JP2004009787A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate installation of a wire for transmitting the operation force of a damper from an operation panel side to an air conditioner unit side. <P>SOLUTION: The operation panel 50 side is formed with a rotation output member 55 rotating by the amount corresponding to the rotation of an operation knob 52, and an air mix damper 4 side is formed with a rotation input member (a boss 26) for displacing the air mix damper 4 by the amount corresponding to a rotational amount obtained by receiving an operation input. The rotation output member 55 on the operation panel side and the rotation input member 26 on the damper side are jointed by the wire 30 for transmitting the rotation of the rotation output member 55 to the rotation input member 26 as the rotation in its twisting direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner.
[0002]
[Prior art]
An air conditioner for a vehicle includes, for example, an operation panel mounted on an instrument panel, such as a vehicle air conditioner mounted on a sedan-type passenger car, and an air conditioner unit provided on the back (engine room side) of the instrument panel. Some are provided with
[0003]
FIG. 6 shows a configuration of a general air conditioner unit. The air conditioner unit includes a unit casing 1 forming a duct, an evaporator 2 provided in the unit casing 1, a heater core 3 provided in the unit casing 1 downstream of the evaporator 2, and air passing through the heater core 3. An air mix damper 4 for adjusting the mixing ratio of (hot air) and air (cold air) bypassing the heater core 3, and mode dampers 5A, 5B, 5C for realizing various blowing modes such as face, foot, and defrost. The duct is provided with a blower 6 for generating an airflow from the inlet to the outlet in the duct, and an intake damper 7 for switching between inside air introduction and outside air introduction at the duct entrance.
[0004]
In the case of a manual air conditioner, for example, a wire-type operation mechanism is usually employed to rotate the air mix damper 4. FIG. 7 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional wire-type operation mechanism.
[0005]
In this mechanism, when the operation knob 11 provided on the operation panel 10 is rotated, the rotation is converted into a push / pull operation of the wire 13 via the link mechanism 12, and the push / pull operation of the wire 13 is changed to a lever on the damper 4 side. The damper 4 is rotated by the rotation of the lever 14 and transmitted as a rotation operation of the lever 14.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When the damper 4 is moved by the pushing and pulling operation of the wire 13 as described above, the assembling must be performed while appropriately adjusting the relationship between the operation stroke S of the wire 13 and the rotation angle of the lever 14. The reason is that if the damper 4 is not fixed at a correct position due to a variation in stroke and a variation in lever, problems such as wind leakage occur. However, the adjustment is very troublesome, and there is a problem that it takes time to assemble the wire 13.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a vehicle air conditioner that can easily assemble a wire that transmits an operation force of a damper from an operation panel to an air conditioner unit.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 includes an air conditioner unit having a damper such as an air mix damper or a mode damper, and an operation panel having an operation member for issuing a command for controlling the damper. In the vehicle air conditioner, the operation panel is provided with a rotation output member that rotates by an amount corresponding to an operation command from the operation member, and the air conditioner unit is rotated by receiving an operation input to rotate the rotation amount. A rotation input member for displacing the damper by an amount corresponding to the rotation input member provided on the operation panel side and the rotation input member on the air conditioner unit side by rotating the rotation output member in its own torsion direction. It is characterized by being connected by a wire transmitting to the member.
[0009]
According to the present invention, the operating force given on the operation panel side is transmitted to the damper on the air conditioner unit side not by the pushing and pulling operation of the wire but by the rotation of the wire in the twisting direction. That is, when the operation member provided on the operation panel is operated, the rotation output member provided on the operation panel rotates, and the rotation is transmitted to the rotation input member on the air conditioner unit side as the rotation of the wire itself in the torsion direction. The damper is rotated. When the operation force is transmitted by the rotation of the wire in the torsion direction in this manner, the elastic torsion deformation of the wire itself can absorb the variation between the operation side and the damper side, so that particularly troublesome adjustment is performed. There is no necessity, and the wire can be easily assembled. In addition, since a certain amount of biasing force can be applied to the damper by the reaction force due to the torsional deformation of the wire, the generation of a gap can be prevented by applying a pressing force to the closed position when the damper is closed, Wind leakage does not occur.
