JP2004182011A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner for a vehicle whereby dust accumulated in an air mix door housing can be discharged by the use of a discharge port for discharging moisture gathered in an air conditioning case. <P>SOLUTION: This air conditioner for the vehicle is provided with the air mix door housing part 7 for housing the end side of an air mix slide door 4. The air mix door housing 7 is constituted of a groove 71 and a dust discharge aperture 72 on the end side of the groove 71. A shielding plate 11 is vertically provided on the dust discharge aperture 72 on the inner side of the air conditioning case 1, and a dust drop part 12 is formed between the shielding plate 11 and a wall 10. The air flow is hardly generated in the groove 71 by the shielding plate 11, and thereby the dust accumulated in the air mix door housing 7 is moved to the dust discharge aperture 72 side through the groove 71. Then, the dust moves to the dust drop part 12 wherein the air flow is hardly generated, and after that, the dust moves to the discharge port formed on the bottom surface of the air conditioning case 1. Finally, the dust is discharged to the outside of the air conditioning case 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner having an air mix sliding door that slides.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle air conditioner having an air mix sliding door that slides has a configuration as shown in FIG.
[0003]
In this vehicle air conditioner, air flows from the lower side to the upper side in the air conditioning case 1. An evaporator (cooling air conditioner) 2 is horizontally disposed below the air conditioning case 1. Downstream of the evaporator 2, a heater core (heating heat exchanger) 3 is horizontally disposed. An air mix slide door 4 is provided between the evaporator 2 and the heater core 3 so as to be slidable in the vehicle front-rear direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 1). The amount of air passing through the heat exchanger for heating is adjusted by the sliding operation of the air mix slide door 4.
[0004]
Further, two air mix door storage portions 7 for storing one end of the air mix slide door 4 when the air mix slide door 4 performs a sliding operation are provided at two places on both ends of the air conditioning case 1. By providing the air mix door storage 7, a desired air circulation path can be reliably obtained.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-233039 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, by providing the air mix door storage unit 7, dust contained in the air passing through the evaporator 2 is deposited on the air mix door storage unit 7 along the air mix slide door 4.
[0007]
In order to discharge the dust accumulated in the air mix door storage unit 7, it is conceivable to form an exhaust port dedicated to dust on the bottom surface of the air mix door storage unit 7. However, forming a new dust outlet only leads to higher costs.
[0008]
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and uses the existing discharge port, that is, the discharge port that discharges the water accumulated in the air-conditioning case, to deposit the air in the air-mix door storage unit 7. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle air conditioner capable of discharging waste dust.
[0009]
Note that, in the vehicle air conditioner having the above-described configuration, the existing discharge port is formed below the evaporator 2, and thus is located upstream of the air mix door storage unit 7. That is, in general, it is not easy to discharge dust in a direction opposite to the direction of air flow.
[0010]
Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention
The vehicle air conditioner of the present invention includes an air conditioner case, a heat exchanger for cooling, a heat exchanger for heating, an air mix slide door, an air mix door storage, a discharge port, and a shielding plate. I have. Then, the dust accumulated in the groove of the air mix door storage is discharged from the groove of the air mix door storage, which is the direction opposite to the air flow direction, to the discharge port through the dust discharge opening of the air mix door storage. It is characterized by the following.
[0011]
Here, the cooling heat exchanger is a heat exchanger that is disposed in the air conditioning case and cools the passing air. The heating heat exchanger is a heat exchanger that is disposed downstream of the cooling heat exchanger in the air conditioning case and heats the passing air. The air mix slide door is disposed downstream of the cooling heat exchanger and upstream of the heating heat exchanger, and slides in a direction substantially orthogonal to the air flow to pass through the heating heat exchanger. It is a door that regulates the amount of air. By the operation of the air mix slide door, the temperature of the air blown into the vehicle compartment from the air outlet formed in the air conditioning case is adjusted.
[0012]
The air mix door storage section is disposed on the end side of the air conditioning case, and includes a groove and a dust discharge opening. The groove has a storage opening formed on the upper side on the downstream side, and is a portion for storing one end side of the air mix slide door from the storage opening side when the air mix slide door is slid. The dust discharging opening is an opening formed at one end side of the groove inside the air conditioning case and discharging dust accumulated in the groove to the bottom surface side of the air conditioning case. Since the storage opening of the groove is formed on the upper side on the downstream side, the air mix slide door is slid in a substantially horizontal direction. Note that the air mix door storage section may be provided on the side of the cooling heat exchanger, or may be provided on the downstream side of the cooling heat exchanger. Of course, it may be arranged on the upstream side.
