JP2006143081A - Air-conditioning unit and air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To promote mixing at a mixing area, to reduce temperature difference between air blown from a face outlet or a defrost outlet and warm air blown from a foot outlet and to suppress cold air blown from the face outlet at the maximum cooling mode or the like from being re-heated by heat from a heater core. <P>SOLUTION: In the air-conditioning unit 2, a duct 11 is provided with a first duct 11a for directly leading air passing through an evaporator 13 to a downstream side of the heater core 14; and a second duct 11b for leading air passing through the evaporator 13 to the heater core 14. A partition plate P for covering a part of a downstream side surface of the heater core 14 from an upstream side to the downstream side is provided in the first duct 11a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioning unit and a vehicle air conditioning apparatus.

As an air conditioning unit, a so-called HVAC (heating ventilation air-conditioning) module in which a fan, an evaporator, and a heater core are arranged in a main body cover is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-148958 A

  However, the air conditioning unit described in Patent Document 1 has a narrow area (hereinafter referred to as “mixing area”) in which the cold air that has passed through the evaporator and the warm air that has passed through the heater core are narrow, and the foot door. The entrance of the foot passage that is opened and closed by is provided near the downstream side of the mixing region. Therefore, mixing of the cold air that has passed through the evaporator and the warm air that has passed through the heater core is not successful, and B / L mode (cold air is blown out from the face air outlet and warm air is blown out from the foot air outlet. Mode) or in DEF / FOOT mode (mode in which warm air is blown out from the defrost outlet and warm air is blown out from the foot outlet), the air is blown out from the face outlet or defrost outlet There has been a problem that a temperature difference between the air and the warm air blown out from the foot outlet becomes excessive.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can promote mixing in the mixing region, and air blown from the face blower outlet or the defrost blower outlet and warm air blown from the foot blower outlet. It is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioning unit and an air conditioning apparatus for a vehicle that can reduce the temperature difference from the air conditioning unit.

The present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above problems.
The air conditioning unit according to claim 1 includes an air inlet for taking in outside air or inside air, an air outlet comprising a defrost outlet, a face outlet, and a foot outlet, the air inlet and the air outlet. A duct communicating with the outlet, a blower disposed in the duct, taking in air from the air inlet, and blowing out the air from the air outlet, and air moved in the duct by the blower An evaporator for cooling and a heater core for heating air moved in the duct by the blower, wherein the evaporator is disposed at a lower rear side of the blower, and the heater core is disposed at a lower front side of the blower. And an inlet to the defrost outlet, an inlet to the face outlet, and the foot An inlet to the outlet is disposed in front of the blower, and the duct directs the air that has passed through the evaporator directly to the downstream side of the heater core, and the air that has passed through the evaporator. An air conditioning unit including a second duct that leads to the heater core, and a partition plate that covers a part of the downstream side surface of the heater core from the upstream side toward the downstream side is provided in the first duct. It is characterized by being.
According to such an air conditioning unit, a part of the cold air that has passed through the evaporator is guided to the downstream side of the heater core through the first duct, and the remaining portion of the heater core passes through the second duct. Guided to the upstream side. The cold air led to the heater core is heated while passing through the heater core, and becomes warm air and blown out from the downstream side surface. At this time, since a part of the downstream side of the heater core and the upstream side of the first duct is covered with the partition plate, the cold air that has passed through the first duct touches the downstream side of the heater core. Heating is prevented, and heating of the cold air that has passed through the first duct is prevented. The cold air guided to the downstream side along the partition plate and the warm air that has passed through the heater core are appropriately mixed in a wide mixing region formed in front of the blower, and then the defrost outlet, the face outlet, It blows out from the foot outlet.

The air conditioning unit according to claim 2 is characterized in that the partition plate is provided so as to cover substantially half of the downstream side surface of the heater core.
According to such an air conditioning unit, the partition plate covers only half of the downstream side surface of the heater core (that is, cool air guided to the first duct and warm air heated by the heater core). The mixing area for mixing (mixing) is provided), so it is possible to promote the mixing of cold and hot air, and the temperature difference between the upper and lower sides in B / L mode or DEF / FOOT mode (B / L In mode, this is the temperature difference between the temperature of air blown from the face outlet and the temperature of air blown from the foot outlet. In DEF / FOOT mode, the temperature of air blown from the defrost outlet The temperature difference between the temperature and the temperature of the air blown out from the foot outlet) can be prevented from becoming excessive (too much). That is, the vertical temperature difference in the B / L mode can be set to, for example, 20 ° C. ± 5 ° C., and the vertical temperature difference in the DEF / FOOT mode can be set to, for example, 15 ° C. ± 5 ° C.

