JP2018109383A - Centrifugal blower - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress relative displacement of a separation cylinder and its peripheral components in accompany with vibration and the like without degrading performance, in a single suction-type centrifugal blower for a vehicle.SOLUTION: A plurality of ribs (40A, 40B, 40C) for crosslinking a separation cylinder (14) and a scroll housing (17) are disposed in a suction port (22). Each rib has an inner end (41), an outer end (42), a front edge (43) and a rear edge (44). The inner end is connected to the separation cylinder, the outer end is connected to the scroll housing, the rear edge is extended to an internal space side of the scroll housing between the separation cylinder and the scroll housing, and the front edge is extended to a side opposite to the rear edge between the separation cylinder and the scroll housing. Each rib is inclined to a meridian cross section of a centrifugal blower so that at least one of that the inner end is located on an angular position advancing from the outer end in a rotating direction of an impeller, and that the rear edge is located on an angular position advancing from the front edge in the rotating direction of the impeller.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2A

Description

  The present invention relates to a centrifugal blower for a two-layer flow type vehicle air conditioner.

  In the field of vehicle air conditioners, two-layer flow type vehicle air conditioners are known. This type of air conditioner includes two air passages that are separated from each other, that is, a first air passage and a second air passage, and a single centrifugal fan that causes air to flow through these two air passages. The centrifugal blower has a scroll housing and an air intake housing for taking in air sent to the scroll housing.

  The centrifugal blower has a separation cylinder inserted into a space in the radial direction of the suction port of the scroll housing and the blade row of the impeller (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). The space between the radially outer side of the blade row of the impeller and the scroll housing is vertically divided by the separation wall, and thereby the second air passage communicating with the first air passage and the second air passage communicating with the first air passage. An air flow path is formed. The separation cylinder flows into the first air flow path after the first air flow flowing through the first passage outside the separation cylinder is introduced into the upper half of the blade row, and flows through the second passage inside the separation cylinder. The second air flow is provided so as to flow into the second air flow path after being introduced into the lower half of the blade row.

  In the centrifugal blowers of Patent Documents 1 and 2, the separation cylinder is restrained by the air intake housing only at the inlet end portion, and the other portions are not restrained by anything. The separation cylinder vibrates due to vibration during traveling of the vehicle or due to air flowing around the separation cylinder at a large flow rate. As a result, the outlet end of the separation cylinder and the blade row of the impeller There is a possibility that both of them contact with each other due to relative displacement. For this reason, it is difficult to reduce the gap between the outlet end of the separation cylinder and the blade row of the impeller (this affects the separation performance between the first air flow and the second air flow).

JP 2004-132342 A International Publication WO2015 / 082436 Pamphlet

  The present invention provides a configuration that can suppress relative displacement between a separation cylinder and its surrounding parts due to vibration or the like without impairing the performance of a centrifugal blower in a single suction centrifugal blower for a vehicle. It is aimed.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the motor has a plurality of blades forming a circumferential blade row, and is driven to rotate around the rotation axis by the motor, and is radially inward of the blade row from one end side in the axial direction. An impeller that blows out the air sucked into the outer space radially outward, an internal space that houses the impeller, a suction opening that opens on one end side in the axial direction, and a discharge opening that opens in the circumferential direction. A first air flow path by dividing the inner space of the scroll housing, the area between the inner peripheral surface of the scroll housing and the outer peripheral surface of the impeller, and the inner space of the discharge port in the axial direction. And a partition wall that forms a second air flow path, and a separation cylinder that extends in the axial direction through the radially inner side of the suction port and the radially inner side of the blade row of the impeller, and is sucked into the scroll housing from the suction port Air flow The first air flow is provided so as to be divided into a first air flow passing through the outer side of the separation cylinder and a second air flow passing through the inner side of the separation cylinder, and the first air flow is turned radially outward. At least one for taking in the outside air of the vehicle, and having an outlet-side end portion that guides the road and turns the second air flow outward in the radial direction to guide the second air flow to the second air flow path Two outside air introduction ports and at least one inside air introduction port for taking in the inside air of the vehicle, and the outside air taken in from the outside air introduction port flows outside the separation tube and the inside air taken in from the inside air introduction port is separated into the separation tube Single-suction centrifugal blower for vehicles comprising an air intake housing configured to be able to flow inside and a plurality of ribs provided in the suction port to bridge the scroll housing and the separation cylinder Is provided.
Each rib has an inner end, an outer end, a front edge, and a rear edge, the inner end is connected to the separation cylinder, the outer end is connected to the scroll housing, and the rear edge is a scroll between the separation cylinder and the scroll housing. It extends to the inner space side of the housing, and the front edge extends to the opposite side of the rear edge between the separation cylinder and the scroll housing.
Each of the ribs has an inner end at an angular position advanced in the impeller rotational direction from the outer end, and a rear edge at an angular position advanced in the impeller rotational direction from the front edge. It is inclined with respect to the meridional section of the centrifugal blower so as to satisfy at least one of them.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention, since the scroll housing and the separation cylinder are bridged by the plurality of ribs provided in the suction port, the separation cylinder and the surrounding parts are separated when the separation cylinder vibrates. Relative displacement can be suppressed. Further, each rib has an inner end at an angular position advanced in the impeller rotational direction from the outer end, and a rear edge at an angular position advanced in the impeller rotational direction from the front edge, Since it inclines with respect to the meridional section of the centrifugal blower so as to satisfy at least one of them, it is possible to prevent the rib from obstructing the flow of air passing through the suction port of the scroll housing outside the separation cylinder. .

