JP2008143300A - Vehicular air-conditioning unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular air-conditioning unit capable of reducing any wasteful space in an air-conditioning case or the number of components for closing an opening part for attaching/detaching heat exchangers, and commonizing the air-conditioning case for a very cold area and for a very hot area when mounting only any one of a heat exchanger for cooling and a heat exchanger for heating to be used for the very cold area and for the very hot area. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicular air-conditioning unit prevent an installation space ensured for one of a heat exchanger 40 for heating or a heat exchanger 33 for cooling from being used as a wasteful space even when the other of the heat exchanger 33 for cooling and the heat exchanger 40 for heating by interchangeably installing the heat exchanger 33 for cooling and the heat exchanger 40 for heating in the same installation space S demarcated in an air flow passage 16 of the casing 14. Further, the casing 14 can be commonized and the number of closing members can be reduced by commonizing an opening part 18 for attaching/detaching the heat exchanger 33 for cooling and the heat exchanger 40 for heating to/from the installation space S. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioning unit for a vehicle that is suitable for use in extremely cold regions and extremely hot regions.

  For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the vehicle air conditioning unit defines an air flow path in the air conditioning case and cools heat exchange for cooling the air introduced from the inside / outside air introduction port into the air flow path. A heater (for example, an evaporator) and a heating heat exchanger (for example, a heater core) for reheating the air cooled by the cooling heat exchanger, the cooling heat exchanger is a heating heat exchanger. The air mix door is arranged so that it is located on the upstream side and the air cooled by the cooling heat exchanger is sent to the heating heat exchanger side or bypassed appropriately. It is a normal structure to interpose between the heat exchanger and the heat exchanger for heating.

On the other hand, in extremely hot regions that are relatively hot all year round, there is little demand for blowing hot air from the air outlet into the passenger compartment. As described above, a vehicle air conditioner that can take a configuration in which a heater core is not disposed on an air flow path in an air conditioning case has been developed. Note that in extremely cold regions that are relatively cold all year round, there is little demand for blowing cold air from the air outlet into the passenger compartment, so the evaporator is not placed on the air flow path in the air conditioning case to accommodate this extreme cold region. It is possible to consider the configuration as well.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-54242 JP-A-2005-306302

  However, when the heater core is arranged or omitted on the downstream side of the evaporator as in the vehicle air conditioner disclosed in Patent Document 2, it can be used for extreme hot and cold regions. When the heater core is omitted, it is necessary to close the opening of the air conditioning case for attaching / detaching the heater core with a specific part such as a lid, and the area where the heater core is mounted is useless after the heater core is removed. There is a problem that it becomes a large space. These inconveniences also occur in the case of a structure in which an evaporator is selected to be disposed or omitted so as to be able to cope with extremely cold regions and extremely hot regions.

  Furthermore, from the standpoint of reducing manufacturing costs for the entire vehicle air conditioning unit, we would like to share the air conditioning case used by both the vehicle air conditioning unit for extremely cold regions and the vehicle air conditioning unit for extremely hot regions. There is a request.

  Therefore, even when only one of the heat exchanger for cooling and the heat exchanger for heating is mounted for use in the extremely cold region and the extremely hot region, the present invention is a useless space in the air conditioning case, The air conditioning unit for vehicles that can reduce the number of parts used to close the opening for attaching and detaching these heat exchangers, and can be used for both extremely cold and extremely hot areas is provided. The purpose is to do.

  The vehicle air conditioning unit according to the present invention has an air flow path through which air taken in by a blower flows in an air conditioning case, and communicates with the outside through an opening formed in the air conditioning case. An installation space is provided, and a cooling heat exchanger and a heating heat exchanger are selectively installed in the installation space through the opening (claim 1).

  According to such a configuration, since the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger are installed in the same installation space defined in the air flow path of the air conditioning case, for example, the cooling heat exchange The installation space reserved for the heat exchanger for heating when only the unit is installed does not become a useless space. Moreover, the opening for installing the heat exchanger for cooling and the heat exchanger for heating in the installation space is the same, and either one of the heat exchanger for cooling or the heat exchanger for heating should be installed Since the opening is closed by this heat exchanger, for example, when only the cooling heat exchanger is installed, it is not necessary to close the opening for the heating heat exchanger with the closing member. Furthermore, since the installation space for the heat exchanger for cooling and the heat exchanger for heating and the opening for installation in this installation space can be made common, the air conditioning case can be used for extreme hot and cold regions. Can be shared.

