JP2007210466A - Vehicular air-conditioning air blowing structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular air-conditioning air blowing structure dispensing with reinforcing measure to a central part of a steering member in the car cross direction. <P>SOLUTION: In the case of blowing air-conditioned air from a center vent opening 13, a shutting door 12 is closed, and the center vent door 14 is opened. The air-conditioned air is thereby directly blown into a cabin from the center vent opening 13 through a blow-off opening of an instrument panel not shown in a figure. Since the center vent opening 13 is formed on an air conditioning unit 6 side, not on a steering member 1 side, lowering of rigidity of the steering member 1 is prevented, and the existing reinforcing measure is unnecessary for the steering member 1. Consequently, the weight of the steering member 1 can be reduced by the weight required for reinforcement. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an air-conditioning air blowing structure for a vehicle.

  A steering member is disposed inside the instrument panel of the automobile in a state along the vehicle width direction. This steering member has a cylindrical shape made of metal and is essentially used as a vehicle body structure material or for supporting a steering column or the like, but is also used as an air conditioning duct because of its cylindrical shape. In some cases.

  When used as an air-conditioning duct, an opening is formed in the lower center of the steering member in the vehicle width direction. And the discharge port of the air conditioning unit assembled | attached from the lower side is connected to the introduction port of a steering member. Therefore, the conditioned air processed by the air conditioning unit can be introduced into the steering member.

The steering member is formed with a pair of center vent openings at the center in the vehicle width direction, and side vent openings are formed at both ends in the vehicle width direction. And air-conditioning air can be blown out from those vent openings into the passenger compartment through the blowout port of the instrument panel (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-172923 A

  However, in such a conventional technique, a pair of center vent openings are also formed in the central portion of the steering member in the vehicle width direction in addition to the introduction port for connecting to the air conditioning unit. The cross-sectional secondary moment at the center in the vehicle width direction is reduced. In order to compensate for this, conventionally, a reinforcing measure such as increasing the wall thickness or raising a rib is required at the center portion of the steering member in the vehicle width direction, and the weight of the steering member is increased accordingly.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such a conventional technique, and provides an air-conditioning air blowing structure for a vehicle that does not require a reinforcing measure for the center portion of the steering member in the vehicle width direction.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, an introduction port is formed at a lower portion of a substantially central position in the vehicle width direction of a cylindrical steering member arranged along the vehicle width direction, and air conditioning is performed at a substantially central position in the vehicle width direction of the steering member. By assembling the unit from the lower side and connecting the discharge port of the air conditioning unit and the introduction port of the steering member, air conditioning air from the air conditioning unit can be introduced into the steering member. A side vent opening is formed in the steering member so that air-conditioned air introduced into the steering member can be blown out, and a center vent opening is formed in the air-conditioning unit so that air-conditioned air can be blown out from the center vent opening. And

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the center vent opening is formed not on the steering member but on the air conditioning unit side which is assembled at the center of the steering member in the approximate vehicle width direction, the rigidity of the steering member does not decrease and no reinforcement measures are required. It becomes. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the weight of the steering member that is necessary for the reinforcement measure.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide an air-conditioning air blowing structure for a vehicle that does not require reinforcement measures for the center portion of the steering member in the vehicle width direction, and is an approximate vehicle width in a cylindrical steering member arranged along the vehicle width direction. By forming an inlet at the lower part of the central position in the direction, assembling the air conditioning unit from the lower side at the substantially central position in the vehicle width direction of the steering member, and connecting the outlet of the air conditioning unit and the inlet of the steering member Air conditioning air from the air conditioning unit can be introduced into the steering member, side vent openings are formed at both ends in the vehicle width direction of the steering member, and air conditioning air introduced into the steering member can be blown out, and the air conditioning unit By forming a center vent opening in the center vent air conditioned air can be blown out from the center vent opening, Represents was. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 and 2 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention. A steering member 1 is installed along the vehicle width direction inside an instrument panel (not shown) installed in front of the passenger compartment. The steering member 1 is made of magnesium or an aluminum light alloy (a reinforced fiber-containing resin may be used). Therefore, it is possible to reduce the weight while ensuring the necessary strength.

