JP2017159686A - Cold air unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cold air unit which can be miniaturized while being fixed to a ceiling.SOLUTION: A cold air unit includes brackets 85 and 87, an evaporator 2, centrifugal fans 301 to 304 and a case. The evaporator 2 is arranged to face the brackets in a Z direction. The evaporator 2 has a pair of side blades 23 and 24 at both ends in an X direction crossing the Z direction. The pair of side blades 23 and 24 are fixed to the brackets 85 and 87 with bolts 71 and 76 to be screw members having the Z direction as an axial direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a cold air unit that is installed on a ceiling of a vehicle and supplies cooled air into a vehicle interior.

  Vehicle air conditioners that are mounted on vehicles and supply air into the passenger compartment are widely used. In such a vehicle air conditioner, it is possible to adjust the temperature in the vehicle interior to a comfortable value by blowing the temperature-adjusted air into the vehicle interior.

  Patent Document 1 listed below describes a vehicle air conditioner including a refrigeration cycle including a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, and the like. In the refrigeration cycle, the refrigerant is circulated and the refrigerant is repeatedly compressed and expanded. The temperature of the air blown into the passenger compartment is adjusted by exchanging heat with the refrigerant of the refrigeration cycle.

  The vehicle air conditioner described in Patent Literature 1 below has an evaporator unit installed on the ceiling of the vehicle. An evaporator and a blower are arranged inside the evaporator unit. The blower circulates the air in the passenger compartment and passes the air through the evaporator. The air passing through the evaporator is cooled by exchanging heat with the refrigerant flowing inside the evaporator. The vehicle air conditioner described in Patent Document 1 described below cools the vehicle interior by supplying the vehicle interior with air whose temperature has been lowered by such heat exchange. In general, the evaporator is fixed to the ceiling of the vehicle via a bracket that is a metal member.

JP 2010-274828 A

  As an evaporator used for an evaporator unit, for example, an evaporator composed of a tubular tube through which a refrigerant flows and plate-shaped fins is known. The fin is a component that expands the effective area for heat exchange between the refrigerant flowing inside the tube and the air flowing outside the tube. In order to promote heat exchange between the refrigerant and the air, the evaporator is provided with a large number of fins. For this reason, the weight of an evaporator becomes large.

  When the evaporator having such a large weight is fixed to the ceiling of the vehicle by the bracket, the bracket is required to have high rigidity. For this reason, there exists a possibility that the shape of a bracket may become complicated or a bracket may enlarge. As a result, there has been a problem that the evaporator unit is increased in size, and the space occupied by the evaporator unit in the passenger compartment is increased.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a subject, The objective is to provide the cold wind unit which can achieve size reduction, fixing to a ceiling.

  In order to solve the above problems, a cold wind unit according to the present invention is a cold wind unit (15) that is installed on a ceiling (120) of a vehicle (100) and supplies cooled air into a passenger compartment (110). The brackets (85, 87) fixed to the ceiling and the brackets (85, 87) are arranged to face the brackets in the first direction, and the refrigerant is allowed to flow inside, and heat exchange is performed between the passing air and the refrigerant. An evaporator (2) that cools the vehicle, a fan (301 to 304) that sucks air in the passenger compartment and blows out the air, a case (4) that houses the fan and guides the air blown out by the fan to the evaporator, . The evaporator has a pair of side plates (23, 24) at both ends in a second direction intersecting the first direction. The pair of side plates are fixed to the bracket by screw members (71, 76) whose axial direction is the first direction.

  In this configuration, the evaporator has a pair of side plates at both ends in the second direction intersecting the first direction. The pair of side plates are fixed to the bracket by a screw member whose axial direction is the first direction. Therefore, if the bracket is fixed to the ceiling of the vehicle and the cold air unit is installed so that the first direction is the vertical direction, the evaporator is fixed to the upper bracket by a screw member having the vertical direction as the axial direction. The That is, according to this configuration, the evaporator is fixed so as to be suspended from the bracket by the screw member, so that there is no need to arrange the bracket around the evaporator in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction of the vehicle. As a result, it is possible to reduce the size of the cold air unit.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cold air unit that can be downsized while being fixed to a ceiling.