It is a longitudinal section containing a meridional section of a centrifugal blower concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing along the II-II line in FIG. 1, Comprising: It is sectional drawing which shows the 1st form of a rib. It is a schematic sectional drawing similar to FIG. 2A which shows the 2nd form of a rib. It is a schematic sectional drawing similar to FIG. 2A which shows the 3rd form of a rib. It is the schematic which shows the flow of the air which flows in into a scroll housing from the suction inlet of a scroll housing in the outer side of a separation cylinder. It is a schematic side view which shows the rib of the 1st form seen from the radial direction outer side. It is a schematic side view which shows the rib of the 2nd form seen from the radial direction outer side. It is a schematic side view which shows the rib of the 3rd form seen from the radial direction outer side. It is the schematic which shows the structure at the time of dividing | segmenting a separation cylinder into two or more parts. It is the schematic which shows the other structure at the time of dividing | segmenting a separation cylinder into two or more parts.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG.1 and FIG.2 is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the vicinity of the air intake part and centrifugal blower of an air conditioner for vehicles.

  The centrifugal blower 1 is a single suction centrifugal blower. The centrifugal blower 1 has an impeller 2. The impeller 2 has a plurality of blades 3 forming a blade row 3A arranged in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral portion thereof. The impeller 2 is driven to rotate about the rotation axis Ax by the motor 13, and the air sucked from the upper side in the axial direction (one end side in the axial direction) into the radially inner space of the blade row of the impeller 2 is directed outward in the radial direction. And blow out.

  In this specification, for convenience of explanation, the direction of the rotation axis Ax is referred to as the axial direction or the vertical direction, and the upper side and the lower side in FIGS. 1 and 2 are respectively referred to as “axially upper side” and “axially lower side”. Call. However, this does not mean that the direction of the rotation axis Ax coincides with the vertical direction when the air conditioner is actually incorporated in a vehicle. In the present specification, unless otherwise noted, the direction of the radius of a circle drawn on a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis Ax around an arbitrary point on the rotation axis Ax is referred to as a radial direction. The circumferential direction of the circle is called the circumferential direction or the circumferential direction. Further, “Fr” shown in FIG. 2 indicates the front of the vehicle, “Rr” indicates the rear of the vehicle, “R” indicates the right side of the vehicle, and “L” indicates the left side of the vehicle for convenience. However, this does not mean that the air blown out from the discharge port 170 of the centrifugal blower is directed to the right in the vehicle left-right direction.

  The impeller 2 includes an inner deflection member 9 formed integrally with the impeller 2. The inner deflection member 9 is sometimes called a cone portion. The inner deflection member 9 is a rotating body in a geometric sense, and has a side peripheral portion 10 and a disc-shaped central portion 11. In the central portion 11, the rotating shaft 12 of the motor 13 is connected to the impeller 2. In this example, the side peripheral portion 10 is curved such that the contour line in the meridional section of the outer peripheral surface of the side peripheral portion 10 becomes steep as it approaches the central portion 11. In another example (not shown), in the case where the side circumferential portion 10 has a contour line in the meridional section of the outer circumferential surface of the side circumferential portion 10 that does not curve from the central portion 11 toward the blade row 3A (the cross section is linear). There is also.