[0013]
The discharge port is formed on the bottom side of the air-conditioning case on the upstream side of the air-mix door storage unit, and discharges moisture in the air-conditioning case and dust accumulated in the air-mix door storage unit out of the air-conditioning case. The outlet is disposed below the cooling heat exchanger. The shielding plate is a plate that is provided upright on the bottom surface of the air conditioning case inside the air conditioning case at the dust discharge opening and suppresses the flow of air from the discharge port side to the air mix door storage unit side.
[0014]
That is, even when the opening is formed on one end side of the air mix door storage section, the flow of air from the discharge port side to the air mix door storage section side can be suppressed by the shielding plate. As a result, dust accumulated in the air mix door storage section can be discharged from the groove of the air mix door storage section to the bottom surface of the air conditioning case via the dust discharge opening. Further, since a discharge port is formed on the bottom surface of the air conditioning case from which the dust has been discharged, the dust can be discharged from the discharge port.
[0015]
As described above, it is possible to discharge dust accumulated in the air mix door storage unit using the existing discharge port without newly forming a discharge outlet dedicated to dust discharge in the air mix door storage unit.
[0016]
Further, the air mix door storage portion is provided with a bottom surface of the groove portion having a step above the bottom surface of the air conditioning case, and the air conditioning case has a wall portion forming the step, A dust falling part may be formed between the shielding plate and the wall to drop dust accumulated in the air mixing door storage part on the bottom surface of the air conditioning case.
[0017]
That is, the dust falling portion can further suppress the generation of the airflow. This is because the airflow generated from the bottom surface side of the air conditioning case to the air mix door storage unit side passes through the dust discharge opening located above the dust falling unit. This allows the dust accumulated in the air mix storage section to be discharged from the groove of the air mix door storage section to the dust falling section via the dust discharge opening of the air mix door storage section. Then, since the bottom surface of the dust falling portion coincides with the bottom surface of the air conditioning case, the dust discharged to the dust falling portion can be reliably discharged from the discharge port.
[0018]
Further, the groove may be formed so that the dust discharge opening side is inclined lower than the opposite side of the dust discharge opening. Thus, dust accumulated in the air mix door storage portion can be easily discharged to the dust discharge opening.
[0019]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to embodiments.
[0020]
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle air conditioner according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle air conditioner includes an air conditioner case 1 and an air conditioner functional component disposed inside the air conditioner case 1. The vehicle air conditioner is mounted in an instrument panel of the vehicle.
[0021]
The air-conditioning case 1 has a defroster outlet 1a, a face outlet 1b, and a foot outlet 1c. The defroster outlet 1a is an outlet that blows air toward the inner surface of the windshield. The face outlet 1b is an outlet for blowing air toward the upper body of the occupant. The foot outlet 1c is an outlet that blows air toward the lower body of the occupant. The air-conditioning case 1 is formed of a polypropylene resin.
[0022]
The air-conditioning case 1 has an inside air suction port (not shown) for sucking inside air and an outside air suction port (not shown) for sucking outside air.
[0023]
A blower (not shown) for generating an air flow in the air-conditioning case 1 is disposed on the side of the vehicle in the air-conditioning case 1. This blower sucks inside air or outside air, and generates an airflow from the front of the air-conditioning case 1 toward the vehicle interior.
[0024]
An evaporator (cooling heat exchanger) 2 for cooling the passing air is provided substantially horizontally below the air conditioning case 1. The evaporator 2 cools the air flowing from the lower side to the upper side. The evaporator 2 is connected to a compressor, a condenser, a receiver, and an expansion valve by a pipe to form a refrigeration cycle.
[0025]
Downstream of the evaporator 2, that is, above the evaporator 2 and on the rear side of the vehicle, a heater core (heating heat exchanger) 3 for heating the passing air is disposed substantially horizontally. The heater core 3 obtains a necessary heating capacity by controlling the flow rate of the engine cooling water flowing into the inside by a water valve (not shown) using the engine cooling water heated by the heat generated by the engine as a heat source. .
[0026]
On the downstream side of the evaporator 2 and on the upstream side of the heater core 3, an air mix slide door 4 slidable in the vehicle front-rear direction is horizontally disposed. The air mix slide door 4 includes a frame (not shown) and a film 41. The frame portion has a substantially rectangular frame shape and is made of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) resin. Further, a rack gear that meshes with a pinion gear 5 disposed substantially at the center of the air conditioning case 1 is formed in the frame portion. That is, the rotation of the pinion gear 5 allows the air mix slide door 4 to slide in the vehicle front-rear direction.
[0027]
The film 41 is provided so as to extend to the center of the frame portion and to both ends of the frame portion. However, a through hole 42 is formed in a part of the film 41 disposed in the center of the frame portion. This through hole 42 is a portion through which air flows. That is, the portion where the film 41 is located is a portion through which air does not flow. As described above, the position at which the air flows can be changed, so that the amount of air passing through the heater core 3 disposed downstream of the air mix slide door 4 can be adjusted. That is, the temperature of the air blown from each of the outlets 1a, 1b, 1c can be changed depending on the position of the air mix slide door 4.