The air conditioning unit according to claim 3 is characterized in that the partition plate is provided such that the flow path gradually narrows from the upstream side to the downstream side of the first duct.
According to such an air conditioning unit, since the outlet side of the first duct is gradually throttled by the partition plate, the speed of the air flowing into the mixing region from the front end (downstream side end) of the partition plate is increased. And mixing of cold and hot air can be further promoted.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioning apparatus for a vehicle, wherein the air conditioning unit according to any one of the first to third aspects, a compressor that compresses a gaseous refrigerant, and heat exchange of the high-pressure gas refrigerant with outside air. A condenser for condensing and an expansion valve for converting the high-temperature and high-pressure liquid refrigerant into a low-temperature and low-pressure liquid refrigerant, introducing a refrigerant system for supplying low-temperature and low-pressure liquid refrigerant to the evaporator, and introducing engine cooling water into the heater core And a control unit that controls the operation of the air conditioning unit, the refrigerant system, and the heating source system.
According to such a vehicle air conditioner, mixing in the mixing region can be promoted, and the temperature of the air blown from the face outlet or the defrost outlet and the warm air blown from the foot outlet An air conditioning unit that can reduce the difference is provided.

  According to the air conditioning unit of the present invention, the mixing in the mixing region can be promoted, and the temperature difference between the air blown from the face blower outlet or the defrost blower outlet and the warm air blown from the foot blower outlet is reduced. There is an effect that it can be reduced.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the vehicle air conditioner 1. The vehicular air conditioner 1 is largely composed of an air conditioner unit 2 that performs air conditioning such as cooling and heating, and an air conditioner during cooling operation. A refrigerant system 3 that supplies refrigerant to the unit 2, a heating source system 4 that supplies engine cooling water that serves as a heat source to the air conditioning unit 2 during heating operation, and a control unit 5 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioning unit 2 is a so-called HVAC (heating ventilation air-conditioning) module mainly composed of a main body cover 10, a blower 12, an evaporator 13, and a heater core 14. .

  The main body cover 10 includes, for example, a main body left side cover (not shown), a main body right side cover 10a, and a main body lower side cover 10b. The main body cover 10 is assembled to form the appearance of the air conditioning unit 2, and the blower 12, the evaporator 13, the heater core 14, and a damper to be described later are accommodated therein.

  When these main body left side cover (not shown), main body right side cover 10a, and main body lower side cover 10b are combined, a duct 11 as shown in FIG. 1 is formed. The duct 11 includes an outside air intake (air intake) and an internal air intake (air intake) (not shown) located on the back side or the front side of the paper surface in FIG. 1 and air taken from these intake ports. A defrost outlet (hereinafter referred to as “DEF outlet”) 15 that blows out toward a windshield (not shown) of a vehicle, a face outlet (hereinafter referred to as “DEF blower”) 15 , 16 and a foot air outlet (not shown) (hereinafter referred to as “FOOT” air outlet) that is blown out toward the feet of the occupant.

  The blower 12 is, for example, a sirocco fan, and mainly includes a fan 12a and a drive unit (not shown). In the blower 12, the fan 12a is rotated by the rotational force from the drive unit, and the air taken in from the outside air inlet or the inside air inlet (located on the back side or the near side in FIG. 1) is converted into the DEF outlet. 15. It blows out from at least any one among FACE blower outlet 16 and FOOT blower outlet.

The evaporator 13 is for cooling the air blown out from the fan 12 a described above, and is disposed on the lower rear side of the blower 12.
In addition, the heater core 14 located on the downstream side of the evaporator 13 is for heating the air blown out from the fan 12 a described above, and is disposed on the lower front side of the blower 12 and in front of the evaporator 13. .

  After the air that has passed through the evaporator 13 on the upstream side of the heater core 14 is directly guided to the downstream side of the heater core 14 without passing through the heater core 14, the inlet of the DEF outlet 15, the inlet of the FACE outlet 16, FOOT A first duct (hereinafter referred to as “cold air passage”) 11a that leads to the inlet of the blower outlet, and a second duct (hereinafter referred to as “hot air passage”) 11b that guides the air that has passed through the evaporator 13 to the heater core 14. An air mix damper 17 whose opening degree can be adjusted is provided at the branching point. When the air mix damper 17 is in the heating mode, the air blown from the fan 12a of the blower 12 passes through the heater core 14 by being fully opened as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. In the cooling mode, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, all the air blown from the fan 12a of the blower 12 bypasses the heater core 14 by being fully closed.