It is a mimetic diagram showing vehicles equipped with a cold wind unit concerning an embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the refrigerating cycle which the vehicle of FIG. 1 mounts. It is a perspective view which shows the cold wind unit of FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the inside of the cold wind unit of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which decomposed | disassembled the cold wind unit of FIG. It is a side view which shows the state which removed the lower case of the cold wind unit of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate the understanding of the description, the same constituent elements in the drawings will be denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and redundant description will be omitted.

  First, an outline of the cold air unit 15 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the cold air unit 15 is mounted on the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 is referred to as a microbus or a minibus, and is a moving body that runs using an engine (not shown) as a prime mover. The cold air unit 15 is installed on the ceiling 120 in the passenger compartment 110.

  As will be described later, the cool air unit 15 sucks the air in the passenger compartment 110 and supplies the air into the passenger compartment 110 after cooling the air. The air in the passenger compartment 110 circulates through the cold air unit 15 to lower the temperature, and as a result, the passenger compartment 110 is cooled.

  For easy understanding, as shown in FIG. 1, the forward direction of the vehicle 100 is the Y direction, the right direction when the occupant is facing the Y direction is the X direction, and the vertically upward direction is the Z direction. This will be described using orthogonal coordinates. In FIG. 3 and subsequent figures, those corresponding to the orthogonal coordinates are used.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cold air unit 15 constitutes a part of the vehicle air conditioner 10 mounted on the vehicle 100. The vehicle air conditioner 10 is an apparatus that cools the interior of the passenger compartment 110 by cooling air using the refrigeration cycle 11 (hereinafter, the cooled air is also referred to as “cold air”).

  The refrigeration cycle 11 includes a compressor 12, a condenser 13, an expansion valve 14, and an evaporator 2. The compressor 12, the condenser 13, the expansion valve 14, and the evaporator 2 are connected in a ring shape via a refrigerant pipe 19.

  The compressor 12 is a fluid device that compresses a fluid. The compressor 12 is disposed in the engine room of the vehicle 100. The compressor 12 is driven by receiving the output of an engine or an electric motor (not shown). The refrigerant in the refrigerant pipe 19 is compressed by driving the compressor 12 and is supplied to the condenser 13 in a relatively high temperature and high pressure state.

  The condenser 13 is a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the refrigerant flowing inside and the air. The condenser 13 is disposed in a portion of the engine room of the vehicle 100 where air taken in when the vehicle 100 travels is easily supplied. The condenser 13 cools the refrigerant by causing heat exchange between the air and the refrigerant supplied from the compressor 12 to condense and liquefy the refrigerant.

  The expansion valve 14 is a device that receives supply of refrigerant from the condenser 13 and expands the refrigerant. The temperature of the refrigerant passing through the expansion valve 14 decreases due to the expansion.

  The evaporator 2 is a heat exchanger having a plurality of tubes (not shown) and a plurality of fins 25 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Each tube is a tubular member, and a flow path is formed therein. Each fin 25 is a plate-like member and is formed of a metal material. The evaporator 2 is configured by disposing a plurality of such fins 25 at intervals in the X direction and disposing tubes so as to penetrate the fins 25. The evaporator 2 is configured to receive supply of refrigerant from the expansion valve 14 and to flow the refrigerant through the flow path in the tube.

  The cold air unit 15 includes the evaporator 2 as a part of its configuration. In addition to the evaporator 2, the cold air unit 15 includes centrifugal fans 301 to 304 and a case 4.

  The centrifugal fans 301 to 304 are all blowers having a plurality of blades (not shown). Centrifugal fans 301 to 304 are connected to an output shaft of an electric motor (not shown). When the electric motor is driven to rotate, the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 suction and blow out air in the passenger compartment 110.

