JP2009113542A - Outside air introducing structure of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dispose, in a blower duct introducing outside air, a gutter for leading water drops to the outside of the automobile for the purpose of reducing the amount of water drops infiltrating into the air conditioning unit in the rain or in a car wash. <P>SOLUTION: The blower duct 4 is composed of an upper wall 41, a lower wall 42, and two side walls 43 and 44. The cowl louver has an outside air inlet port 45 formed on its louver opening side, and has an outside air outlet port 46 communicating with the air conditioning unit formed on its air conditioning unit side. On an inner wall surface 41a of the upper wall, first gutters 5A and 5B are formed. On inner walls 43a and 44a of the two side walls, a second gutters 5C and 5D are formed, respectively. On an inner wall surface 42b of the lower wall, at the end of the outside air outlet port, a groove-shaped third gutter 5E is formed to communicate with the second gutters formed on the inner walls of the two side walls. On the outside air outlet port side of the lower wall, there is formed a water drain port 47 communicating with the third gutter. The first, second and third gutters are all shaped in a groove open to the vehicle front side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an outside air introduction structure of an automobile, and more particularly to a drainage structure of a blower duct that introduces outside air taken from a looper opening of a cowl louver into an air conditioning unit.

  In general, as shown in FIG. 3, an outside air introduction structure of an automobile is configured by a cowl louver (not shown) disposed on the front lower side of a windshield and having a louver opening formed thereon, and a cowl louver fixed to the upper portion to constitute a skeleton member. An air-conditioning unit 200 incorporating a cowl body 100, a blower fan 201 for supplying outside air taken from a looper opening of the cowl louver into the vehicle interior, and an outside air inlet 101 and an air-conditioning unit 200 formed in the cowl body 100. In order to communicate with the outside air suction port 202 formed in the blower duct 300, the blower duct 300 is inclined downward from the outside air introduction port 101 side of the cowl body 100 toward the rear of the vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .

  In the outside air introduction structure configured as described above, when the blower fan 201 is rotated, outside air is sucked into the air conditioning unit 200 from the louver opening of the cowl louver via the outside air inlet 101 of the cowl main body 100 and the blower duct 300. Passes through a dust collection filter 202 provided in the air conditioning unit 200, and further passes through a heater core and an evaporator (not shown) provided in the air conditioning unit 200, thereby supplying warm air and cold air to the vehicle interior. be able to.

  When a car having such an outside air introduction structure is washed when it is cold, the car may be washed in a state where a heater is operated for the purpose of warming up. In this case, most of the water droplets that have entered the cowl body from the louver opening of the cowl louver can be discharged out of the vehicle from the drain port 102 provided in the lower part of the cowl body 100.

  Further, among the water droplets that have entered the cowl main body from the louver opening of the cowl louver, some of the water droplets that are scattered as droplets fall into the air conditioning unit 200 due to the suction force of the blower fan 201. It can be discharged by a drain hose 102 provided in the lower part of the head.

JP 2000-264252 A

  However, in the air box structure of Patent Document 1 described in the background art, the amount of water droplets that enter the cowl body and fall into the air-conditioning unit 200 as a droplet splashes into the air conditioner unit 200 reduces the drainage capacity of the drainage hose 102. If it exceeds, water may drip into the passenger compartment from the joint of the air conditioning unit 200 or the like as shown in FIG. If the amount of water in the air conditioning unit 200 is large, as shown in FIG. 4, the infiltrated water gets over the waterproof wall 200a for the blower motor 201a of the blower fan 201 formed in the air conditioning unit 200, and the blower motor 201a is installed. There is a possibility that the blower motor 201a may be damaged by entering the motor core 203 to be housed.

  It should be noted that waterproof walls are set in the inundation path in the cowl main body 100 and the surrounding interior, or the opening area of the blower duct 300 is increased to reduce the flow rate of sucking outside air to prevent water droplets from entering the air conditioning unit 200. It is possible. However, if water droplets enter the blower duct 300, it is difficult to prevent the water droplets from entering the air conditioning unit 200. Further, when the opening area of the blower duct 300 is increased, the amount of hot air from the engine is increased, so it is very difficult to satisfy both the prevention of water droplets entering the air conditioning unit 200 and the air conditioning performance of the air conditioning unit 200. Become.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and in order to reduce the intrusion of water droplets into the air conditioning unit during rainy weather or car wash, the water droplets are guided outside the vehicle to a blower duct for introducing outside air. An object of the present invention is to provide an outside air introduction structure for an automobile provided with a bag for the purpose.

