JP2002316528A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner for a vehicle having a slidable supply blow-off port capable of reducing a moving space. SOLUTION: A bottomed cylindrical movable duct 2a is externally inserted in a fixed side duct insertion part 2b, and slidable in the axial direction of the duct. A grille 3 forming a conditioned air blow-off port is formed in the vicinity of a bottom part 201 of the movable duct 2a. When the movable duct 2a is allowed to slide, the grille 3 slides within an opening 13, and the conditioned air supplying position can be changed thereby. A shielding member 7 of a bellows structure for shielding the opening 13 is folded or developed when it slides, and constantly shields the opening 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner mounted on an automobile or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an air outlet of a vehicle air conditioner, for example, rotates a grill having blades up and down and changes the angle of the blades left and right to change the blowing direction of conditioned air to a desired direction. Like that. But,
In a vehicle having a relatively large cabin space, such as a one-box car, the conditioned air cannot reach a desired position in the cabin simply by changing the angle of the blade at the outlet.

For this reason, in the air conditioner disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 2-93115, a long and narrow opening is formed in the air duct, and an outlet grill is slidably attached to this opening. Then, the blowing direction is changed over a wider range by sliding the blowing grill and moving it in the opening.

[0004]

However, in the above-described air conditioner, the blow-out grill is attached to a flat blind plate that closes the opening so that the conditioned air does not leak from other than the blow-out grill provided in the opening. I have. The blind plate is set to have such a size that it always closes the opening even if the blowout grill moves within the opening, and thus extends to the length of the opening in the moving direction of the blowout grill. Therefore, an extra space for moving the blind plate on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the opening is required.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle air conditioner having a slidable air outlet and capable of reducing a movable space.

[0006]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8. (1) When described in association with FIGS. 1 and 2, the invention of claim 1 is applied to a vehicle air conditioner that supplies conditioned air from an air conditioner main body 1 </ b> A to a vehicle interior through a duct 2. Fixed duct 2b connected to air conditioner body 1A
And a movable duct 2a having a bottomed cylindrical shape, which is slidably fitted to the fixed duct 2b in the direction of the air passage, and an outlet 3 formed near the bottom 201 of the movable duct 2a. Achieve the above objectives. (2) Explained in connection with FIG. 4, the invention of claim 2 is the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the movable duct 2a is moved to a predetermined position in the sliding range (the position shown in FIG. 4 (b)). ), The fixed duct 2b shields the outlet 3 of the movable duct 2a. (3) Explaining in connection with FIG. 8, the invention according to claim 3 is the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sliding surface 4 between the fixed duct 2b and the movable duct 2a.
1, 40 are concave portions 40b, 41b and convex portions 40b in the sliding direction.
a and 41a are alternately repeated. (4) Explaining in connection with FIG. 4, the invention of claim 4 is the vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the outlet 3 is moved with the sliding movement of the movable duct 2a. Opening 13 of vehicle interior member 12 capable of sliding movement
Is provided with a shielding member 7 that overlaps, expands, and shields according to the slide of the outlet 3. (5) Explained in association with FIGS. 1 and 5, the invention of claim 5 connects the fixed duct and the air conditioner main body 1A in the vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4. And a connecting duct 2c having a bellows structure disposed in the pillar internal cavity.

[0007] In the section of the means for solving the above problems, the drawings of the embodiments of the present invention are used to make the present invention easy to understand, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments of the present invention. Not something.

