JP2005029041A - Air-conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air-conditioner for a vehicle in which a space between a thinned heat exchanger and an air-conditioner case can be sealed to prevent air leakage. <P>SOLUTION: The air-conditioner is provided with the air-conditioner case 11 for circulating air inside, the heat exchanger 12 cooling or heating the air circulating in the air-conditioner case 11, and a seal member 50 extended in the periphery of the heat exchanger 12 and sealing the space between the heat exchanger 12 and the air-conditioner case 11 when the air is cooled or heated by the heat exchanger. In the side face among the side faces of the heat exchanger 12, which is opposed to the air-conditioner case 11, a connecting piping block 12d that can be connected to an outside fluid circuit is integrally formed. The seal member 50 is provided with a first seal member 52 sealing a portion of the side face excluding the connecting piping block 12d, and a second seal member 53 sealing the periphery of the connecting piping block 12d. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner, and is suitable for use in a seal structure between a heat exchanger and an air conditioning case, for example, in an air conditioning unit having a heat exchanger and an air conditioning case.

  As a vehicle air conditioner, for example, a heat exchanger such as an evaporator is built in an air conditioning case of an air conditioning unit, and the air conditioning case in which air circulates in the air conditioning case and the direction in which air is blown into the air conditioning case. It is known to prevent wind leakage between the heat exchangers arranged in this manner. In this type of prior art, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the side surface of the evaporator 12 is covered with a seal member 52, and the seal member 52 is separated from the evaporator side surface and the air conditioning case by an air conditioning case facing the side surface of the evaporator 12. Between them.

  The sealing member 52 (52a, 52b) has an outer shape of the connecting piping block 12d on the side surface where the connecting piping block 12d that can be connected to an external refrigerant circuit such as a condenser is provided. It is formed with a predetermined width A in the longitudinal direction of the side surface so as to extend along the evaporator side surface.

  The predetermined width A can be sealed by being sandwiched between an evaporator side surface and an air conditioning case facing the side surface. The air conditioning case facing the evaporator side surface is not limited to a simple plane, but may be formed with ribs 11cr (11cr1, 11cr2) extending continuously in the substantially longitudinal direction of the side surface shown in FIG. The seal is secured by sandwiching the seal member between the rib and the evaporator side surface.

  However, in the prior art, when sealing is performed using a heat exchanger having a thin side surface, the connecting piping block occupies the side surface, so the dimension from the connecting piping block to the outer peripheral end of the side surface has a predetermined width A. There is a problem that there is no space for placing the seal member.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its purpose is to incorporate a heat exchanger with a reduced width in the air conditioning case, Another object is to provide a vehicle air conditioner that can be sealed to prevent wind leakage between them.

  According to claim 1 of the present invention, an air conditioning case that circulates air therein, a heat exchanger that is disposed at a predetermined position in the air conditioning case and cools or heats the air that circulates in the air conditioning case, and a heat exchanger A seal member is provided that extends to the peripheral edge and seals between the heat exchanger and the air conditioning case when the heat exchanger cools or heats the air. Is provided with a connecting piping block that can be connected to an external fluid circuit, and the sealing member includes a first sealing member that seals a portion of the side surface other than the connecting piping block, and a connecting piping block. And a second seal member that seals the peripheral portion.

  According to this, the peripheral portion of the connecting piping block is sealed with the second seal member at the side portion occupied by the connecting piping block connectable with the external fluid circuit, and the other side surface is sealed with the first seal member. Therefore, even if the side surface of the heat exchanger is thinned, it can be sealed between the heat exchanger and the air conditioning case. Therefore, when the heat exchanger cools or heats the air, it is possible to prevent leakage of the blown air that is blown to the heat exchanger by a blower, for example.

  According to claim 2 of the present invention, the air conditioning case has a window part through which the connecting piping block can be inserted, and the second seal member is sealed at the inner periphery of the window part.

  According to this, the air-conditioning case part which opposes the connection piping block among the air-conditioning cases is provided with a window part through which the connection piping block can be connected to the external fluid circuit. And since the 2nd sealing member arrange | positioned at the peripheral part of the piping block for connection is sealed by the inner periphery of a window part, a heat exchanger is provided between the heat exchanger which has a piping block for connection, and an air conditioning case. Leakage of the blast air passing through can be prevented.

  According to claim 3 of the present invention, the air conditioning case includes a window portion, and a main body case portion that accommodates a peripheral portion excluding the side surface having the connecting piping block among the peripheral portions of the exchanger in a sealable manner. In addition, the window portion and the main body case portion are separately assembled in a state where the first seal member and the second seal member are disposed in the connection piping block, respectively.

  According to this, a 1st seal member and a 2nd seal member are each arrange | positioned by sticking etc. to the side surface of a heat exchanger, and the connection piping block. In addition, since the side surface having the connection piping block is not accommodated in the main body case portion, the timing of arranging by sticking or the like may be before or after the heat exchanger is accommodated in the main body case portion.

  In addition, since the window portion is divided and assembled from the main body case portion, the second seal member sealed between the connecting piping block and the inner periphery of the window portion is connected at the same time during the divided assembly. A seal can be made between the piping block and the window, that is, between the heat exchanger and the air conditioning case.

  Therefore, it is possible to facilitate the assembly of the heat exchanger having the connecting piping block connectable to the external fluid circuit and the air conditioning case.

  According to claim 4 of the present invention, the first seal member is formed of a long member, and has a predetermined width narrower than the width in the extending direction of the side surface in the width of the side surface.

  Thereby, since it is not necessary for the first seal member to cover the entire width of the side surface, the material cost of the first seal member can be reduced.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an evaporator of a vehicle air conditioner in the present embodiment, in which FIG. 1 (a) is a front view and FIG. 1 (b) is a side view. FIG. 2 is a perspective development view showing a schematic configuration of an air conditioning unit of the vehicle air conditioner in the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a side view of the case cover portion having a window portion in the air conditioning case in FIG. 2 as viewed from the A direction.

  The air conditioning unit 10 is disposed at a substantially central portion in the vehicle width (left and right) direction inside the instrument panel (not shown) in the front of the vehicle interior. The air conditioning unit 10 part is arranged in the mounting direction indicated by the arrows in FIG. 2 with respect to the front-rear direction and the vertical direction of the vehicle at a substantially central part inside the instrument panel in the vehicle interior. On the other hand, the blower unit (not shown) is arranged offset from the center part to the passenger seat side in the inside of the instrument panel in the front part of the passenger compartment. As is well known, the blower unit includes an internal / external air switching box that switches between outside air (vehicle exterior air) and internal air (vehicle interior air) and a centrifugal blower that sucks and blows air through the internal / external air switching box.

  The air conditioning unit 10 has an air conditioning case 11 made of resin (in the present embodiment, made of polypropylene), and an air passage through which air flows toward the vehicle interior is formed in the air conditioning case 11. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the air conditioning case 11 specifically fastens the left-side divided case 11b and the right-side divided case 11a that are divided into left and right at the dividing surface at the center in the vehicle width direction. It is comprised by. The right inclined division case 11a is provided with a case cover portion 11c having a window portion 11co through which a connecting piping block 12c extending from a side surface of the evaporator 12 described later is inserted so as to be connectable to an external circuit. Details of the case cover portion 11c will be described later.

  In the air conditioning case 11, as shown in FIG. 2, both an evaporator 12 as a cooling heat exchanger and a heater core 13 as a heating heat exchanger are integrally incorporated. An air inlet space 14 is formed in the most front portion of the air conditioning case 11. Blowing air flows into the air inlet space 14 from the scroll casing outlet of the centrifugal blower of the blower unit.

  In the air conditioning case 11, as shown in FIG. 2, the evaporator 12 is disposed substantially vertically at a portion immediately after the air inlet space 14. As is well known, this evaporator 12 absorbs the latent heat of evaporation of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle from the conditioned air and cools the conditioned air.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown to Fig.1 (a), this evaporator 12 is the core part 12a for heat exchange comprised by a flat tube and a corrugated fin, and the both upper and lower sides of this core part 12a for heat exchange The header tanks 12b and 12c are arranged in a refrigeration cycle, and a connecting piping block 12d that can be connected to an external refrigerant circuit such as a condenser (not shown) of the refrigeration cycle. Specifically, the core part 12a for heat exchange is configured by alternately laminating a plurality of flat tubes and corrugated fins extending in the vertical direction in FIG. Header tanks 12b and 12c are arranged at both ends of the heat exchanging core 12a in FIG. 1A so as to allow the refrigerant to flow through the flat tubes. And the connection piping block 12d is arrange | positioned so that it may connect with the header tank 12c, as shown to Fig.1 (a). Specifically, the connection piping block 12 d is provided integrally with the side surface of the evaporator 12.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a cover member 50 is disposed on the outer periphery of the evaporator 12. The cover member 50 is made of a material having elasticity (in this embodiment, a propylene / EPDM elastomer), and is disposed so as to surround the peripheral edge of the outer periphery of the heat exchange core 12a. Specifically, the cover member 50 is respectively disposed on the upper and lower end sealing members 51 disposed in the header tanks 12b and 12c, the side surface of the evaporator 12, and the side surface portion occupied by the connecting piping block 12d among the side surfaces. The first seal member 52 and the second seal member 53 are configured.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the upper and lower end seal members 51 are disposed by sticking or the like so as to specifically cover the outer peripheral portions of the upper and lower header tanks 12b and 12c.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the first seal member 52 is specifically disposed on the side surface of the evaporator 12 by sticking or the like at a site other than the connection piping block 12d. It should be noted that the first seal member 52 is not provided at a site that is occupied by the connecting piping block 12c and the distance from the connecting piping block 12c to the outer peripheral edge of the side surface is B shown in FIG. Good. The distance B is narrower than the distance A at the side surface occupied by the connecting piping block 12c in the conventional configuration shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and is only a slight distance (B <A).

  The first seal member 52 is sealed by being sandwiched between the side surface to which the first seal member 52 is attached and the case cover portion 11c facing the side surface. Specifically, a plurality of ribs 11cr are provided on the side surface of the case cover portion 11c on the first seal member 52 side so as to face the first seal member 52, and the side surface extending direction shown in FIG. The rib 11cr extends in the longitudinal direction) and seals the first seal member 52 between the side surfaces.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the second seal member 53 is specifically disposed by sticking or the like so as to surround the peripheral edge of the outer periphery of the connection piping block 12c. The second seal member 53 is sandwiched between the peripheral portion to which the second seal member 53 is attached and the inner periphery 11ch (see FIG. 3) of the window portion 11co constituting the case cover portion 11c facing the peripheral portion. Sealed with.

  As a method of manufacturing the air conditioning unit, the evaporator 12 and the like are arranged at predetermined positions and the right divided case 11a and the left divided case 11b are assembled separately, and then the case cover portion 11c is assembled and fixed to the right divided case 11a. It is possible. Therefore, the timing at which the first seal member 52 and the second seal member 53 are arranged on the side surface and the connecting piping block 12c by pasting or the like may be either before or after the right divided case 11a and the left divided case 11b are assembled separately. . Here, the right divided case 11a and the left divided case 11b constitute a main body case portion that accommodates the peripheral portion of the evaporator 12 excluding the side surface having the connecting piping block 12d in a sealable manner.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, the first seal member 52 is formed of a long member, and the inside of the side surface is narrower than the side surface width in the extending direction (longitudinal direction) of the side surface. It may be formed in a width.

  Next, in the case 11, the heater core 13 is arranged substantially in parallel with a predetermined interval on the downstream side of the air flow of the evaporator 12, that is, on the rear side of the vehicle (see FIG. 2). The air flowing into the air inlet space 14 in the air conditioning case 11 passes through the evaporator 12 and the heater core 13 in this order, and flows from the vehicle front side to the vehicle rear side. The heater core 13 may be inclined so that its upper end is located on the vehicle front side of the lower end, in other words, on the evaporator 12 side (air flow upstream side).

  The heater core 13 reheats the cold air that has passed through the evaporator 12, and hot water (cooling water) flows from an internal combustion engine mounted on a vehicle (not shown) into the heater core 13, and heats the air using this hot water as a heat source. To do. The heater core 13 has a known configuration in which tank portions are arranged on both upper and lower sides of a heat exchange core portion constituted by a flat tube and a corrugated fin.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a cold air bypass passage 15 that bypasses the heater core 13 and passes cold air is formed above the heater core 13. On the other hand, an air mix door 16 composed of a flat plate door is disposed between the evaporator 12 and the heater core 13 so as to be rotatable about a rotation shaft 16a. The rotating shaft 16 a is disposed immediately above the upper end portion of the heater core 13. The first temperature adjustment door 16 rotates in the vertical direction about the rotation shaft 16a. The rotating shaft 17a of the second temperature adjusting door 17 is disposed on the upstream side (vehicle front side) of the air flow on the lower end side of the heater core 13, and the second temperature adjusting door 17 rotates in the vertical direction around the rotating shaft 17a. To do.

  An inlet ventilation path (not shown) is arranged on the upstream side (vehicle front side) of the heat exchange core portion of the heater core 13, and the inlet ventilation path is arranged so as to open to a portion on the cold air bypass path 15 side.

  Both rotary shafts 16 a of the air mix door 16 are rotatably supported by bearing holes 41 on the left and right wall surfaces of the air conditioning case 11. One end of the rotary shaft 16a protrudes outside the air conditioning case 11 and is connected to a temperature adjustment operation mechanism via a link mechanism (not shown). The air mix door 16 is rotated in conjunction with this temperature adjustment operation mechanism. Is done. This temperature adjustment operation mechanism is composed of an electric drive mechanism using a servo motor, and rotates the air mix door 16 with the rotational power of the servo motor. In addition, you may use the thing of the manual system which rotates the air mix door 16 directly with a passenger | crew's manual operation force as a temperature adjustment operation mechanism.

  The air mix door 16 adjusts the opening degree of the cold air bypass passage 15 and the inlet air passage, thereby passing the air through the inlet air passage and being heated by the heat exchange core portion of the heater core 13, and the cold air bypass passage 15. Adjust the air volume ratio with the cold air passing through.

  On the other hand, the second temperature adjusting door 17 adjusts only the amount of warm air (arrow c shown in FIG. 2) that passes through the second inlet air passage 18b and is heated by the heat exchange core 13a of the heater core 13. To do.

  On the other hand, in the air conditioning case 11, as shown in FIG. 2, a wall surface 20 that extends in the vertical direction with a predetermined interval between the heater core 13 and the heater core 13 is provided on the downstream side (vehicle rear side) of the heater core 12. It is integrally formed with the case 11. The wall surface 20 forms a warm air passage 21 that extends upward immediately after the heater core 13.

  The downstream side (upper side) of the hot air passage 21 joins the downstream side of the cold air bypass passage 15 in the upper portion of the heater core 13 to form an air mixing section (not shown) that mixes the cold air and the hot air. Yes.

  Here, the air mix door 16 constitutes a temperature adjusting means for adjusting the air volume ratio between the cold air and the hot air flowing into the air mixing unit to adjust the temperature of the air blown into the passenger compartment.

  A defroster opening 23 into which conditioned air whose temperature has been adjusted from the air mixing unit 22 flows in an approximately middle portion in the vehicle longitudinal direction on the upper surface of the air conditioning case 11. The defroster opening 23 is connected to a defroster outlet on the upper surface of the instrument panel via a defroster duct (not shown), and conditioned air (mainly hot air) is blown from the defroster outlet toward the inner surface of the vehicle front window glass. .

