supplied from the concave portion with the rotation, so that the door can be operated smoothly.

[0036]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the air conditioner 1. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of left and right case members 2 and 3 constituting the air conditioner 1 and an air mix door 6 described later.

As shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, the air conditioner 1 of this embodiment has a case member 2, 3 forming a duct, and an evaporator 4 as a cooling means inside the case member 2, 3. A heater core 5 as heating means is provided.

The evaporator 4 and the heater core 5
An air mix door 6 that closes the air passage or changes the direction of air is mounted in the area between the doors.

At predetermined positions of the case members 2, 3, ventilation holes 7, 8, 9 are provided, and rotating doors 10, 11 for opening and closing the ventilation holes 7, 8, 9 are provided.

A blower 12 is provided below the evaporator 4 as a means for blowing air.

The case members 2 and 3 have receiving portions 2A and 3A for holding a main shaft 6A of the air mixing door 6 and a receiving groove as a receiving portion for holding and sliding the sliding shaft 6B of the air mixing door 6 to be described later. 2B and 3B are provided.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the air mix door 6 mounted on the receiving portions 2A, 3A and the receiving grooves 2B, 3B of the cases 2, 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the air mix door 6 of this embodiment has two plate members 6C and 6C between a main shaft 6A and a sliding shaft 6B.
This is a folding type door in which 6D is connected by a hinge 6E.

As shown in FIG. 3, at the left and right ends of the main shaft 6A of the air mix door 6, mounting portions 6a, 6b of spheres to be mounted on the receiving portions 2A, 3A are formed. At the left and right ends of the sliding shaft 6B, mounting portions 6c and 6d of spheres to be mounted on the receiving grooves 2B and 3B are formed.

The folding type air-mix door 6 rotates about the main shaft 6A while moving the sliding shaft 6B.
Is slid along the receiving grooves 2B and 3B to open and close the duct formed by the case members 2 and 3.

In a state where the air mix door 6 opens the duct, that is, when the sliding shaft 6B is located closest to the main shaft 6A (the air mix door 6 shown by a solid line in FIG. 1),
It is in a state of full cool.

On the other hand, when the air mixing door 6 is closed, that is, when the sliding shaft 6B is at the position farthest from the main shaft 6A (the air mixing door 6 shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1), It is full hot.

As shown in FIG.
Is a folding type door that allows the two plates 6C and 6D to be folded by hinges 6E, so that the air mixing door is more open than when the door made of one plate is opened and closed. 6, the operating area of the air conditioner can be reduced, and the size of the air conditioner can be reduced. For example, when a normal revolving door that opens and closes around the main shaft 6A is used, an area indicated by a broken line in FIG. 4 is required. However, when the folding type air mix door 6 of this example is used, FIG. Since the air mix door 6 can be opened and closed in the reduced area indicated by the two-dot chain line, the size of the air conditioner 1 can be reduced.

The case members 2 and 3 constituting the duct of the air conditioner 1 may have a dimensional error due to the environmental atmosphere at the time of molding.

When one end and the other end of the main shaft 6A and the sliding shaft 6B of the air mix door 6 are mounted on another case member 2, 3, the main shaft 6A and the sliding shaft 6B The case members 2 and 3
In some cases.

[0052] As shown in FIG.
In the figure, the mounting portions 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d form a sphere.

For example, even when the main shaft 6A and the sliding shaft 6B are attached to the case members 2 and 3 in a state where the shaft centers are shifted, the receiving portion 2A and the mounting portion 6a make point contact, and the contact portion is Since the number is reduced, the degree of freedom of up, down, left, and right movement (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5) is improved, and the air mix door 6 can be easily operated.

In particular, in the case of the folding type air mix door 6, the main shaft 6A and the sliding shaft 6B are moved to open and close the door 6 due to the dimensional error of the case members 2 and 3. The slight displacement of the center of the sliding shaft 6B causes a disadvantage that the sliding movement of the sliding shaft 6B becomes difficult.

When the mounting portions 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d of both the main shaft 6A and the sliding shaft 6B are spherical as in this example, the degree of freedom of movement of the mounting portions 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d is improved. Therefore, the slight displacement of the axial center is absorbed, and the operation of the air mix door 6 becomes easy.

As shown in FIG. 6, only the mounting portion 60a formed at one end of the main shaft 60A of the door 60 is a sphere,
The case where the mounting portion 60e at the other end is not a sphere may be considered.
In FIG. 6, 70 and 71 are case members.

In the case shown in FIG. 6, the door 60 has a main shaft 60A.
With the center point of the mounting portion 60e not being a sphere as the axis center,
The mounting portion 60a at the other end of the sphere is freely rotated to facilitate the operation of the door 60.

Also, the main shaft 6 of the air mix door 6 described above.
In order to smooth the operation of A or the sliding shaft 6B, a lubricant such as grease may be applied to the receiving portions 2A, 3A or the receiving grooves 2B, 3B of the case members 2, 3.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the mounting portion 6c of the sliding shaft 6B of the air mix door 6 is a sphere, a gap is formed between the mounting portion 6c and the receiving groove 2B. Lubricant X such as grease accumulates in this gap, and the operation of the air mix door 6 can be facilitated.