  The steering member 1 has a rectangular tube shape with rounded corners, a heat insulating material 2 is formed inside and outside, and a circular passage 3 is formed inside. An introduction port 4 is formed at the lower center of the steering member 1 in the vehicle width direction. Further, rear side vent openings 5 are respectively formed at both ends of the steering member 1 in the vehicle width direction. Both ends in the vehicle width direction of the steering member 1 are coupled to the vehicle body side portion in a closed state.

  An air conditioning unit 6 is assembled from the lower side at the center of the steering member 1 in the vehicle width direction. The air conditioning unit 6 has a compact structure in which a blower 8, a cooling heat exchanger 9, and a heating heat exchanger 10 are housed in a unit case 7. The air conditioning unit 6 has a discharge port 11 at the top, and this discharge port 11 is connected to the introduction port 4 of the steering member 1. The discharge port 11 is provided with an openable / closable shut door 12.

  A center vent opening 13 is formed at the upper rear of the air conditioning unit 6, and a center vent door 14 that can be opened and closed is provided in the center vent opening 13. A full cool opening 15 is formed between the cooling heat exchanger 9 and the heating heat exchanger 10, and a full cool door 16 that can be opened and closed is provided in the full cool opening 15. Further, a front differential opening 17 leading to a front differential (not shown) is formed in the upper portion of the cooling heat exchanger 9, and a front differential door 18 that can be opened and closed is provided in the front differential opening 17.

  The air blown from the blower 8 basically passes through both the cooling heat exchanger 9 and the heating heat exchanger 10. Then, the air flows from the rear side to the upper side of the heating heat exchanger 10 and is guided to the center vent opening 13, the discharge port 11, and the front differential opening 17.

  In the case of cooling, hot water is not allowed to flow through the heating heat exchanger 10. In the case of heating, no refrigerant is passed through the cooling heat exchanger 9. In the case of adjusting the temperature, the refrigerant is supplied to the cooling heat exchanger 9 and the hot water is supplied to the heating heat exchanger 10, but the temperature of the air passing through the hot water is adjusted by adjusting the temperature of the hot water. In particular, when performing rapid cooling, the full cool door 16 is opened to directly guide a part of the cold air that has passed through the cooling heat exchanger 9.

  When the air-conditioned air that has been air-conditioned is discharged from the side vent opening 5, the shut door 12 is opened and introduced into the steering member 1 from the discharge port 11 through the introduction port 4. Then, air-conditioning air is blown out from the side vent openings 5 at both ends of the steering member 1 in the vehicle width direction into the vehicle compartment through an outlet of an instrument panel (not shown).

  When air-conditioned air is discharged from the center vent opening 13, the shut door 12 is closed and the center vent door 14 is opened. Then, the air-conditioned air is directly blown out from the center vent opening 13 into the vehicle compartment through a blowout port of an instrument panel (not shown).

  According to this embodiment, as described above, since the center vent opening 13 is formed not on the steering member 1 but on the air conditioning unit 6 side, the rigidity of the steering member 1 is not lowered, and the steering member 1 is There is no need to take reinforcement measures. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the weight of the steering member 1 as much as necessary for reinforcing measures.

  In the above embodiment, the cooling heat exchanger 9 standing substantially vertically is taken as an example, but a polyhedral structure such as a V shape, a C shape, or a U shape may be used.

The perspective view which shows the steering member and air-conditioning unit which concern on one Embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which follows the arrow SA-SA line in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Steering member 4 Inlet 5 Side vent opening 6 Air conditioning unit 11 Outlet 13 Center vent opening

Claims (1)

An introduction port (4) is formed in a lower portion of a substantially center position in the vehicle width direction of the cylindrical steering member (1) arranged along the vehicle width direction, and the steering member (1) is positioned substantially in the center position in the vehicle width direction. By assembling the air conditioning unit (6) from the lower side and connecting the discharge port (11) of the air conditioning unit (6) and the introduction port (4) of the steering member (1), the air conditioning unit (6) Air conditioning air can be introduced into the steering member (1),
Side vent openings (5) are formed at both ends of the steering member (1) in the vehicle width direction so that air-conditioned air introduced into the steering member (1) can be blown out, and a center vent opening is provided in the air-conditioning unit (6). An air-conditioning air blowing structure for a vehicle, characterized in that (13) is formed and air-conditioning air can be blown out from the center vent opening (13).