  The defroster opening 23 is opened and closed by a flat defroster door 24. The defroster door 24 is rotatable about a rotary rod 25, and switches the defroster opening 23 and the communication port 26 to open and close. The communication port 26 serves as a passage for flowing conditioned air from the air mixing unit to the face opening 27 and the foot opening 28 side.

  The face opening 27 is provided on the upper surface of the air conditioning case 11 at a site on the vehicle rear side (close to the occupant) with respect to the defroster opening 23. The face opening 27 is connected to a face air outlet (not shown) disposed on the upper side of the instrument panel via a face duct (not shown), and the conditioned air flows from the face air outlet toward the passenger's upper body side in the passenger compartment. (Mainly cold wind) is blown out. The face opening 27 is composed of three openings, a center face opening 27a for blowing conditioned air from substantially the center in the vehicle width direction, and a side for blowing conditioned air from both ends in the vehicle width direction. It may be configured with a face opening 27b (see FIG. 2).

  The face opening 27 and the foot opening 28 are opened and closed by a foot face switching door 29. The door 29 is constituted by a flat door that can be rotated around a rotating shaft 30.

  Next, the foot opening 28 is provided below the face opening 27 in the air conditioning case 11. A foot outlet passage 31 is further formed downward below the foot opening 28. In the middle of the foot outlet passage 31 in the vertical direction, front seat foot outlets 32 are opened in the left and right side portions of the air conditioning case 11, and air conditioning is performed from the left and right foot outlets 32 to the feet of the front seat occupant. The wind (mainly warm air) is blown out.

  A rear seat foot opening 33 is opened at the lower end of the foot outlet passage 31. A rear-seat foot duct (not shown) is connected to the rear-seat foot opening 33, and air-conditioning air flows from the rear-seat foot outlet provided at the front end of the rear-seat foot duct to the feet of the rear-seat occupant. (Mainly warm air) is blown out.

  The defroster door 24 and the foot face switching door 29 constitute a blowing mode door for switching the blowing mode, and the rotary shafts 25 and 30 are both bearing holes 42 on the left and right wall surfaces of the air conditioning case 11. 43 is rotatably supported. The rotary shafts 25 and 30 are operated in conjunction by a blow-out mode operation mechanism (not shown).

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described. For example, when the foot mode is set as the blowing mode, the defroster door 24 is operated to a position where the defroster opening 23 is opened in a small amount and the communication port 26 is almost fully opened (see FIG. 2). The foot face switching door 29 is operated to a position where the foot opening 28 is fully opened and the face opening 27 is fully closed (see FIG. 2). At this time, the rotating shaft 16a of the air mix door 16 is operated to set the maximum heating state in which the inlet air passage of the heater core 13 is fully opened and the cold air bypass passage 15 is fully closed.

  In this state, when a blower of a blower unit (not shown) is operated, the blown air from the blower unit flows into the air inlet space 14 in the foremost part of the case 11 and then passes through the evaporator 12.

  Next, the operational effects of the present embodiment will be described. (1) Among the side surfaces, the peripheral portion of the connecting piping block 12d is sealed by the second seal member 53 at the side portion occupied by the connecting piping block 12d. Since the other side surfaces are sealed by the first seal member 52, even if the side surface of the evaporator 12 is thinned, it can be sealed between the evaporator 12 and the air conditioning case 11. Therefore, when the evaporator 12 cools the air, it is possible to prevent leakage of the blown air blown to the evaporator 12 by the blower.

  (2) In the air conditioning case 11, an air conditioning case portion facing the connecting piping block 12d is provided with a window portion 11co through which the connecting piping block 12d can be connected to an external refrigerant circuit. In addition, since the second seal member 53 disposed at the peripheral edge of the connecting piping block 12 is sealed by the inner periphery 11ch of the window portion 11co, the connection between the evaporator 12 having the connecting piping block 12d and the air conditioning case 11 is achieved. Thus, leakage of the blown air passing through the evaporator 12 can be prevented.

  (3) Since the air conditioning case 11 is composed of the case cover portion 11c having the window portion 11co and the main body portions 12a and 12b for housing other than the side surfaces having the connection piping block 12d, the first seal member 52 and the first seal member 52 The timing at which the two seal members 53 are arranged on the side surfaces and the connecting piping block 12c by pasting or the like may be either before or after the right divided case 11a and the left divided case 11b are assembled separately. Moreover, since the case cover portion 12c is divided from the main body case portions 12a and 12b and assembled separately, the second seal member 53 sealed between the connecting piping block 12d and the inner periphery 12ch of the window portion 12co is: At the same time of the divided assembly, a seal between the connecting piping block 12d and the window 12co, that is, between the evaporator 12 and the air conditioning case 11 can be made. Therefore, the evaporator 12 having the connecting piping block 12d and the air conditioning case 11 can be easily assembled.

  (4) The first seal member 52 is formed of an elongated member, and the first seal member 52 is formed with a predetermined width narrower than the side surface width in the side surface extending direction (longitudinal direction) in the side surface width. Since the sealing member 52 does not need to cover the entire width of the side surface, the material cost of the first sealing member 52 can be reduced as compared with the conventional configuration shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment described above, the seal structure for preventing wind leakage between the evaporator 12 and the air conditioning case 11 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the evaporator 12 that cools the air flowing through the air conditioning case 11, A heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the air such as the heater core 13 that heats the air flowing through the case 11 and a fluid such as a refrigerant may be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the fluid that exchanges heat with air is described as the refrigerant. However, the fluid is not limited to the refrigerant, and any fluid may be used as long as the fluid uses air as a heat source. In this case, the external refrigerant circuit described in the present embodiment is an external fluid circuit.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the evaporator of the vehicle air conditioner in embodiment of this invention, Comprising: Fig.1 (a) is a front view, FIG.1 (b) is a side view. It is a perspective developed view showing a schematic configuration of an air conditioning unit of a vehicle air conditioner in an embodiment of the present invention. It is the side view which looked at the case cover part which has a window part in the air-conditioning case in FIG. 2 from the A direction. It is a side view which shows the structure of the evaporator of the vehicle air conditioner in a prior art. It is a partial side view which shows the case cover part of the air-conditioning case in a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

11 Air-conditioning case 11a Right-side divided case 11b Left-side divided case 11c Case cover part 11co Window part 11ch Inner circumference 11cr Rib 12 Evaporator (cooling heat exchanger)
12d Piping block for connection 13 Heater core (heat exchanger for heating)
50 Cover member 52 First seal member 53 Second seal member

Claims (4)

An air conditioning case that circulates air inside,
A heat exchanger that is disposed at a predetermined position in the air conditioning case and cools or heats the air flowing through the air conditioning case;
A seal member that extends to the periphery of the heat exchanger and seals between the heat exchanger and the air conditioning case when the heat exchanger cools or heats the air;
Of the heat exchanger, on the side facing the air conditioning case, a connecting piping block that can be connected to an external fluid circuit is integrally provided,
The seal member includes a first seal member that seals a portion of the side surface other than the connection piping block, and a second seal member that seals a peripheral portion of the connection piping block. A vehicle air conditioner. The air conditioning case has a window portion through which the connecting piping block can be inserted,
2. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the second seal member seals at an inner periphery of the window portion. The air conditioning case includes the window part, and a main body case part that accommodates a peripheral part of the peripheral part of the exchanger excluding a side surface having the connecting piping block so as to be sealed,
In the state where the first seal member and the second seal member are disposed on the side surface and the connecting piping block,
The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the window portion and the main body case portion are separately assembled. The said 1st sealing member is comprised by an elongate member, and has the predetermined width | variety narrower than the said width | variety in the extension direction of the said side surface within the width | variety of the said side surface. The vehicle air conditioner as described in any one of Claims.

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