For example, if the mounting portion of the sliding shaft is not spherical but rectangular as in the prior art, movement of the sliding shaft in the receiving groove causes grease in the receiving groove at the corner of the mounting portion. However, there is a problem that the grease is lost at the corner where the sliding shaft slides, and the operation of the door is not improved.

In the case of this example, the mounting portion 6c is formed as a sphere, so that a lubricant X such as grease is accumulated in a gap between the mounting portion 6c and the receiving groove 2B.
Is supplied, the operation of the air mix door 6 becomes smooth.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a concave portion 2b opening toward the mounting portion is formed in the receiving groove 2B for holding the mounting portion 6c of the door 6, and when the concave portion 2b is used as a grease pool, Since the grease is supplied from the concave portion 2b as the portion 6c slides, the door operates smoothly.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9, the mounting portion 80a of the door 80 is provided with a concave portion 80f which opens in the direction of the receiving portion or the direction of the receiving groove 2B, and the concave portion 80f is used as a grease pool to move the mounting portion 80a. As a result, grease can be supplied from the concave portion 80f, and the door operates smoothly.

[0064]

As described above, the present invention relates to a case member constituting a duct, a door for closing a ventilation path in the case to change the direction of ventilation, a blowing means, a heating means or a cooling means. In an air conditioner provided with at least one,
The case member includes a receiving portion for mounting a door, the door includes a door shaft serving as an operation center of the door, and a mounting portion mounted on the receiving portion at an end of the door shaft, and at least one of the This is an air conditioner having a configuration in which the mounting portion is a sphere.

As described above, if at least one of the mounting portions provided on the door shaft for operating the door is a sphere, the mounting portion is
Point contact is made within the receiving portion of the case, and the number of contact portions is reduced, so that the degree of freedom of up, down, left, and right movements is improved, and the door can be easily operated.

The door shaft having the mounting portion as a sphere is
It may be a rotating shaft or a sliding shaft.

Further, when a folding door having a plurality of plates and a hinge between a rotating shaft and a sliding shaft is used as the door, the operating area of the door is reduced, and the air conditioner is downsized. Is possible.

Further, the case is composed of two or more members, and the mounting portions provided at one end and the other end of the door shaft of the door are mounted on separate members, respectively, so that the axial center of the door shaft is shifted. The case is conceivable.

According to the present invention, even when the door is mounted on the case with the axis of the door shaft being shifted, the mounting portion mounted on the receiving portion of the case is a spherical body. The mounting part makes point contact inside the part, improving the degree of freedom of up, down, left and right movement, and smoothly operating the door.

Further, a concave groove is provided in the receiving portion or the receiving groove of the case, or a concave groove is provided in the spherical mounting portion, and grease is stored in the concave groove, so that the grease is stored along with the movement of the door. Grease is supplied from the concave groove, and the door can be operated smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an air conditioner according to a specific example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a case member and an air mixing door according to a specific example of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an air mixing door mounted on a receiving portion and a receiving groove according to a specific example of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an operating state of a folding type air mix door according to a specific example of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view illustrating a moving state of a mounting portion mounted on a receiving portion or a receiving groove according to a specific example of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a mounting state of a door shaft having a mounting portion provided at one end as a sphere and a mounting portion other than a sphere at the other end according to a specific example of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a mounting state of a receiving groove and a mounting portion according to a specific example of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a receiving groove partially provided with a concave portion according to a specific example of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting portion having a concave portion according to a specific example of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a mounted state of a main shaft and a sliding shaft of a folding door according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 air conditioner 2 case member 2A receiving portion 2B receiving groove 2b recess 3 case member 3A receiving portion 3B receiving groove 4 evaporator 5 heater core 6 air mix door 6A main shaft 6B sliding shaft 6C plate 6D plate 6E hinge 6a mounting portion 6b Part 6c Mounting part 6d Mounting part 6e Mounting part 7 Ventilation port 8 Ventilation port 9 Ventilation port 10 Rotating door 11 Rotating door 12 Blower 20 Case 20A Receiving part 20B Receiving groove 30 Folding door 30A Main shaft 30B Sliding shaft 60 Door 60A Door shaft Mounting part 60e Mounting part 70 Case member 71 Case member 80 Door 80a Mounting part 80f Recess

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner comprising: a case member forming a duct; a door that closes a ventilation path in the case to change a ventilation direction; a blowing unit; and at least one of a heating unit and a cooling unit. The case member includes a receiving portion for mounting a door, the door includes a door shaft serving as a center of operation of the door, and a mounting portion mounted on the receiving portion at an end of the door shaft. An air conditioner characterized by having a spherical portion. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the door shaft is a rotating shaft for rotating the door or a sliding shaft for sliding the door. 3. The door includes a rotating shaft and a sliding shaft,
3. The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the folding door includes a plurality of plates and a hinge between the rotating shaft and the sliding shaft. 4. A door comprising a plurality of said case members, said door comprising said mounting portions at both ends of a door shaft, wherein a mounting portion at one end of said door shaft is mounted to a receiving portion of one of said case members, The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the end mounting portion is mounted on a receiving portion of the other case member. 5. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the case member includes a concave portion in at least a part of the receiving portion. 6. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the door has a concave portion in at least a part of a mounting portion.