[0010]
As a method of rotating the rotation output member by an amount corresponding to the operation command, a method of directly rotating the rotation output member by the operation force of the operation member (manual type), or a method of rotating the rotation output member by a motor ( Auto type) can be selected. In any case, the configuration of the damper side can be made common to the wires, so that the air conditioner unit can be shared between the manual type and the automatic type.
[0011]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a rotationally operable operation knob is provided as the operation member, and the rotation output member is a member that receives the rotation of the operation knob and rotates. It is characterized by.
[0012]
The present invention relates to a manual-type operation mechanism. By rotating an operation knob, the wire is directly rotated by the force to transmit the rotation operation force to the damper. Therefore, an actuator such as a motor is not required, and cost can be reduced.
[0013]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a switch that generates an electric signal according to an operation content is provided as the operation member, and the rotation output member controls rotation based on the electric signal generated by the switch. It is a rotating part of the motor to be driven.
[0014]
The present invention relates to an automatic operation mechanism, in which a wire is rotated by the force of a motor to transmit a rotation operation force to a damper. Therefore, it is sufficient to provide a switch as an electric component on the operation panel, so that the operation can be simplified and the design of the operation panel can be improved.
[0015]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the connection between the wire and at least one of the rotation output member and the rotation input member is a serration connection.
[0016]
In the present invention, serration coupling is used to connect at least one of the rotation output member or the rotation input member to the wire, so that the position of the wire in the rotation direction at the time of connection can be easily adjusted.
[0017]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the direction of the transmission axis of the rotational force by the wire is converted into a relation intersecting the input side and the output side at the intermediate portion or the end of the wire. A direction changing mechanism is provided.
[0018]
In the present invention, by providing the direction changing mechanism, the direction of the transmission axis of the rotational force can be freely changed, and no matter how the directions of the rotary output member and the rotary input member are in relation to each other, an excessive bending is required. Instead, the rotation output member and the rotation input member can be connected via a wire.
[0019]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a relevant part of the vehicle air conditioner of the embodiment, which is taken out here. The air conditioner according to the embodiment includes the air conditioner unit shown in FIG. 6 and an operation panel 50. FIG. 1 shows a manual operation for driving the air mix damper 4 in the air conditioner unit shown in FIG. Figure 2 schematically shows the mechanism.
[0020]
On the front side of the operation panel 50, an operation knob 52 for driving and operating the air mix damper 4 is provided. A rotation output member 55 that rotates by an angle corresponding to the operation amount of the operation knob 52 is provided inside the operation panel 50. The rotation output member 55 may be directly integrated with the rotation shaft of the operation knob 52, but here, the rotation angle range of the operation knob 52 is 120 degrees, and the rotation angle range of the damper 4 is 60 degrees, which is half the rotation angle range. Therefore, intermeshing gears 53 and 54 having a gear ratio of 1: 2 for converting the rotation angle of the operation knob 52 to half are interposed between the operation knob 52 and the rotation output member 55. I have. Therefore, the rotation output member 55 receives the rotation of the operation knob 52 mechanically, and rotates by half the angle of the operation knob 52.
[0021]
On the other hand, a boss 26 is provided as a rotation input member at the end of the rotation shaft 25 of the damper 4 on the air conditioner unit side. The boss 26 is provided with a boss hole 27 that is coaxial with the rotation axis of the damper 4. The boss 26 rotates, so that the damper 4 rotates together. Note that the rotation input member may be provided separately from the rotation shaft 25 of the damper 4, and the rotation of the rotation input member may be transmitted to the damper 4 via a link mechanism, a gear mechanism, or the like.
[0022]
As described above, the boss (rotation input member) 26 is provided on the damper 4 side of the air conditioner unit, and the rotation output member 55 is provided on the operation panel 50 side. The rotation output member 55 on the operation panel 50 side is connected with the wire 30 with a sheath tube. The sheath tube-equipped wire 30 is obtained by passing a wire core material 31 through a sheath tube 32, and can be used by fixing the sheath tube 32 as an exterior body at an appropriate place. In this case, the wire 30 is used to transmit an operating force by rotation in the torsion direction, and both ends are connected to the rotation output member 55 on the operation panel 50 side and the boss 26 on the damper 4 side. Is transmitted to the boss 26 on the damper 4 side as its own rotation in the torsion direction.