[0028]
A mode switching door 6 for switching the mode of the air outlet is rotatably disposed at each of the air outlets 1a, 1b, 1c. In other words, according to the position of the mode switching door 6, which of the defroster outlet 1a, the face outlet 1b and the foot outlet 1c is to be used to blow air is selected.
[0029]
An air mix door storage section 7 is provided at both ends of the evaporator 2 and at one end of the air conditioning case 1. Here, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG.
[0030]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the air mix door storage unit 7 includes a groove 71 and a dust discharge opening 72. The groove 71 has a storage opening 73 formed on the upper side on the downstream side of the air flow, and has a substantially U-shaped cross section. The bottom surface of the groove 71 is inclined so as to gradually decrease from the side where the dust discharge opening 72 is not formed toward the side where the dust discharge opening 72 is formed. When the air mix slide door 4 is slid, the one end of the air mix slide door 4 is stored in the groove 71 from the storage opening 73 side.
[0031]
The dust discharge opening 72 is formed at one end of the groove 71 and inside the air conditioning case 1. That is, the dust discharge opening 72 is formed on the side where the inclination of the bottom surface of the groove 71 is low and the side where the evaporator 2 is provided. The side where the inclination of the bottom of the groove 71 is low is the side 8 of the air conditioning case 1.
[0032]
The bottom surface of the groove 71 is provided with a step above the bottom surface 9 of the air conditioning case 1. Therefore, the air-conditioning case 1 has the wall 10 between the bottom surface of the groove 71 of the air-mix door storage unit 7 and the bottom surface 9 of the air-conditioning case 1.
[0033]
A shielding plate 11 is disposed inside the air conditioning case 1 at the dust discharge opening 71. Further, the shielding plate 11 is provided upright on the bottom surface 9 of the air conditioning case 1. That is, the shielding plate 11 forms a slight gap with the wall 10 of the air conditioning case 1. One end of the shielding plate 11, that is, the side opposite to the side surface 8 of the air-conditioning case 1 is connected to the side surface of the groove 71 of the air-mix door storage unit 7 and the wall 10. On the other hand, a gap is formed between the other end of the shielding plate 11, that is, the side surface 8 of the air conditioning case 1 and the side surface 8 of the air conditioning case 1.
[0034]
Further, an inclined surface 13 is formed below the wall portion 10 and the shielding plate 11 (a dust falling portion) 12 so as to be lower toward the side surface 8 of the air conditioning case 1.
[0035]
A discharge port (not shown) for discharging water generated by the evaporator 2 is formed on the bottom surface 9 of the air conditioning case 1.
[0036]
Next, the operation of the vehicle air conditioner having the above-described configuration will be described.
[0037]
First, the mode of the air outlet and the temperature of the vehicle interior are set by an operation panel (not shown) provided in the vehicle interior. FIG. 1 shows a state where the maximum temperature is set in the foot mode.
[0038]
That is, by setting the foot mode, the mode switching door 7 moves to the position shown in FIG. That is, no air is blown out from the defroster outlet 1a and the face outlet 1b, and all the air is blown out from the foot outlet 1c.
[0039]
Further, the pinion gear 5 is rotated leftward in FIG. 1 when the temperature is set to the highest temperature, and the air mix slide door 4 moves leftward in FIG. That is, all of the air flowing in the air conditioning case 1 passes through the heater core 3. The portion indicated by a solid line of the air mix slide door 4 in FIG. 1 is a portion where the film 41 is provided, and the portion indicated by a dashed line is a portion where the through hole 42 is formed in the film 41. At this time, the film 41 of the air mix slide door 4 is stored in the air mix door storage section 7 on the left side of FIG.
[0040]
Subsequently, by driving a blower (not shown), an airflow is generated in the air conditioning case 1. That is, an air flow is generated from the lower side of FIG. 1 to the upper side. This air is cooled by passing through the evaporator 2. The cooled air is heated by passing through the heater core 3. Then, the heated air is blown out from the foot outlet 1c.
[0041]
Here, the air circulated in the air-conditioning case 1 contains dust regardless of whether it is inside air or outside air. In particular, the outside air contains more dust than the inside air. The air mix slide door 4 blocks almost half of the passage through which air flows, and dust adheres to the portion blocking the passage, that is, the film 41 of the air mix slide door 4.
[0042]
Therefore, the discharge of dust attached to the film 41 of the air mix slide door 4 will be described below.
[0043]
As described above, part of the dust adhering to the film 41 of the air mix slide door 4 is sent to the air mix door storage unit 7 along the film 41. Another part of the attached dust is sent into the vehicle interior together with the air blown out from the outlet.