  The impeller 2 is accommodated in a substantially cylindrical internal space of the scroll housing 17. The scroll housing 17 has a suction port 22 that opens upward in the axial direction, and a discharge port 170 (see FIGS. 2A to 2D). When the scroll housing 17 is viewed from the axial direction, the discharge port 170 extends substantially in the tangential direction of the outer peripheral surface of the scroll housing 17. The discharge port 170 is not visible in FIG.

  The scroll housing 17 has a partition wall 20 that extends radially inward from the outer peripheral wall 17 </ b> A of the scroll housing 17. The partition wall 20 divides the region between the inner peripheral surface of the scroll housing 17 and the outer peripheral surface of the impeller 2 in the internal space of the scroll housing 17 in the axial direction (up and down), and An upper first air flow path 18 and a lower second air flow path 19 extending in the circumferential direction along the outer peripheral wall 17A are formed.

  A separation cylinder 14 is inserted into the scroll housing 17 via a suction port 22. The cross section of the upper part of the separation cylinder 14 is generally rectangular. The cross section from the central portion 15 to the lower portion (exit side end portion) 16 of the separation cylinder 14 is circular or substantially circular. The cross-sectional shape of the separation cylinder 14 smoothly changes from a rectangle to a circle as it approaches the central portion 15 from the top. The lower part 16 of the separation cylinder 14 has a flare shape whose diameter increases as it approaches the lower end.

  The separation cylinder 14 passes through the space on the radially inner side of the suction port 22 and extends in the axial direction to the space 4 on the radially inner side of the blade row 3 </ b> A of the impeller 2. The upper end opening of the separation cylinder 14 is located outside the scroll housing 17 (above the suction port 22 in the axial direction). The lower end of the separation cylinder 14 is located in the space 4 on the radially inner side of the blade row 3 </ b> A of the impeller 2.

  The separation cylinder 14 is configured to change the flow of air sucked into the scroll housing 17 into a first air flow passing through the first passage 14A outside the separation cylinder 14 and a second passage passing through the second passage 14B inside the separation cylinder 14. Divide into air flow. The first air flow passes through the ring-shaped region outside the outer peripheral surface of the separation cylinder 14 in the suction port 22 of the scroll housing 17, and the upper half 5 (portion close to the suction port 22) of the impeller 2. Flow into. The second air flow enters the inside of the separation cylinder 14 from the upper end of the separation cylinder 14 and flows into the lower half 6 (part far from the suction port 22) of the blade row of the impeller 2. Accordingly, the ring-shaped region outside the outer peripheral surface of the separation cylinder 14 in the suction port 22 of the scroll housing 17 is the first suction port of the scroll housing 17, and the upper end opening of the separation tube 14 is the second suction port of the scroll housing 17, Can also be considered.

  The air intake part of the air conditioner has a housing 21. The housing 21 is referred to as an “air intake housing” in order to distinguish it from the scroll housing 17. The scroll housing 17 and the air intake housing 21 may be integrally formed, or may be connected by a method such as screwing, bonding, or fitting after being separately manufactured. The scroll housing 17 and the air intake housing 21 form part of the air conditioner casing.

  The air intake housing 21 has a first opening 25, a second opening 26, a third opening 27, and a fourth opening 28. Inside air (vehicle interior air) can be introduced into the internal space 23 of the air intake housing 21 from the vehicle interior space 29 (details are not shown) via the first opening 25 and the third opening 27. Further, through the second opening 26 and the fourth opening 28, the outside air (outside of the vehicle) is introduced into the internal space 23 of the air intake housing 21 from the outlet 30 (details not shown) of the outside air introduction path provided in the vehicle. From the air).

  By rotating the door 31 around the rotation shaft 31 </ b> A, the inflow of air (inside air) from the first opening 25 into the air intake housing 21 can be allowed or blocked. By rotating the door 32 around the rotation shaft 32A, the inflow of air (outside air) from the second opening 26 into the air intake housing 21 can be allowed or blocked. By switching the position by rotating the switching door 33 around the rotation shaft 33 </ b> A, air (inside air or outside air) is introduced into the air intake housing 21 through one of the third opening 27 and the fourth opening 28. Can flow in.

  Almost all of the air introduced into the air intake housing 21 from the first opening 25 and / or the second opening 26 passes through the first passage 14A and from the third opening 27 and / or the fourth opening 28. The air intake housing 21 and the separation cylinder 14 are formed so that almost all of the air introduced into the air intake housing 21 passes through the second passage 14B.