A partition plate P is provided on the upstream side in the cold air passage 11a. This partition plate P is a plate-like member extending downstream from the wall surface in the vicinity of the branch point between the cold air passage 11a and the hot air passage 11b (that is, in the vicinity of the hinge shaft 17a of the air mix damper 17), and the width of the heater core 14 It is a plate-like member that extends over the entire direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface) and extends to cover substantially half of the downstream side surface of the heater core 14. Here, the partition plate P has a cross-sectional shape that warps so as to roughly correspond to the curved surface shape of the inner wall Wa of the duct 11 that forms the outer peripheral wall of the air blower 12 that faces the cold air passage side. The partition plate P extends to the area of the inner wall Wa of the duct 11 that is substantially parallel to cover the substantially half of the downstream side surface of the heater core 14 and to control the mixing start area.
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the partition plate P is formed so that its flow path gradually narrows from the upstream side to the downstream side of the cold air passage 11a (that is, from the upstream side to the downstream side of the cold air passage 11a). Warm air that has passed through the heater core 14 passes through the cold air passage 11a while being provided away from the downstream side surface of the heater core 14, in other words, close to the inner wall Wa of the duct 11 that forms the outer peripheral wall of the blower 12. It is formed so as to be smoothly (smoothly) guided to a mixing region where the cold air that has passed through and the warm air warmed by the heater core 14 are mixed (mixed).

  The air mix damper 17 can also be used at an intermediate position between the fully open position and the fully closed position. That is, by adjusting the opening degree of the air mix damper 17, the mixing ratio of the air bypassing the heater core 14 and the air passing through the heater core 14 is changed to obtain various air temperatures.

A damper 18 common to the air outlets 15 and 16 is provided on the inlet side of the DEF air outlet 15 and the FACE air outlet 16 (that is, the front side of the blower 12). The air is blown out from the DEF air outlet 15 and / or the FACE air outlet 16.
On the other hand, a damper 19 common to the air outlets 15 and 17 is provided on the inlet side of the DEF air outlet 15 and the FOOT air outlet, and the movement of the damper 19 causes air to flow into the DEF air outlet 15 and / or the FOOT air outlet. It comes to be blown out from the outlet.
That is, when the damper 18 is at the position of the solid line in FIG. 1, the air is blown out only from the FACE outlet 16, and when it is at the two-dot chain line, the air is blown out from the DEF outlet 15 and / or FOOT outlet 17. .

Next, the configuration of the refrigerant system 3 will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The refrigerant system 3 supplies a low-temperature and low-pressure liquid refrigerant to the evaporator 13 and includes a compressor 31, a condenser 32, and an expansion valve 33.
The compressor 31 compresses the low-temperature and low-pressure gas refrigerant vaporized by taking the heat in the vehicle compartment by the evaporator 13 and sends it to the condenser 32 as a high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant. In the case of an automotive air conditioner, the compressor 31 receives a driving force from the engine 41 via a belt and a clutch.
The condenser 32 is disposed in the front part of the engine room, and cools the high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant supplied from the compressor 31 with the outside air to condense and liquefy the gaseous refrigerant. The refrigerant thus liquefied is sent to a receiver (not shown) for gas-liquid separation, and then sent to the expansion valve 33 as a high-temperature and high-pressure liquid refrigerant. In the expansion valve 33, the high-temperature and high-pressure liquid refrigerant is decompressed and expanded to form a low-temperature and low-pressure liquid (mist-like) refrigerant and supplied to the evaporator 13.

  Next, the configuration of the heating source system 4 will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The heating source system 4 supplies high-temperature engine cooling water serving as a heat source to the heater core 14, and a part of the heating source system 4 from the engine cooling water system circulating between the engine 41 and the radiator 42 is not shown. ) Is introduced into the heater core 14 by controlling the flow rate.