  The outside air introduction structure for a motor vehicle according to the present invention that achieves the above-described object is directed to lowering the outside air taken in from the looper opening of a cowl louver disposed on the front lower side of the windshield from the looper opening toward the rear of the vehicle. In an outside air introduction structure of an automobile introduced into an air conditioning unit in which a blower fan is incorporated by a blower duct inclined to the outside, the blower duct is formed by an upper wall, a lower wall, and two lateral walls, and the outside air suction side to the looper opening portion side An outside air discharge port communicating with the air conditioning unit is formed on each of the opening and the air conditioning unit, and the inner wall surface of the upper wall has a branch point between the outside air suction port and the outside air discharge port, and from the branch point toward the rear of the vehicle A groove-shaped first ridge that branches into a V-shape and extends to the two lateral walls is formed, and the inner wall of each of the two lateral walls is connected to the first ridge that is branched into a V-shape. A groove-shaped second ridge extending backward to the outside air outlet end of the lower wall is formed, and the inner wall surface at the outside air outlet end of the lower wall is formed on each inner wall surface of the two lateral walls. A groove-shaped third ridge connected to the ridge is formed, and a drain outlet communicating with the third ridge is formed on the outside air outlet side of the lower wall, and the first ridge, the second ridge and the third ridge Each of the ridges has a groove opened to the front side of the vehicle. In the present specification, “communication” means that a continuous state is established through passages in two separated spaces.

  According to the outside air introduction structure for an automobile according to the first aspect as described above, when the blower fan of the air conditioning unit sucks the outside air containing water droplets, the water droplets sucked from the outside air suction port of the blower duct are the blower duct being the looper of the cowl louver. Since the vehicle is inclined downward from the opening side toward the rear of the vehicle, the air flows along the inner wall surface of the upper wall of the blower duct. The drainage port can be led along the grooves of the first ridge, the second ridge, and the third ridge that are opened. Accordingly, the amount of water droplets introduced to the outside air outlet of the blower duct can be reduced, so that the entry of water droplets into the air conditioning unit during rainy weather or car washing can be reduced.

  The second aspect of the present invention is the outside air introduction structure for an automobile according to the first aspect. When the inclined surface of the upper wall of the blower duct has the inclination angle displaced in two stages, the branch point of the first rod Is the displacement position of the inclination angle on the inclined surface of the upper wall.

  According to the outside air introduction structure of the automobile as the second aspect as described above, the inclination angle is displaced in two stages, so that the air is sucked by the blower fan from the outside air suction port to the inclined surface after the displacement position of the inclination angle. Since a water droplet can be applied, the water droplet can be reliably received by the first ridge by disposing the branch point of the first ridge at the displacement position of the inclination angle. It is possible to block the flooding path to the outlet.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the outside air introduction structure for an automobile according to the first aspect, the first ridge, the second ridge, and the third ridge are formed in the same L-shape. .

  According to the outside air introduction structure for an automobile as such a third aspect, the water collecting function of each bag can be easily adjusted by forming each bag in an L shape.

  According to the outside air introduction structure of the automobile of the present invention, the malfunction of the blower motor generated due to the intrusion of water droplets into the air conditioning unit during rainy weather or car washing due to the suction force when the blower motor operates in the automobile or the water droplets into the vehicle interior Infiltration can be greatly reduced.

  BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The best mode for carrying out the outside air introduction structure for an automobile of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the outside air introduction structure of the automobile of the present invention is a cowl louver (not shown) having a configuration substantially the same as that of the conventional outside air introduction structure and disposed on the front lower side of the windshield 1 and having a louver opening. ), A cowl main body 2 in which a cowl louver is fixed at the upper portion and constituting a skeleton member, an air conditioning unit 3 in which a blower fan 31 for supplying outside air taken in from a looper opening of the cowl louver into the vehicle interior is incorporated, and a cowl A blower duct 4 that inclines downward from the outside air introduction port 2a side of the cowl body 2 toward the rear of the vehicle in order to communicate the outside air introduction port 2a formed in the main body 2 and the outside air suction port 3a formed in the air conditioning unit 3. It consists of and.

