JP2006142989A - Air-conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air-conditioner for a vehicle capable of reducing the probability of the leakage of a combustible refrigerant by optimizing an equipment arrangement in a refrigerating cycle for a vehicle, and reducing probability of breakage of the equipment at the time of vehicle collision and the like. <P>SOLUTION: In this air-conditioner for a vehicle with a vapor compression type refrigerating cycle using a combustible refrigerant, a condenser in the refrigerating cycle is installed at a compartment outside position near a wall for separating the inside and outside of the compartment in an engine room. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner using a flammable refrigerant, and more particularly, to an optimal equipment arrangement structure of a refrigeration cycle for reducing the probability of refrigerant leakage at the time of a vehicle collision or the like and enhancing safety.

From the viewpoint of environmental considerations, the use of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants, which are adopted as refrigerants for air conditioners, has begun to be regulated, and flammable refrigerants have been proposed as countermeasures for removing chlorofluorocarbons. When a vehicle collision is detected by the vehicle collision detection means as a safety measure against leakage of the flammable refrigerant from the vehicle air conditioner using the flammable refrigerant, it is in the middle of the condenser inlet / outlet piping in the refrigerant circuit of the refrigeration cycle Means has been proposed for closing the solenoid valve provided in the above and minimizing the amount of leakage refrigerant (for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-76741

  In a vehicle that uses a flammable refrigerant as a refrigerant for a vehicle air conditioner, there is a risk that the refrigerant leaks due to damage to the air conditioner when the vehicle collides. If the flammable refrigerant leaks and the leaked refrigerant concentrates locally, the lower limit concentration of combustion may be reached. If the lower limit concentration of combustion is reached, problems such as ignition and combustion may occur. If the air conditioner is not damaged at the time of a vehicle collision or the like, the refrigerant is less likely to leak, so the risk of combustion due to leakage can be reduced.

  However, in the conventional vehicle air conditioner, as seen in Patent Document 1, the condenser is provided in the vicinity of the foremost part of the refrigeration cycle, particularly in the vicinity of the front of the vehicle. Is easily damaged, and there is a possibility that the flammable refrigerant may leak from this portion. If the refrigerant leaks, the above-described problems will be caused.

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is to focus on such problems, optimize the device arrangement in the refrigeration cycle with respect to the vehicle, reduce the probability of device damage at the time of vehicle collision, etc., and thereby the probability of flammable refrigerant leakage An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular air conditioner that reduces the above.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention is a vehicle air conditioner equipped with a vapor compression refrigeration cycle that uses a flammable refrigerant. It is characterized by being installed at a position outside the passenger compartment near the indoor / outdoor isolation wall.

  In particular, the condenser is preferably arranged such that at least a part of the condenser is located between the engine and the vehicle interior / exterior separation wall in the vehicle longitudinal direction. Moreover, it is also preferable that the condenser is located immediately after the engine in the vehicle longitudinal direction. In this case, it is preferable that the condenser is installed at a position where the engine becomes an obstacle against an external force from the front of the vehicle.

  In addition, the condenser is installed at a rear position in the engine room as compared with the conventional installation position as described above, but a ventilation path for introducing outside air from outside the vehicle to the condenser is provided. Is preferred. It is preferable that this ventilation path is extended toward the condenser from the vehicle front part, for example. This ventilation path is preferably configured to have a structure that is not easily affected by heat, such as an engine or an electric motor in the engine room.

  The installation angle of the condenser can be set to an appropriate angle within a range from parallel to vertical with respect to the horizontal ground. What is necessary is just to determine the installation angle of a condenser suitably with respect to a peripheral device or the said ventilation path.

  Moreover, in the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, it is preferable that the compressor of the vapor compression refrigeration cycle is also provided behind the engine. In this way, the compressor peripheral part of the vapor compression refrigeration cycle can be prevented from being damaged by a vehicle collision or the like, and the refrigerant passage length in the vapor compression refrigeration cycle including the condenser can be formed to be short in total. Thus, the entire apparatus can be made compact.