  Finally, the structure of the control part 5 is demonstrated easily based on FIG. The control unit 5 controls the operation of the air conditioning unit 2, the refrigerant system 3, and the heating source system 4 constituting the air conditioning apparatus 1, and is normally controlled by an operation panel on which an occupant performs various settings. A circuit is built in and arranged in the center of the instrument panel. In this control unit 5, various operation modes (cooling, heating, defrost, vent, DEF / FOOT, bi-level (FACE / FOOT, which are FACE / FOOT) by opening / closing operations of the air mix dampers 17, 18, 19 described above, B / L ")), etc., switching operation of the inside / outside air switching damper, switching the air volume of the blower 12, and a desired temperature setting operation can be performed.

Next, the operation of the vehicle air conditioner 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. Only the DEF / FOOT mode and B / L mode will be described here.
First, the B / L mode will be described. When the operator sets the operation mode switching means provided in the control unit 5 of the vehicle air conditioner 1 to the B / L mode, the air mix damper 17 is in the fully open position (the position of the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1) and the fully closed position. The damper 18 is moved to an intermediate position between the position of the solid line in FIG. 1 and the position of the two-dot chain line, and the damper 19 is moved to the position of the solid line in FIG. It is moved by a damper operating means such as a mechanism or an electric actuator.

  And the air taken in from the air intake by rotation of the fan 12a of the blower 12 passes through the fan 12a and reaches the evaporator 13. The air that has reached the evaporator 13 undergoes heat exchange while passing through the evaporator 13 and is converted into cold air.

  A part of the cold air that has passed through the evaporator 13 reaches the heater core 14 by the air mix damper 17 being substantially half open, and the air that has reached the heater core 14 is heat-exchanged while passing through the heater core 14 and is warm air. Can be changed.

  The cold air that has passed through the evaporator 13 flows along the inner wall Wa side of the duct 11 that forms the outer peripheral wall of the blower 12, and blows out through the FACE outlet 16 toward the occupant's face, hands, and chest. Is done. The warm air that has passed through the heater core 14 flows along the inner wall Wb on the side facing the inner wall Wa described above, passes through the duct 11 on the front side (that is, the duct located on the front side of the inner wall Wb), and It is blown out toward the passenger's feet (toes) through the FOOT outlet.

  That is, in the B / L mode, cold air is blown out from the FACE outlet 16 toward the occupant's face, hands, chest, etc., and warm air is blown out from the FOOT outlet toward the passenger's feet. Become.

  Next, the DEF / FOOT mode will be described. When the operator sets the operation mode switching means provided in the control unit 5 of the vehicle air conditioner 1 to the DEF / FOOT mode, the air mix damper 17 is in the fully open position (the position of the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1) and the fully closed position. The damper 18 is moved to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, and the damper 19 is moved to the intermediate position between the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Each is moved through the operating means.

  And the air taken in from the air intake by rotation of the fan 12a of the blower 12 passes through the fan 12a and reaches the evaporator 13. The air that has reached the evaporator 13 undergoes heat exchange while passing through the evaporator 13 and is converted into cold air.

  The main flow of cold air that has passed through the evaporator 13 flows on the inner wall Wa side of the duct 11 that forms the outer peripheral wall of the blower 12, and is sufficiently mixed with the warm air that has flowed on the inner wall Wb side in the vicinity of the damper 18. (Mixed). The mixed air is blown out toward the windshield of the vehicle through the DEF air outlet 15 and blown out toward the passenger's feet through the FOOT air outlet.

  That is, in the DEF / FOOT mode, air having substantially the same temperature is blown out from the DEF air outlet 15 toward the windshield and from the FOOT air outlet toward the passenger's feet.

  According to the air conditioning unit 2 according to the present embodiment, the cold air passing through the cold air passage 11a is prevented from touching the heater core 14 by the partition plate P. For example, the cold air passage 11a is in the maximum cooling mode or the like. When cold air passes through, reheating due to heat from the heater core 14 can be prevented.

