JP2003104034A - Air conditioner for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a driving mechanism for a slide door for preventing the number of parts from being increased by being designed according to a stroke direction from a driving source. SOLUTION: This air conditioner for an automobile has the slide door for adjusting air quantity to a heater core between an evaporator and the heater core. The slide door is moved by rotational force transmitted via a drive shaft. An external pinion is mounted at a projecting part projecting to the outside of an air conditioning case of the drive shaft. The external pinion is engaged with a rack. When the rack with driving force transmitted from the driving source is reciprocated, the external pinion is rotated. The rack can be designed according to the stroke direction of the driving source with the external pinion as a center.

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 for controlling the temperature inside a vehicle compartment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an air conditioner for an automobile, a mix door is provided downstream of a cooler (evaporator) and in front of a heater (heater core) for varying the amount of air flowing into the heater. This mix door has a structure in which a flat plate is attached to the rotary shaft and rotates about the rotary shaft as a fulcrum, but it requires a space for rotating the mix door. Then, there is a demand for reducing the door space, and in order to meet this demand, a slide type sliding door has been adopted in recent years.

For example, as disclosed in the applicant's official gazette (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-13520), a sliding door is provided with a lining on the surface of the sliding door in order to prevent the air from blowing through. I wore it. As an alternative to the lining, in the example disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-193645, an elastic member 30b is provided on the seat surface side of the slide type air mix door 30, and the elastic member 3 is provided.
0b was in close contact with the sheet surface to prevent blow-by of wind.

Further, in the example of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-193645, as a means for driving the slide type air mix door 30, a gear 30c formed therein, a circular gear 38 meshing with the gear 30c, and a shaft for supporting the circular gear 38 are provided. 39,
A circular gear 41 provided at the outer end of the shaft 39 outside the case
And a fan-shaped gear 42 that meshes with the circular gear 41.

The center of rotation of the fan gear 42 is rotatably supported by a bearing 43, and an operation pin 44 is integrally provided at a predetermined position on the outer peripheral side of the fan gear 42. An operating force is transmitted from an operating mechanism (not shown) to the fan-shaped gear 42 to oscillate to transmit the rotational driving force to the circular gear 41.

[0006]

When operating a cable using the above known fan-shaped gear 42, in order to secure a stroke close to a straight line, the shape of the fan-shaped gear must be increased, It will also be heavy, and if the cable strokes are in very different directions,
Parts must be newly installed each time. Alternatively,
Since sub-links were also attached, the number of parts increased and the cost increased.

Therefore, the present invention provides a drive structure for a slide door, which can accommodate all directions of a stroke from a drive source such as a cable and has a small number of parts.

[0008]

An automobile air conditioner according to the present invention includes an evaporator for cooling air in an air conditioning case, a heater core for heating air cooled by the evaporator, and a heater core on a downstream side of the evaporator. In an automobile air conditioner including a slide type slide door for adjusting the amount of air passing through, the slide door has one or a plurality of teeth in a sliding direction and has a pinion meshing with the teeth. The drive shaft to which the pinion is attached is projected to the outside of the air conditioning case, the external pinion is attached to the protruding portion, and the rack is meshed with the external pinion (claim 1). The rack is slid on the guide rail (claim 2).

Therefore, the driving force for moving the sliding door for air mixing is transmitted to the external pinion meshing with it through the rack, converted into the rotational force by the external pinion, and the pinion is transmitted through the drive shaft. The sliding door moves by rotating. Since the driving force is input from the outside in a linear reciprocating manner, if the rack is in the stroke direction of the driving force, it is possible to deal with the design change over the circumferential surface 360 degrees of the external pinion, and the degree of freedom in design is improved.

Further, the position of the rack is regulated by a collar integrated with the external pinion (claim 3). This can prevent the rack from leaving the external pinion. Moreover, since the collar is integral with the external pinion, the number of parts does not increase.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The air conditioner 1 for an automobile shown in FIG. 1 communicates with a blower unit (not shown) on the upstream side of an air conditioning case 2 forming an air conditioning duct, and cool air and warm air (not shown) are mixed on the downstream side. , And a distribution case provided with a damper for distributing to each outlet.