[0008]

(1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, the air outlet is formed in the movable duct, and the air outlet is moved in the sliding direction by sliding the movable duct. As a result, the wind direction is excellent. Furthermore, it is only necessary to secure a moving space for the movable duct at the time of moving the outlet, and it is possible to reduce the space required for moving the outlet. (2) In addition to the effect of the first aspect, the invention of the second aspect does not need to provide a shut valve or the like for stopping the blowing of the conditioned air, and has an effect of reducing costs. (3) According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effects of claims 1 and 2, since the sliding surface of the fitted portion is an uneven surface,
The leak path of the conditioned air leaking from the sliding surface is lengthened, and the sealing performance is improved. (4) According to the invention of claim 4, in addition to the effects of claims 1 to 3, the shielding member for shielding the opening is superposed and unfolded according to the sliding of the outlet, so that the movable space of the shielding member is reduced. Can be. (5) According to the invention of claim 5, in addition to the effects of claims 1 to 4, in addition to the bellows structure of the connection duct disposed in the pillar internal cavity, the connection duct is easily deformed. Can be absorbed by the deformation of the connection duct.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, and shows an arrangement of an air conditioning duct and an air conditioning air outlet grill in a vehicle cabin. The air conditioner shown in FIG. 1 includes a front air conditioning unit 1A for supplying conditioned air to the front of the vehicle compartment, and a rear air conditioning unit 1B for supplying conditioned air to the rear of the vehicle compartment. Although not shown, each of the air conditioning units 1A and 1B is provided with a blower fan, an evaporator, a heater core, and the like. The air sucked by the blower fan is appropriately cooled and heated according to the heat load inside the vehicle or outside the vehicle, and is supplied into the vehicle interior.

Air-conditioned air from the front air-conditioning unit 1A is guided through a duct 2 to an air-conditioned air blowing grill 3 provided above a window 5, and is blown from the grill 3 into a front seat space where a driver's seat 4 is located. You. The grill 3 is provided with a louver 6 for changing the direction of the conditioned air W. A horizontally long opening 13 is formed in the trim 12 above the window 5, and the grill 3 can slide in the opening 13 in the vehicle front-rear direction (the left-right direction in the drawing). The opening 13 is provided with a shielding member 7 that covers the opening.

On the other hand, the conditioned air from the rear air conditioning unit 1B is supplied to the front half of the rear part of the passenger compartment from the grill 3 provided above the window 14 through the duct 8, and the window 15 through the duct 9. Is supplied to the rear half of the rear part of the passenger compartment from a grill 3 provided on the rear side of the vehicle. Grill 3 above window 14
Can slide inside the opening 13 formed in the trim 12 in the vehicle front-rear direction. The grill 3 on the rear side of the window 15 is provided with a vertically long opening 13 formed in the trim 12.
Inside can be slid up and down. Hereinafter, details of the structure of the blowout portion of the opening 13 provided above the window 5 will be described. With respect to the other openings 13, the blowout portion structure is completely the same.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of the opening 13. Reference numeral 2a denotes a movable duct constituting a part of the duct 2, and the movable duct 2a is externally inserted into a duct insertion portion 2b which is a tip portion of the duct 2. The duct insertion portion 2b is inserted into the movable duct 2a with almost no gap, and the movable duct 2a can slide in the vehicle front-rear direction with respect to the duct insertion portion 2b. When the movable duct 2a is slid, the grill 3 provided on the side of the movable duct 2a moves in the opening 13 of the trim 12 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

Since the gap between the duct insertion portion 2b and the movable duct 2a is very small, and the insertion portion is made long so as to be slidable, leakage of the conditioned air from this gap can be sufficiently reduced. In the present embodiment, in order to ensure confidentiality, the seal member 18 is provided on the outer periphery of the distal end portion of the duct insertion portion 2b. Duct insertion part 2
b is inserted into the movable duct 2a.
Is in a compressed state and is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the movable duct 2a.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the movable duct 2a and the duct insertion portion 2b, each of which has a rectangular cross section.
The movable duct 2 a forms a bottomed cylinder, and the grill 3 is formed on a side surface near the bottom 201. The cross section of the duct is not limited to a rectangle, but may be a circle or the like. As described above, the grill 3 is provided with the louvers 6, 6a are vertical louvers for changing the wind direction in the vertical direction, and 6b are horizontal louvers for changing the wind direction in the vehicle front-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the conditioned air flows from the duct insertion portion 2b to the movable duct 2a.
, And is blown out of the grill 3 into the vehicle interior.