[0044]
Then, the dust sent into the air mix door storage unit 7 moves to the dust discharge opening 72 side along the bottom surface of the groove 71. Since the bottom surface of the groove 71 is inclined lower toward the dust discharge opening 72, the dust moves to the dust discharge opening 72. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, since the shielding plate 11 is provided upright on the inside of the air conditioning case 1 at the dust discharge opening 72, the airflow from the bottom surface 9 side of the air conditioning case 1 to the air mix door storage unit 7 side. Air circulation is suppressed. Although there is a gap between the shielding plate 11 and the side surface 8 of the air-conditioning case 1, the gap is so small that the amount of air flowing to the air mix door storage unit 7 is small. For this reason, the dust discharge opening 72 side of the air mix door storage portion 7 is located on the upstream side, but the dust flows to the dust discharge opening 72 side because the amount of flowing air is small.
[0045]
Subsequently, the dust that has moved to the vicinity of the dust discharge opening 72 moves to the dust falling unit 12 and falls further downward. Here, the direction from the upper side to the lower side of the dust dropping portion 12 is from the downstream side to the upstream side, but the dust can be dropped from the upper side to the lower side without being affected by the air flow much. This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view of FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, first, the air tries to flow from the bottom surface 9 side of the air conditioning case 1 toward the air mix door storage unit 7 side. However, the dust falling portion 12 is a portion sandwiched between the shielding plate 11 and the wall portion 10 and is located at a corner portion of the air conditioning case 1. Therefore, the air hardly flows through the dust falling part 12. Most of the air flowing from the bottom surface 9 side of the air conditioning case 1 flows to the evaporator 2 side because of the shielding plate 11. However, since there is a slight gap between the shielding plate 11 and the side surface 8 of the air-conditioning case 1, air flows from the bottom surface 9 side of the air-conditioning case 1 to the air mix door storage unit 7, albeit slightly. However, this air flow path directly flows from the bottom surface 9 side of the air conditioning case 1 to the aermic door storage unit 7 side without passing through the dust falling part 12. That is, the air hardly flows through the dust falling portion 12.
[0046]
Subsequently, when the dust moves downward in the dust falling portion 12, the dust moves along the inclined surface 13 and moves toward the gap between the shielding plate 11 and the side surface 8 of the air conditioning case 1. After that, it moves to the outlet side along the bottom surface of the air conditioning case 1 and is discharged out of the air conditioning case 1. This outlet also discharges the water generated from the evaporator 2 as described above. Accordingly, the moisture in the air-conditioning case 1 and the dust accumulated in the air-mix door storage unit 7 are discharged out of the air-conditioning case 1 from this outlet.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an air conditioner for a vehicle.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion A in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a front view of FIG. 2;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 ... air-conditioning case 2 ... evaporator (cooling heat exchanger)
3 ... heater core (heat exchanger for heating)
4 Air mix slide door 5 Pinion gear 6 Mode switching door 7 Air mix door storage unit 10 Wall unit 11 Shield plate 12 Dust drop unit 13 .. Inclined surface 71 ... Groove 72 ... Dust discharge opening

Claims (3)

Air conditioning case,
A cooling heat exchanger disposed in the air-conditioning case and cooling the passing air;
A heating heat exchanger that heats air passing therethrough, disposed downstream of the cooling heat exchanger in the air conditioning case;
The amount of air passing through the heat exchanger for heating is arranged downstream of the heat exchanger for cooling and upstream of the heat exchanger for heating, and slides in a direction substantially orthogonal to the air flow. Air mix sliding door and
A storage opening is formed at the end of the air-conditioning case, and a storage opening is formed on the upper side on the downstream side. When the air mix slide door is slid, one end of the air mix slide door is connected to the storage opening. And a dust discharging opening formed at one end of the groove inside the air-conditioning case and discharging dust accumulated in the groove to the bottom surface of the air-conditioning case. When,
An outlet formed on the bottom surface of the air-conditioning case on the upstream side of the air-mix door storage unit to discharge moisture in the air-conditioning case and dust accumulated in the air-mix door storage unit to the outside of the air-conditioning case;
A shielding plate that is erected on the bottom surface of the air conditioning case inside the air conditioning case of the dust discharge opening and suppresses the flow of air from the discharge port side to the air mix door storage unit side,
Discharging dust accumulated in the groove of the air mix door storage unit from the groove of the air mix door storage unit, which is a direction opposite to a flow direction of air, to the discharge port through the dust discharge opening. Characteristic vehicle air conditioner. The air mix door storage portion is disposed with a step on the bottom side of the groove portion above the bottom surface of the air conditioning case,
The air conditioning case has a wall forming the step,
2. The air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a dust dropping unit is formed between the shielding plate and the wall to drop dust accumulated in the air mixing door storage unit onto a bottom surface of the air conditioning case. . The air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the groove is formed such that the dust discharge opening side is inclined lower than the opposite side of the dust discharge opening.

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