  The vehicle air conditioning unit according to the present invention is characterized in that a drainage hole for discharging condensed water generated when a cooling heat exchanger is installed is formed in the air conditioning case (claim). Item 2). According to such a configuration, even when a cooling heat exchanger is provided in the installation space for use in extreme hot areas, the condensed water generated in the cooling heat exchanger is appropriately discharged out of the air conditioning case from the drain hole. Is possible.

  In addition, the vehicle air conditioning unit according to the present invention has a condensed water holding portion that enables temporary holding of condensed water on the downstream side of the installation space, and the drainage hole is included in the condensed water holding portion. It is characterized by being arranged at a site where most of the condensed water gathers (claim 3). According to such a configuration, even when a cooling heat exchanger is arranged in the installation space for use in extreme hot areas, the condensed water generated in the cooling heat exchanger is temporarily held in the condensed water holding unit. After that, it can be appropriately discharged out of the air conditioning case through the drain hole.

  Furthermore, the air flow path of the vehicle air conditioning unit according to the present invention is branched from the first flow path and the first flow path extending upward in the vehicle vertical direction on the downstream side of the air from the condensed water holding portion. The second flow path is formed, and a foot outlet is provided in the second flow path (Claim 4). According to such a configuration, when the air conditioning unit is used for an extremely hot region, the foot outlet is downstream of the air from the condensate holding unit, so that the condensate is outside at the condensate holding unit. Therefore, the condensed water is not sent out together with the air from the foot outlet.

  Furthermore, the air flow path of the vehicle air conditioning unit according to the present invention includes a first flow path extending upward in the vehicle up-down direction on the downstream side of the air from the condensed water holding portion, and the first flow path. A branched second flow path is formed, and the first flow path is selectively provided with a defrost duct connected to the defrost outlet and a vent duct connected to the vent outlet on the most downstream side. It is characterized by being joined (Claim 5). According to such a configuration, by connecting the defrost duct connected to the defrost outlet to the most downstream side of the first flow path, the air conditioning unit can be used for extremely cold regions, and the first By joining the vent duct connected to the vent outlet on the most downstream side of the flow path, the air conditioning unit can be used for extremely hot areas, so the specification can be easily changed.

  The vehicle air-conditioning unit according to the present invention is characterized in that, when a heating heat exchanger is installed in the installation space, the drain hole is closed by a closing means (Claim 6). According to such a configuration, when the heating heat exchanger is installed in the installation space in order to use the air conditioning unit for an extremely cold region, air does not escape from the air conditioning case through the drain hole.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger are installed interchangeably in the same installation space defined in the air flow path of the air conditioning case. Even when only one of the heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger is installed, the installation space reserved for the other heating heat exchanger or cooling heat exchanger is prevented from being generated as a useless space. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the air conditioning unit, particularly in the vehicle front-rear direction.

  Moreover, according to this invention, the opening part for attaching and detaching the heat exchanger for cooling and the heat exchanger for heating with respect to the installation space is common, and the heat exchanger for cooling and the heat exchanger for heating are If one side is stored from the opening, the opening is closed by the side of the heat exchanger. Therefore, when only one of the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger is stored in the air conditioning case, Since it is not necessary to close the other detachable opening of the heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger with the closing member, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the air conditioning unit.

  Further, according to the present invention, the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchanger can be installed in the same installation space of the air conditioning case, and the cooling heat exchanger and the heating heat exchange are installed in the installation space. Since the opening for attaching and detaching the air conditioner is also common, it is possible to share the air conditioning case of the air conditioning unit for extremely cold regions and the air conditioning case of the air conditioning unit for extremely hot regions. It is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost.

  Even when a cooling heat exchanger is used for extreme heat, drainage holes for discharging condensed water generated in the cooling heat exchanger are formed. It is possible to discharge. Moreover, since it has the condensed water holding | maintenance part which enabled the temporary holding | maintenance of condensed water and has the drainage hole in the site | part where condensed water gathers most, condensed water can be discharged | emitted smoothly. Further, since the foot outlet is provided in the second channel branched from the first channel, the condensed water is not sent together with the air from the foot outlet.

  Moreover, since the defrost duct and the vent duct can be selectively joined on the most downstream side of the first flow path, the specification can be easily changed.

  Furthermore, since the drain hole has a blocking means, even when a heat exchanger for heating is installed, air does not escape from the drain hole to the outside of the air conditioning case. The air conditioning case can be shared.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  The air-conditioning unit 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is a vertically integrated full-integrated unit used as, for example, a vehicle air-conditioning unit, and for extremely hot or cold regions. And the air conditioning unit main body 3 basically. Of course, the blower 17 to be described later may be a semi-integrated type housed in a separate unit. The installation allowable space 4 for storing and installing the air conditioning unit 1 includes a fire wall 7 that partitions the engine room 5 and the vehicle compartment 6, a floor panel 8 connected to the fire wall 7, and an instrument panel 9. And, it has a structure extending along the vehicle width direction.

  The inside / outside air switching box 2 is common for extreme hot or cold regions, and as shown in FIG. 2, the outside air inlet 12 facing the engine room 5 side and the vehicle compartment 6 side are suitable. An inside / outside air switching door (not shown) for appropriately selecting the inside / outside air introduction ports 12 and 13 is accommodated in the casing 11. .

  The air-conditioning unit main body 3 also has a common configuration for most of the hot and cold regions, and the configuration will be described mainly with reference to FIG. In the casing 14, an air flow path 16 is defined in which air selectively introduced from the inside / outside air introduction ports 12 and 13 is sent from the opening 15. A blower 17 is accommodated on the most upstream side of the air flow path 16. The blower 17 is composed of, for example, a sirocco fan 17A and a motor 17B, and is disposed in a state of being laid down substantially along the vehicle left-right direction, but is not particularly limited to this configuration.

  And the installation space S is ensured in the downstream of the air which becomes the downward direction of the vehicle up-down direction of the air blower 17 among the air flow paths 16, and this installation space S becomes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped volume. At the same time, the opening 18 formed in the casing 14 communicates with the outside of the casing 14. In this embodiment, an air filter 19 for removing dust and the like in the air introduced from the inside / outside air introduction ports 12 and 13 is disposed in the upstream direction of the air from the installation space S.

  The bottom surface of the casing 14 surrounding the installation space S has an inclined surface that gradually falls from the upstream side to the downstream side of the air, and condensed water described later flows toward the lowest side of the inclined surface. The condensed water holding part 21 that can be temporarily stored is formed, and further, the drainage hole 22 is disposed in a portion of the condensed water holding part 21 where the condensed water is most collected.

  In this embodiment, the air flow path 16 is branched into two flow paths 23 and 24 on the downstream side of the air from the condensed water holding unit 21. Among these, the 1st flow path 23 is extended toward the upper direction of a vehicle up-down direction from the relatively upper position in the installation space S, and the opening part 25 is formed in the casing 14 in the most downstream side. In addition, the flange portion 26 extends radially outward from the opening 25 and can be joined to any of ducts 38 and 44 described later. The second flow path 24 extends downward from the position facing the installation space S in the vehicle vertical direction, and the most downstream side has foot outlets 27 and 28 open to both sides in the vehicle horizontal direction. ing.

  A mode door 29 is arranged at a branching portion between the first flow path 23 and the second flow path 24, and the flow rate of air to the second flow path 24 is in a range from fully closed to open. I try to adjust it. In this embodiment, the mode door 29 is a butterfly type composed of a rotary shaft 30 and two plate-like door bodies 31, 31 extending from the rotary shaft 30. It may be a flag type door, a rotary type door, or a slide type door composed of a rotating shaft and one plate-like door body.

  By setting it as the above structures, this air-conditioning unit 1 can be comprised as an object for extremely hot regions, and for extremely cold regions as follows.

  That is, in order to make the air conditioning unit 1 for extremely hot regions, as shown in FIG. 2, a cooling heat exchanger 33 such as an evaporator is accommodated in the installation space S of the air flow path 16 from the opening 18, The cooling heat exchanger 33 and the equipment constituting the refrigeration cycle such as the expansion bubble 34 are joined via pipes 35 and 36. In addition, the flange portion 39 of the vent duct 38 that is in communication with the vent outlet 37 that is open to the instrument panel is joined to the flange portion 26 of the casing 14. The opening 25 of the flow path 23 and the vent outlet 37 are communicated with each other through a vent duct 38. The drain hole 22 is connected to a drain hose or the like (not shown).

  Thus, the air introduced from the inside / outside air inlets 12 and 13 of the blower 17 is cooled by the cooling heat exchanger 33 and then blown out from the vent outlet 37 and the foot outlets 27 and 28. In addition, two systems of the vent mode and the foot mode are formed, and the amount of air blown out from the foot outlets 27 and 28 is controlled by adjusting the opening degree of the mode door 29. The condensed water generated in the cooling heat exchanger 33 is temporarily held by the condensed water holding unit 21 and then discharged from the drain hole 22 to the outside of the vehicle via a drain hose (not shown).

In order to make the air conditioning unit 1 for a very cold region, as shown in FIG. 3, a heating heat exchanger 40 such as a heater core is accommodated in the installation space S of the air flow path 16 from the opening 18. The pipes 41 and 42 are drawn from the heating heat exchanger 40 and joined to an engine (not shown) to constitute a hot water cycle using exhaust heat of the engine. However, when the heating heat exchanger 40 is an electric type, it is connected to a power source by wiring. Further, the flange portion 45 of the defrost duct 44 communicated with the defrost outlet 43, one of which is opened in the instrument panel, is joined to the flange portion 26 of the casing 14, etc. The opening 25 of the flow path 23 and the defrost outlet 43 are communicated via a defrost duct 44. The drain hole 22 is closed by closing means such as a cap 46.

  Thereby, the air introduced from the inside / outside air introduction ports 12 and 13 of the blower 17 is heated by the heating heat exchanger 40 and then blown out from the defrost outlet 43 and the foot outlets 27 and 28. In addition, two systems of the defrost mode and the foot mode are formed, and the amount of air blown out from the foot outlets 27 and 28 is controlled by adjusting the opening degree of the mode door 29. And it can prevent that warm air escapes from the drain hole 22 outside the vehicle.

  And according to this invention, since the heat exchanger 33 for cooling and the heat exchanger 40 for heating are installed in the same installation space S, only one of the heat exchanger 33 for cooling or the heat exchanger 40 for heating is used. Even when installing in the casing 14, the installation space for the other heating heat exchanger 40 or the cooling heat exchanger 33 does not remain as a surplus space, and such a surplus space can be reduced. As a result, it is possible to reduce the size of the air conditioning unit 1 for extreme hot or cold regions.

  The opening 18 for attaching / detaching the heating heat exchanger 40 to / from the installation space S also accommodates the cooling heat exchanger 33 or the heating heat exchanger 40 from the opening 18. Therefore, even when only one of the cooling heat exchanger 33 or the heating heat exchanger 40 is installed in the casing 14, the cooling heat exchanger 33 or the heating heat exchanger 40 is not stored. It is not necessary to close the opening for the side heating heat exchanger 40 and the opening for the cooling heat exchanger 33 with a closing member.

  Furthermore, since the casing 14 of the air conditioning unit main body 3 can be shared for use in extremely hot and cold regions, the manufacturing cost of the entire air conditioning unit 1 can be reduced. Further, since the number of parts can be relatively reduced, such as the need for air mix doors, vent mode switching doors, and defrost mode switching doors, the cost of the air conditioning unit 1 can be reduced. Moreover, as the number of parts of the air conditioning unit 1 for extremely hot and cold regions is reduced and the space is reduced, the lower part of the instrument panel in the center of the vehicle can be provided as a space that can be used by the passenger. .

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a neutral state in which neither a cooling heat exchanger nor a heating heat exchanger is installed in an installation space in the air conditioning unit according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration when the above air conditioning unit is used for extreme heat. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration when the above air conditioning unit is used for a cold region.

Explanation of symbols

1 Air conditioning unit (air conditioning unit for vehicles)
3 Air conditioning unit body 14 Air conditioning unit body casing (air conditioning case)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Opening part 16 Air flow path 17 Blower 18 Opening part 19 Air filter 22 Drain hole 23 1st flow path 24 2nd flow path 25 Opening part 26 Flange part 27 Outlet for foot 28 Outlet for foot 29 Mode door 33 Cooling heat exchanger 37 Vent outlet 38 Vent duct 40 Heating heat exchanger 43 Defrost outlet 44 Defrost duct 45 Flange 46 Cap

Claims (6)

The air conditioning case has an air flow path through which the air taken in by the blower flows, and an installation space communicating with the outside is provided on the air flow path by an opening formed in the air conditioning case. The vehicle air conditioning unit is characterized in that a cooling heat exchanger and a heating heat exchanger are selectively installed through the opening. 2. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioning case is formed with a drain hole for discharging condensed water generated when a cooling heat exchanger is installed. 3. On the downstream side of the installation space, there is a condensed water holding portion that can temporarily hold condensed water, and the drainage hole is disposed at a portion of the condensed water holding portion where condensed water is most collected. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 2. The air flow path forms a first flow path extending upward in the vehicle vertical direction and a second flow path branched from the first flow path on the downstream side of the condensed water holding portion. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 3, wherein a foot outlet is provided in the second flow path. The air flow path forms a first flow path extending upward in the vehicle vertical direction and a second flow path branched from the first flow path on the downstream side of the condensed water holding portion. 4. The defrosting duct connected to the defrosting outlet and the venting duct connected to the venting outlet are selectively joined at the most downstream side of the first flow path. Or the vehicle air-conditioning unit of 4. 6. The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 2, wherein when the heat exchanger for heating is installed in the installation space, the drain hole is closed by a closing means.

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