If you want to change the location where the air conditioning wind hits,
What is necessary is just to move the grill 3 back and forth manually. For example, the grill 3 may be moved forward when air-conditioned wind is to be applied to the vicinity of the arm holding the handlebar 10, and may be moved rearward when it is desired to be applied to the head. The blowing direction of the conditioned air can be changed to a desired direction by manually changing the directions of the louvers 6a and 6b in FIG.

The shielding member 7 shown in FIG. 2 has a bellows structure. One end of the shielding member 7 is fixed to the grill 3 and the other end is fixed to a mounting plate 20 provided on the trim 12.
The shielding member 7 is folded according to the sliding of the movable duct 2a, or the folded one is expanded. As a result, the opening 13 is always shielded by the shielding member 7, so that the movable duct 2a and the duct insertion portion 2b are not seen from the passenger compartment side.

FIG. 4A is a view when the grill 3 is slid to the rear end of the opening 13. In this case, the shielding member 7 on the right side in the figure is folded and accommodated between the rear end face of the grill 3 and the mounting plate 20 of the trim 12. Conversely, FIG.
When the grill 3 is slid to the front end of the opening 13 as shown in (b), the shielding member 7 on the left side in the figure is folded and fit between the front end surface of the grill 3 and the mounting plate 20. in this way,
In the present embodiment, since the shielding member 7 has a bellows structure, even if the grill 3 slides back and forth in the opening 13, the space required for the shielding member 7 can be reduced.

When the grill 3 is slid to the position shown in FIG. 4B, the opening 3a of the grill 3
The air is blown off from the grill 3 by being shielded by the side surface of b. That is, by changing the position of the grill 3, which is the outlet, it is possible to control the blowing and stopping of the conditioned air. Conventionally, the opening and closing of a shut valve provided in a duct is used to control the blowing and stopping of conditioned air, but in the present embodiment,
Since such a structure is not required, cost can be reduced.

Returning to FIG. 1, a part of the duct 2 for guiding the conditioned air to the grill 3 provided in the opening 13 is disposed in the internal cavity of the pillar 10. FIG. 5 shows the BB of the pillar 10.
It is sectional drawing. The exterior part of the pillar 10 is made of a metal panel 11 and the interior part is made of a resin trim 12. The duct 2 is formed of a pipe such as a resin, for example. Since a portion of the duct 2 that passes through the pillar 10 (hereinafter referred to as a pillar inner duct portion) 2c has a bellows structure in which the duct wall surface is folded, the pillar inner duct portion 2c is deformed by an external force. Cheap. Therefore, even when the crew's head collides with the trim 12 of the pillar 10, the trim 12 is deformed and the duct 2 c in the pillar is also deformed, and the head impact is sufficiently absorbed. You.
Although FIG. 5 shows a bellows structure with vertical folds, a bellows structure with horizontal folds in which a plurality of folds are formed in the duct axis direction may be used.

Conventionally, ribs and the like for absorbing shocks are formed inside the pillar 10, but in the present embodiment, the ribs and the like can be absorbed by deformation of the duct portion 2c in the pillar. Can be omitted. as a result,
The cross-sectional area of the in-pillar duct portion 2c can be made wider, and the ventilation resistance of the in-pillar duct portion 2c can be made lower.

<< Modification 1 >> In the above-described embodiment, a bellows structure having a bellows structure is used as the shielding member 7 for covering the opening 13. In a modification 1, a slide plate structure as shown in FIG. 6 is used. . 6 (a) and 6 (b) correspond to FIGS.
(A) shows the case where the grill 3 is slid to the rear end position, and (b) shows the case where the grill 3 is slid to the front end position. The shielding member 7 ′ includes three slide plates 7 a, 7 b, 7 c, and an end of the slide plate 7 c on the grill 3 side is fixed to the grill 3. On the other hand, the end of the slide plate 7a on the trim 12 side is attached to the trim 12 so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction in the figure.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are views showing a shielding member 7 'provided on the left side of the grill in FIG. 6, wherein FIG. 7A shows a non-sliding state and FIG. 7B shows a sliding state. Guides 30 are provided on the upper surface and the lower surface (not shown) of the slide plate 7b, respectively. The guide 30 is fixed by screws 34. The guide 30 has guide grooves 30a and 30b. A pin 33 implanted in the slide plate 7a is slidably engaged with the guide groove 30a. A pin 32 implanted in the slide plate 7c is slidably engaged with the guide groove 30b.