  The case 4 is a casing of the cold air unit 15 and a space is formed therein. The case 4 accommodates the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 and the evaporator 2 therein. As will be described later, the inside of the case 4 is configured to guide the air blown out by the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 to the evaporator 2.

  One end of ducts D <b> 1 to D <b> 4 is connected to the case 4. Each of the ducts D1 to D4 is a tubular member, and a flow path is formed therein. The other ends of the ducts D <b> 1 to D <b> 4 are arranged at different positions in the passenger compartment 110.

  The centrifugal fans 301 to 304 blow out, and the air guided to the one end 21 of the evaporator 2 by the case 4 flows between the adjacent fins 25 of the evaporator 2. When the air flows between the fins 25, the air exchanges heat with the refrigerant flowing through the flow path in the tube via the tube wall of the tube. At this time, the fins 25 arranged between adjacent tubes function to increase the area in which the refrigerant and air exchange heat and promote the heat exchange.

  As described above, the refrigerant that passes through the expansion valve 14 and is supplied to the evaporator 2 has a relatively low temperature. For this reason, the air flowing between the adjacent tubes of the evaporator 2 is cooled by heat exchange with the refrigerant, and the temperature thereof decreases. On the other hand, the refrigerant flowing through the flow path in the tube evaporates with heat reception during heat exchange. The air that flows between the adjacent tubes flows out from the other end 22 of the evaporator 2.

  In this manner, the air blown out by the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 becomes cold air by passing through the evaporator 2 from the one end portion 21 to the other end portion 22. The cold air is distributed from the case 4 and flows out, and flows into the ducts D1 to D4. Further, the cold air flows through the flow paths in the ducts D1 to D4 and is supplied to different positions in the vehicle compartment 110 from the other ends, whereby the vehicle interior 110 is cooled.

  Next, the configuration of the cold air unit 15 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the case 4 is divided into an upper case 5 and a lower case 6 made of a resin material. The upper case 5 and the lower case 6 are configured to form a space between them by connecting their peripheral edges in the Z direction. The lower case 6 is configured to be detachable from the upper case 5. FIG. 4 is a top view of the cold air unit 15 in which the illustration of the upper case 5 is omitted.

  The case 4 has an evaporator housing portion 4A and a fan housing portion 4B.

  The evaporator accommodating portion 4A is a portion that accommodates the evaporator 2 therein. The outer shape of the evaporator 2 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. As shown in FIG. 4, the evaporator 2 has an evaporator housing portion so that the longitudinal direction thereof is along the X direction, one end portion 21 thereof is directed in the Y direction, and the other end portion 22 is directed in the −Y direction. 4A. That is, the evaporator 2 is accommodated so that air can pass through in the -Y direction.

  A pair of side plates 23 and 24 are provided at both ends in the X direction of the evaporator 2. Each of the side plates 23 and 24 is a member formed so as to have a U-shaped cross section by bending a metal plate material. Tongue pieces 231 and 241 protrude from the side plates 23 and 24, respectively. The tongue pieces 231 and 241 are formed with holes 232 and 242 penetrating in the Z direction.

  Air outlets 411 to 414 are independently formed at the end of the evaporator housing portion 4A in the -Y direction. The blower outlets 411 to 414 are openings that communicate the inside and outside of the evaporator housing portion 4 </ b> A, and are formed at positions facing the evaporator 2. The ducts D1 to D4 described above are connected to the air outlets 411 to 414, but they are not shown in FIGS.

  The fan accommodating portion 4B is a portion that accommodates the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 therein. In the fan accommodating portion 4B, the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 are arranged in a straight line along the X direction and are arranged adjacent to the evaporator 2 in the Y direction. Moreover, as FIG. 4 shows, the centrifugal fans 301-304 are arrange | positioned so that each rotating shaft 311-314 follows a Z direction. As shown in FIG. 3, orifices 51 to 54 are independently formed at portions corresponding to the suction ports 321 to 324 (see FIG. 4) of the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 on the outer surface of the upper case 5. Yes. The orifices 51 to 54 are openings that communicate between the inside and outside of the fan housing portion 4B.

