JP2007261462A - Vehicular air-conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular air-conditioner capable of preventing air containing disagreeable odor from being blown from air outlets when the air-conditioner is started. <P>SOLUTION: When the temperature of a deodorization filter 16 is higher than a predetermined value K, a plurality of air outlets 26, 28, 30 are fully closed before the temperature of the deodorization filter 16 reaches the predetermined value K, and a ventilation mode of discharging air passing through an evaporator 20 outside a car from a discharge port 38 is executed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner.

  Various means have been proposed in the past for suppressing off-flavors contained in the air blown from the air outlet when the vehicle air conditioner is started. For example, the air outlet is closed for a certain period of time with an opening / closing member to block the blowing into the vehicle, and the air containing a bad odor is exhausted from the discharge port for discharging the waste water generated by the evaporator to the outside of the vehicle. Yes (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, in this configuration, by setting the time, the air containing a strange odor is exhausted. Therefore, when the air is blown into the vehicle, it may not necessarily be said that the odor is completely eliminated.

Off-flavor occurs when the water vapor in the supplied air is cooled by the evaporator and begins to condense (when it becomes condensed water), and conversely, the condensed water adhering to the evaporator surface is turned off by A / C. However, when the deodorizing filter is disposed upstream of the evaporator, a bad odor may be re-released from the deodorizing filter. Particularly, in the case of a deodorizing filter, when the temperature in the vicinity of the deodorizing filter increases, there is a problem that the amount of re-release of the off-flavor (odor component) increases. As described above, there is still room for improvement in the method for preventing a strange odor from the air outlet at the start of the vehicle air conditioner.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-82607

  In view of the above-described facts, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle air conditioner that can prevent air containing a bad odor from being blown from an air outlet when air conditioning is started.

  In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a duct for introducing outside air into the vehicle or circulating the inside air in the vehicle, and an air supply direction of the duct. A deodorizing filter provided on the upstream side, an evaporator provided on the downstream side in the air feeding direction with respect to the deodorizing filter, and a plurality of outlets provided on the downstream side in the air feeding direction with respect to the evaporator and communicating with the interior of the vehicle And, when the temperature of the deodorizing filter provided at the downstream side of the evaporator in the air feeding direction and communicating with the outside of the vehicle and the deodorizing filter is higher than a predetermined value, until the temperature of the deodorizing filter becomes a predetermined value or less, And a control device that performs a ventilation mode in which a plurality of air outlets are fully closed and air that has passed through the evaporator is exhausted from the exhaust port to the outside of the vehicle. That.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent air containing a bad odor from being blown from the air outlet when air conditioning is started. In other words, conventionally, the ventilation mode is set for a certain period of time to prevent off-flavors. However, in the present invention, when the temperature of the deodorizing filter is higher than a predetermined value (when off-flavor occurs), the temperature of the deodorizing filter is Since the ventilation mode is executed until the predetermined value or less (until the off-flavor disappears), there is no possibility that off-flavor leaks into the vehicle. The temperature of the deodorizing filter may be higher or lower than the temperature of the evaporator, so even if the ventilation mode is controlled based on the temperature of the evaporator, the odor generated by the deodorizing filter can be prevented. Can not. By controlling the ventilation mode based on the temperature of the deodorizing filter, it is possible to prevent the off-flavor generated in the deodorizing filter and the evaporator from leaking into the vehicle.

  Further, the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2 is configured to detect the temperature of the deodorizing filter by a temperature sensor used for temperature control of the air conditioner in the vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1. It is characterized by.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, since it is not necessary to provide a separate temperature sensor, an increase in manufacturing cost can be prevented.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle air conditioner according to the first or second aspect, further comprising an opening / closing member that opens and closes the discharge port.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, even if the discharge port is enlarged, it is possible to prevent the supplied air from flowing out to the discharge port in the normal mode in which cool air or warm air is blown from each air outlet. That is, it is possible to prevent a supply loss of air blown from each outlet. Further, since the discharge port can be enlarged, air containing a bad odor can be easily exhausted, and cleaning of the duct can be easily performed. In other words, if the outlet is small, the cleaning agent may remain in the duct, so that only a small amount of the cleaning agent can be used. However, if the outlet is large, the cleaning agent does not remain in the duct. The cleaning agent can be used in a large amount.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle air conditioner that can prevent air containing a bad odor from being blown from the air outlet when air conditioning is started.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. First, the first embodiment will be described. 1 and 2 are explanatory views showing the structure of a vehicle air conditioner 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the air conditioner 10 includes a duct 12 as an air supply path.

  On the upstream side of the duct 12 in the air supply direction, an outside / inside air introduction damper 14 that is configured to be rotatable about a support shaft 14A and performs switching for introducing outside air into the vehicle or circulating the inside air inside the vehicle is disposed. It is installed. A deodorizing filter 16 is disposed downstream of the air feeding direction, and further, air introduced by the outside air introduction damper 14 is sent downstream of the deodorizing filter 16 on the downstream side of the air feeding direction. A fan 18 for feeding and a blower motor 19 for rotating the fan 18 are disposed.

  Further, in the duct 12, an evaporator 20 is disposed on the downstream side of the fan 18 in the air feeding direction so as to block the passage of the duct 12. The evaporator 20 is a heat exchanger that cools the air supplied by the fan 18. Furthermore, a heater core 22 is disposed in the duct 12 on the downstream side in the air feeding direction from the evaporator 20. The heater core 22 is a heat exchanger that heats air that is supplied by the fan 18 and cooled by passing through the evaporator 20.

  In the vicinity of the heater core 22, an air mix damper 24 that feeds air to the heater core 22 or prevents air from being fed is disposed so as to be rotatable around a support shaft 24A. Yes. That is, in the open state where the air mix damper 24 is separated from the heater core 22 (see FIG. 1), the supply of air to the heater core 22 is allowed and the heated air is supplied downstream. Yes.

  On the other hand, in the closed state where the air mix damper 24 is close to the heater core 22 (see FIG. 2), the supply of air to the heater core 22 is blocked and the air cooled by the evaporator 20 is supplied to the downstream side as it is. It is like that. Thereby, switching between heating and cooling in the vehicle can be performed. In addition, by adjusting the rotation angle of the air mix damper 24, the amount of air supplied to the heater core 22 and the amount of air not supplied to the heater core 22 can be adjusted. The temperature can be adjusted.

  A defroster outlet 26, a face outlet 28, and a foot outlet 30 for blowing warm air or cold air into the vehicle (communicating with the vehicle) are provided downstream of the heater core 22 and the air mix damper 24 in the air supply direction. The air outlets 26, 28, and 30 are provided with dampers 32, 34, and 36 that rotate around the support shafts 32A, 34A, and 36A to open and close the air outlets 26, 28, and 30, respectively. It has been.

  Further, between the evaporator 20 and the heater core 22, a drain port (not shown) for discharging the waste water generated by the evaporator 20 to the outside of the vehicle is connected (communication outside the vehicle) is formed. . Furthermore, an ECU (electronic control unit) 40 is electrically connected to each of the dampers 14, 24, 32, 34, 36, and each of the dampers 14, 24, 32, 34, 36 is in accordance with a command from the ECU 40. It is designed to rotate independently.

  Next, the operation of the air conditioner 10 configured as described above will be described. First, when the air conditioner 10 is started (at the time of initial startup), the temperature of the deodorizing filter 16 (including the temperature around the deodorizing filter 16 and the temperature of the air introduced into the deodorizing filter 16) is a predetermined value K (FIG. 3 ( If it is higher than (see A), it can be considered that a lot of off-flavors (odor components) are re-released from the deodorizing filter 16, so the ECU 40 executes the ventilation mode.

  That is, for example, even if the driver performs an operation of blowing air from the face air outlet 28, the defroster air outlet 26, the face air outlet 28, and the foot air outlet 30 are all connected by the dampers 32, 34, and 36 for a predetermined time. Blocked. In the duct 12, only the discharge port 38 is open, and the air fed into the duct 12 is discharged from the discharge port 38 to the outside of the vehicle through the drain. Therefore, immediately after the air conditioner 10 is started, the odor re-released from the deodorizing filter 16 or the odor released from the evaporator 20 (when condensed water adhering to the surface of the evaporator 20 is re-evaporated by turning off A / C). When the vehicle is parked (when the engine is off), it also exhausts to the outside of the vehicle and does not leak into the vehicle.

  In addition, the predetermined time said here is time until the temperature of the deodorizing filter 16 becomes the predetermined value K or less. Therefore, it is not a fixed time as in the prior art, but a time that varies depending on the temperature of the deodorizing filter 16 at that time. As shown in FIG. 3A, in the deodorizing filter 16, when the temperature rises, the amount of re-release of the off-flavor (odor component) increases, and when the temperature decreases, the amount of the re-release of off-flavor (odor component) decreases. . Therefore, the threshold S of the amount of re-release of the off-flavor (odor component) is determined, and the temperature of the deodorizing filter 16 is controlled so as to be equal to or less than the threshold S. That is, the ventilation mode is performed until the temperature of the deodorizing filter 16 becomes a predetermined value K or less, so that the deodorizing filter 16 is air-cooled. Note that the threshold value S mentioned here is a threshold value indicating whether or not a human feels a strange odor.

  Usually, the temperature of the deodorizing filter 16 may be higher or lower than the temperature of the evaporator 20, so even if the ventilation mode is controlled based on the temperature of the evaporator 20, the deodorizing filter 16 generates the temperature. Unable to prevent off-flavors. By controlling the ventilation mode based on the temperature of the deodorizing filter 16, it is possible to prevent the off-flavor generated in the deodorizing filter 16 and the evaporator 20 from leaking into the vehicle.

  Thus, after the exhaust of the off-flavor to the outside of the vehicle (exhaust) immediately after the start of the air conditioner 10 is executed until the temperature of the deodorizing filter 16 becomes a predetermined value K or less (predetermined time), the normal mode is executed by the ECU 40, As operated by the driver, for example, cooled air or warmed air is blown from the face air outlet 28. That is, the damper 34 rotates to open the face outlet 28, so that cool air or warm air without a bad odor is blown into the vehicle.

  Further, the temperature of the deodorizing filter 16 is detected by a temperature sensor (not shown) used for temperature control (auto A / C) in the vehicle. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a separate temperature sensor, and an increase in manufacturing cost can be prevented. By detecting the temperature of the deodorizing filter 16 with this temperature sensor, it is determined whether or not the temperature is equal to or lower than the threshold value S (predetermined value K), and until the temperature becomes equal to or lower than the threshold value S (predetermined value K). Run ventilation mode.

  In the case of a vehicle type (manual A / C) that is not equipped with auto A / C, it is necessary to provide a separate temperature sensor (not shown) for detecting the temperature of the deodorizing filter 16, but this manual A / C In this case, as shown in FIG. 3B, control may be performed by a timer (time). That is, it may be controlled to perform the ventilation mode for a predetermined time T or more as in the conventional case.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described. 4 and 5 are explanatory views showing the structure of the vehicle air conditioner according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the second embodiment, the inner diameter of the discharge port 38 is larger than the inner diameter of the discharge port 38 of the first embodiment, and a damper 42 that opens and closes the discharge port 38 is provided. The only difference from the first embodiment is that the pivotal shaft 42A is pivotally arranged and electrically connected to the ECU 40.

  As in the second embodiment, when the inner diameter of the discharge port 38 is increased, the off-flavor can be discharged out of the vehicle more quickly (easily). However, when the inner diameter of the discharge port 38 is increased, in the normal mode in which the air is blown into the vehicle, there is a loss in the supply of air that is blown out from the air outlets 26, 28, and 30. Therefore, a damper 42 that can open and close the discharge port 38 is provided. When such a damper 42 is provided, even if the inner diameter of the discharge port 38 is enlarged, the supplied air can be prevented from flowing out to the discharge port 38 in the normal mode, and air is blown from each of the outlets 26, 28, 30. Air loss can be prevented.