In the non-sliding state shown in FIG. 7A, the pin 33 of the slide plate 7a is located at the right end of the guide groove 30a in the figure, and the pin 32 of the slide plate 7c is located at the left end of the guide groove 30b. 7A, the slide plate 7a is moved leftward so that the pin 33 contacts the left end of the guide groove 30a, and the slide plate 7c is moved rightward so that the pin 32 contacts the right end of the guide groove 30b. When it moves in the direction, a sliding state as shown in FIG.

Returning to FIG. 6, when the grill 3 is slid to the rear end position as shown in FIG. 6 (a), the right slide plates 7a, 7b, 7c are in the non-slide state, and the slide plates 7a, 7b , 7c between the grill 30 and the restricting member 35 for restricting the rightward sliding of the 7c. At this time, the left slide plates 7a, 7b, 7c are in a slide state. Conversely, when the grill 3 is slid to the front end position, the left slide plates 7a, 7b, 7c enter the non-sliding state, and the right slide plates 7a, 7b, 7c enter the sliding state. As described above, also in the case of the shielding member 7 'having the slide plate structure, similarly to the above-described shielding member 7 having the bellows structure, the space of the shielding member 7' when the grill 3 is slid can be reduced.

<< Modification 2 >> FIG. 8 is a view for explaining Modification 2 of the present embodiment, and is a cross-sectional view of an insertion portion between the movable duct 2a and the duct insertion portion 2b. The inner peripheral surface 40 of the movable duct 2a is an uneven surface in which convex portions 40a and concave portions 40b are alternately formed in the axial direction. On the other hand, the outer peripheral surface 41 of the duct insertion portion 2b is an uneven surface in which convex portions 41a with which the concave portions 40b of the movable duct 2a engage and concave portions 41b with which the convex portions 40a engage are formed alternately in the axial direction. I have. P is the pitch of the irregularities on the inner peripheral surface 40 and the outer peripheral surface 41. A seal member 18 is provided at a distal end portion of the duct insertion portion 2b. The seal member 18 is deformed by a compressive force, and its outer peripheral surface is in contact with the uneven inner peripheral surface 40 of the movable duct 2a.

When the movable duct 2a is slid in the left-right direction, the movable duct 2a is elastically deformed so as to expand its diameter by the force when the convex portion 40a rides on the convex portion 41a, and the duct insertion portion 2b is deformed. Elastically deform so as to narrow. As a result, the protrusion 40a goes over the protrusion 41a and engages with the adjacent recess 41b. Therefore, the minimum slide amount is P.

By making the insertion portion of the movable duct 2a and the duct insertion portion 2b have an uneven structure as in Modification 2,
The following effects can be obtained. First, when the movable duct 2a is slid, positioning can be reliably performed at a position where the convex portions 40a, 41a and the concave portions 40b, 41b are engaged. Also, there is no need to provide a separate click mechanism for positioning. Second, since the inner peripheral surface 40 and the outer peripheral surface 41 are uneven surfaces, the conditioned air flows through the inner peripheral surface 4.
The length of the path when leaking through the gap between the zero and the outer peripheral surface 41 becomes longer, and the sealing performance of this part is improved.

FIG. 9 shows a comparative example of an air conditioner, in which an opening 51 is formed in a duct 50 and an opening shielding flat plate 5 is formed.
3 is such that the grill 52 provided on the slide 3 is slid within the opening 51. In FIG. 9, (a) shows the grill 5
2 is the case where the front end position is set, and (b) is the case where the grill 52 is set at the rear end position. Since the flat plate 53 slides integrally with the grill 52, the right and left dimensions are set so that the opening 51 is always shielded even when the flat plate 53 slides. Therefore, in the case of FIG. 9B, the rear end (right end in the figure) of the flat plate 53 is located behind the case of FIG. Therefore, the rear end of the duct 50 must be made extra long by the dimension L.

