JP2001277838A - Air conditioning device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase face blow-down air quantity on the rear seat without increasing the dimensions of an air conditioning unit in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle. SOLUTION: A face air passage 34 for the rear seat to guide air conditioned wind to the upper bodies of the passengers on the rear seat and a foot air passage 44 for the rear seat to guide air conditioned wind to the feet of the passengers on the rear seat are formed side by side in the cross direction of a vehicle. This constitution makes it possible to increase the dimensions of the face air passage 34 for the rear seat in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle without increasing the dimensions of the air conditioning unit in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The shape of the cross section of the face air passage 34 therefore becomes nearly square, resulting in the reduction of draft resistance of the face air passage 34. This makes it possible to increase the face blow-down air quantity for the rear seat.

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 that blows conditioned air to a front seat and a rear seat, and to an improvement for increasing the amount of face blown air from a rear seat.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an air conditioner for a vehicle has been put to practical use in which conditioned air is blown to the rear seat side in order to improve the comfort of a rear passenger. FIGS. 6 to 8 show an example of this type of air conditioner, in which a face air-conditioning wind toward the front seat and a rear air-conditioning wind are applied to the downstream side of the face door 31 in the air conditioning unit 10 arranged in the front of the vehicle compartment. The face air-conditioned wind to the seat side is branched, and the foot air-conditioned wind to the front seat side and the foot air-conditioned wind to the rear seat side are branched at the downstream side of the foot door 41. Furthermore, the branched rear face passage 34 and the rear foot passage 44 are arranged side by side in the vehicle front-rear direction.

[0003] This system is based on an air conditioning unit 1 at the front of the vehicle interior.
A part of the conditioned air to the front seat side can be branched as the conditioned air to the rear seat side without changing the basic configuration of the air conditioning unit 0, which is practically advantageous in that the configuration of the air conditioning unit 10 can be simplified. .

[0004]

However, since the face outlet for the rear seat is installed on the rear seat side in the vehicle interior, the face outlet for the rear seat to the face outlet for the rear seat is provided at the front part of the face door 31 at the front of the vehicle interior. , The ventilation resistance increases, the amount of face blown air for the rear seats decreases, and insufficient cooling for rear occupants occurs.

Further, since the face passage 34 for the rear seat and the foot passage 44 for the rear seat are arranged side by side in the vehicle longitudinal direction, the dimensions of the passages 34, 44 in the vehicle longitudinal direction are reduced. The cross-sectional shapes of the passages 34, 44 become extremely elongated rectangles as shown in FIG. And, as is well known, when the passage cross-sectional area is the same, the ventilation resistance increases as the cross-sectional shape is elongated,
Therefore, in the conventional apparatus, this point also contributes to a decrease in the amount of the rear-seat face blown air.

Therefore, it is conceivable to increase the size of the rear seat face passage 34 in the vehicle longitudinal direction. However, if the rear-seat face passage 34 is enlarged in the vehicle front-rear direction, the dimension of the air conditioning unit 10 in the vehicle front-rear direction is increased, thereby causing a problem such as a reduction in the vehicle interior living space. Actually, since the vehicle front-rear dimension is strongly suppressed from the vehicle side, it is difficult to realize the rear seat face passage 34 in the vehicle front-rear direction along with the vehicle front-rear dimension of the air conditioning unit 10. is there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and has as its object to increase the amount of face blown air for the rear seat without increasing the size of the air conditioning unit in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, conditioned air is blown toward a front seat occupant, and conditioned air is blown to the upper body and rear seat occupant of a rear seat occupant. In a vehicle air conditioner that blows out toward the feet, a rear seat face passage (34) that guides conditioned air to the upper body of a rear occupant, and a rear seat foot passage (44) that guides conditioned air to the rear occupant's feet. Are formed in the air-conditioning case (11) side by side in the left-right direction of the vehicle.

Thus, since the rear face passage and the rear foot passage are arranged side by side in the vehicle left-right direction,
Without increasing the size of the air conditioning unit in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle,
The dimension of the rear seat face passage in the vehicle front-rear direction can be increased. Therefore, the cross-sectional shape of the face passage for the rear seat
It can be more square. And by making the cross-sectional shape of the face passage for the rear seat close to a square, the ventilation resistance of the face passage for the rear seat is reduced,
It is possible to increase the amount of air blown out from the rear face.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle air conditioner in which a front seat face passage (27) for guiding conditioned air to the upper body of a front seat occupant is formed in an air conditioning case (11).
It is characterized by having a guide wall (33) for guiding the flow of the conditioned air toward the rear face passage (34).

With this arrangement, when air-conditioning air is blown toward the upper body of the front seat occupant and the upper body of the rear seat occupant, the air-conditioning air is reliably guided to the rear-seat face passage by the guide wall, and the rear-seat face blowing air volume is increased. Can be increased.

The reference numerals in parentheses of the above means indicate the correspondence with specific means described in the embodiments described later.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a front view of the air conditioning unit, and FIG. 5 is a side view of the face duct and the air conditioning unit. The ventilation system of the vehicle air conditioner according to the present embodiment is roughly divided into two parts, a blower unit (not shown) and an air conditioning unit 10, which are arranged at the front part in the vehicle interior. Specifically, 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. , And is disposed substantially at the center in the vehicle left-right (width) direction.

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

The air conditioning unit 10 is of a type in which an evaporator (heat exchanger for cooling) 12 and a heater core (heat exchanger for heating) 13 are both integrated in one common air conditioning case 11. is there. 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 at the lower part of the instrument panel in the vehicle cabin at a substantially central portion in the vehicle left-right direction in the longitudinal and vertical directions of the vehicle as shown in FIGS. An air inlet 14 is formed on the side of the air-conditioning case 11 closest to the front of the vehicle (the side on the passenger seat side). The conditioned air blown from the blower unit flows into the air inlet 14.

The evaporator 12 is disposed in the air conditioning case 11 immediately after the air inlet 14. This evaporator 1
Numeral 2 is arranged in a vertical direction 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 blast air from the air inlet 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.

A heater core 13 is disposed downstream of the evaporator 12 in the air flow direction (rear side of the vehicle) at a predetermined interval. 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. Although not shown, the width of the evaporator 12 and the heater core 13 in the left-right direction of the vehicle is designed to be substantially equal to the width of the air conditioning case 11.

The heater core 13 reheats the cold air that has passed through the evaporator 12. Hot water (engine cooling water) flows inside the heater core 13, and the hot water is used as a heat source to heat the air. It is a vessel. In the air passage in the air-conditioning case 11, a cool air bypass passage 15 is formed above the heater core 13 so that air (cool air) flows by bypassing the heater core 13.

A flat air mix door 16 is disposed between the heater core 13 and the evaporator 12. The air mix door 16 adjusts the ratio of the amount of warm air heated by the heater core 13 to the amount of cool air that bypasses the heater core 13 through the cool air bypass passage 15. The air mix door 16 is integrally connected to a rotating shaft 17 arranged in the horizontal direction (vehicle width direction), and is rotatable about the rotating shaft 17 in the vertical direction of the vehicle. 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 at a predetermined interval from the heater core 13 is formed integrally with the air-conditioning case 11 on the downstream side of the heater core 13 (at 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. The downstream side (upper side) of the hot air passage 19 joins with the downstream side of the cool air bypass passage 15 in the upper portion of the heater core 13 to form an air mixing section 20 for mixing the cool air and the hot air.

On the other hand, in the upper part of the air conditioning case 11,
A defroster opening 21 is provided at a location adjacent to the air mixing section 20.
Is open. The defroster opening 21 receives temperature-controlled conditioned air from the air mixing unit 20, and reaches a defroster connection port 23 on the upper end surface of the air conditioning case 11 via a defroster passage 22. The defroster connection port 23 is connected to a defroster outlet (not shown) via a defroster duct (not shown), and conditioned air is blown from the defroster outlet toward the inner surface of the vehicle front window glass. The defroster opening 21 is opened and closed by a flat defroster door 24.
The air-conditioning case 11 is rotated by a rotating shaft 25 arranged in the horizontal direction in the vicinity of the upper surface portion.

