JP2002137622A - Duct device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate a mounting work and facilitate a maintenance work for a ventilator, in a duct device arranged on a rear surface of an instrument panel of an automobile. SOLUTION: This duct device 10 is provided with a side defroster duct 33 extending to both sides and a vent duct 34 branched from the side defroster duct 33. Vicinities each other of opening parts 33a and 34a provided at tip parts of the ducts 33 and 34 are connected by a connecting body 41 deformable elastically. The connecting body 41 is formed integrally with the blow-molded sides defroster duct 33 and is fixed to the vent duct 34 with a rivet 32. The second opening part 34a provided on the vent duct 34 is connected to the ventilator. In a state of the side defroster duct 33 fixed, the vent duct 34 is bent and the ventilator can be removed on the rear surface side of the instrument panel.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a duct device used for, for example, air conditioning of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-2047, a duct device used for air conditioning of an automobile is known. This duct device is arranged inside the instrument panel, is connected to the air outlet of the air conditioner, is branched into left and right vent ducts and left and right defroster ducts formed of resin, and has a plurality of air outlets. It is configured to blow out. In the configuration described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-2047, by forming a bellows portion in one duct, the duct device is integrally formed in a substantially straight line to the left and right, and then the bellows portion is bent. The bracket having high rigidity provided in the vicinity of the outlet of the duct is fixed to the vicinity of the outlet of the other duct with rivets or the like to obtain a desired shape. The duct device configured as described above is attached inside the instrument panel, and each outlet is connected to an outlet device previously attached to the instrument panel.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional configuration,
The duct device can be integrally molded in a substantially straight line on the left and right, reducing the manufacturing cost, increasing rigidity by fixing one duct to the other duct, and assembling the automobile assembly line in a desired shape. And can be easily assembled into a car. However, in a configuration in which one duct is fixed to the other duct to be a rigid body, when performing maintenance work on any of the outlet devices, the duct device must be attached to the instrument panel in order to remove the outlet device. Since it is necessary to remove all fixing screws and remove the entire duct device from the instrument panel, there is a problem that it is difficult to improve workability such as maintenance work of members arranged around. I have.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to provide a duct device capable of improving workability such as maintenance work.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a duct device comprising a first duct provided with a first opening, and a second opening branched from the first duct. A second duct portion, an attaching portion for attaching the first and second duct portions to a member to be attached, a first duct portion and a second
And a deformable connecting means for connecting the duct portions to each other.

In this configuration, since the first duct portion and the second duct portion are connected by the connecting means, each duct portion bends more than necessary even when the length of each duct portion is large. Are prevented, and the workability of the work of attaching to the member to be attached is improved. In addition, since the connecting means can be deformed, maintenance work of members arranged in the periphery can be performed by removing a minimum necessary mounting portion in a state where the connecting means is mounted on the member to be mounted. The performance is improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the duct apparatus of the first aspect, the connecting means connects the vicinity of the openings provided at the distal ends of the first and second duct portions. .

[0008] In this configuration, the vicinity of the openings provided at the distal ends of the ducts are connected to each other by connecting means, so that the workability of the work of attaching to the member to be mounted is improved and the openings are formed in the openings. The workability of the maintenance work of the connected members is also improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the duct device of the first or second aspect, the connecting means is formed integrally with at least one of the first and second duct portions.

In this configuration, the number of parts is reduced, the handling becomes easy, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the duct device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the connecting means is formed by blow molding for forming a duct portion on at least one of the first and second duct portions. It is formed integrally.

In this configuration, the number of components is reduced and the manufacture is facilitated, so that the handling is facilitated and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the duct device according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, wherein the attached member includes an instrument panel of the vehicle, and is provided at a distal end of at least one of the duct portions. The opening is connected to an outlet device attached to the instrument panel.

With this configuration, the workability of the work of attaching the vehicle to the instrument panel can be improved, and the workability of the maintenance work of the outlet device can be improved.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the duct device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3, reference numeral 10 denotes a duct device. The duct device 10 constitutes an air conditioning duct of an automobile, which is a vehicle, and constitutes a so-called blow duct formed by blow molding using a resin. are doing. The direction of arrow F in the figure indicates the front of the vehicle.

The duct device 10 is a member to be mounted.
The air conditioner (not shown) is arranged inside an instrument panel 12 constituting the instrument panel 11. The instrument panel 12 has driver seats at a total of four locations near both ends in the width direction and near the center. And ventilator outlet 14 which is an opening toward the occupant in the passenger seat is formed, and a defroster outlet 15 which is an opening toward the door glass is formed on the upper surface of both ends, and further,
On the upper surface, a slit-shaped outlet for the defroster, which is an opening facing the windshield along the width direction, is formed.

A ventilator 21, which is a member and is also referred to as an outlet, is attached to the ventilator outlet 14 for each ventilator.
The ventilator 21 includes a plurality of louvers constituting a wind direction adjusting mechanism (not shown) and a damper constituting an air volume adjusting mechanism (not shown) inside the case body 21a, and includes a bracket 21b provided outside the case body 21a with a screw 22. It is attached to the instrument panel 12 from the inner side by screwing a fixing tool such as. A frame 24 as a member is attached to the defroster outlet 15 by fitting or the like from the outer surface side.

On the other hand, the duct device 10 includes a duct main body 30 formed of an integral member or a plurality of members formed by blow molding using a resin such as polyethylene, a sealing member 31 and a rivet combined with the duct main body 30. 32
And so on. And the duct body 30 is
A tubular side differential duct (SID) as a first duct portion which is a duct body extending to both sides with a substantially central portion as a base end portion
E DEF DUCT) 33, and a tubular vent duct (VENT DUCT) 34 as a second duct portion, which is a branch duct branched from the vicinity of the base end of the side differential duct 33 to both sides and a rear side.
And a front differential duct 35 extending forward in the longitudinal direction of the side differential duct 33. And
A circular first hole formed at the tip of each side differential duct 33
Opening 33a, a circular second opening 34a provided at the tip of each vent duct 34, and a slit-shaped third opening 35a provided along the front end of the front differential duct 35,
An air-conditioning device connected to the air inlet, which is an opening (not shown) provided at a substantially central portion, is connected to the air inlet, and guides the introduced conditioned air to the openings 33a, 34a, and 35a.
An annular seal member 31 that is in close contact with the ventilator 21 is attached to an edge 34b provided in each second opening 34a.

In this duct device 10, the vicinity of the tip of the side differential duct 33 where the first opening 33a is provided and the vicinity of the tip of the vent duct 34 where the second opening 34a is provided are connected by the connecting means. As a connector 41.
Each connecting body 41 is blow-molded to form the duct body 30.
In the present embodiment, the side differential duct 33 extends integrally from the front end portion toward the rear side.
The connecting body 41 has a so-called resin spring shape extending in a tongue-like shape, is formed to have a predetermined width and a predetermined length, and has an intermediate portion bent in a crank shape and a part of the thickness is measured. And is configured to be elastically deformable within a predetermined range of dimensions under a predetermined force. Further, a mounting hole 42 as a fixing portion is formed in the vicinity of the distal end of the connecting body 41, and a fixing tool such as a rivet 32 also called a blind rivet inserted into the mounting hole 42 is attached to the distal end of the vent duct 34. The distal end of the connector 41 is fixed to the vent duct 34 by being fixed to a connection receiver 44 provided in the vicinity of the portion.

Further, in the duct device 10, mounting portions 46 are formed at a plurality of positions of the duct main body 30, for example, at a plurality of positions along the longitudinal direction of the side differential duct 33, and the openings 33a, An opening mounting portion 48 is formed near the tip of 34a, 35a. Each mounting portion 46 is fixed to the mounted member 11 on the vehicle body side such as the instrument panel 12 by a mounting tool such as a screw, and the opening mounting portion 48 is mounted on the instrument panel by a mounting tool such as a screw. 12 or a member attached to the instrument panel 12 or the like. And in this embodiment,
A screw 51 inserted into a mounting hole 34c, which is a mounting portion provided at an edge 34b of a second opening 34a of each vent duct 34, is screwed into a duct mounting portion 21c provided on an outer surface of a case body 21a of the ventilator 21. Then, with the sealing member 31 in close contact,
34 is connected to the ventilator 21.

The duct device thus configured
10 operates the air conditioner and introduces the conditioned air from the air inlet, thereby blowing air from the ventilator 21 through each vent duct 34 to perform air conditioning in the vehicle interior, and further, through each differential duct 33, 35 To remove fogging of the door glass and the windshield.

On the other hand, when performing the maintenance work of the ventilator 21, ie, the maintenance work, the screw 22 and the vent duct, which fix the ventilator 21 to the instrument panel 12, are used.
The second opening 34a is indicated by an imaginary line A along the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 2 by, for example, bending each vent duct 34 by removing the screw 51 fixing the 34 to the ventilator 21. The ventilator 21 can be easily removed to the back side of the instrument panel 12 by moving to the position.

According to the duct device 10 of the present embodiment, the longitudinal end portions provided with the openings 33a and 34a of the side differential duct 33 and the vent duct 34 are connected by the connecting member 41. By preventing the ducts 33 and 34 from being bent more than necessary, the shape of the duct device 10 is stabilized in a single piece state, and the openings 33a and 34a of the ducts 33 and 34 are set at predetermined positions. Can be easily assembled.