An evaporator 3 as a heat exchanger for cooling is arranged on the upstream side of the air conditioning case 2. A heater core 6 as a heat exchanger for heating is arranged in the warm air passage 5 on the lower surface of the dividing horizontal plate 4 on the downstream side of the evaporator 3. A cool air passage 7 through which cool air passes is formed above the dividing horizontal plate 4.

The evaporator 3 and the heater core 6 are also provided.
A sheet surface 10 is formed in the vertical direction between the inner surface of the case 2 and the inner surface of the case 2, and a pair of guide grooves 11a and 11b are provided in the vertical direction on the upstream side along the seat surface 10. The seat surface 10 and the guide grooves 11a, 1
1b will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

2 to 4, the seat surface 10 provided on the air conditioning case 1 having a rectangular cross section has first and second seat surfaces.
Extending laterally across the through holes 13a, 13b of the upper seat surface 10a, the middle seat surface 10b, the lower seat surface 10c.
And the seat surfaces 10a, 10b, 10c have
Since the air-conditioning case 2 is composed of the two left and right members 1a and 1b, the joining line PL is formed in the central longitudinal direction and has a gradually decreasing draft toward the joining line PL.

The seat surface 10 has a middle seat surface 10b.
As described above, the first through hole 13a and the second through hole 13b are formed on the upper and lower sides of the first through hole 13a. The wake side of the first through hole 13a becomes the cold air passage 7 and the second through hole 13b is formed. The warm air passage 5 is provided on the downstream side. The upper seat surface 10a
First through hole side end portion 10a 'and the lower seat surface 10
The second through-hole side end portion 10c 'of c has an arc shape with a radius of 2 mm to 5 mm, for example, and prevents the slide door 15 described below from being caught during movement.

The guide grooves 11a and 11b are provided in the air conditioning case 2
It is formed by standing up ribs along the longitudinal direction on both inner sides of the seat, and a part of the rear side of the seat surfaces 10a, 1
It is shared with 0b and 10c.

The sliding door 15 is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, and has a rectangular shape, and its lateral dimension (longitudinal dimension) is slightly shorter than the inner dimension of the width of the air conditioning case 2 described above. The directional dimension (widthwise dimension) is formed to be slightly larger than that of the first and second through holes 13a and 13b described above. As shown in FIG. 4 as well as FIG. 5, the sliding door 15 has a small thickness and flexibility, but the back side has a predetermined inclination in the longitudinal direction toward the center. . That is, it has the same value as the inclination of the seat surface 10 described above. As a result, the seat surfaces 10a, 10b, 1
0c and the sliding door 15 can be closely attached without a gap.

The sliding door 15 is reinforced by forming a plurality of ribs in the vertical and horizontal directions, and has tooth portions 16a, 16b which mesh with driving gears 21a, 21b described below near both ends in the horizontal direction. It is formed over the entire width. Ribs 17 are provided upright on both sides of the tooth portions 16a and 16b.

Further, arc-shaped elastic bodies 19 are provided in a quadrangular shape at both lateral ends of the slide door 15, and the slide door 15 is always kept by the elastic bodies 19 when being inserted into the guide grooves 11a and 11b. The seat surface 10a described above,
It is pressed against 10b and 10c.

Drive gears 21a, 21b (pinion)
Is engaged with the above-mentioned teeth 16a, 16b and is fixed to the drive shaft 22. The drive shaft 22 is hung on the air conditioning case 2, and the rotational force is transmitted from the end protruding outside. By rotating the rotary shaft 22, the gear 21
a, 21b are rotated, the slide door 15 is guided in the vertical direction by the guide grooves 11a, 11b, and the seat surface 10
a, 10b, 10c, and the first and second through holes 1
3a and 13b are selectively opened and closed.

6 and 7, in order to rotate the drive shaft 22 by an external driving means, the gears (pinions) 21a and 21b are attached to the protruding portion 22a of the drive shaft 22 protruding outside the air conditioning case 2. A gear (external pinion) 24 having a smaller diameter than that is fixed. This external pinion 24
A through hole 24a is formed at the center, and the protruding portion 2 of the drive shaft 22 is protruded.
Locking means 24b for coupling with 2a and pinion 24 on the outer circumference
A is formed and a collar 28 is formed on the side opposite to the air conditioning case.