A face opening 26 through which the conditioned air flows in from the air mixing section 20 is provided above the air conditioning case 11 at a position rearward of the defroster opening 21 (closer to the occupant) than the defroster opening 21. The width of the face opening 26 in the vehicle left-right direction is designed to be substantially equal to the width of the air-conditioning case 11. The face opening 26 reaches a front face face connection port 28 on the upper end face of the air conditioning case 11 via a front face face passage 27. Here, a face passage 27 for the front seat is formed on a substantially extended line in the flow direction Z of the conditioned air flowing from the air mixing section 20 toward the face opening 26.

A front face face duct 29 is connected to the front face face connection port 28, and conditioned air (cool air) is supplied from a front face face outlet 30 connected to a downstream end of the front face face duct 29. ) Is blown out toward the upper body of the front passenger. The face opening 26 is opened and closed by a flat face door 31.
The air-conditioning case 11 is rotated by a rotary shaft 32 arranged in the horizontal direction in the vicinity of the upper surface portion.

The front seat face connection ports 28 are arranged one on each side in the vehicle left-right direction. A wall surface 33 is formed integrally with the air-conditioning case 11 between the front seat face connection ports 28, that is, in the center in the vehicle left-right direction. The wall surface 33 is formed facing the extension of the conditioned air flow direction Z from the air mixing section 20 toward the face opening 26 and functions as a guide wall for guiding the conditioned air toward the rear face passage 34. .

The rear face passage 34 formed in the air-conditioning case 11 is disposed at the rearmost side of the vehicle in the air-conditioning case 11 and at the center in the vehicle left-right direction like the wall surface 33. The upstream end of the rear seat face passage 34 opens into the face opening 26 and extends downward therefrom. In addition, the wall surface 33 and the face passage 3 for the rear seat
The width of the vehicle 4 in the left-right direction is set substantially equal.

Of the conditioned air flowing from the air mixing section 20 through the face opening 26, the conditioned air flowing from the central portion of the face opening 26 in the vehicle left-right direction hits the wall surface 33 and faces the rear face passage. The flow direction is changed to the side 34 and reaches the rear seat face connection port 36 at the lower end of the rear seat face passage 34. And the air conditioning wind
Through a rear face duct 37 connected to the rear face connection port 36, a rear face face outlet 38 is reached,
Air conditioning air is blown out from the rear seat face outlet 38 toward the upper body of the rear passenger.

In the air-conditioning case 11, foot passages 39 are formed on both sides of the rear face passage 34 in the vehicle left-right direction, and the foot passages 39 extend in the vehicle up-down direction.
A foot opening 40 which is an upstream end of the foot passage 39
The air-conditioning air (warm air) flows from the air mixing section 20 and is simultaneously opened and closed by two flat foot doors 41. The two foot doors 41
One of the rotating shafts 42 is disposed in the horizontal direction in the vicinity of one vehicle rear side.

The foot passage 39 branches into a front seat foot passage 43 and a rear seat foot passage 44 on the way, so that the conditioned air flowing in from the foot opening 40 is passed through the foot passage 39 to the front seat. And a rear seat foot passage 43. The conditioned air that has flowed into the front seat foot passage 43 reaches a front seat foot outlet (not shown) via a front seat foot duct (not shown) connected to the front seat foot connection port 45. Blows out toward the feet of the front occupant from the foot outlet. The conditioned air flowing into the rear foot passage 44 reaches a rear foot outlet (not shown) via a rear foot foot duct (not shown) connected to the rear foot connection port 46. The air is blown out from the rear foot outlet toward the foot of the rear passenger.

Here, as particularly shown in FIG. 4, the rear face passage 34, the front foot passage 43 and the rear foot passage 44 are arranged side by side in the vehicle left-right direction. More specifically, one rear face passage 34 is disposed in the center of the air conditioning case 11 in the left-right direction of the vehicle, and one rear foot passage 44 is disposed on each side of the rear face passage 34. Further, the front foot passage 4 is located outside the rear seat foot passage 44 in the left-right direction of the vehicle.
3 are arranged one by one.