On the other hand, the outlet of the branched duct is not made rigid, the connecting body 41 is made of a resin spring which can be elastically deformed, and the vent duct 34 can be moved with respect to the side differential duct 33. When performing maintenance work on the ventilator 21, the screws 22 and the vent duct 34, which fix the ventilator 21 to the instrument panel 12, are attached to the ventilator 21 while the mounting portion 46 of the side differential duct 33 is fixed to the instrument panel 12. By simply removing the fixed screw 51, the respective vent ducts 34 are bent and the like, and the second opening 34a
Can be moved to the position indicated by the imaginary line A in FIG. 2, and the ventilator 21 can be easily moved to the instrument panel 12.
The work can be performed by removing it from the back side of the. Thus, since the vent duct 34 is movable, the ventilator
It is not necessary to remove the entire duct device 10 at the time of the maintenance work of 21, so that the ventilator 21 can be easily attached and detached, and the workability can be improved.

Further, the connecting body 41 having the resin spring shape is used.
Is formed integrally with one of the members, and in particular, it is formed simultaneously in one duct by blow molding to form a blow duct, and is fixed to the other duct with rivets, simplifying the configuration and reducing manufacturing costs it can.

The configuration of the duct device 10 is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be applied to various configurations having a plurality of duct portions. The plurality of duct portions can be formed integrally, or can be formed by connecting pipes formed separately.

Further, the connecting body 41 as the connecting means is not limited to the above embodiment, but may have various shapes, configurations,
Can be adopted.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a connecting body 41 bent in a direction opposite to the vertical direction from the connecting body 41 shown in FIG. 1 can be used. Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the shape may be a substantially flat plate shape, and may be a leaf spring shape that is elastically curved as a whole. Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the notch shape serving as a movable fulcrum can be partially set as the thin portion 41a while the shape is substantially flat.

Further, the connecting means may be formed integrally with any one of the duct portions, or a separate member such as a spring member such as a metal leaf spring may be used.

[0031]

According to the duct device of the first aspect, since the first duct portion and the second duct portion are connected by the connecting means, each duct portion can be connected even when the length of each duct portion is large. Can be prevented from being bent more than necessary, and the workability of the mounting work to the mounted member can be improved. In addition, since the connecting means can be deformed, maintenance work of members arranged in the periphery can be performed by removing a minimum necessary mounting portion in a state where the connecting means is mounted on the member to be mounted. Performance can be improved.

According to the duct device of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the vicinity of the opening provided at the end of each duct portion is connected by connecting means, so that the duct device can be attached to the member to be mounted. The workability of the work can be improved, and the workability of the maintenance work of the members connected to the opening can also be improved.

According to the duct device of the third aspect, in addition to the effect of the first or second aspect, since the connecting means is formed integrally with at least one of the first and second duct portions, the number of parts is reduced. Therefore, the handling can be facilitated and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

According to the duct device of the fourth aspect, in addition to the effects of any one of the first to third aspects, the number of parts is reduced and the production is facilitated, so that the handling can be facilitated and the production cost is reduced. it can.

According to the duct device of the fifth aspect, in addition to the effects of any of the second to fourth aspects, the workability of the work of attaching the vehicle to the instrument panel can be improved, and the maintenance of the outlet device can be improved. Workability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view showing an embodiment of a duct device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the vehicle to which the above-mentioned duct device is attached, taken along a line II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the duct device.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing another embodiment of the duct device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view showing still another embodiment of the duct device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view showing still another embodiment of the duct device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Duct device 11 Attached member 12 Instrument panel 21 Ventilator as blow-out device 33 Side differential duct as first duct 33a First opening 34 Vent duct 34a as second duct 34a Second Opening 41 Connecting body 46 as connecting means Mounting part

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshiyuki Hasegawa 218 Aoshima-cho, Fuji-shi, Shizuoka Japan F-term within Plast Corporation (reference) 3L011 BL02 BR01 BR02 3L080 AA02 AA09 AB07 AD02

Claims (5)

[Claims] A first duct provided with a first opening; a second duct branched from the first duct and provided with a second opening; A duct device, comprising: a mounting portion for mounting the first duct portion to the member to be mounted; and a deformable connecting means for connecting the first duct portion and the second duct portion to each other. 2. The duct device according to claim 1, wherein the connecting means connects the vicinity of the openings provided at the distal ends of the first and second duct portions. 3. The duct device according to claim 1, wherein the connecting means is formed integrally with at least one of the first and second duct portions. 4. The connecting means is formed integrally with at least one of the first and second duct parts by blow molding forming the duct part.
The duct device according to any one of the above. 5. The mounting member includes an instrument panel of a vehicle, and an opening provided at a distal end of at least one of the duct portions is connected to an air outlet device attached to the instrument panel. The duct device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein: