JP2005153826A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively utilize energy possessed by condensate generated in an evaporator in an air conditioner for a vehicle for blowing air-conditioned air from a blowing port at a front side of a front seat to a rear seat side. <P>SOLUTION: The air conditioner for the vehicle is provided with: an air conditioning unit 100 for producing the air-conditioned air; fan means 100, 32 for blowing the air-conditioned air produced in the air conditioning unit 100 from the blowing out port 31 provided at a front side of the front seat 10 to an upper space of the rear seat 20; and an air direction change plate 40 arranged near a ceiling part in a cabin and leading the air-conditioned air blown by the fan means 100, 32 to an occupant at the rear seat side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner that blows conditioned air from an air outlet in front of a front seat toward a rear seat.

  Some vehicles such as one-box cars with a large interior space are equipped with a rear air conditioner in order to improve the air conditioning comfort of the passenger on the rear seat side. However, if a rear air conditioner is installed, the cost will increase significantly. On the other hand, a vehicle air conditioner is known in which air-conditioned air is blown from a blower outlet in front of the front seat to the rear seat without mounting a rear air conditioner (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to this, an upper vent outlet is provided in the upper part of the center vent outlet of the instrument panel of the vehicle, and the conditioned air is blown from the upper vent outlet toward the rear seat side passenger through the space between the driver's seat and the passenger seat. .

JP-A-6-247137

  However, if the air is blown directly from the upper vent outlet toward the rear seat side occupant as described in Patent Document 1, the air blowing range is limited by the front seat, so that efficient air blowing cannot be performed. Particularly in the case of a vehicle having a plurality of rows of rear seats in the front-rear direction, the conditioned air cannot be efficiently guided to the occupants of each rear seat only by blowing the conditioned air from the upper vent outlet toward the rear seat side occupant. .

  An air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention includes an air conditioning unit that generates conditioned air, and an air blowing unit that blows the conditioned air generated by the air conditioning unit from an air outlet provided in front of the front seat toward an upper space of the rear seat. And a wind direction changing plate that is disposed near the ceiling of the vehicle interior and guides the conditioned air blown by the blowing means to the rear seat side occupant.

  According to the present invention, the conditioned air blown from the air outlet in front of the front seat toward the upper space of the rear seat is guided to the rear seat side occupant through the wind direction changing plate disposed in the vicinity of the ceiling of the vehicle interior. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently blow air to the rear seat side occupant without providing a rear air conditioner.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a side view of an essential part of a vehicle having a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. Three rows of seats (front seat 10, second seat 20, and third seat 30) are arranged in the vehicle longitudinal direction in the vehicle interior. Wind direction change plates 40 and 50 for changing the flow of the conditioned air blown from the front part of the vehicle are arranged in parallel in the vehicle front-rear direction on the vehicle ceiling. The configuration of the wind direction changing plates 40 and 50 will be described later.

  The air conditioning unit 100 that generates the conditioned air is disposed inside the instrument panel IP in front of the passenger compartment. The instrument panel IP is provided with a pair of left and right center vent outlets 11 </ b> A and a side vent outlet 11 </ b> B (also referred to as a front vent outlet 11) facing the front seat 10. Above the center vent outlets 11A and 11B, an upper vent outlet 31 is provided facing the upper space between the driver's seat and the passenger seat.

  The front vent outlet 11 is connected to the air conditioning unit 100 via the front vent duct 12, and a duct passage is formed so that the conditioned air from the air conditioning unit 100 is blown toward the upper body of the front seat occupant. The upper vent outlet 31 is connected to the air conditioning unit 100 via the upper vent duct 32, and a duct passage is formed so that the conditioned air from the air conditioning unit 100 passes through the upper space in the vehicle interior and is guided to the wind direction changing plate 40. Yes.

  A front foot air outlet 13 is provided below the instrument panel IP so as to face the feet of the front seat 10, and a second foot air outlet 23 is provided below the front seat 10 so as to face the feet of the second seat 20. A third foot outlet 33 is provided below the second seat 20 so as to face the foot of the third seat 30. These air outlets 13, 23, and 33 are connected to the air conditioning unit 100 via the front foot duct 14, the second foot duct 24, and the third foot duct 34, respectively. In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, the defrost blower outlet is provided in the vicinity of the front window.

  A schematic configuration of the air conditioning unit 100 is shown in FIG. The air conditioning unit 100 mainly includes a blow aching unit 101 that sucks and cools air and a heater unit 102 that heats air.

  A blower fan 4 is disposed at the inlet of the duct 3 of the air conditioning unit 100, and the blower fan 4 is rotated by driving a blower motor 5. When the blower fan 4 rotates, the inside air or the outside air is sucked into the duct 3 from the inside air suction duct 61 or the outside air suction duct 62 via the inside / outside air switching door 6, and is cooled by passing through the evaporator 1. This cooling air passes through the heater core 2 at a rate corresponding to the opening degree of the air mix door 7 and is heated or bypasses the heater core 2 while remaining as cooling air. The air that has passed through and bypassed the heater core 2 is mixed in the air mix chamber 8 downstream of the heater core 2 to obtain conditioned air at a predetermined temperature.

  A vent duct 94, a foot duct 95, and a differential duct 96 are connected to the air mix chamber 8 via an openable / closable vent door 91, a foot door 92, and a differential door 93, respectively. The vent duct 94 branches into the front vent duct 12 and the upper vent duct 32, respectively. The foot duct 95 branches into the front foot duct 14, the second foot duct 24, and the third foot duct 34, respectively. An upper vent door 35 capable of opening and closing the duct passage is provided in the upper vent duct 32. The upper vent door 35 is opened, for example, by turning on a rear seat air blow switch (not shown) provided on the air conditioning operation panel, and closed by turning off. The air conditioning operation panel is provided in the center cluster at the center of the instrument panel.

  Each drive of the blower motor 5, the inside / outside air switching door 6, the air mix door 7, and the air outlet doors 91 to 93 is controlled by a known air conditioning controller. That is, using the set temperature, the amount of solar radiation, the passenger compartment temperature, and the outside air temperature, the target blowing temperature is calculated by a well-known arithmetic expression, and the target opening degree of the air mix door 7 is calculated based on the deviation between the target blowing temperature and the current suction temperature. Is calculated. And each drive of the blower motor 5, the inside / outside air switching door 6, the air mix door 7, and the blower outlet doors 91-93 is controlled according to target air mix door opening. These can be driven manually according to the switch operation of the passenger.

  Here, the configuration of the wind direction changing plates 40 and 50 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the wind direction changing plate 40 is disposed obliquely downward in the vicinity of the ceiling portion above the second seat so as to blow conditioned air from the front of the vehicle toward the second seat occupant. The wind direction changing plate 50 is disposed obliquely downward in the vicinity of the ceiling above the third seat so that the conditioned air from the front of the vehicle is blown toward the third seat occupant. As shown in FIG. 2, the wind direction changing plates 40 and 50 are respectively disposed at the center in the vehicle width direction corresponding to the upper vent outlet 31, and the length in the vehicle width direction is the length of the upper vent outlet 31 in the vehicle width direction. Is almost equal.

  The wind direction changing plate 40 above the second seat is configured to be movable up and down, and the amount of air blown to the wind direction changing plate 50 is adjusted according to the vertical movement. 4 (a) and 5 (a) are front views of the wind direction changing plate 40 (viewed from the front of the vehicle), respectively, and FIGS. 4 (b) and 5 (b) are respectively FIG. 4 (a). FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line bb in FIG. 4A and 4B show a state where the wind direction changing plate 40 has moved upward, and FIGS. 5A and 5B show a state where the wind direction changing plate 40 has moved downward. The wind direction changing plate 50 cannot be moved up and down. Except for this point, the configuration of the wind direction changing plate 50 is the same as that of the wind direction changing plate 40, and therefore the illustration of the wind direction changing plate 50 is omitted.

  Side plates 41 are fixed to both ends of the wind direction changing plate 40 in the left-right direction (vehicle width direction), and the side plates 41 are interposed between a pair of left and right guide plates 42 fixed to a ceiling plate 44 in the vehicle interior. It is disguised. A shaft portion 41 a protrudes from the outer surface of the side plate 41 in the left-right direction. Each guide plate 42 is provided with a slit 42a in the vertical direction, and the shaft portion 41a passes through the slit 42a. Thereby, the wind direction change board 40 can move up and down along the slit 42a. A stopper 43 that is larger than the slit 42a is provided at the tip of the shaft portion 41a, and the position of the wind direction changing plate 40 in the left-right direction is regulated by the stopper 43.

  A wire 45 is connected to the shaft portion 41a. The wire 45 is wound or fed by the actuator 46, and the wind direction changing plate 40 moves upward by winding the wire 45, and moves downward by feeding the wire 45. As the wind direction change plate 40 moves up and down, the opening area in the vertical direction between the ceiling plate 44 and the wind direction change plate 40 (opening portion SP) changes. As a result, the air volume passing through the opening SP and being blown to the wind direction changing plate 50, in other words, the air volume distribution to the second seat occupant and the third seat occupant changes. In the present embodiment, when the wind direction changing plate 40 moves upward, the air volume distribution is 1: 0, that is, the conditioned air is blown only to the second seat occupant, and when the wind direction changing plate 40 moves downward, the air volume distribution is 1: 1. That is, the area S of the opening SP is set so that an equal amount of conditioned air is blown to the second seat occupant and the third seat occupant.

Note that the air speed V of the conditioned air blown to the third seat occupant when the air volume distribution is 1: 1 can be calculated by the following equation (I), and the area S of the opening SP is also taken into consideration. Set.
V = Ga × α × S / 2 (I)
Ga: Air supply volume from upper vent outlet
α: Speed attenuation coefficient from the wind direction changing plate 40 to the wind direction changing plate 50

  The wind direction changing plate 40 moves up and down in accordance with the operation of the wind direction adjusting switch 53 including the second switch 51 and the second third switch 52 shown in FIG. That is, when the second switch 51 is pushed, the wind direction changing plate 40 moves upward, and when the second third switch 52 is operated, the second direction switch 52 moves downward. For example, immediately after the engine is stopped, the wind direction changing plate 40 moves to the upper position shown in FIG. 4 so that the head of the passenger does not hit the wind direction changing plate 40 when getting on and off the vehicle. The wind direction adjusting switch 53 is provided on the air conditioning operation panel of the center cluster. The wind direction adjusting switch 53 can also be provided at the rear portion of the re-vehicle (for example, a B pillar) so that the rear seat side occupant can operate it.

Main operations of the vehicle air conditioner according to the present embodiment will be described.
When the rear seat air blow switch is turned off, the upper vent door 35 is closed. In this state, the conditioned air that has passed through the vent door 91 is blown only from the front vent blower outlet 11 and is not blown from the upper vent blower outlet 31. Therefore, a larger air volume can be blown toward the front seat occupant, which is effective in the case of preferentially blowing air to the front seat occupant.

  When the rear seat ventilation switch is turned on, the upper vent door 35 is opened, and the conditioned air that has passed through the vent door 91 is blown out from both the front vent outlet 11 and the upper vent outlet 31. In the initial state, the wind direction changing plate 40 is in the upper position shown in FIG. 4, and the area of the opening SP is minimum. Accordingly, the conditioned air from the upper vent outlet 31 passes through the vehicle interior upper space between the driver seat and the passenger seat, is reflected by the wind direction changing plate 40, and is blown to the second seat passenger. That is, all the conditioned air from the upper vent outlet 31 is guided to the second seat occupant without passing through the opening SP. Thereby, it is possible to blow a large amount of air to the second seat occupant, and the air conditioning comfort of the occupant is improved.

  When the second third switch 52 is turned on with the rear seat air blower switch turned on, the wind direction changing plate 40 moves downward. As a result, the area of the opening SP increases, and part of the conditioned air from the upper vent outlet 31 is reflected by the wind direction changing plate 40 and blown to the second seat occupant, and the rest passes through the opening 31. The conditioned air that has passed through the opening 31 is reflected by the wind direction changing plate 50 and is blown toward the third seat occupant. Accordingly, the conditioned air can be blown from the overhead to the second seat occupant and the third seat occupant. When the wind direction changing plate 40 moves to the lower position shown in FIG. 5, the area of the opening SP is maximized. At this time, the air volume distribution to the second seat side and the third seat side is 1: 1, and the air conditioning comfort of the second seat occupant and the third seat occupant can be realized equally.

  After the second third switch 52 is turned on with the rear seat air blower switch turned on, when the second switch 51 is further turned on, the wind direction changing plate 40 moves upward. When the amount of upward movement of the wind direction changing plate 40 is maximized, the area of the opening SP is minimized, and all the conditioned air from the upper vent outlet 31 is guided to the second seat occupant.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The wind direction changing plate 40 is disposed above the second seat 20, and the conditioned air blown from the upper vent outlet 31 to the space above the second seat 20 is guided to the second seat occupant via the wind direction changing plate 40. As a result, the front seat 10 can efficiently blow air to the second seat occupant without the air blowing range being greatly limited. Therefore, the air conditioning comfort of the second seat occupant can be improved without providing a rear air conditioner.
(2) Since the wind direction changing plate 50 is also provided above the third seat 30, the conditioned air can be efficiently guided not only to the second seat occupant but also to the third seat occupant.
(3) Since the wind direction changing plate 40 above the second seat is supported through the guide plate 42 so as to be movable up and down, a part of the conditioned air from the upper vent outlet 31 is opened between the wind direction changing plate 40 and the ceiling 44. It can be guided to the wind direction changing plate 50 above the third seat through the part SP, and the air conditioning comfort of the third seat occupant is further improved.
(4) Since the area of the opening SP can be changed by the vertical movement of the wind direction changing plate 40, the conditioned air can be efficiently distributed to the second seat 20 and the third seat 30 in accordance with the request of the occupant.

  In the above embodiment, the wind direction changing plate 40 is moved up and down by the actuator 46. However, the wind direction changing plate 40 can be moved up and down manually. An example is shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, stopper portions 42b having a diameter larger than the slit width are provided at the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the slit 42 of the guide plate 42, respectively. The shaft portion 41b on the surface of the side plate is formed of an elastic material such as rubber, and the width (diameter) is larger than the slit width and smaller than the diameter of the stopper portion. Further, the side plate 41 is provided with an operation portion 47 for pushing up and pulling down the wind direction changing plate 40. As a result, when the operating portion 47 is pushed upward from the state shown in the figure, the shaft portion 41b moves while being crushed by the slit 42, returns to the original state by the upper stopper portion 42b, and the wind direction changing plate 40 is restricted to the upper position. The When the operation unit 47 is pulled downward, the shaft portion 41b moves while being crushed by the slit 42, returns to the original position by the lower stopper portion 42b, and the wind direction changing plate 40 is restricted to the lower position.

  In addition, it is possible to manually move the wind direction changing plate 40 up and down. For example, a spring may be connected to the shaft portion 41a and the wind direction changing plate 40 may be restricted to the upper position by the spring force. . In this case, a claw portion is provided at the lower end of the slit 42a, and the wind direction changing plate 40 is pushed down against the spring force, and then the shaft portion 41a is hooked on the claw portion of the slit 42a so that the wind direction changing plate 40 is moved to the lower position. You can regulate it.

  Although the air-conditioning apparatus of the said embodiment was applied to the vehicle which has a 3 row seat in the front-back direction, it is applicable also to the vehicle which has a 2 row seat, and the vehicle which has a 4 row seat or more. When applied to a two-row seat vehicle, the wind direction changing plate 50 may be omitted. In this case, the air flow to the second seat occupant can be adjusted by moving the wind direction changing plate 40 above the second seat up and down. Further, when applied to a vehicle having four or more rows of seats, if the wind direction changing plate 50 is provided only above the rearmost seat and the wind direction changing plate 40 is provided above the other rear seats, air conditioning is applied to all rear seat passengers. Wind can be efficiently blown.

  In the above embodiment, the wind direction changing plate 40 can be moved up and down. However, if the air from the upper vent outlet 31 is blown toward the second seat occupant via the wind direction changing plate 40, the second seat occupant On the other hand, since efficient ventilation is possible, the wind direction changing plate does not necessarily need to be movable up and down. In this case, if the wind direction changing plate 40 is fixed in a state where the opening SP is opened, it is possible to efficiently blow air to the second seat occupant and the third seat occupant at all times. Moreover, although the wind direction change board 40 was moved up and down by operation of the switches 51 and 52, you may make it move up and down automatically according to target blowing temperature etc. FIG. The wind direction changing plate 50 above the third seat may be movable up and down. Thereby, only a part of the air volume blown to the wind direction changing plate 50 can be guided to the third seat occupant, and various air volume adjustments are possible.

  The shape of the wind direction change plates 40 and 50 is not limited to that described above. For example, the surface of the wind direction change plates 40 and 50 may be formed in a curved shape, and the conditioned air may be guided downward along the wind direction change plates 40 and 50. Further, if the air-conditioning wind is disposed near the ceiling of the passenger compartment and guides the conditioned air to the occupant on the rear seat side, the mounting positions of the wind direction changing plates 40 and 50 may be other than those described above. The upper vent air outlet 31 is provided above the center vent air outlets 11A and 11B, and the vent duct 32 is formed so as to blow the conditioned air from the upper vent air outlet 31 toward the space above the second seat 40. The configuration of the means is not limited to this. That is, the present invention is not limited to the vehicle air conditioner according to the embodiment as long as the features and functions of the present invention can be realized.

The principal part side view of the vehicle with which this invention is applied. The principal part top view of the vehicle with which this invention is applied. The figure which shows schematic structure of the air conditioning unit which comprises the vehicle air conditioner concerning embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows 1 operation | movement of the wind direction change board which comprises the vehicle air conditioner concerning embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows other operation | movement of the wind direction change board which comprises the vehicle air conditioner concerning embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the switch which outputs the drive command of the wind direction change board of FIG. The figure which shows the modification of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Front seat 20 Second seat 30 Third seat 31 Upper vent outlet 40, 50 Air direction change plate 41 Side plate 42 Guide plate 44 Ceiling plate 46 Actuator 100 Air conditioning unit

Claims (3)

An air conditioning unit that generates conditioned air; and
Blower means for blowing the conditioned air generated by the air conditioning unit from the air outlet provided in front of the front seat toward the upper space of the rear seat;
An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising: a wind direction changing plate disposed near a ceiling portion of the vehicle interior and guiding the conditioned air blown by the blowing means to a rear seat side occupant. In the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1,
A plurality of the wind direction changing plates are arranged in parallel in the vehicle front-rear direction corresponding to the plurality of rows of rear seats,
At least the wind direction changing plate located on the front side of the vehicle blows a part of the conditioned air blown by the blowing means toward the lower rear seat side occupant and blows the rest toward the wind direction changing plate on the rear side of the vehicle. A vehicle air conditioner configured as described above. In the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2,
The wind direction changing plate located at least on the front side of the vehicle is supported so as to be movable up and down from the ceiling of the vehicle interior, and is configured to change the air volume distribution of the downward blowing and the rearward blowing according to the vertical movement. An air conditioner for a vehicle.

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