[0023]
The connection between the wire 30 and the boss 26 and the rotation output member 55 is performed by fitting the connecting shaft portions 33 and 34 connected to both ends of the wire core 31 into the boss holes 27 and 57 of the boss 26 and the rotation output member 55. It is done by that. In this case, serration connection is adopted for either of the connection portions, so that the position of the wire 30 in the rotation direction at the time of connection can be easily adjusted. That is, the serrations are formed on the shaft side and the hole side and fitted, so that the connection can be made at any rotational position as long as the serration teeth mesh with each other.
[0024]
Next, the operation will be described.
In this operation mechanism, the operation torque given to the operation panel 50 side is not generated by the pushing and pulling operation of the wire 30 but by the rotation of the wire 30 (strictly, the wire core material 31) in the twisting direction. Tell damper 4. That is, when the operation knob 52 provided on the operation panel 50 is rotated, the rotation output member 55 provided on the operation panel 50 rotates, and the rotation is performed as the rotation of the wire 30 in the torsion direction. Is transmitted to the boss 26, whereby the damper 4 is rotated.
[0025]
In particular, when the operating force is transmitted by the rotation of the wire 30 in the torsional direction, the variation between the operating side and the damper 4 can be absorbed by the elastic torsional deformation of the wire 30 itself. It is not necessary to perform special troublesome adjustment such as stroke adjustment, and the wire 30 can be easily assembled.
[0026]
Further, since a certain amount of urging force can be applied to the damper 4 by the reaction force due to the torsional deformation of the wire 30, the gap is generated by applying the pressing force to the closed position when the damper 4 is operated to the closed position. Can be prevented. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the air mix damper 4 is drive-controlled in an angle range θ1 between a max school (M / C) position and a max hot (M / H) position, the input side of the wire 30 (operation The rotation angle range θ2 of the panel 50) is extended to a position beyond the angle range θ1 of the damper 4. By doing so, when the operation knob 52 is turned to the M / C or M / H position, the pressing force to the closed position can be applied to the damper 4 by the reaction force due to the torsional deformation of the wire 30. It is possible to reliably prevent the generation of a gap. Therefore, problems such as wind leakage do not occur.
[0027]
In addition, the operation mechanism is a manual type in which the operation knob 52 is rotated to directly rotate the wire 30 by the force to transmit the rotation operation force to the damper 4 side. No actuator is required, and costs can be reduced.
[0028]
When connecting the damper 4 side and the operation panel 50 side with the wire 30 in a case where the wire 30 must be bent so as to perform a sudden change of direction beyond an allowable range, an intermediate portion of the wire 30 is required. At the end of the wire 30, a direction changing mechanism such as an orthogonal gear mechanism can be provided. FIG. 3 shows an example in which an orthogonal gear mechanism 60 is provided at the end of the wire 30 as a direction changing mechanism. In the figure, bevel gears 61 and 62 that mesh with each other in a perpendicular relationship are rotatably supported by a frame 63, and one of the gears 61 is connected to the rotation shaft 25 of the damper 4. Further, a boss 65 is integrated with the other gear 62, and the connecting shaft portion 33 of the wire 30 can be inserted into and connected to the boss 65. In this way, the direction of the transmission axis of the rotational force by the wire 30 can be converted into a relationship in which the input side (the bevel gear 62 side) and the output side (the bevel gear 61 side) intersect.
[0029]
In the example of FIG. 3, the orthogonal gear mechanism 60 is provided at the connection portion between the wire 30 and the damper 4. However, the orthogonal gear mechanism 60 may be provided at the connection portion at the operation panel 50 side, or may be interposed in the middle of the wire 30. .
[0030]
By providing the direction changing mechanism in this manner, the direction of the axis of transmission of the rotational force by the wire 30 can be freely changed. The rotation output member and the rotation input member can be connected via the wire 30 without performing the above operation.
[0031]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the serration connection is used is shown as a method of connecting the end of the wire 30 to the boss 26. However, as shown in FIG. 39 may be connected to each other as D-cut holes. Alternatively, key combination may be employed.
[0032]
In the above-described embodiment, the operation panel 50 is provided with the operation knob 52 that can be rotated, and the manual operation mechanism that directly transmits the rotation operation force to the damper 4 via the wire 30 has been described. The present invention can be applied to a mold operating mechanism. FIG. 5 shows a schematic configuration of an automatic operation mechanism.