  The centrifugal fans 301 to 304 are all fixed to the upper case 5. On the other hand, the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 are covered by the lower case 6 but are not fixed to the lower case 6.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cold air unit 15 has brackets 85 to 87. The brackets 85 to 87 are plate-like members formed of a metal material. Further, the brackets 85 to 87 are disposed so as to be spaced apart from each other in the X direction and the longitudinal direction thereof is along the Y direction, and are fixed to the end surface on the Z direction side of the evaporator accommodating portion 4A. The cool air unit 15 is installed in the passenger compartment 110 by fixing the brackets 85 to 87 from the passenger compartment 110 to the ceiling 120.

  Subsequently, the configuration in the case 4 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 4, the case 4 includes scroll portions 421 to 424 and guide portions 431 to 434.

  The scroll portions 421 to 424 are portions where the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 are respectively disposed. The scroll portions 421 to 424 are defined by a scroll wall 611 to 614 of the lower case 6 and a wall body of the upper case 5 (not shown) connected to the scroll walls 611 to 614, respectively. Each of the scroll walls 611 to 614 is a thin plate-like wall body that is curved, and is arranged such that an inner surface thereof forms a gap with the outer peripheral surface of the centrifugal fans 301 to 304. Moreover, the clearance gap formed between the centrifugal fans 301-304 and the inner surface of the scroll walls 611-614 becomes large gradually along the rotation direction of the centrifugal fans 301-304.

  The guide portions 431 to 434 are portions that are provided so as to be adjacent to the scroll portions 421 to 424 in the X direction and form a flow path for guiding air. The guide portions 431 to 434 are defined by the guide walls 621 to 624 of the lower case 6 and the wall of the upper case 5 (not shown) connected to the guide walls 621 to 624, respectively. Each of the guide walls 621 to 624 is a thin plate-like wall body, and is formed so as to extend from the end portion of the scroll walls 611 to 614 on the −X direction side in the −X direction and the −Y direction.

  Each flow path formed by the guide portions 431 to 434 has the downstream ends 441 to 444 facing the evaporator 2. Moreover, the cross-sectional area of each flow path is formed so that it may become large from the scroll parts 421-424 side to the downstream ends 441-444 side.

  In the lower case 6, partition walls 631 to 633 are formed at portions corresponding to the downstream ends 441 to 444 of the guide portions 431 to 434. The partition walls 631 to 633 are wall bodies formed so as to protrude from the scroll walls 611 to 613 in the −Y direction and straddle the guide portions 431 to 434 in the Z direction. The downstream ends 441 to 444 are partitioned from each other in the X direction by the partition walls 631 to 633.

  Subsequently, the flow of air in the case 4 will be described.

  When an electric motor (not shown) is driven to rotate, centrifugal fans 301 to 304 connected to the output shaft rotate about the rotating shafts 311 to 314. The rotating centrifugal fans 301 to 304 blow out air outward in the radial direction. Along with this, negative pressure is generated at the suction ports 321 to 324 of the centrifugal fans 301 to 304, and the air in the passenger compartment 110 is sucked into the case 4 via the orifices 51 to 54 (see FIG. 3).

  The air that has flowed into the suction ports 321 to 324 via the orifices 51 to 54 is blown out into a gap formed between the outer peripheral surface of the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 and the inner surface of the scroll walls 611 to 614. The air flows along the inner surfaces of the scroll walls 611 to 614 in the direction in which the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 rotate. That is, air swirls in the scroll portions 421 to 424.

  The air that has passed through the scroll portions 421 to 424 then flows into the guide portions 431 to 434 adjacent to the scroll portions 421 to 424. While the air flows through the guide portions 431 to 434, the traveling direction is gradually changed in the -Y direction.

  The air flowing through the guide portions 431 to 434 is discharged from the respective downstream ends 441 to 444 and flows into the evaporator accommodating portion 4A. The air is supplied to one end portion 21 of the evaporator 2 and passes through the evaporator 2 as described above to become cold air.

  Subsequently, the installation of the cold air unit 15 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the cold air unit 15 is disassembled, and illustration of the lower case 6 is omitted. FIG. 6 is a side view of the cold air unit 15 and shows a state where the cold air unit 15 is installed on the ceiling 120 and the lower case 6 is removed. In FIG. 6, the illustration of the ceiling 120 is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the bracket 85 is formed with two holes 85a penetrating in the Z direction. Similarly, two holes 86 a are formed in the bracket 86, and two holes 87 a are also formed in the bracket 87.

  In the bracket 85, holes 85b and 85c are formed at a portion between the two holes 85a. Each of the holes 85b and 85c is formed in a portion corresponding to the upper case 5 and penetrates the bracket 85 in the Z direction. Similarly, holes 86b and 86c are formed in the bracket 86, and holes 87b and 87c are also formed in the bracket 87.

  The bolts 71 and 72 are inserted into the holes 85b and 85c of the bracket 85. Each of the bolts 71 and 72 is a screw member in which a male screw portion is formed. By inserting the bolts 71 and 72 into the holes 85b and 85c, the axial direction thereof becomes a direction along the Z direction.

  Holes 561 to 566 that pass through the upper case 5 in the Z direction are formed on the end surface on the Z direction side of the upper case 5. The bolt 71 inserted into the hole 85b of the bracket 85 is screwed into the hole 561, and the bolt 72 inserted into the hole 85c is screwed into the hole 562. Thereby, the bracket 85 is fixed to the upper case 5.

  When the male screw portion of the bolt 71 protrudes from the −Z direction side end surface of the upper case 5, the male screw portion is screwed into a hole 232 formed in the side plate 23 of the evaporator 2. Thereby, the side plate 23 is fixed to the bracket 85 via the upper case 5.

  The bolts 73 and 74 are inserted into the holes 86b and 86c of the bracket 86. Each of the bolts 73 and 74 is a screw member in which a male screw portion is formed. By inserting the bolts 73 and 74 into the holes 86b and 86c, the axial direction thereof becomes a direction along the Z direction.

  The bolt 73 inserted into the hole 86 b of the bracket 86 is screwed into the hole 563 of the upper case 5, and the bolt 74 inserted into the hole 86 c is screwed into the hole 564 of the upper case 5. Thereby, the bracket 86 is fixed to the upper case 5.

  The bolts 75 and 76 are inserted into the holes 87b and 87c of the bracket 87. Each of the bolts 75 and 76 is a screw member in which a male screw portion is formed. By inserting the bolts 75 and 76 into the holes 87b and 87c, the axial direction thereof becomes a direction along the Z direction.

  The bolt 75 inserted into the hole 87 b of the bracket 87 is screwed into the hole 565 of the upper case 5, and the bolt 76 inserted into the hole 87 c is screwed into the hole 566 of the upper case 5. Thereby, the bracket 87 is fixed to the upper case 5.

  When the male screw portion of the bolt 76 protrudes from the −Z direction side end surface of the upper case 5, the male screw portion is screwed into a hole 242 formed in the side plate 24 of the evaporator 2. Thereby, the side plate 24 is fixed to the bracket 87 via the case 5.

  Bolts (not shown) are inserted into the holes 85a, 86a and 87a formed in the brackets 85 to 87 from the −Z direction side. The bolt is screwed to a member having a relatively large rigidity, such as a steel plate constituting the ceiling 120. The cold air unit 15 is installed on the ceiling 120 by fastening using such bolts.

  The lower case 6 of the case 4 is configured to be detachable from the upper case 5 in a state where the brackets 85 to 87 are fastened to the ceiling 120. As shown by the arrow A in FIG. 6, when the lower case 6 is detached from the upper case 5, the internal evaporator 2 and the fans 301 to 304 are exposed.

  As described above, the evaporator 2 and the upper case 5 are fixed to the brackets 85 and 87. Further, the fans 301 to 304 are fixed to the upper case 5. For this reason, when the lower case 6 is detached from the upper case 5, the evaporator 2 and the fans 301 to 304 suspended from the brackets 85 and 87 are exposed.

  As described above, in the cold air unit 15 according to the present embodiment, the evaporator 2 has the pair of side plates 23 and 24 at both ends in the X direction intersecting the Z direction. The pair of side plates 23 and 24 are fixed to the brackets 85 and 87 by bolts 71 and 76 whose axial direction is the Z direction. Therefore, if the brackets 85 and 87 are fixed to the ceiling 120 of the vehicle 100 and the cold air unit 15 is installed so that the Z direction is the vertical direction, the evaporator 2 is secured by the bolts 71 and 76 having the vertical direction as the axial direction. It is fixed to the upper brackets 85 and 87. That is, according to this configuration, the evaporator 2 is fixed so as to be suspended from the brackets 85 and 87 by the bolts 71 and 76, so that the evaporator 2 is disposed around the evaporator 2 in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction of the vehicle 100. There is no need to place brackets. As a result, it is possible to reduce the size of the cold air unit 15.

  The case 4 is sandwiched and fixed between the brackets 85 and 87 and the side plates 23 and 24 in the Z direction. According to this configuration, the evaporator 2 and the case 4 can be fixed to the brackets 85 and 87 simultaneously by the bolts 71 and 76.

  The case 4 has an upper case 5 and a lower case 6 that are divided in the Z direction. The upper case 5 is sandwiched and fixed between the brackets 85 and 87 and the side plates 23 and 24 in the Z direction. The lower case 6 is configured to be detachable from the upper case 5. According to this configuration, while the upper case 5 and the evaporator 2 are fixed to the ceiling 120, the lower case 6 can be detached from the upper case 5 and the evaporator 2 can be exposed for inspection and repair. Therefore, it is possible to perform an inspection operation of the evaporator 2 without a load such as removal and movement of the heavy evaporator 2.

  Further, the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 are fixed to the upper case 5. According to this configuration, by removing the lower case 6 from the upper case 5, it is possible to expose the centrifugal fans 301 to 304 and perform inspection and repair.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present invention is not limited to these specific examples. In other words, those specific examples that have been appropriately modified by those skilled in the art are also included in the scope of the present invention as long as they have the characteristics of the present invention. Each element provided in each of the specific examples described above and its arrangement, material, condition, shape, size, and the like are not limited to those illustrated, but can be changed as appropriate.

2: Evaporator 4: Case 5: Upper case (first case)
6: Lower case (second case)
15: Cold air unit 23, 24: Side plates 71-76: Bolt (screw member)
85-87: Bracket 100: Vehicle 110: Vehicle compartment 120: Ceiling 301-304: Centrifugal fan (fan)

Claims (4)

A cold air unit (15) installed on a ceiling (120) of a vehicle (100) and supplying cooled air into a passenger compartment (110),
Brackets (85, 87) fixed to the ceiling;
An evaporator (2) that is disposed to face the bracket in the first direction, and causes the refrigerant to flow inside, and heat exchange between the passing air and the refrigerant to cool the air;
Fans (301 to 304) for sucking air in the passenger compartment and blowing out the air;
A case (4) for housing the fan and guiding the air blown out by the fan to the evaporator;
The evaporator has a pair of side plates (23, 24) at both ends in a second direction intersecting the first direction,
The pair of side plates is a cold air unit fixed to the bracket by screw members (71, 76) having the first direction as an axial direction.   The cold air unit according to claim 1, wherein the case is sandwiched and fixed between the bracket and the side plate in the first direction. The case has a first case (5) and a second case (6) divided in the first direction,
The first case is sandwiched and fixed between the bracket and the side plate in the first direction,
The cold air unit according to claim 2, wherein the second case is configured to be detachable from the first case.   The cold air unit according to claim 3, wherein the fan is fixed to the first case.

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