Further, the partition plate P covers only about half of the downstream side surface of the heater core 14 (that is, a mixing region for mixing (mixing) cold air that has passed through the cold air passage 11a and warm air warmed by the heater core 14). It is possible to promote the mixing of cold and hot air, and the difference between the upper and lower temperatures in the B / L mode or DEF / FOOT mode (in the B / L mode, the FACE The temperature difference between the temperature of the air blown from the outlet 16 and the temperature of the air blown from the FOOT blower outlet. In the DEF / FOOT mode, the temperature of the air blown from the DEF blower outlet 15 and the FOOT blower outlet (Which is a temperature difference with the temperature of the air blown out from the air) can be prevented from becoming excessive (too much). That is, the vertical temperature difference in the B / L mode can be set to, for example, 20 ° C. ± 5 ° C., and the vertical temperature difference in the DEF / FOOT mode can be set to, for example, 15 ° C. ± 5 ° C.
When the partition plate P is longer than that of the above-described embodiment (that is, when the partition plate P greatly covers the downstream side surface of the heater core 14), the mixing region becomes small, and the mixing of the cold and hot air is not successful. The temperature difference between the top and bottom in B / L mode or DEF / FOOT mode becomes excessive. On the contrary, if the partition plate P is shorter than that of the above-described embodiment (that is, if the partition plate P does not cover the downstream side surface of the heater core 14 so much), the mixing area becomes large, and the mixing of cold and hot air is more than necessary. The difference in temperature between the top and bottom in B / L mode or DEF / FOOT mode becomes too small. In addition, the cold air passing through the cold air passage 11a is easily reheated by the heat from the heater core 14 in the maximum cooling mode or the like.

  Further, since the cold air passage 11a is gradually narrowed by the partition plate P (so that the flow passage cross-sectional area of the cold air passage 11a is gradually reduced), the mixing region from the front end (downstream end) of the partition plate P is used. The speed of the air flowing into the air can be increased, and mixing of the cold and hot air can be further promoted.

  Furthermore, the main body cover 10 includes a main body left side cover, a main body right side cover 10a, and a main body lower side cover 10b, and the rear side of the air conditioning unit 2 (that is, an audio device embedded in the center console). Since the wall surface 10w on the side opposite to the back side of the main body cover is the only wall surface that forms the outside of the main body cover (that is, a single structure), it flies toward the wall surface 10w of the main body cover 10 by inertial force at the time of a vehicle collision. When the completed (collision) audio device collides with the wall surface 10w of the main body cover 10, the wall surface 10w of the main body cover 10 is easily destroyed, and the main body cover 10 has three members (that is, the main body left side cover). , The main body right side cover 10a and the main body lower side cover 10b) are disassembled. These body left cover I Oh device is degraded, the body right cover 10a, so that the sinks deeply between the body lower cover 10b. Therefore, the gap between the audio device embedded in the center console and the air conditioning unit 2 can be reduced, and the interior space can be expanded forward.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of one Embodiment of the air conditioning unit by this invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle air conditioner.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle air conditioning apparatus 2 Air conditioning unit 3 Refrigerant system 4 Heating source system 5 Control part 11 Duct 11a Cold air path (1st duct)
11b Hot air path (second duct)
12 Blower 13 Evaporator 14 Heater Core 15 Defrost Outlet 16 Face Outlet 31 Compressor 32 Condenser 33 Expansion Valve P Partition Plate

Claims (4)

An air intake for taking in outside air or inside air;
An air outlet comprising a defrost outlet, a face outlet, and a foot outlet;
A duct communicating the air inlet and the air outlet;
A blower that is disposed in the duct and takes in air from the air intake, and blows out the air from the air outlet;
An evaporator that cools the air that is moved in the duct by the blower;
A heater core that heats the air moved in the duct by the blower,
The evaporator is disposed on the lower rear side of the blower, the heater core is disposed on the lower front side of the blower, and the inlet to the defrost outlet, the inlet to the face outlet, and the foot An inlet to the blower outlet is arranged in front of the blower, and
The air conditioning unit includes: a first duct that directly guides air that has passed through the evaporator to a downstream side of the heater core; and a second duct that guides air that has passed through the evaporator to the heater core. ,
An air conditioning unit, wherein a partition plate that covers a part of the downstream side surface of the heater core is provided in the first duct from the upstream side toward the downstream side.   The air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the partition plate is provided so as to cover substantially half of the downstream side surface of the heater core.   The air conditioning unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the partition plate is provided such that a flow path thereof gradually narrows from an upstream side to a downstream side of the first duct. The air conditioning unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A compressor that compresses gaseous refrigerant, a condenser that condenses high-pressure gas refrigerant by heat exchange with outside air, and an expansion valve that converts high-temperature and high-pressure liquid refrigerant into low-temperature and low-pressure liquid refrigerant. A refrigerant system for supplying low-pressure liquid refrigerant;
A heating source system for introducing engine cooling water into the heater core;
A vehicle air conditioner comprising: a control unit that performs operation control of the air conditioning unit, the refrigerant system, and the heat source system.

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