  Furthermore, in the vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention, a configuration is adopted in which the condenser is positioned in the vicinity of the exhaust gas purification catalyst of the engine and the exhaust heat from the condenser is used for exhaust gas purification. You can also. In this case, in order to use the exhaust heat of the condenser, a heat transfer material and / or exhaust heat introduction hole for transmitting the exhaust heat from the condenser is provided between the condenser and the exhaust gas purification catalyst. Is preferred.

  According to the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention, the condenser in the refrigeration cycle, which was most easily damaged in the case of a vehicle collision or the like in the conventional arrangement, is installed at a position outside the vehicle compartment near the vehicle interior / exterior isolation wall in the engine room. Since it did in this way, the probability of the combustible refrigerant | coolant leakage by damage of a refrigerating cycle can be reduced significantly, and even if a refrigerant | coolant leaks, it becomes possible to reduce the amount of refrigerant | coolants leaked. In particular, if the engine becomes an obstacle against external forces such as when a vehicle collides, and the condenser can be protected more appropriately, the probability of refrigerant leakage can be further reduced. In addition, if an appropriate ventilation path is provided for the condenser arranged behind the conventional arrangement, the conventional heat radiation performance can be maintained even if the installation position of the condenser is changed.

  Further, by providing the compressor along with the condenser at the rear of the engine, the refrigeration cycle can be made compact and the amount of refrigerant filled can be reduced. Furthermore, by disposing the condenser in the vicinity of the exhaust gas purification catalyst, warming up of the catalyst can be promoted, and the performance of the exhaust gas purification catalyst can be enhanced.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 show a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an engine of a vehicle prime mover mounted on a vehicle 21, in which a driving force from the engine 1 is transmitted via a belt 10 and in a vapor compression refrigeration cycle 22 using a combustible refrigerant. The compressor 2 is driven. The refrigerant compressed by the compressor 2 is condensed by the condenser 3a, and the condenser 3a is cooled by the condenser fan 3b. The refrigerant condensed and liquefied by the condenser 3a is sent to the receiver dryer 4 to remove moisture in the liquefied refrigerant. The liquid refrigerant from the receiver dryer 4 is decompressed and expanded by the expansion valve 5, then sent to the evaporator 6, evaporated by the evaporator 6, and circulated to the compressor 2. The arrow indicates the flow of the refrigerant. In addition, 7a has shown the radiator arrange | positioned ahead of the engine 1 in the engine room 9, and 7b has shown the radiator fan.

  In the present invention, the arrangement position of the condenser 3 a is changed from the conventional vehicle front (front position in the engine room 9) to the rear position in the engine room 9. In the present embodiment, the condenser 3a and the condenser fan 3b are disposed in the engine room 9 at a position outside the vehicle compartment near the boundary portion 8 where the vehicle interior / exterior separation wall is installed. It is arranged at a position immediately after the engine 1 in the front-rear direction. And as shown in FIG. 2, the condenser 3a and the condenser fan 3b are arrange | positioned so that it may incline with respect to a horizontal ground. However, this inclined arrangement can take an arbitrary angle within a range of angles from parallel to vertical with respect to the horizontal ground due to the relationship with peripheral devices and the ventilation path described later.

  A ventilation passage 11 extends from the front of the vehicle to the condenser 3a, and external air, particularly traveling air during traveling is sufficiently introduced toward the condenser 3a and blown as cooling air. It has a structure. It is preferable to extend the ventilation path 11 so as not to be affected by the heat of the engine 1 or the like as much as possible. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the compressor 2 in the refrigeration cycle 22 is also arranged immediately after the engine 1.

  In the vehicular air conditioner configured as described above, the condenser 3a that has been conventionally disposed in the front portion of the vehicle engine room is easily damaged by a vehicle collision or the like. Since it is disposed at the rear side of the vehicle compartment outside the boundary portion 8 where the vehicle interior / exterior isolation wall is installed, the vehicle is less likely to be damaged during a vehicle collision or the like, and the combustible refrigerant due to the damage The leakage probability can be greatly reduced. In particular, since the condenser 3a is arranged so that the engine 1 becomes an obstacle against external force, it is less likely to be damaged and the probability of refrigerant leakage can be further greatly reduced.