  The cowl body 2 is connected to left and right front pillars (not shown) and is formed in a box shape. The cowl body 2 serves as a rain gutter that receives rainwater flowing in from a windshield glass or the like. A drain port 2b for draining is provided. Since the upper portion of the cowl main body 2 is open, rainwater or the like does not directly enter the blower duct 4 by being covered with the cowl louver.

  The air conditioning unit 3 includes a blower unit 3A and a heater unit 3B. The blower unit 3A includes a blower unit case 32 in which an outside air suction port 3a is formed in the upper portion, and the heater unit 3B has an outside air discharge port 3b in the upper portion. The blower unit case 32 and the heater unit case 33 are communicated with each other by a connecting portion 34 at the lower part. A drain hose 35 is coupled to the coupling portion 34 so that water accumulated in the blower unit case 32 and the heater unit case 33 can be drained.

  The blower unit case 32 is provided with a dust collection filter 36 for air purification at the upper part and a blower fan 31 at the lower part. The blower fan 31 includes a motor unit that houses a blower motor and a fan that is rotated by the blower motor. The motor unit is fixed to the bottom surface of the blower unit case 32.

  The heater unit case 33 is provided with a heater core 37, and the outside air sucked by the blower fan 31 passes through the heater core 37, whereby hot air can be supplied into the vehicle interior. An evaporator (not shown) is provided in the heater unit case 33, and the amount of hot air heated by the heater core 37 and the amount of cold air passing through the evaporator are adjusted by adjusting the opening of an air mix door (not shown). Since the ratio of the amount is adjusted, the temperature of the air blown into the passenger compartment can be controlled. Such hot air and cold air are supplied into the vehicle interior from a foot outlet that blows out hot air during heating, a blowout outlet that blows out cold air during cooling, and a defrost outlet that blows out air to remove fogging of windows. .

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the blower duct 4 is formed by an upper wall 41, a lower wall 42, and two lateral walls 43, 44, and at the looper opening side of the cowl louver, at the outside air suction port 45 and at the air conditioning unit 3 side. An outside air outlet 46 communicating with the air conditioning unit 3 is formed. Therefore, the blower duct 4 is arranged in the outside air inlet port 2a formed in the cowl body 2 with the outside air suction port 45, and the outside air outlet port 46 is arranged in the outside air inlet port 3a formed in the blower unit case 32 of the blower unit 3A. The The louver opening of the cowl louver is not positioned on the outside air suction port 45 so that rainwater or the like does not directly enter the outside air suction port 45 of the blower duct 4.

  The inner wall surface 41a of the upper wall 41 of the blower duct 4 has a branch point 51 between the outside air suction port 45 and the outside air discharge port 46. The two side walls 43 are branched from the branch point 51 toward the rear of the vehicle in a V shape. Groove-shaped first ridges 5A and 5B extending to 44 are formed. Further, the inner wall surfaces 43a, 44a of the two lateral walls 43, 44 are connected to the first flanges 5A, 5B branched in a V shape and extend to the outside air discharge port end 42a of the lower wall 42 toward the rear of the vehicle. Shaped second ridges 5C, 5D are formed. Further, the inner wall surface 42b at the outside air discharge port end 42a of the lower wall 42 has a groove-shaped third wall connected to the second ribs 5C and 5D formed on the inner wall surfaces 43a and 44a of the two lateral walls 43 and 44, respectively. A ridge 5E is formed. Further, a drain outlet 47 communicating with the third trough 5E is formed on the outside air outlet side 42a of the lower wall 42. In FIG. 1A, for the sake of convenience, the blower duct 4 shows the first ridges 5A, 5B, the second ridges 5C, 5D, and the third ridge 5E with solid lines, and other portions with dotted lines. .

  As shown in FIGS. 1 (B) and 1 (C), the first eaves 5A, 5B, the second eaves 5C, 5D and the third eaves 5E formed in this way are each opened with a groove on the front side of the vehicle. Has been. Accordingly, it is possible to capture water droplets contained in the outside air entering from the outside air suction port 45.

  The operation of the outside air introduction structure for an automobile of the present invention configured as described above will be described below. In FIG. 2, the flow of cold air is indicated by black arrows, and the flow of hot air is indicated by white arrows.

  Drops of rainwater or the like contained in the outside air that has entered the louver opening of the cowl louver are usually drained outside the vehicle from the drain port 2b of the cowl body 2, but the blower fan 31 of the blower unit 3A of the air conditioning unit 3 rotates. In this case, the outside air containing water droplets is sucked from the outside air suction port 3a of the blower duct 32. Of the outside air sucked by the blower fan 31 from the outside air suction port 3a of the blower duct 32, the water droplets are larger than the specific gravity of the outside air, and the blower duct 32 is inclined downward from the looper opening side of the cowl louver toward the rear of the vehicle. Therefore, most of the water droplets flow to the outside air outlet 46 along the inner wall surface of the upper wall 41 of the blower duct 4.

  The water droplets flowing toward the outside air discharge port 46 along the inner wall surface of the upper wall 41 of the blower duct 4 are branched at the branching point 51 of the first ridges 5A and 5B, and are transmitted along the groove of the first ridge 5A. 2 is guided to the second cage 5C, is further guided to the third cage 5E through the second cage 5C, and is guided to the second cage 5D via the first cage 5B. Further, it is guided to the third ridge 5E through the groove of the second ridge 5D. At this time, the first flange 5A, 5B, the second flange 5C, 5D, and the third flange 5E are each sucked toward the vehicle rear side by the blower fan 31 because the grooves are opened on the vehicle front side. It is possible to avoid the water droplets that have been spilled from the groove. Accordingly, water drops can be discharged outside the vehicle from the drain port 47 communicating with the third trough 5E on the side of the outside air outlet 46 of the lower wall 42, so that the amount of water droplets discharged from the outside air outlet 46 of the blower duct 4 is infiltrated. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the ingress of water droplets into the air conditioning unit 3 during rainy weather or car wash.

  When the outside air in which the water droplet content is reduced in this way is taken into the blower unit 3A of the air conditioning unit 3 by the blower fan 31, it is filtered by the dust collecting filter 36 of the blower unit 3A and is supplied to the heater unit 3B of the air conditioning unit 3. Led. At this time, since the amount of water droplets not captured by the first ridges 5A, 5B, the second ridges 5C, 5D and the third ridge 5E of the blower duct 4 is small, the blower unit case 3A and the heater unit case 3B Since the amount of accumulated water is small, the water can be reliably drained from the drain hose 35 connected to the connecting portion 34 of the air conditioning unit 3 to the outside of the vehicle.

  In the heater unit 3B, air that does not contain water drops is allowed to pass through the heater core 37 and the like, thereby supplying warm air or cold air to the vehicle interior without dripping water from the foot outlet, the vent outlet, and the defrost outlet. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the carpet and the occupant's feet from being soiled by water droplets containing outside air, and the water immersed in the air conditioning unit 3 gets over the waterproof wall for the blower motor of the blower fan 31, and blower motor It is possible to prevent the blower motor from being damaged by entering the motor core that houses the blower.

Next, a comparative test of the amount of water infiltrated into the air conditioning unit of the conventional outside air introduction structure of the automobile and the outside air introduction structure of the automobile of the present invention was performed. In addition, the evaluation method measured the inundation amount to the air-conditioning unit when the air volume was 360 m ³ / h in the small car class. The measurement time and the amount of water supplied were the same.

  In the conventional outside air introduction structure of an automobile, the amount of water infiltrated into the air conditioning unit is 141.8 cc, and in the outside air introduction structure of the automobile of the present invention, the amount of water infiltrated into the air conditioning unit is 45.6 cc, which can be reduced by about 68%. It could be confirmed. In practice, since the amount of inundation considered as a problem is about 100 cc, the outside air introduction structure of the automobile of the present invention is suitable. Therefore, in a large vehicle having a large air volume of the blower fan of the air conditioning unit, the amount of outside air sucked is increased as compared with a small vehicle, so that a further effect of reducing the amount of water immersion can be expected.

  In the blower duct 4, when the inclined surface of the upper wall 41 displaces the inclination angle in two stages, the position of the branch point 51 of the first ribs 5 </ b> A and 5 </ b> B is the inclination angle on the inclined surface of the upper wall 41. It is recommended to set the displacement position. By displacing the inclination angle in two stages, water drops sucked by the blower fan 31 from the outside air suction port 45 can be applied to the inclined surfaces after the displacement position of the inclination angle. By arranging the branch points 51 of the first ridges 5A and 5B, water droplets can be reliably received by the first ridges 5A and 5B, so that the flooding route to the outside air outlet 46, which was dominant, is blocked. It becomes possible.

  In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the first ridges 5A, 5B, the second ridges 5C, 5D, and the third ridge 5E are formed in the same L-shape. Good. Thus, the adjustment of the water collecting function of each rod becomes easy by forming the rods 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, and 5E in an L shape. That is, the easiness of catching the water droplets transmitted through the inner wall surface 41a of the upper wall 41 of the blower duct 4 is adjusted by the water droplet catching width H by forming each ridge 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E into an L shape. This makes it easier to adjust the amount of water collected by the water drops 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, and 5E with the water drop capture depth L. Each adjustment width is preferably about 5 to 10 mm in consideration of the amount of water droplets flowing toward the outside air discharge port 46 along the inner wall surface of the upper wall 41 of the blower duct 4.

  Although the present invention has been described with the specific embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings, and is known so far as long as the effects of the present invention are achieved. It goes without saying that any configuration can be adopted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows the preferable example of embodiment in the external air introduction structure of the motor vehicle of this invention, (A) is a perspective view of the blower duct which provided the collar on the inner wall surface, (B) is AA sectional drawing in (A), (C) is a BB sectional view in (A). It is explanatory drawing which shows the external air introduction structure of the motor vehicle of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the external air introduction structure of the conventional motor vehicle. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flooding state of the air conditioning unit in the conventional external air introduction structure of a motor vehicle.

Explanation of symbols

1 …… Wind shield 3 …… Air conditioning unit 31 …… Blower fan 4 …… Blower duct 41 …… Upper wall 41a …… Upper wall inner wall 42 …… Lower wall 42a …… Lower wall outside air discharge port end 42b …… Inner wall surface of lower wall 43, 44 …… Horizontal wall 43a, 44a …… Inner wall surface of horizontal wall 45 …… Outside air suction port 46 …… Outside air outlet 47 …… Drain port 5A, 5B …… First rod 51 …… Branch Point 5C, 5D …… Second cage 5E …… Third cage

Claims (3)

An air conditioning unit in which a blower fan is incorporated by a blower duct that inclines outside air taken in from a looper opening portion of a cowl louver disposed on the front lower side of the windshield toward the vehicle rear side from the looper opening side. In the outside air introduction structure of automobiles to be introduced in
The blower duct is formed of an upper wall, a lower wall, and two lateral walls, and an outside air suction port is formed on the looper opening side, and an outside air discharge port communicating with the air conditioning unit is formed on the air conditioning unit side. A first groove-shaped first wall having a branch point between the outside air suction port and the outside air discharge port on the inner wall surface of the wall and branching in a V shape from the branch point toward the rear of the vehicle and extending to the two lateral walls. A trough is formed, and each of the inner walls of the two lateral walls is connected to the first trough that branches into the V shape, and is a groove-shaped second that extends toward the outside air outlet end of the lower wall toward the rear of the vehicle. And a groove-shaped third flange connected to the second flange formed on each inner wall surface of the two lateral walls is formed on the inner wall surface of the lower wall at the outside air outlet end. , Drainage communicating with the third wall on the outside air outlet side of the lower wall There is formed, the first trough, the external air introducing structure for an automobile second trough and the third trough, each groove is characterized in that it is open on the front side of the vehicle.   When the inclined surface of the upper wall of the blower duct has the inclination angle displaced in two stages, the position of the branch point of the first rib is the displacement position of the inclination angle on the inclined surface of the upper wall. The outside air introduction structure for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein:   2. The outside air introduction structure for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the first ridge, the second ridge and the third ridge are formed in the same L-shape.

Images