On the other hand, the vehicle air conditioner of the above-described embodiment has the following features as compared with those shown in FIG. (A) By sliding the movable duct 2a in which the blowing grill 3 is formed with respect to the fixed-side duct insertion portion 2b, the blowing position of the conditioned air is changed. Therefore, no extra duct space is required on the right side of the opening 13 as shown in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, the grill opening 13 can be provided adjacent to the windows 5, 14, or the sliding end of the grill 3 can be trimmed, such as that provided behind the window 15. It can be provided close to the upper end.

(B) In the example shown in FIG. 9, it is necessary to seal the gap between the flat plate 53 and the duct surface to prevent air-conditioning air from leaking, but it is difficult to make a reliable seal. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the structure is such that the cylindrical duct slides while being fitted, it is relatively easy to improve the sealability by the seal member.

(C) Since the shielding member 7 does not need a function of preventing air-conditioning air from leaking unlike the flat plate 53 in FIG. 9, the degree of structural freedom is increased by that much. Therefore, a bellows structure or a slide plate structure can be employed as in the above-described embodiment, and the movable space of the shielding members 7, 7 'can be reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, the fixed duct (duct insertion portion 2b) is inserted into the movable duct 2a. However, the relationship between the insertion and the extrapolation may be reversed.

In the correspondence between the embodiment described above and the elements of the claims, the duct insertion part is a fixed duct 2
b, the air conditioning units 1A and 1B are the air conditioner main body, the grill 3 is the air outlet, the inner peripheral surface 40 and the outer peripheral surface 41 are the sliding surfaces, the trim 12 is the vehicle interior member, and the pillar inner duct 2c. Each constitute a connection duct.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, showing an arrangement of an air conditioning duct and an air conditioning air outlet grill in a vehicle cabin.

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

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a movable duct 2a and a duct insertion portion 2b.

4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating a shielding member 7, wherein FIG. 4A shows a case where the grill 3 is at a rear end position, and FIG. 4B shows a case where the grill 3 is at a front end position.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1;

6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating a shielding member 7 ', wherein FIG. 6A shows a case where the grill 3 is at a rear end position, and FIG. 6B shows a case where the grill 3 is at a front end position.

7A and 7B are views showing a shielding member 7 on the left side of the grill 3 in FIG. 6, wherein FIG. 7A shows a non-sliding state, and FIG. 7B shows a sliding state.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a second modification.

FIG. 9 shows a comparative example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1A, 1B Air conditioning unit 2, 8, 9 Duct insertion part 2a Movable duct 2b Duct 2c Pillar duct part 3 Grill 7, 7 'Shielding member 7a to 7c Slide plate 12 Trim 40 Inner peripheral surface 40a, 41a Convex portion 40b, 41b Recess 41 Outer surface

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle air conditioner for supplying conditioned air from an air conditioner main body to a vehicle interior via a duct, wherein: a fixed duct connected to the air conditioner main body; A vehicle air conditioner comprising: a bottomed cylindrical movable duct slidably fitted in a path direction; and an air outlet formed near a bottom of the movable duct. 2. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the fixed duct blocks an outlet of the movable duct when the movable duct is at a predetermined position in a sliding range. Vehicle air conditioners. 3. The air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a sliding surface between the fixed duct and the movable duct alternates between a concave portion and a convex portion in a sliding direction. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising: 4. The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an opening of a vehicle interior member that allows the outlet to slide along with the sliding movement of the movable duct, An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising: a shielding member that overlaps, expands, and shields according to a slide of an outlet. 5. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a bellows-shaped connection duct that connects the fixed duct and the air conditioner main body and is disposed in a pillar internal cavity. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising: