JP2005041408A - Air-conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air-conditioner for vehicles enabling a synchronous and automatic opening and/or closing action of at least fin portion of a group of registers comprised of a plurality of registers to be carried out and that can be arranged in less-expensive manner and space-saving manner. <P>SOLUTION: An air-conditioner for vehicles comprises a motor, a driving pulley connected to a rotary shaft of the motor and a plurality of driven pulleys rotated in synchronism with the driving pulley. The driven pulleys are connected to a rotary shaft for at least a fin portion of a group of registers to cause a synchronous opening action and/or closing action of at least the fin portion of the plurality of registers arranged at spaced-apart positions to be carried out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner disposed in a vehicle, and more particularly to a vehicle air conditioner that performs at least opening and closing of a fin portion in a register group including a plurality of registers.

  A register that is disposed in a vehicle and forms an outlet for hot and cold air from an air conditioner or a blower has a cylindrical retainer and a fin portion provided on the downstream side of the air passage of the retainer. In such a register, the fin portion is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the retainer so that the retainer can be opened and closed. The direction of the hot and cold air can be adjusted by rotating the fin portion to open and close the retainer. Furthermore, by opening and closing the retainer with the fin portion, the user can visually recognize that the air conditioner is open when the fin portion is opened, and that the air conditioner is closed when the fin portion is closed. The Therefore, it is possible for the user to determine whether or not the air conditioner is operating by visual observation. When the retainer is closed by the fin portion, the inside of the retainer is visually blocked by the fin portion. For this reason, for example, by closing the retainer with the fin portion when the air conditioner is not used, the interior of the air conditioner can be prevented from being visually recognized from the passenger compartment, and the design of the air conditioner and the passenger compartment can be improved.

  The opening and closing operation of the fin portion in such a register is performed manually or automatically. When the opening / closing operation is performed automatically, it is common to arrange a motor in a register and drive the opening / closing by rotating the motor (for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the register disclosed in Patent Document 1, the fin portion is driven to open and close by a motor. Further, in the register of Patent Document 1, this opening / closing drive is performed in conjunction with an ignition switch or an air conditioner switch. That is, the motor rotates in conjunction with the ON operation of the ignition switch or the like, and the opening operation of the fin portion is driven. Then, the motor rotates in conjunction with the off operation of the ignition switch or the like, and the closing operation of the fin portion is driven. By interlocking the opening and closing drive of the fin part with the ignition switch and the air conditioner switch, the retainer is automatically closed by the fin part when the air conditioner is not used, and by the fin part when the air conditioner is used. The retainer opens automatically.

  By the way, the registers are usually arranged at a plurality of locations such as the left and right front of the driver's seat and the left and right front of the passenger seat, and the registers are arranged at positions separated from each other. Therefore, when automatically opening and closing each of these registers, it is necessary to separately provide a motor for each register and to drive the opening and closing of the registers separately. In order to link each of these registers with, for example, the operation of the ignition switch, it is necessary to synchronize the opening and closing of the register by each motor.

However, when a motor is individually provided for each register, the number of motors is increased, which causes a problem of increasing the cost of the air conditioner. Furthermore, in general, since various interior parts and electrical components are arranged in addition to the air conditioner on the instrument panel in which the register is arranged, it is desired to reduce the arrangement space by miniaturizing the air conditioner as much as possible. There were also circumstances.
JP-A-11-198646

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can automatically and synchronously drive an opening operation and / or a closing operation of at least a fin portion of a register group including a plurality of registers, and An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle air conditioner that is inexpensive and can be disposed in a space-saving manner.

  The vehicle air conditioner of the present invention has a generally cylindrical retainer serving as an air flow path, and a fin that is disposed on the downstream side of the air passage of the retainer and opens and closes the retainer to adjust the air direction. A vehicle air conditioner having a plurality of register groups arranged at a position, and at least fins of the register groups are opened and / or closed synchronously, and are connected to a motor and a rotation shaft of the motor And a plurality of driven pulleys that rotate in synchronism with the rotation of the driving pulley, and the rotation shafts of the fin portions of the register group are connected to the driven pulley and are driven to open and close in synchronization with each other. It is characterized by that.

  The opening operation of the fin portion is performed in conjunction with an ON operation of at least one of a switch group selected from an ignition switch, an air conditioner switch, and a blower switch, and the closing operation of the fin portion is at least one of the switch group. It can be configured to be performed in conjunction with the switch-off operation.

  The vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention includes a motor, a drive pulley coupled to the rotation shaft of the motor, and a plurality of driven pulleys that rotate in synchronization with the rotation of the drive pulley. Of these, the plurality of driven pulleys are connected to the rotation shafts of the different fin portions. Therefore, according to the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention, the rotation of the drive pulley is driven by the rotation of the motor, the rotation of each driven pulley is driven by the rotation of the drive pulley, and further, the rotation of each of the driven pulleys. The rotation of each fin portion is driven to open and close each fin portion.

  Therefore, the opening operation and / or the closing operation of each fin portion can be driven by one motor via the driven pulley and the driving pulley, and the opening operation and / or the closing operation of each fin portion are synchronized. Can be done. Therefore, the vehicle air conditioner can be provided at low cost and in a space-saving manner.

  The vehicle air conditioner of the present invention has a register group in which a plurality of registers each having a retainer and a fin portion are arranged at spaced positions.

  The number of registers included in the register group is not particularly limited, and the shape of each register is not particularly limited.

  The retainer can be of various known shapes. Moreover, although a fin part may consist of a single fin and may consist of a several fin, the fin part shall be provided so that a retainer can be opened and closed. For example, the register is provided with a horizontal fin group consisting of a plurality of horizontal fins provided substantially parallel to each other and a vertical fin group consisting of a plurality of vertical fins provided substantially parallel to each other, and the horizontal fin group is fixed and vertically fixed. In the case where the retainer is opened and closed only by the fin group, the fin portion is constituted only by the vertical fin group. For example, when both the vertical fin group and the horizontal fin group open and close the retainer, the vertical fin group and the horizontal fin group form a fin portion.

  In the air conditioner of the present invention, the opening operation and / or the closing operation of at least the fin portion of the register group are performed in synchronization. By performing the opening operation and / or closing operation of the fin portion synchronously, for example, when the air conditioner is not used, the closing operation of each fin portion arranged in each register of the register group is collectively performed. It is possible to perform the opening operation of each fin portion arranged in each register at the same time when the air conditioner is used.

  Further, a damper can be further provided on the upstream side of the ventilation path of the fin, and the opening and closing of the damper can be further synchronized with the opening and / or closing operation of the fin portion. It is difficult to completely close the retainer only by the closing operation of the fin portion described above, and depending on the shape of the register, etc., even when the closing operation of the fin portion is performed, air may flow out from the retainer to the vehicle interior. Since wind noise may occur from the gap between the fin portion and the retainer, it may be necessary to separately perform a damper closing operation. However, by synchronizing the opening / closing of the damper with the opening / closing of the fin portion, the above-described outflow of air, wind noise, and the like can be prevented without separately performing a closing operation of the damper.

  In the register included in the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, at least the opening operation and / or the closing operation of the fin portion of the register may be performed synchronously. It may be performed in synchronization with the opening or closing operation of the part, or may not be performed in synchronization. Furthermore, only a part of the registers included in the register group may include a damper. In this case as well, at least the opening operation and / or the closing operation of the fin portion may be synchronized.

  Whether the inside of the register is visually blocked or opened by the fin portion by opening and closing the fin portion that is arranged on the downstream side of the ventilation path from the damper and visible from the passenger compartment, and the register is opened and closed by the passenger It is visually recognized as Therefore, in the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention, at least opening and closing of the fins is performed synchronously, so that the register is visually recognized as opening and closing synchronously, and the design of the vehicle air conditioner is improved. .

  The vehicle air conditioner of the present invention includes a motor, a drive pulley connected to a rotation shaft of the motor, and a plurality of driven pulleys that rotate in synchronization with the rotation of the drive pulley. The rotation shaft of each fin portion of the register group is connected to a driven pulley and is driven to open and close in synchronization with each other. As described above, according to this configuration, the opening operation and / or the closing operation of the plurality of spaced apart resistors can be driven by one motor, and the opening operation of each fin portion can be performed. And / or the closing operation can be performed synchronously. Therefore, the vehicle air conditioner can be provided at low cost and in a space-saving manner.

  Various known motors such as a DC motor can be used as the motor. Further, the rotating shaft of the motor and the driving pulley can be directly connected or indirectly connected. For example, the rotating shaft of the motor and the driving pulley can be connected via a gear or the like.

  The driving pulley and the driven pulley are connected by a wire or the like wound between the pulleys. Therefore, the rotation of the driving pulley rotates the wire or the like, and the rotation of the driven pulley is driven by the rotation of the wire or the like, so that the rotation of the driven pulley is performed in synchronization with the rotation of the driving pulley. One driven pulley may be provided for one drive pulley, or a plurality of driven pulleys may be provided for one drive pulley. When a plurality of driven pulleys are provided, for example, one end of a plurality of wires is wound around one drive pulley, and the other end of each wire is wound around a different driven pulley. The rotation of the driven pulley can be synchronized with the rotation of one drive pulley. In addition, when one driven pulley is provided for one drive pulley, it is necessary to provide a plurality of drive pulleys in order to rotate the plurality of driven pulleys. By connecting the pulley to the rotation shaft of the same motor, the rotation of the plurality of drive pulleys can be synchronized, and the rotation of each driven pulley connected to each drive pulley can also be synchronized.

  In addition, each driven pulley that rotates in synchronization with the rotation of the drive pulley is connected to a rotation shaft of a fin portion of a different register. For this reason, each fin part of each register is driven to open and close in synchronization with each other even though each register is arranged at a separate position.

  In the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention, the connection between the driven pulley and the rotation shaft of the fin portion can be performed directly or indirectly. For example, the driven pulley and the rotation shaft of the fin portion can be connected via various known gears. Alternatively, the driven pulley and the rotation shaft of the fin portion can be connected via a clutch. When the connection is performed through a gear, the fin portion can be opened and closed gently. In addition, when performing the connection via the clutch, it is possible to release the connection between the driven pulley and the rotation shaft of the fin part by switching operation of the clutch, for example, not only automatically opening and closing the fin part, It is also possible to manually adjust the wind direction by rotating the fin portion for each register.

  According to the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention, since the rotation of the motor is transmitted to the fin portion via the drive pulley and the driven pulley, the rotation transmission direction can be changed in various ways up to the rotation shaft of the rotation shaft fin portion of the motor. For example, this transmission direction can be a bent direction. For this reason, in the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention, for example, the driving pulley and the driven pulley can be arranged so as to sew a gap between other interior parts and electrical parts, so that a large space is required for the arrangement. do not do.

  In the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention, the opening operation of the fin portion is performed in conjunction with an ON operation of at least one switch selected from an ignition switch, an air conditioner switch, and a blower switch, and the fin portion is closed. Can be configured to be performed in conjunction with an off operation of at least one of the switches.

  By performing the opening operation and closing operation of the fin portion in conjunction with the ON operation and OFF operation of at least one of these switches, it is not necessary to separately perform the opening operation and closing operation of the fin portion. In this case, the on / off operation of the ignition switch or the like is converted into a mechanical or electrical signal, and the rotation of the motor unit is controlled by transmitting this signal to the motor unit. The opening and closing of the fin portion can be interlocked.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Example 1)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an instrument panel provided with the vehicle air conditioner of the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded view of the vehicle air conditioner of the first embodiment.

  In the vehicle air conditioner 1 according to the first embodiment, the registers 3 constituting the register group 2 are all disposed on the instrument panel 4, and are disposed on the right side of the driver's seat and the D register 5 on the left side of the driver's seat. The C / D register 6, the C / P register 7 disposed on the right side of the passenger seat, and the P register 8 disposed on the left side of the passenger seat are configured in total.

  The four registers 3 constituting the register group 2 include a horizontal fin group 11 in which a plurality of substantially plate-like horizontal fins are provided in parallel in a substantially horizontal direction, and a plurality of substantially plate-like vertical fins in a substantially vertical direction. A vertical fin group (not shown) provided in parallel with the damper 12 and a damper 12, in the order of the horizontal fin group 11, the vertical fin group, and the damper 12 in the direction from the downstream side 13 to the upstream side 15 of the ventilation path. The retainer 16 is rotatably arranged.

  The horizontal fin group 11 of each register 3 is connected to a rotation shaft 17 with a driven pulley 18 described later, and the horizontal fin group 11 opens and closes in synchronization. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the lateral fin group 11 constitutes the fin portion 20.

  The vehicle air conditioner 1 according to the first embodiment further includes a motor 21, a drive pulley 22, and a driven pulley 18. The motor 21 is electrically connected to an ignition switch (not shown) by a drive instruction unit (not shown), and rotates by a predetermined amount in the direction of arrow A in conjunction with the ON operation of the ignition switch. A predetermined amount is rotated in the direction of arrow B in conjunction with the OFF operation.

  A first gear 23 is coaxially connected to a rotation shaft (not shown) of the motor 21, and a second gear 25 larger than the first gear 23 is meshed with the first gear 23. The rotary shaft of the second gear 25 is a drive shaft 26 having one end fixed at a position close to the motor 21 and the other end extending in a rod shape. The drive shaft 26 is connected to a rotation center 27 of the drive pulley 22, and transmits the rotation of the motor 21 to the drive pulley 22 to drive the rotation of the drive pulley 22. In the vehicle air conditioner 1 according to the first embodiment, four drive pulleys 22 are connected to the drive shaft 26. One end of a different wire 28 is wound around each of the four drive pulleys 22.

  One different driven pulley 18 is wound around the other end of the wire 28. A different clutch (not shown) is connected to each driven pulley 18. Further, each driven pulley 18 is connected to the rotating shaft 17 of the fin portion 20 via a clutch. Further, each driven pulley 18 is further connected to a connecting end 19 extending from the rotating shaft 30 of the damper 12 via a clutch. For this reason, according to the vehicle air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment, each fin portion 20 is not only driven to open and close synchronously, but each damper 12 is also driven to open and close synchronously.

  Here, the clutch used in the present embodiment is a bidirectional clutch (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-130083) filed by the present applicants. Both the rotation in the direction of arrow A and the rotation in the direction of arrow B of the motor 21 are transmitted to the clutch via the drive pulley 22 and the driven pulley 18. The rotation of the motor 21 transmitted to the clutch is further transmitted to the rotating shaft 17 of the fin portion 20 and the rotating shaft 30 of the damper 12. Further, the rotation transmitted from the fin portion 20 or the damper 12 to the clutch is cut off and is not transmitted to the driven pulley 18, the drive pulley 22 and the motor 21. Therefore, the fin portion 20 and the damper 12 are opened and closed in synchronization with the rotation of the motor 21, and the fin portion 20 or the damper 12 can be manually operated individually, and the operation is performed manually. The operating load at the time is prevented from being transmitted to the motor 21. In the present embodiment, the above-described bidirectional clutch is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and at least the rotation of the driven pulley 18 can be transmitted to the fin portion 20 and the individual rotation of the fin portion 20 and the damper 12 is driven. Various known clutches that do not transmit to the pulley 18 can also be used.

