JP2009220693A - Vehicular air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a vehicular air conditioner capable of downsizing a reinforcing member, and having excellent versatility. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicular air conditioner comprises: an air-conditioning duct 3 forming an air passage; a blower 5 sending air into the air-conditioning duct 3 by pressure; an evaporator 9 cooling air sent by pressure from the blower 5; and a filter 8 arranged on an upstream side to an air flow of the evaporator 9 and filtering the air sent by pressure from the blower 5. The evaporator 9 is provided with a spacer 15 preventing the buckling deformation of the filter 8 when a blower motor 6 is actuated. Therefore, the reinforcing member can be downsized, and the versatility becomes excellent. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner including a filter disposed in an air conditioning duct, and particularly relates to prevention of deformation of the filter.

  Conventionally, what is shown to patent document 1 is known as this kind of vehicle air conditioner, for example. That is, in this apparatus, a filter for filtering dust or dust is disposed between the evaporator and the blower disposed in the air conditioning duct. Since the filter itself is a resistor, it is reinforced so as not to buckle and deform by the wind force of the blower.

  In Patent Document 1, there is no description about reinforcing a filter, but generally the rigidity is enhanced by reinforcement as described below. For example, in order to reinforce the filter itself and increase the rigidity, as shown in FIG. 8, a filter 109 made of a filter medium is combined with a rigid frame body 110.

A plurality of rib portions 110 a for supporting the surface of the filter 109 and a case frame 110 b that accommodates the outer shape of the filter 109 are formed on the frame 110. A filter 109 is fixed to the frame 110. Further, in order to reinforce the air conditioning duct 111 side and increase the rigidity of the filter, as shown in FIG. 9, a filter support 120 made of a net material such as a mesh is provided on the air conditioning duct downstream of the air flow of the filter 109. 111. And the filter 109 is arrange | positioned so that the filter support part 120 may be touched. In FIG. 9, the code | symbol 112 has shown the evaporator.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-80019

  However, the reinforcement of the filter 109 with the frame body 110 requires a special shape that matches the air passage in the air conditioning duct 111, and therefore the type and mold cost of the frame body 110 increase. Thereby, there exists a problem that versatility falls.

  Further, the provision of the filter support 120 on the air conditioning duct 111 side is disposed over the entire air passage in the air conditioning duct 111, and thus there is a problem that ventilation resistance increases. Further, providing the filter support 120 integrally with the air conditioning duct 111 has a problem that the mold cost and the like increase.

  Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle air conditioner that can reduce the size of a reinforcing member and has excellent versatility. Moreover, the 2nd objective is to provide the vehicle air conditioner which can suppress the increase in ventilation resistance.

In order to achieve the above object, the following technical means are adopted. That is, in the invention described in claim 1, the air conditioning duct (3) that forms the air passage, the air blowing means (5, 6) that pumps air into the air conditioning duct (3), and the air conditioning duct (3) A cooling heat exchanger (9) for cooling the air pumped from the blowing means (5, 6), and an upstream side of the air flow of the cooling heat exchanger (9), In a vehicle air conditioner comprising a filter (8) for filtering air pumped from the blowing means (5, 6),
A spacer (15) for preventing buckling deformation of the filter (8) is provided between the filter (8) and the cooling heat exchanger (9) for cooling when the air blowing means (5, 6) is operated. It is provided in the heat exchanger (9).

  According to the present invention, since the buckling deformation of the filter (8) occurs in the central portion of the ventilation passage in the air conditioning duct (3), the spacer (15) applied to this portion may be provided. Thereby, a spacer (15) can be reduced in size. Furthermore, by providing the spacer (15) on the cooling heat exchanger (9) side, it is possible to provide a highly versatile spacer (15) without requiring a special filter (8) frame.

  In the second aspect of the present invention, the spacer (15) is formed so that the front end surface protrudes to the upstream side of the air flow from the cooling heat exchanger (9), and the central portion of the filter (8) is formed. A plurality of supporting portions (15a) to be supported and mounting claws (15b) to be mounted between the fins (9a) of the cooling heat exchanger (9) are provided on the rear end side. .

  More specifically, according to the present invention, the spacer (15) can be reduced in size by providing the support portion (15a) that supports the central portion of the filter (8). Furthermore, since the spacer (15) can be provided in the cooling heat exchanger (9) by the mounting claws (15b), the spacer (15) having excellent versatility can be provided.

  In the invention according to claim 3, the spacer (15) is formed with an opening (15c) through which the blown air that has passed through the filter (8) flows between the support portions (15a). It is said. According to this invention, an increase in ventilation resistance can be suppressed.

  In the invention according to claim 4, the spacer (15) is formed with a protrusion (15e) in contact with the cooling heat exchanger (9) by forming the rear end surface so as to protrude downstream of the air flow. It is characterized by having. According to the present invention, the rear end surface of the spacer (15) is not in full contact, but is in partial contact with the cooling heat exchanger (9), so the cooling heat exchanger (9) and the spacer (15) It is possible to prevent stagnation of condensed water or dust at the boundary surface.

  The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that a plurality of spacers (15) are mounted on the cooling heat exchanger (9). According to the present invention, for example, when the longitudinal direction of the cooling heat exchanger (9) is long, it can be dealt with by applying the spacer (15) to a partial portion.

  In addition, the code | symbol in the bracket | parenthesis of each said means shows a corresponding relationship with the specific means of embodiment mentioned later.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, the vehicle air conditioner in 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated based on FIG. 1 thru | or FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of the air conditioning unit in the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external shape of the spacer in the present embodiment. 3rd is a partial enlarged view which shows schematic structure of the evaporator in this embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a mounting state of the spacer in the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the air conditioning unit 1, the ventilation system is roughly divided into two parts: a blower unit 2 and an air conditioning duct 3. The blower unit 2 is disposed offset from the central part to the passenger seat side in the lower part of the instrument panel (instrument panel) in the passenger compartment. On the other hand, the air conditioning duct 3 is provided below the instrument panel in the passenger compartment. Among these parts, it is arranged at a substantially central part in the vehicle left-right direction.

  The blower unit 2 is provided with an inside / outside air switching door 4 and a blower 5. The inside / outside air switching door 4 is a suction port switching means that is driven by an actuator (not shown) such as a servo motor to change the opening (so-called suction port mode) between the inside air introduction port 4a and the outside air introduction port 4b. .

  The inside air introduction port 4a is an introduction port for taking in vehicle interior air (inside air), and the outside air introduction port 4b is an introduction port for taking in vehicle interior air (outside air). The inside / outside air switching door 4 selectively opens and closes the inside air introduction port 4a and the outside air introduction port 4b according to the suction port mode. In the inside air mode, the inside / outside air switching door 4 opens the inside air introduction port 4a, and in the outside air mode, the outside air introduction port 4b is opened.

  The blower 5 is a blower that is driven to rotate by a blower motor 6 that is controlled by a blower motor drive circuit (not shown) to generate an air flow toward the vehicle interior in the air conditioning duct 3. That is, it is a blower that pumps the air sucked from the blower unit 2 to the air passage in the air conditioning duct 3. Here, the blower 5 and the blower motor 6 are referred to as blower means in the claims. The rotation speed of the blower 5 is determined according to the voltage applied to the blower motor 6 (blower voltage).

  A filter 8 is disposed on the upstream side of the air flow of the air conditioning duct 3. This filter 8 is provided for the purpose of removing dust and dirt in the air that is about to enter the air conditioning duct 3. The filter 8 filters the air blown from the blower 5. When the filter 8 is clogged, it is arranged so that it can be cleaned or replaced.

  Reference numeral 3b shown in FIG. 1 is a filter outlet, and the filter 8 can be removed from the filter outlet 3b when the filter 8 is cleaned or replaced. Further, the filter 8 is formed so that the filtration portion is alternately arranged in a mountain fold and a valley fold in order to increase the ventilation area of the filtration portion. The filter 8 is formed from, for example, a non-woven fabric of paper material or resin material.

  An evaporator 9 including a refrigeration cycle is provided on the downstream side of the air flow of the filter 8. Here, the refrigeration cycle includes a compressor, a condenser, a liquid receiver, an expansion valve, and the evaporator 9 (not shown). Then, by turning on an electromagnetic clutch (not shown), the compressor is driven and the refrigerant circulates in the refrigeration cycle.

  The evaporator 9 is a cooling heat exchanger that exchanges heat with the refrigerant that flows in the air passing through the air conditioning duct 3 and cools it. The code | symbol 3a shown in FIG. 1 is a drain hole, and discharges the condensed water which generate | occur | produced in the evaporator 9 outside. A heater core 11 is provided on the downstream side of the air flow of the evaporator 9. The heater core 11 is a heating heat exchanger that heats the air that has passed through the evaporator 9 by exchanging heat with engine cooling water.

  On the upstream side of the air flow of the heater core 11, a flat air mix door 10 that adjusts the mixing ratio of the cool air that flows around the heater core 11 and cool air flows through the heater core 11 and the warm air that flows through the heater core 11. Is rotatably arranged. The air mix door 10 is a blow temperature adjusting means that is driven by an actuator (not shown) such as a servo motor to adjust the blow temperature of the conditioned air blown into the vehicle interior.

  At the most downstream part of the air passage of the air conditioning duct 3, a defroster blowing opening 13a for blowing conditioned air toward the front window glass of the vehicle and a face blowing opening 13b for blowing conditioned air toward the upper body of the passenger And the foot blowing opening part 13c for blowing off an air-conditioning wind toward a passenger | crew's foot part is formed.

  A defroster door 12a, a face door 12b, and a foot door 12c are rotatably arranged on the upstream side of the outlet openings 13a, 13b, and 13c. These doors 12a, 12b, and 12c are blower outlet mode switching doors that are driven to rotate by an actuator (not shown) such as a common servomotor via a link mechanism (not shown).

  Further, the defroster outlet 13a is connected to a defroster outlet (not shown) provided in the vehicle via a defroster duct (not shown), and the temperature from the defroster outlet toward the inner surface of the front window glass of the vehicle. The conditioned air is blown out.

  The face outlet 13b is connected to a face outlet (not shown) provided in the vehicle via a face duct (not shown), and the conditioned air whose temperature is adjusted toward the upper body of the passenger from these face outlets. It is configured to blow out.

  The foot outlet 13c is provided with a foot passage (not shown) on each of the left and right side walls of the air conditioning duct 3, and a front seat foot passage (not shown) opens in the middle of the foot passage. ing. The front seat foot passage is configured to blow conditioned air toward the feet of the left and right passengers through a front seat foot duct (not shown) and a front seat foot outlet.

  Furthermore, a rear seat foot duct (not shown) and a rear seat foot outlet are connected to the end of the foot passage, and air conditioning is directed toward the feet of the left and right passengers through the rear seat foot outlet. It is configured to blow out the wind.

  By the way, a spacer 15 is mounted between the filter 8 and the evaporator 9 in the air conditioning duct 3 of the present embodiment. The spacer 15 has a function of a reinforcing member for the filter 8 that becomes a resistor when the blower motor 6 is operated.

  The filter 8 is bent toward the downstream side by the blowing pressure of the blower 5. In particular, when the outer shape of the filter 8 is held, the central portion of the filter 8 is bent so as to protrude toward the evaporator 9 in the vertical and horizontal directions. Therefore, in this embodiment, the spacer 8 is applied to (interfered with) the portion (part) where the filter 8 is easily bent to prevent buckling of the filter 8.

  That is, the spacer 8 is reinforced by the spacer 15 only in a portion where the filter 8 is easily bent. The spacer 15 is attached to the front side of the evaporator 9 corresponding to the portion where the filter 8 is easily bent. The spacer 15 of this embodiment has an external shape as shown in FIG. The overall shape of the spacer 15 is formed in a lattice shape when viewed from the front. Furthermore, the tip side is formed into a convex curved surface when viewed from above.

  The spacer 15 is formed so that the front end surface protrudes to the upstream side of the air flow from the evaporator 9. This front end surface is the support portion 15a, and supports the surface of the portion of the filter 8 that is easily bent when the blower motor 6 is operated. Further, an opening 15c is formed between the support portions 15a for circulating the air blown from the blower 5. The outer peripheral edge of the opening 15c is the support 15a, and is formed with an appropriate plate thickness.

  On the rear end side, two mounting claws 15b are provided on the upper and lower sides. As shown in FIG. 3, the mounting claws 15 b are mounted between the fins 9 a disposed between the tubes 9 b of the evaporator 9. As shown in FIG. 4, the spacer 15 is mounted by inserting the mounting claws 15 b from the front side of the evaporator 9 between the fins 9 a.

  At this time, the rear end surface of the spacer 15 is brought into close contact with the front surface side of the evaporator 9. Thereby, the support part 15a at the front end protrudes to the upstream side of the air flow from the evaporator 9. The protruding height of the support portion 15a is determined by an appropriate dimension. In addition, when there are several portions where the filter 8 is easily bent, a plurality of spacers 15 may be disposed at the corresponding positions. The spacer 15 is formed of a resin material or a rubber material having excellent processability.

  Next, the operation of the air conditioning unit 1 having the above configuration will be described. By operating the blower motor 6, the blower 5 is rotated. The filter 8 filters dust and dirt in the blown air that is pumped from the blower 5. The evaporator 9 cools the air filtered by the filter 8.

  At this time, the filter 8 tends to bend toward the downstream side due to the blowing pressure from the blower 5, but the surface of the filter 8 interferes with the support portion 15 a of the spacer 15, and the bending is suppressed. Thereby, the buckling deformation of the filter 8 can be prevented. Moreover, the distance of the space between the filter 8 and the evaporator 9 can be maintained.

  According to the vehicle air conditioner of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration, the buckling deformation of the filter 8 generally occurs in the central portion of the ventilation passage in the air conditioning duct 3. Therefore, the buckling deformation of the filter 8 can be prevented by providing the spacer 15 at a place where the filter 8 is easily bent, that is, a place where the filter 15 is easily deformed. Moreover, the spacer 15 can be reduced in size.

  Furthermore, by providing the spacer 15 on the evaporator 9 side, a dedicated frame for holding the filter 8 is not required, and the spacer 15 having excellent versatility can be provided. In addition, since the opening 15c through which the blown air that has passed through the filter 8 flows is formed between the support portions 15a in the spacer 15, an increase in ventilation resistance can be suppressed.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment described above, the opening 15c is formed in the spacer 15. However, the spacer 15 may have a plurality of support portions 15a without providing the opening 15c. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the external shape of the spacer in the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the spacer 15 of the present embodiment has a support portion 15a formed on one end surface of a flat plate-like substrate portion 15d and a mounting claw 15b formed on the other end surface. The support portion 15a protrudes outward from the substrate portion 15d. Here, a plurality of (for example, four) support portions 15a are provided. The other end surface side of the substrate portion 15 d is attached to the front surface side of the evaporator 9.

  Even in the spacer 15 having the above-described configuration, the support portion 15a can support a portion where the filter 8 is easily bent. Therefore, the spacer 15 can be further downsized, and the spacer 15 having excellent versatility can be provided.

(Third embodiment)
In the present embodiment, the contact surface between the spacer 15 and the evaporator 9 is formed to be small. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the configuration of the spacer in the present embodiment. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the spacer 15 of the present embodiment has a protrusion 15 e on the rear end surface. That is, the protrusion 15e that is brought into contact with the evaporator 9 is formed.

  A two-dot chain line shown in FIG. 6 is a contact surface between the spacer 15 and the evaporator 9. By forming the protrusion 15e, the contact area between the spacer 15 and the evaporator 9 is reduced. As a result, retention of condensed water adhering to the evaporator 9 can be prevented. Further, a curved surface portion 15 f is formed at the corner portion on the front end side of the spacer 15. Thereby, it can take out and remove easily at the time of attachment or detachment of the filter 8.

(Other embodiments)
In the above embodiment, the spacer 15 is formed of a resin material or a rubber material. However, since the mounting claw 15b is mounted on the evaporator 9, it may be formed of a material having a low charge that causes sacrificial corrosion. According to this, corrosion of the spacer 15 can be reduced.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the air-conditioning unit part in 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance shape of the spacer in 1st Embodiment. It is a partial enlarged view which shows schematic structure of the evaporator in 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the mounting state of the spacer in 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the spacer in 2nd Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the structure of the spacer in 3rd Embodiment. It is AA sectional drawing shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows reinforcement of the filter in a prior art. It is explanatory drawing which shows the support of the filter in a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

3. Air conditioning duct 5. Blower (air blowing means)
6. Blower motor (blower means)
8 ... Filter 9 ... Evaporator (cooling heat exchanger)
9a ... fin 15 ... spacer 15a ... support 15b ... mounting claw 15c ... opening 15e ... projection

Claims (5)

An air conditioning duct (3) forming an air passage;
Air blowing means (5, 6) for pumping air into the air conditioning duct (3);
A cooling heat exchanger (9) that is disposed in the air conditioning duct (3) and cools the air pumped from the blowing means (5, 6);
In the vehicle air conditioner provided with a filter (8) arranged on the upstream side of the air flow of the cooling heat exchanger (9) and for filtering the air pumped from the air blowing means (5, 6),
A spacer (15) for preventing buckling deformation of the filter (8) between the filter (8) and the cooling heat exchanger (9) when the air blowing means (5, 6) is operated. Is provided in the cooling heat exchanger (9).   The spacer (15) has a plurality of support portions that are formed so that the front end surface protrudes to the upstream side of the air flow from the cooling heat exchanger (9) and supports the central portion of the filter (8). The mounting claw (15b) to be mounted between the fins (9a) of the cooling heat exchanger (9) is provided on the rear end side thereof (15a). Vehicle air conditioner.   The opening (15c) through which the blown air that has passed through the filter (8) flows is formed between the support portions (15a) in the spacer (15). The vehicle air conditioner described.   The spacer (15) is formed with a protrusion (15e) in contact with the cooling heat exchanger (9) by forming the rear end surface so as to protrude downstream of the air flow. The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a plurality of the spacers (15) are attached to the cooling heat exchanger (9).

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