The defroster door 24, the face door 31 and the foot door 41 are door means for switching the blowing mode, and are provided with an actuator mechanism for switching the blowing mode, such as a servomotor, or a manual mechanism via a link mechanism (not shown). It is connected to an operation mechanism, and is operated in conjunction with the actuator mechanism or the manual operation mechanism.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment in the above configuration will be described. In the vehicle air conditioner of the present embodiment, the operating positions of the defroster door 24, the face door 31, and the foot door 41 which serve as the door means for switching the blowing mode are described. By making a selection, the following blowing modes can be set.

(1) Face blowing mode The defroster door 24 is moved to the solid line position in FIGS.
Is operated to the two-dot chain line position 41a in FIG.
Close 0. Further, the face door 31 is operated to the position indicated by the solid line in FIGS.

At this time, the air mix door 16 is moved in FIG.
When the lower end position 3a is operated, the ventilation path to the heater core 13 is completely closed, and the maximum cooling state in which the cool air bypass path 15 is fully opened is set. In this state, when a blower unit and a refrigeration cycle (not shown) are operated, the blown air from the blower unit flows in from the air inlet 14 and is cooled by the evaporator 12 to become cool air.

In the maximum cooling state, the cool air passes through the cool air bypass passage 15 as it is, and flows into the face opening 26 through the air mixing section 20. The conditioned air flowing in from both sides of the face opening 26 in the left-right direction of the vehicle receives the front seat face passage 27 and the front seat face duct 29.
And blows out from the front seat face outlet 30 toward the upper body of the front seat occupant.

The conditioned air flowing in from the center of the face opening 26 in the left-right direction of the vehicle hits the wall surface 33 and is redirected to the rear face passage 34 side. Through the rear face duct 37, the air is blown from the rear face outlet 38 toward the upper body of the rear passenger.

When the air mix door 16 is operated from the lower end position (maximum cooling position) 16a in FIGS. 2 and 3 to the solid line position (intermediate opening position) in FIGS. Most of the cool air passes through the cool air bypass passage 15 in accordance with the opening position of the air mix door 16, and the remaining cool air flows into the heater core 13 and is heated to become hot air. This warm air rises in the warm air passage 19 to reach the air mixing section 20, where it joins with the cool air and is mixed therewith. The conditioned air adjusted to the desired temperature by mixing the cool air and the warm air is blown toward the upper body of the occupant on both the front seat side and the rear seat side through the above route.

In the present embodiment, the rear face passage 34 and the rear foot passage 44 are arranged side by side in the vehicle left-right direction. Compared with the air conditioning unit, the size of the rear seat face passage 34 in the vehicle front-rear direction can be increased without increasing the size of the air conditioning unit 10 in the vehicle front-rear direction. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the rear-seat face passage 34 can be made closer to a square than an extremely elongated rectangle like the conventional rear-seat face passage 34 shown in FIG. it can.

The face passage 3 for the rear seat is thus provided.
By making the cross-sectional shape of 4 a shape close to a square, the ventilation resistance of the face passage 34 for the rear seat decreases, and the amount of air blown out of the face for the rear seat can be increased.

The face passage 34 for the rear seat is orthogonal to the flow direction Z of the conditioned air flowing from the air mixing section 20 toward the face opening 26. The wind is difficult to flow. However, in the present embodiment, since the wall surface 33 is formed between the front-seat face connection ports 28 so as to face the above-described flow Z of the conditioned air, the face opening 26 extends from the center in the vehicle left-right direction. The air-conditioned air that has flowed in hits the wall surface 33 and is turned to the rear face passage 34 side as indicated by reference numeral Z1 in FIG. 2 and flows into the rear seat face passage 34. Therefore, the conditioned air can be reliably guided to the rear face passage 34, and the amount of the rear face blown air can be increased.

(2) Bi-level blowing mode The defroster door 24 is moved to the position indicated by the solid line in FIGS. Also, face door 31
Then, the foot door 41 is operated to an intermediate position between the solid line position in FIGS. 2 and 3 and the two-dot chain line position 31a, 41a to open both the face opening 26 and the foot opening 40.

Accordingly, the conditioned air is blown through the face opening 26 to the upper body side of the occupants of the front and rear seats. At the same time, when the foot opening 40 is opened, the conditioned air is blown toward the feet of the front and rear occupants through the foot passage 39, the front seat foot passage 43, and the rear seat foot passage 44. In addition, the bi-level blowing mode is usually
Since the air mix door 16 is operated at the intermediate opening position, the air-conditioning air is adjusted to a desired intermediate temperature because the air mix door 16 is used in the middle season of spring and autumn.

(3) Foot blowing mode The defroster door 24 is operated from the solid line position in FIGS. 2 and 3 to a position where a small amount of the defroster opening 21 is opened. The face opening 31 is fully closed by operating the face door 31 to the two-dot chain line position 31a in FIGS. Further, the foot door 41 is operated to the position indicated by the solid line in FIGS.

At this time, the air mix door 16 is
3 to the upper end position 16b of the cold air bypass passage 1
5 is fully closed, and the maximum heating state in which the ventilation path to the heater core 13 is fully opened is set. Therefore, the whole amount of the air blown from the blower unit flows into the heater core 13 after passing through the evaporator 12, and is heated to become hot air.

The warm air rises in the warm air passage 19 to reach the air mixing section 20, where the foot opening 40, the foot passage 39,
The air is blown toward the feet of the front and rear occupants through the front foot passage 43 and the rear foot passage 44. At this time, a part of the warm air from the warm air passage 19 blows out toward the vehicle front window glass through the defroster opening 21 which is slightly opened.

The control of the temperature of the blown air in the foot mode can also be performed by operating the air mix door 16 and adjusting the mixing ratio of the cool air and the hot air.

(4) Defroster blowing mode The defroster door 24 is operated to the position 24a shown by a two-dot chain line in FIGS. Also, the face door 31 and the foot door 41 are operated to the two-dot chain line positions 31a and 41a in FIGS.
6 and the foot opening 40 are fully closed.

Therefore, the temperature of the blast air from the blower unit is adjusted by the turning position of the air mix door 16,
After passing through the air mixing section 20, it flows into the defroster opening 21 and is blown out from the defroster outlet toward the front windshield of the vehicle to prevent fogging of the front windshield.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention, and is a front view of an air conditioning unit.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view as viewed in the direction of arrow C of a main part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of the present invention, and is a side view of an air conditioning unit including a part of a duct.

FIG. 6 is a front view of an air conditioning unit of a conventional device.

FIG. 7 is a view as seen in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line EE of FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

11 air conditioning case, 12 evaporator, 13 heater core,
34 ... face passage for rear seat, 44 ... foot passage for rear seat.

Claims (5)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A vehicle installed in a passenger compartment on the front side of a vehicle,
An air conditioning case (11) having a ventilation passage therein; a cooling heat exchanger (12) installed in the air conditioning case (11) for cooling the blast air; and installed in the air conditioning case (11); A heating heat exchanger (13) for heating the blast air, and directing conditioned air whose temperature is controlled by the cooling heat exchanger (12) and the heating heat exchanger (13) to a front seat occupant. A rear face passage (34) for guiding the conditioned air to the upper body of the rear occupant, wherein the air conditioning air blows the air conditioned air toward the upper body of the rear occupant and the feet of the rear occupant; An air conditioner for a vehicle, characterized in that a rear seat foot passage (44) for guiding conditioned air to the feet of a rear seat occupant is formed in the air conditioning case (11) side by side in the left-right direction of the vehicle. 2. The air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the foot passage for the rear seat is disposed on both sides of the face passage for the rear seat. 3. The air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the rear face passage (34) is arranged at a central portion in the left-right direction of the vehicle in the air-conditioning case (11). . 4. A vehicle air conditioner in which a front foot passage (43) for guiding the conditioned air to the feet of a front passenger is formed in the air conditioning case (11), wherein the front foot passage (43) is provided. 43) The rear face passage (34) and the rear foot passage (44) are arranged side by side in the lateral direction of the vehicle together with the rear seat face passage (34). Vehicle air conditioner. 5. A vehicle air conditioner in which a front face passage (27) for guiding the conditioned air to the upper body of a front seat occupant is formed in the air conditioning case (11). The air conditioner for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a guide wall (33) for guiding the vehicle toward the face passage (34) for the rear seat.