  Operation | movement of the vehicle air conditioner 1 of a present Example is performed as follows.

  First, when the ignition switch is turned on, the motor 21 electrically connected to the ignition switch is driven and rotates by a predetermined amount in the direction of arrow A. The first gear 23 connected coaxially to the rotation shaft of the motor 21 also rotates as the motor 21 rotates. Further, the second gear 25 meshed with the first gear 23 is also driven and rotated by the rotation of the first gear 23. Then, each drive pulley 22 whose center is connected to a drive shaft 26 that is one end of the rotation shaft of the second gear 25 is driven and rotated by the rotation of the second gear 25. The rotation of the drive pulley 22 is transmitted to the driven pulley 18 via the wire 28, so that the driven pulley 18 rotates in synchronization with the drive pulley 22. Then, the rotation of the driven pulley 18 drives the rotation of the fin portions 20 and the dampers 12 connected to the driven pulleys 18 to open the fin portions 20 and the dampers 12. Here, since the drive pulley 22 that indirectly drives each fin portion 20 and the damper 12 is connected to the same motor 21, the opening drive of each fin portion 20 and the damper 12 is made synchronously. The Rukoto.

  When the ignition switch is turned off, the motor 21 is driven to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow B, which is the opposite direction to that when the ignition switch is turned on. The reverse rotation of the motor 21 is transmitted in the order of the first gear 23, the second gear 25, the drive pulley 22, the driven pulley 18, and the clutch in the same manner as described above, and the fin portion 20 and the damper 12 are closed. It is. Here, similarly to the above, each fin portion 20 and the damper 12 are driven by the same motor 21 via the driven pulley 18 and the drive pulley 22, so that the closing drive of each fin portion 20 and the damper 12 is also performed. Moreover, it will be done synchronously.

  In this embodiment, all the registers 3 are connected to the same motor 21 via the driven pulley 18 and the drive pulley 22, but the motor 21 is arranged at a position close to any one of the registers 3 and the motor It is also possible to directly connect the rotating shaft 17 of the fin portion 20 of the register 3 arranged close to the motor 21 to the motor 21. For example, the motor 21 is disposed in the vicinity of the C / P register 7 and the C / D register 6, and the rotation shaft 17 of the fin portion 20 of the C / P register 7 and the C / D register 6 is directly rotated by the motor 21. When connecting to the shaft, the required number of drive pulleys 22 and driven pulleys 18 is reduced, so that the cost required for the vehicle air conditioner 1 can be further reduced. Also in this case, similarly, the opening / closing drive of each fin portion 20 is performed by the motor 21 at the same position, and therefore this opening / closing drive is performed in synchronization.

It is a perspective view showing the instrument panel by which the vehicle air conditioner of Example 1 of this invention was arrange | positioned. It is a model exploded view of the vehicle air conditioner of Example 1 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: Vehicle air conditioner 2: Register group 3: Register 12: Damper 16: Retainer 18: Driven pulley 20: Fin portion 21: Motor 22: Drive pulley

Claims (2)

A plurality of registers each having a substantially cylindrical retainer that serves as an air flow path and fin portions that are disposed downstream of the retainer in the ventilation path to open and close the retainer and adjust the air direction are disposed at separate positions. A vehicle air conditioner having a register group, wherein at least the opening operation and / or the closing operation of the fin portion of the register group are performed synchronously,
A motor, a drive pulley connected to the rotation shaft of the motor, and a plurality of driven pulleys that rotate in synchronization with the rotation of the drive pulley, and the rotation shaft of each fin portion of the register group is A vehicle air conditioner connected to the driven pulley and driven to open and close in synchronization with each other.   The opening operation of the fin portion is performed in conjunction with an on operation of at least one of a switch group selected from an ignition switch, an air conditioner switch, and a blower switch, and the closing operation of the fin portion is at least one of the switch group. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, which is performed in conjunction with an off operation of one switch.

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