  Moreover, since the ventilation path 11 is extended from the vehicle front part with respect to the condenser 3a arrange | positioned in the rear part in the engine room 9, sufficient cooling wind can be ensured easily and the condenser 3a Condensation capacity does not decrease.

  Furthermore, in the conventional configuration in which the condenser is arranged in the front part in the engine room, the piping as the refrigerant passage becomes long and the problem that the refrigerant charging amount increases tends to occur. However, the condenser is condensed in the rear part in the engine room 9. By disposing the vessel 3a, it is possible to shorten the piping length of the entire refrigeration cycle 22, and it is also possible to reduce the size of the entire air conditioner and reduce the refrigerant charge amount. By arranging the compressor 2 immediately after the engine 1 as well, it is possible to reduce the probability of refrigerant leakage at the portion where the compressor 2 is arranged, and to further promote the above-mentioned compactness and reduction of the refrigerant charging amount. become. Since the refrigerant filling amount into the refrigeration cycle 22 can be reduced, the refrigerant leakage amount can be reduced even when the refrigeration cycle is damaged.

  FIG. 3 shows a vehicle air conditioner according to another embodiment of the present invention. The basic configuration is the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 described above, but in this embodiment, a configuration that uses the exhaust heat from the condenser 3a for exhaust gas purification is further added. . That is, the condenser 3a is disposed in the vicinity of the exhaust gas purification catalyst 13 provided in the exhaust gas passage 12 from the engine 1, and the exhaust heat from the condenser 3a is used for promoting the warming of the catalyst and used for exhaust gas purification. It can be done. In this case, in order to more effectively use the exhaust heat from the condenser 3a, a heat transfer material and / or exhaust gas that transmits the exhaust heat from the condenser 3a between the condenser 3a and the exhaust gas purification catalyst 13 is used. It is better to provide a heat introduction hole (not shown).

  The present invention can be applied to any vehicle air conditioner that uses a combustible refrigerant.

1 is a schematic plan view of a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the apparatus of FIG. 1. It is a schematic side view of the vehicle air conditioner which concerns on another embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Engine 2 Compressor 3a Condenser 3b Condenser fan 4 Receiver dryer 5 Expansion valve 6 Evaporator 7a Radiator 7b Radiator fan 8 Boundary line part where the vehicle interior / exterior isolation wall is installed 9 Engine room 10 Compressor drive belt 11 Condensation Ventilation path 12 to the exhaust gas passage 13 from the engine 13 Exhaust gas purification catalyst 21 Vehicle 22 Refrigeration cycle

Claims (10)

  In a vehicle air conditioner equipped with a vapor compression refrigeration cycle that uses a flammable refrigerant, the condenser in the refrigeration cycle is installed at a position outside the compartment inside the compartment outside the compartment in the engine room. Vehicle air conditioner.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the condenser is located between an engine and a vehicle interior / exterior separation wall in a vehicle longitudinal direction.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the condenser is located immediately behind the engine in the vehicle longitudinal direction.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the condenser is installed at a position where the engine becomes an obstacle to an external force from the front of the vehicle.   The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an air passage for introducing outside air from outside the vehicle to the condenser is provided.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 5, wherein the ventilation path extends from the front of the vehicle toward the condenser.   The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein an installation angle of the condenser is in a range from parallel to vertical with respect to a horizontal ground.   The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a compressor of the vapor compression refrigeration cycle is provided at the rear of the engine.   The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the condenser is positioned near an exhaust gas purification catalyst of an engine, and exhaust heat from the condenser is used for exhaust gas purification.   The heat transfer material and / or the exhaust heat introduction hole for transmitting the exhaust heat from the condenser is provided between the condenser and the exhaust gas purification catalyst for using the exhaust heat of the condenser. 9 vehicle air conditioners.

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