  Between the area where the first opening 25, the second opening 26, the third opening 27, and the fourth opening 28 are arranged and the upper end of the separation cylinder 14, dust and particles in the air are contained in the air intake housing 21. The filter 35 for removing contaminants, such as these, is provided. The filter 35 preferably consists of a single filter element.

  Although not clearly shown in FIG. 1, the upper end portion of the separation cylinder 14 is expanded in the vertical direction of the paper surface of FIG. 1 and is generally rectangular in plan view as described above. The two short sides of the rectangle are connected to the wall of the air intake housing 21 facing them (the connection is made by integral molding or joining), so that the upper end of the separation cylinder 14 is moved by the air intake housing 21. It is restrained. The upper end of the separation cylinder 14 is constrained by the air intake housing 21 as in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described in the section of the prior art document.

  In the inlet 22 of the scroll housing 17, specifically, in the axial range of the scroll housing 17 having a bell mouth shape, a plurality of bridges (in the illustrated example, the scroll housing 17 and the separation cylinder 14 are bridged). Three ribs 40A-1, 40A-2, 40A-3 are provided (see FIG. 2). In the following, when it is not necessary to distinguish individual ribs, they may be referred to as “ribs 40A” for simplification of description.

  By providing such a rib 40A, the relative displacement between the region extending from the central portion 15 to the lower portion 16 of the separation cylinder 14 and the components (the scroll housing 17, the impeller 2, etc.) located in the periphery thereof is prevented or greatly reduced. Can be suppressed. Thereby, for example, even if the gap between the tip of the lower portion 16 of the separation cylinder 14 and the blade 3 of the impeller 2 is reduced, the separation cylinder 14 and the blade are separated when the entire centrifugal blower 1 or the separation cylinder 14 vibrates. 3 can be prevented from colliding. By reducing the gap, it is possible to suppress the mixing of the inside air with the outside air that may cause problems in the two-layer flow mode described later. Further, by providing the rib 40A, the distance between the outer peripheral surface of the separation cylinder 14 and the peripheral edge of the suction port 22 of the scroll housing 17 can be maintained as designed, so that the performance of the centrifugal fan as designed is obtained. be able to.

  When the rib 40A is provided, the upper end of the separation cylinder 14 does not have to be restrained by the air intake housing 21 as long as mixing of the inside air and the outside air near the upper end of the separation cylinder 14 can be avoided.

  A part of the separation cylinder 14 (for example, the lower part of the separation cylinder 14), the rib 40A, and a part of the scroll housing 17 (for example, the upper part of the scroll housing 17) may be integrally molded using a resin injection molding technique. preferable. In this case, for example, the upper portion of the separation cylinder 14 can be manufactured separately from the lower portion of the separation cylinder 14 and can be coupled to the lower portion of the separation cylinder 14 by a technique such as adhesion or fitting. Since the separation cylinder 14 is a thin cylindrical part that is long in the axial direction, distortion tends to occur during resin injection molding. By separately manufacturing the upper part and the lower part of the separation cylinder 14 as described above, each component constituting the separation cylinder 14 is miniaturized, distortion is suppressed, and the performance of the centrifugal blower as intended by the remote design Can be secured.

  However, after the separation cylinder 14, the rib 40 </ b> A, and the scroll housing 17 are separately formed, they may be joined to each other by a coupling means such as adhesion or fitting.

  Each rib 40 </ b> A has an inner end 41, an outer end 42, a front edge 43 and a rear edge 44. The inner end 41 is connected to the separation cylinder 14, and the outer end 42 is connected to the scroll housing 17. The rear edge 44 extends toward the inner space of the scroll housing 17 between the separation cylinder 14 and the scroll housing 17. The front edge 43 extends between the separation cylinder 14 and the scroll housing 17 on the side opposite to the rear edge 44.

  The term “front edge” means the edge of each rib that is relatively upstream with respect to the flow direction of air passing in the vicinity of each rib 40A, and the term “rear edge” passes in the vicinity of each rib 40A. It means the edge of each rib relatively downstream with respect to the air flow direction. It should be noted that the vector of the air flow (see FIG. 2D) flowing into the suction port 22 of the scroll housing 17 outside the separation cylinder 14 is the rotation component in the same direction as the rotation direction of the impeller 2, and the paper surface of FIG. And a component in the vertical direction.

