JP2009113560A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner for a vehicle capable of reducing the lowering of pressure in an air conditioning case while suppressing an increase of a height. <P>SOLUTION: The air conditioner for the vehicle includes a centrifugal fan 76 rotating around a substantially horizontal rotation shaft 76c, a spiral scroll case 70 provided with a blow-out port 78 for blowing air in a substantially horizontal direction from a side lower than the rotation shaft 76c, an evaporator 20 provided at a downstream side from the centrifugal fan 76, a heater core 30 provided at a downstream side from the evaporator 20 and a bypass passage 32 arranged above the heater core 30 for distributing air cooled by the evaporator 20 detouring the heat core 30. The centrifugal fan 76, the evaporator 20 and the heater core 30 are aligned on a substantially horizontal straight line, the evaporator 20 is arranged so that its upper end 20a is inclined to an upstream side and the heater core 30 is arranged so that its upper end 30a is inclined to a down stream side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner that is mounted on a vehicle and performs air conditioning in a vehicle interior.

Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle air conditioner mounted on a vehicle for construction machinery. The vehicle air conditioner is disposed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped space under the pedestal for the driver's seat. In this vehicle air conditioner, a blower, an evaporator, and a heater core are arranged side by side in the vehicle left-right direction. Both the evaporator and the heater core are arranged in parallel with each other in parallel to the vertical plane.
JP 2006-192997 A

  In a construction vehicle, it is necessary to secure a driver's living space, and thus there are restrictions on the height and width of the space under the seat mount. For this reason, since there is an upper limit to the height and width of the vehicle air conditioner, it is difficult to increase the size of the evaporator and the heater core. Therefore, the above-described vehicle air conditioner has a problem that a high cooling / heating capability cannot be obtained.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle air conditioner that can solve the above problem. As shown in FIG. 6, the vehicle air conditioner 101 has a configuration in which a blower 110, an evaporator 120, and a heater core 130 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction of the vehicle. The evaporator 120 and the heater core 130 are both arranged such that the upper end portion is inclined toward the downstream side of the air flow. Thereby, even if the evaporator 120 and the heater core 130 are enlarged, an increase in the height of the vehicle air conditioner 101 can be suppressed, so that even a vehicle air conditioner 101 having an upper limit can obtain a high air conditioning capability. become.

  However, in the vehicle air conditioner 101, the flow path of the conditioned air (cold air) is bent as shown by the arrow A2 in the figure, so that the air flow is not smooth and the pressure loss in the air conditioning case increases. Problems arise. When the pressure loss in the air conditioning case increases, problems such as a decrease in the amount of blown air and an increase in the load on the blower motor of the blower 110 also occur.

  The objective of this invention is providing the vehicle air conditioner which can reduce the pressure loss in an air-conditioning case, suppressing the increase in height.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following technical means.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a vehicle air conditioner that is mounted on a vehicle and performs air conditioning in the passenger compartment (60), and is a centrifugal fan (76) that rotates about a substantially horizontal rotation shaft (76c). ) And a centrifugal scroll having a blower outlet (78) for containing a centrifugal fan (76) and blowing out air directed into the passenger compartment (60) from the lower side of the rotating shaft (76c) in a substantially horizontal direction. A blower motor (77) that includes a case (70) and an output shaft connected to the centrifugal fan (76) and rotationally drives the centrifugal fan (76), and is located downstream of the centrifugal fan (76) in the air flow. A cooling heat exchanger (20) for cooling the air by heat exchange, and provided on the downstream side of the air flow from the cooling heat exchanger (20) and cooled by the cooling heat exchanger (20) Heat exchanger for heating that heats air by heat exchange 30) and a bypass passage (provided above the heating heat exchanger (30)), which allows the air cooled by the cooling heat exchanger (20) to flow around the heating heat exchanger (30). 32), the centrifugal fan (76), the cooling heat exchanger (20), and the heating heat exchanger (30) are arranged in a substantially horizontal straight line, and the cooling heat exchanger (20) Is arranged such that the upper end (20a) is inclined toward the upstream side of the air flow, and the heat exchanger (30) for heating is disposed so that the upper end (30a) is inclined toward the downstream side of the air flow. It is characterized by.

  As a result, the air blown out from the outlet (78) smoothly passes through the cooling heat exchanger (20), and the air that has passed through the cooling heat exchanger (20) passes through the bypass passage (32) or the heating heat. It passes through the exchanger 30 smoothly. Therefore, the pressure loss in the air passage of the vehicle air conditioner can be reduced. Moreover, since the cooling heat exchanger (20) and the heating heat exchanger (30) are arranged to be inclined, an increase in the height of the vehicle air conditioner can be suppressed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the centrifugal fan is disposed below the seat (61) on which a passenger in the passenger compartment (60) is seated, the rotating shaft (76c) is disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. (76) The cooling heat exchanger (20) and the heating heat exchanger (30) are arranged in the left-right direction of the vehicle. Thereby, the space in a compartment (60) can be used effectively.

  The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that the blower motor (77) is a single-shaft type whose output shaft extends to one side and is provided on the front side of the vehicle with respect to the centrifugal fan (76).

  Thereby, when maintaining a blower motor (77), a blower motor (77) can be removed easily.

  As in the invention described in claim 4, the vehicle may be a construction machine vehicle or an agricultural machine vehicle.

  In addition, the code | symbol in the bracket | parenthesis of each said means has shown an example of the corresponding relationship with the specific means as described in embodiment mentioned later.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The vehicle air conditioner of this embodiment is mounted in the cabin (cabinet) of a construction machine vehicle such as a hydraulic excavator equipped with a water-cooled engine. FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a layout of a cabin of a vehicle on which the vehicle air conditioner according to the present embodiment is mounted. The vertical direction in FIG. 1 generally represents the vertical vertical direction, and the lower left direction in FIG. 1 represents the front of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 1, the cabin 60 of a construction machine vehicle or an agricultural machine vehicle has a box shape that is long in the vertical vertical direction. Near the rear of the vehicle in the cabin 60, there is provided a seat 61 including a seating portion 62 on which a driver (occupant) is seated facing the front of the vehicle and a backrest portion 63 that supports the back of the seated driver. Yes. The vehicle air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment is provided in an air conditioner arrangement space 64 below a seat mount (not shown) that supports a seating portion 62 of the seat 61.

  FIG. 2 shows a state in which the air conditioner arrangement space 64 is viewed from the vertically upward direction. The lower direction in FIG. 2 represents the front of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, the length of the air-conditioner arrangement space 64 in the vehicle left-right direction is the upper limit of the width of the cabin 60 in the vehicle left-right direction. The width of the air-conditioner arrangement space 64 in the vehicle front-rear direction is limited to the depth of the seating portion 62 in order to secure the foot space 65 of the operator seated on the seat 61. The height of the air conditioner arrangement space 64 in the vertical vertical direction is limited to the height of the seat mount set so as to secure an overhead space for the operator seated on the seat 61. In general, the air conditioner arrangement space 64 has a horizontally-long rectangular planar shape that is relatively long in the vehicle left-right direction and narrower in the vehicle front-rear direction. The air conditioner arrangement space 64 has a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape whose height in the vertical vertical direction is lower than the width in the vehicle front-rear direction.

  FIG. 3 is an external view showing the configuration of the vehicle air conditioner 1 arranged in the air conditioner arrangement space 64. 4 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the vehicle air conditioner 1 as viewed from above, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the vehicle air conditioner 1 cut along the line V-V in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the vehicle air conditioner 1 has an outer shape that is a flat rectangular parallelepiped as a whole so that it can be arranged in the air conditioner arrangement space 64.

  The vehicle air conditioner 1 includes a blower unit 2 that generates an air flow, and an air conditioning unit 3 that is provided on the downstream side of the air flow of the blower unit 2. The blower unit 2 extends in the scroll-shaped scroll case 70 and the vehicle rear side of the scroll case 70, and switches the air inside the cabin 60 (inside air) or outside the cabin 60 (outside air) into the scroll case 70. And an air switching unit 71.

  The inside / outside air switching unit 71 has a generally box shape. The inside / outside air switching unit 71 is provided, for example, on the surface on the left side of the vehicle, and is provided on the surface on the vehicle rear side adjacent to the surface on which the inside air introduction unit 72 introduces the inside air and the surface on which the inside air introduction unit 72 is provided. And an outside air introduction portion 73 to be introduced. The inside air introduction part 72 and the outside air introduction part 73 are opened and closed by a plate-like inside / outside air switching door 74 provided between them. The inside / outside air switching door 74 is driven by a drive mechanism (not shown) at a predetermined door angle set based on the suction port mode, and switches between the inside air and the outside air. The inside air or the outside air introduced by switching flows into the scroll case 70 via the suction duct 75. The inside / outside air switching door 74 may be a rotary door.

  A centrifugal fan 76 having a plurality of blades provided in the circumferential direction is accommodated in the scroll case 70. A rotary shaft 76c of the centrifugal fan 76 is disposed substantially parallel to the vehicle longitudinal direction.

  The scroll case 70 covers the outer periphery of the centrifugal fan 76, covers the scroll wall 80 formed in a spiral shape with respect to the rotation shaft 76c, and the side surface of the centrifugal fan 76, and faces each other with the scroll wall 80 interposed therebetween. It has two planar side walls 81, 82. The scroll wall 80 is formed in a right-handed spiral shape when viewed from the vehicle front side (blower motor 77 side described later). A suction port (not shown) that is connected to the suction duct 75 and sucks air supplied from the inside / outside air switching unit 71 into the scroll case 70 is formed in the side wall 82 on the vehicle rear side.

  Between the outer periphery of the centrifugal fan 76 and the scroll wall 80, a spiral air passage 83 is formed with the vicinity of the winding start portion 80a of the scroll wall 80 as a start point and the vicinity of the winding end portion 80b as an end point. Of the outer surface of the scroll wall 80, the winding start portion 80a faces the vehicle right side, and the winding end portion 80b faces vertically downward. An air outlet 78 is formed between the winding start portion 80a and the winding end portion 80b when viewed in the direction opposite to the spiral direction, and opens toward the right side of the vehicle, which is the tangential direction of the spiral. The blower outlet 78 is located vertically downward from the rotation shaft 76c.

  A single-axis blower motor 77 that rotationally drives the centrifugal fan 76 is disposed on the vehicle front side of the centrifugal fan 76. The blower motor 77 includes an output shaft (not shown) that is arranged coaxially with the rotation shaft 76 c of the centrifugal fan 76 and connected to the centrifugal fan 76. The blower motor 77 is attached to the outer surface of the side wall 81 of the scroll case 70. The blower motor 77 can be removed by releasing the fixation to the side wall 81 and pulling it out to the vehicle front side (foot space 65 side). In FIG. 3, the attachment / detachment direction of the blower motor 77 is indicated by white thick double arrows.

  On the other hand, the air conditioning unit 3 has an air conditioning case 10 that defines an air passage 11 through which air flows. The air blown out from the outlet 78 of the blower unit 2 flows through the air passage 11 toward the cabin 60 side. Since the cross-sectional area of the air passage 11 is larger than the cross-sectional area of the air outlet 78, the wall surface of the connection portion with the air outlet 78 of the air conditioning case 10 is formed in a shape that can substantially uniform the wind speed distribution.

  An evaporator (cooling heat exchanger) 20 is provided in the air passage 11 and is located in the vehicle right direction of the centrifugal fan 76 and cools the conditioned air by heat exchange with the refrigerant flowing through the inside. The evaporator 20 constitutes a part of the refrigeration cycle in which the refrigerant circulates. For example, the evaporator 20 has a configuration in which a plurality of flat aluminum tubes through which a refrigerant flows are stacked via corrugated fins, and is formed relatively thin in the air flow direction. Further, the evaporator 20 is disposed such that the upper end portion 20a is inclined toward the air flow upstream side (centrifugal fan 76 side) and the lower end portion 20b is inclined toward the air flow downstream side (heater core 30 side described later).

  On the downstream side of the air flow of the evaporator 20, a heater core 30 is provided that heats the air cooled by the evaporator 20 by heat exchange with engine cooling water that circulates inside the evaporator 20. The heater core 30 is located in the vehicle right direction of the evaporator 20. That is, the centrifugal fan 76, the evaporator 20, and the heater core 30 are arranged on a substantially horizontal straight line. For example, the heater core 30 has a configuration in which a plurality of flat aluminum tubes through which engine cooling water flows are stacked via corrugated fins, and is formed relatively thin in the air flow direction. The heater core 30 is arranged such that the upper end portion 30a is inclined toward the air flow upstream side (evaporator 20 side) and the lower end portion 30b is inclined toward the air flow downstream side.

  A bypass passage 32 is formed above the heater core 30 to allow the air cooled by the evaporator 20 to flow around the heater core 30. An air mix door 31 is provided on the air flow downstream side of the evaporator 20 and on the air flow upstream side of the heater core 30 and the bypass passage 32. The air mix door 31 is driven by a drive mechanism (not shown) and has a flow rate ratio between high-temperature air that passes through the heater core 30 and is reheated and low-temperature air that bypasses the heater core 30 and passes through the bypass passage 32. It can be adjusted. Further, an air mix region 33 for mixing the air that has passed through the heater core 30 and the air that has passed through the bypass passage 32 is formed relatively upstream of the air flow downstream side of the heater core 30 and the bypass passage 32. By mixing the high temperature air and the low temperature air in the air mix region 33, conditioned air having a desired temperature blown into the cabin 60 is generated. FIG. 5 shows a maximum cooling state in which the flow rate ratio of the low-temperature air passing through the bypass passage 32 is maximized.

  A foot opening 40, a defroster opening 41, a front face opening 42 and a rear opening 43 are provided on the downstream side of the air mix region 33. The foot opening 40, the defroster opening 41, the front face opening 42 and the rear opening 43 are each opened and closed by a mode door (not shown). Each mode door is controlled to open and close based on the air outlet mode by the ECU for the air conditioner.

  A foot duct 44 that circulates conditioned air flowing out from the foot opening 40 is connected to the foot opening 40 (see FIG. 1). A foot outlet 45 is provided on the downstream end side of the foot duct 44. Air-conditioned air is blown out from the foot outlet 45 to the lower body side such as the feet of the operator.

  The defroster opening 41 is connected to a defroster duct 46 through which conditioned air flowing out from the defroster opening 41 flows. A defroster outlet 47 is provided on the downstream end side of the defroster duct 46. From the defroster outlet 47, conditioned air is blown to the inner surface of the windshield of the vehicle.

  A front face duct 48 through which conditioned air flowing out from the front face opening 42 circulates is connected to the front face opening 42. A front face air outlet 49 is provided on the downstream end side of the front face duct 48. Air-conditioned air is blown out from the front face air outlet 49 toward the upper body side in front of the operator.

  A rear duct 50 that circulates conditioned air flowing out from the rear opening 43 is connected to the rear opening 43. A rear outlet 51 is provided on the downstream end side of the rear duct 50. From the rear outlet 51, conditioned air is blown out rearward or upward of the operator.

  Each outlet 45, 47, 49, 51 is provided with a grill whose direction can be adjusted. Thereby, the operator can adjust the blowing direction of the conditioned air from each of the air outlets 45, 47, 49, 51 by manually adjusting the direction of the grill, for example.

  Next, the operation of the vehicle air conditioner in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, an arrow A1 in FIG. 5 represents a flow path in which the cool air mainly flows in the air passage 11.

  When the centrifugal fan 76 is rotated by driving the blower motor 77, the centrifugal fan 76 sucks air supplied to the vicinity of the rotary shaft 76c through the suction duct 75 and pumps it to the ventilation path 83 side on the radially outer side. In the ventilation path 83, the scroll wall 80 is first directed upward from the winding start portion 80a, and gradually changes the flow direction along the inner surface of the scroll wall 80 toward the left side, the lower side, and the right side of the vehicle. An air flow is formed from the outlet 78 toward the right side of the vehicle through the portion 80b.

  Air blown out from the air outlet 78 toward the right side of the vehicle flows into the air passage 11 of the air conditioning unit 3. Since the air outlet 78 is provided downwardly with respect to the air conditioning case 10, the air immediately after being blown out from the air outlet 78 is mainly on the lower side of the air passage 11 as indicated by an arrow A <b> 1 in FIG. 5. Flowing into.

  Thereafter, the air passes through the space between the flat tubes of the evaporator 20 and is cooled by heat exchange with the refrigerant flowing through the flat tubes. Since the evaporator 20 is disposed such that the upper end portion 20a is inclined toward the upstream side of the air flow, the upstream surface of the evaporator 20 faces downward. Therefore, the air mainly flowing below the air passage 11 passes through the evaporator 20 relatively smoothly. The air after passing through the evaporator 20 mainly flows above the air passage 11 as indicated by an arrow A1.

  The air cooled by the evaporator 20 is distributed to the bypass passage 32 side or the heater core 30 side by the air mix door 31. That is, air that becomes cold air passes through the bypass passage 32 formed above the air passage 11, and air that becomes warm air passes through the heater core 30 disposed below the air passage 11. Since the air after passing through the evaporator 20 mainly flows above the air passage 11, the air that becomes cold air passes through the bypass passage 32 relatively smoothly.

  Moreover, since the heater core 30 is disposed so that the upper end portion 30a is inclined toward the downstream side, the upstream surface of the heater core 30 faces upward. Therefore, the air that becomes the warm air also passes through the heater core 30 relatively smoothly.

  The cold air that has passed through the bypass passage 32 and the warm air that has passed through the heater core 30 are mixed in the air mix region 33 and are opened and closed based on the air outlet mode. The foot opening 40, the defroster opening 41, the front face opening 42, or the rear opening It flows out of at least one of the portions 43 and is blown out into the cabin 60.

  In the present embodiment, in the vehicle air conditioner 1 in which the centrifugal fan 76, the evaporator 20 and the heater core 30 are arranged side by side, the air outlet 78 of the centrifugal fan 76 is disposed downward, and the upper end 20a of the evaporator 20 is upstream. The heater core 30 is disposed such that the upper end portion 30 a is inclined to the downstream side, and the bypass passage 32 is disposed above the heater core 30. Thereby, the flow path of the cold air indicated by the arrow A1 in FIG. 5 is smoother than the flow path of the cold air indicated by the arrow A2 in FIG. For this reason, the pressure loss in the air passage 11 can be reduced particularly in cold air. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the load on the blower motor 77 of the blower unit 2 can be reduced, and a reduction in the amount of blown air blown into the cabin 60 can be prevented.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, since the evaporator 20 and the heater core 30 are inclined and arranged, even if the evaporator 20 and the heater core 30 are enlarged to increase the cooling / heating capacity, the increase in the height of the vehicle air conditioner 1 is suppressed. It is done.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the vehicle air conditioner 1 is arranged in the air conditioner arrangement space 64 below the seat 61, the space in the cabin 60 can be used effectively.

  In the present embodiment, a single-shaft type blower motor 77 is disposed on the vehicle front side of the centrifugal fan 76. Since the foot space 65 is provided further on the front side of the blower motor 77, when the blower motor 77 is maintained, the blower motor 77 can be easily removed from the scroll case 70 without removing the entire vehicle air conditioner 1. Can do.

(Other embodiments)
In the above embodiment, the vehicle air conditioner disposed under the seat of the vehicle is taken as an example, but the vehicle air conditioner may be disposed in another place of the vehicle.

  In the above embodiment, the vehicle air conditioner mounted on a construction machine vehicle is taken as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to a vehicle air conditioner mounted on an agricultural machine vehicle or other vehicles.

It is a figure which shows typically the layout of the cabin of the vehicle by which the vehicle air conditioner in 1st Embodiment is mounted. It is a figure which shows the state which looked at the air-conditioner arrangement | positioning space from the vertically upward direction. It is an external view which shows the structure of the vehicle air conditioner in 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle air conditioner in 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the vehicle air conditioner cut | disconnected by the VV line | wire of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of a vehicle air conditioner typically.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle air conditioner 2 Blower unit 3 Air conditioning unit 10 Air conditioning case 11 Air passage 20 Evaporator (cooling heat exchanger)
20a Upper end 30 Heater core (heat exchanger for heating)
30a Upper end 32 Bypass passage 60 Cabin (vehicle compartment)
61 Seat 70 Scroll case 76 Centrifugal fan 76c Rotating shaft 77 Blower motor 78 Air outlet

Claims (4)

A vehicle air conditioner that is mounted on a vehicle and performs air conditioning in the passenger compartment (60),
A centrifugal fan (76) rotating about a substantially horizontal rotation axis (76c);
A spiral scroll provided with a blower outlet (78) that accommodates the centrifugal fan (76) and blows out air toward the inside of the passenger compartment (60) from the lower side of the rotating shaft (76c) in a substantially horizontal direction. Case (70);
A blower motor (77) having an output shaft connected to the centrifugal fan (76), and rotating the centrifugal fan (76);
A cooling heat exchanger (20) that is provided downstream of the centrifugal fan (76) and cools the air by heat exchange;
A heating heat exchanger (30) that is provided on the downstream side of the air flow from the cooling heat exchanger (20) and heats the air cooled by the cooling heat exchanger (20) by heat exchange;
A bypass passage (32) provided above the heating heat exchanger (30) and allowing the air cooled by the cooling heat exchanger (20) to circulate around the heating heat exchanger (30). )
The centrifugal fan (76), the cooling heat exchanger (20), and the heating heat exchanger (30) are arranged on a substantially horizontal straight line,
The cooling heat exchanger (20) is arranged such that the upper end (20a) is inclined toward the upstream side of the air flow,
The vehicular air conditioner is characterized in that the heating heat exchanger (30) is arranged such that the upper end (30a) is inclined toward the downstream side of the air flow. It is disposed below the seat (61) on which the passenger in the passenger compartment (60) is seated,
The rotating shaft (76c) is disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle,
The said centrifugal fan (76), the said heat exchanger for cooling (20), and the said heat exchanger for heating (30) are arranged in the left-right direction of the said vehicle, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Vehicle air conditioner.   The said blower motor (77) is a single axis | shaft type in which the said output shaft extends to one side, and is provided in the front side of the said vehicle rather than the said centrifugal fan (76). Vehicle air conditioner.   The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vehicle is a construction machine vehicle or an agricultural machine vehicle.

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