[0033]
In the automatic operation mechanism, a switch 82 that generates an electric signal according to the operation content is provided as an operation member on an operation panel 80, and a motor whose rotation is controlled based on the electric signal generated by the switch 82 is provided. The end of the wire 30 is connected with the rotation shaft 84 as a rotation output member. In this mechanism, the wire 30 is rotated by the force of the motor 84 to transmit the rotation operation force to the damper 4 side. Therefore, the operation panel 80 only needs to be provided with the switch 82 as an electric component, so that the operation can be simplified and the design of the operation panel 80 can be improved.
[0034]
As a method of rotating the rotation output member by an amount corresponding to the operation command, either the manual type shown in FIG. 1 or the automatic type shown in FIG. 5 can be selected. In the configuration on the four side, up to the wire 30 can be shared, so that the air conditioner unit can be shared between the manual type and the automatic type.
[0035]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the air mix damper 4 is operated has been described. However, the above configuration can be applied to the operation mechanisms of the various mode dampers 5A, 5B, and 5C shown in FIG. However, when a plurality of dampers are mechanically driven by one operation knob, various mode dampers are switched by providing a link mechanism or the like on the damper side and rotating one rotation input member. Must be configured.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation force given on the operation panel side is transmitted to the damper on the air conditioner unit side not by the pushing and pulling operation of the wire but by the rotation of the wire in the twisting direction. Therefore, the variation in the operation side and the damper side can be absorbed by the elastic torsional deformation of the wire itself, and the wire can be easily assembled without specially troublesome adjustment. Further, since the damper can be pressed to the closed position by utilizing the reaction force due to the torsional deformation of the wire, the occurrence of wind leakage can be prevented.
[0037]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the rotation of the operation knob is transmitted directly to the damper side, an actuator such as a motor is not required, and the cost can be reduced.
[0038]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the rotation of the wire is transmitted to the damper side by rotating the wire by the power of the motor, so that the operation can be simplified and the design of the operation panel can be improved.
[0039]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the serration connection is used for connecting at least one of the rotation output member or the rotation input member and the wire, the position of the wire in the rotation direction at the time of connection can be easily adjusted. And the assemblability can be improved.
[0040]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the rotation output member and the rotation input member can be connected to each other via a wire without excessive bending regardless of the orientation of the rotation output member and the rotation input member. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is taken out and shown.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a rotation angle of a wire and a rotation angle of a damper.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a direction change mechanism.
FIG. 4 is a view showing another connection structure between the wire and the boss.
FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a main part of a vehicle air conditioner according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an air conditioner unit of a general vehicle air conditioner.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a damper operating mechanism in a conventional vehicle air conditioner.
[Explanation of symbols]
4 Air mix dampers 5A, 5B, 5C Mode damper 26 Boss (rotary input member)
27 Boss hole (with serration)
30 wire 31 wire core material 33 joint shaft (with serration)
50 operation panel 52 operation knob 55 rotation output member 60 orthogonal gear mechanism (direction changing mechanism)
80 operation panel 82 switch 84 motor

Claims (5)

In a vehicle air conditioner comprising an air conditioner unit having a damper such as an air mix damper or a mode damper, and an operation panel having an operation member for issuing a command for controlling the damper,
A rotation output member that rotates by an amount corresponding to an operation command from the operation member is provided on the operation panel, and the damper is rotated by an operation input to the air conditioner unit by an amount corresponding to the rotation amount. A rotation input member for displacing the rotation output member is connected, and the rotation output member on the operation panel side and the rotation input member on the air conditioner unit side are connected by a wire that transmits the rotation of the rotation output member to the rotation input member as rotation in its own torsion direction. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising: 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an operation knob that can be rotated is provided as the operation member, and the rotation output member is a member that rotates by mechanically receiving rotation of the operation knob. 3. Air conditioner. As the operation member, a switch that generates an electric signal according to the operation content is provided, and the rotation output member is a rotating portion of a motor whose rotation is controlled based on the electric signal generated by the switch. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1. The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a connection between the wire and at least one of the rotation output member and the rotation input member is a serration connection. 5. A direction changing mechanism for changing a direction of a transmission axis of a rotational force by the wire into an intersecting relationship between an input side and an output side is provided at an intermediate portion or an end portion of the wire. The air conditioner for a vehicle according to any one of the above.

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