  Further, since the inner diameter of the discharge port 38 can be increased in this way, cleaning of the duct 12, particularly cleaning of the evaporator 20 can be facilitated. That is, if the inner diameter of the discharge port 38 is small, the cleaning agent may remain in the duct 12, so that only a small amount of the cleaning agent can be used. However, if the inner diameter of the discharge port 38 can be increased, the cleaning agent is removed from the duct 12. The cleaning agent can be used in a large amount because it does not remain inside.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, air containing a strange odor immediately after the start of the air conditioner 10 can be exhausted from the exhaust port 38 to the outside of the vehicle, and can be prevented from being blown into the vehicle. Further, since the exhaust time is not a fixed time but a time until the temperature becomes equal to or lower than the temperature (predetermined value K) at which the off-flavor disappears, the off-flavor can be surely exhausted outside the vehicle. Moreover, since the drain for drainage generated in the evaporator 20 is used and exhausted using the existing control means such as a temperature sensor, the ventilation mode can be executed easily and inexpensively. Therefore, there is no possibility that the manufacturing cost increases.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, when the air conditioner 10 is started (at the time of initial startup), the moist air remaining in the duct 12 can be discharged out of the vehicle together with air containing a strange odor. Normally, when the humid air remaining in the duct 12 is blown into the vehicle, the window is clouded. Therefore, conventionally, the evaporator 20 is rapidly cooled immediately after starting to control the moist air to freeze. There was a thing. However, as described above, the off-flavor is generated when the water vapor in the supplied air is cooled by the evaporator 20 and starts to condense (when it becomes condensed water). .

  In the present embodiment, when the air conditioner 10 is started (at the time of initial startup), the moist air remaining in the duct 12 can also be discharged outside the vehicle, so that it is not necessary to freeze the evaporator 20. Therefore, the generation of a strange odor in the vehicle can be suppressed. The odor component released from the evaporator 20 is a water-soluble component, but the odor component re-released from the deodorizing filter 16 includes a water-soluble component and a water-insoluble component. Even if the surface is wet, there is no capture effect. However, in this embodiment, since all odor components including water-insoluble components can be exhausted outside the vehicle, there is no possibility that a strange odor leaks into the vehicle.

Explanatory drawing which shows the structure at the time of the heating of the air conditioner of 1st Embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the structure at the time of air conditioning of the air conditioner of 1st Embodiment (A) A graph showing the relationship between the re-release amount from the deodorizing filter and the temperature, (B) A graph showing the relationship between the re-release amount from the deodorizing filter and time. Explanatory drawing which shows the structure at the time of the heating of the air conditioner of 2nd Embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the structure at the time of air conditioning of the air conditioner of 2nd Embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Air conditioner 12 Duct 14 Outside air introduction damper 16 Deodorizing filter 18 Fan 20 Evaporator 22 Heater core 24 Air mix damper 26 Defroster outlet 28 Face outlet 30 Foot outlet 32-36 Damper 38 Exhaust 40 ECU (control device)
42 Damper

Claims (3)

A duct for introducing outside air into the vehicle or circulating the inside air in the vehicle;
A deodorizing filter provided upstream of the duct in the air feeding direction;
An evaporator provided downstream of the deodorizing filter in the air feeding direction;
A plurality of air outlets provided downstream of the evaporator in the air feeding direction and communicating with the interior of the vehicle;
An exhaust port provided on the downstream side in the air feeding direction from the evaporator, and communicating with the outside of the vehicle;
When the temperature of the deodorizing filter is higher than a predetermined value, the plurality of air outlets are fully closed until the temperature of the deodorizing filter becomes a predetermined value or less, and the air that has passed through the evaporator is exhausted from the exhaust port to the outside of the vehicle. A control device for performing the ventilation mode;
A vehicle air conditioner comprising:   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the deodorizing filter is detected by a temperature sensor used for temperature control of the air conditioning.   The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising an opening / closing member that opens and closes the discharge port.

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