The rack 25 meshes with the external pinion 24, is guided by a guide rail 26 integrally formed on the air conditioning case 2, and the external pinion 24 is also provided.
Even the brim 28 is regulated so as not to be separated from the external pinion 20. A cable 30 to which a reciprocating motion output is transmitted is fixed to the rack 25 via a cable mounting portion 29. Therefore, when the cable 30 is displaced, the rack 25 reciprocates, the external pinion 24 rotates and becomes a rotational force, which is transmitted to the pinions 21a and 21b, and the slide door 15 is moved.

In the above-mentioned structure, the temperature control in the vehicle compartment is performed by moving the temperature control lever, and the cable 30 connected to the lever expands and contracts accordingly, and the expansion and contraction linearly reciprocates the rack 25. Therefore, the outer pinion 24 meshing with the rack 25 rotates, and the drive shaft 2
Rotate 2. The drive gears 21a and 21b are rotated by the rotation of the drive shaft 22, and the slide door 15 is guided by the guide grooves 11a and 11b while the seat surface 10a,
Move on 10b and 10c.

The amount of movement of the slide door 15 is determined by the temperature control lever.
The first through hole 13a is fully closed, and the entire amount of introduced air flows into the warm air passage 5 during maximum heating. Then, when the slide door 15 moves downward, a part of the first through hole 13a is opened, a part of the second through hole 13b is closed, and the cool air in the cold air passage 7 and the hot air in the warm air passage 5 are heated. Although not shown, air is mixed in the distribution case on the downstream side and is blown into the vehicle compartment from a desired outlet.

Since the position of the rack 25 can be rotated 360 degrees about the external pinion 24 fixed to the drive shaft 22, it can be changed in the stroke (extending and contracting direction) of the cable 30 without adding any link other than the rack. The degree of freedom in design can be improved.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the drive shaft for transmitting the drive force for the slide door to slide on the seat surface is provided with the external pinion at the protruding portion outside the air conditioning case at one end thereof. Since the rack meshes with this pinion, the rack can be changed in the expansion / contraction direction (output direction) from the external drive source, so it can be directly connected to the drive source without the need for a new link. The degree of freedom of is improved.

Further, the rack is restricted by the brim formed on the external pinion to prevent the rack from coming off.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an automobile air conditioner of the present invention, which is seen separately from a joining line PL formed in a vertical direction of an air conditioning case.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the same as above, as viewed from the windward direction toward the slide door.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the seat surface of the same as the above, except for a slide door.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the slide door in the above.

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the above.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the air conditioning case seen from the outside in the same as above.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the relationship between the drive shaft and the external pinion in the above.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Automotive air conditioner 2 air conditioning case 3 evaporator 6 heater core 10a, 10b, 10c seat surface 11a, 11b guide groove 13a, 13b through holes 15 sliding door 16a, 16b teeth 17 ribs 19 Elastic body 21a Drive gear (pinion) 22 Drive shaft 24 gears (external pinion) 25 racks 26 Guide rail 28 brim 30 cables

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yu Teruya             39, Higashihara, Chiyo-ji, Konan-cho, Osato-gun, Saitama Prefecture               Zexel Valeo Climate Co., Ltd.             In control (72) Inventor Daisuke Araki             39, Higashihara, Chiyo-ji, Konan-cho, Osato-gun, Saitama Prefecture               Zexel Valeo Climate Co., Ltd.             In control F-term (reference) 3L011 BP02

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An evaporator for cooling air, a heater core for heating the air cooled by the evaporator, and a slide type sliding door for adjusting the amount of air passing through the heater core are provided downstream of the evaporator in an air conditioning case. In the automotive air conditioner, the slide door has one or more teeth in the sliding direction, has a pinion meshing with the teeth, and the drive shaft to which the pinion is attached is outside the air conditioning case. An automobile air conditioner characterized in that it is projected, an external pinion is attached to this protruding part, and a rack is meshed with this external pinion. 2. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the rack slides on a guide rail. 3. The air conditioner for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the rack is regulated in position by a collar integrated with the external pinion.