  The flow velocity of the air passing through the suction port 22 outside the separation cylinder 14 is large (fast). For this reason, by providing the rib 40A, there is a possibility that the flow of air passing through the suction port 22 outside the separation cylinder 14 is hindered to such an extent that a problem that causes a problem in the blowing performance of the centrifugal blower occurs.

  In order to suppress the rib 40A from obstructing the air flow, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 3A, the inner end 41 of each rib 40A is in the rotational direction of the impeller 2 rather than the outer end 42. Each rib 40A is inclined with respect to the meridional section of the centrifugal blower so as to be at an angular position advanced to. By tilting each rib 40A in this way, the degree to which each rib 40A hinders the flow of air passing through the inside of the suction port 22 outside the separation cylinder 14 is reduced.

  The (first) rib 40 </ b> A- 1 is in a position corresponding to the tongue portion 17 t of the scroll housing 17. The (second) rib 40A-2 is at a position advanced from the rib 40A-1 by the angle θ1 in the rotational direction of the impeller 2. The third rib 40A-3 (the last in this example) is at a position advanced from the rib 40A-2 by the angle θ2 in the rotational direction of the impeller 2. There is a rib 40A-1 at a position advanced from the rib 40A-3 by the angle θ3 in the rotational direction of the impeller 2.

  The scroll housing 17 of the centrifugal blower 1 is designed so that the flow rate of the air passing through the suction port 22 outside the separation cylinder 14 is the smallest at the position of the tongue 17t and increases as the impeller 2 rotates. Has been. Therefore, it is preferable to reduce the arrangement density of the ribs 40 in the section where the air flow rate is large. For this reason, the first rib 40A-1 is provided at the position of the tongue portion 17t having the smallest air flow rate, and the ribs are set so that the relationship θ1 <θ2 <θ3 is established with respect to the angles θ1, θ2, and θ3. 40A-1, 40A-2, and 40A-3 are arranged.

  In the angular range from the angular position of the tongue portion 17t to the angular position advanced 90 degrees in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the impeller 2, the flow rate of air passing through the suction port 22 outside the separation cylinder 14 is particularly large. Therefore, it is preferable that the rib 40A does not exist. For this reason, in the illustrated example, the rib 40A-3 (third, last in the present example) is arranged so that θ3> 90 degrees.

Although the above description has been given for the case where three ribs 40A are provided, the preferred arrangement of the ribs 40A when three or more ribs 40A are provided can be generalized as follows. .
(1) N ribs 40A (N is a natural number of 3 or more) from the first rib to the Nth rib 40A are sequentially arranged at an angular interval in the rotation direction of the impeller 2, and the first rib The rib 40A-1 is at a position corresponding to the tongue 17t of the scroll housing 17, and the i-th rib 40A-i (where i is a natural number between 1 and N) of the N ribs 40A and the i-th rib. The angle interval between the rib 40A- (i + 1) adjacent to the rib 40A-i and located at a position advanced from the i-th rib 40A in the rotational direction of the impeller (2) increases as i increases. Become.
(2) The rib 40A is not provided in the angular range from the angular position of the tongue portion 17t to the angular position advanced by 90 degrees in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the impeller 2.

  Although the number of ribs 40A is arbitrary, it is not preferable to increase the number of ribs 40A because it is an obstacle to the air flow passing through the suction port 22 outside the separation cylinder 14. Further, when the number of ribs 40A is increased, the manufacturing cost of the centrifugal blower 1 is also increased. On the other hand, if the number of the ribs 40A is too small, the restraining ability of the separation cylinder 14 by the ribs 40A is lowered. Considering these, the number of ribs 40A is preferably about 2 to 4.

  The inclination aspect of a rib is not limited to what was mentioned above. That is, instead of the rib 40A shown in FIGS. 2A and 3A, ribs 40B (40B-1, 40B-2, 40B-3) shown in FIGS. 2B and 3B can be provided. Each rib 40B is inclined with respect to the meridional section of the centrifugal blower so that the rear edge 44 of each rib 40B is at an angular position advanced in the rotational direction of the impeller 2 relative to the front edge 43. Also in this case, the degree to which each rib 40B hinders the flow of air passing through the inside of the suction port 22 outside the separation cylinder 14 is reduced.

  Moreover, you may provide the rib 40C (40C-1, 40C-2, 40C-3) as shown to FIG. 2C and FIG. 3C. The inner end 41 of each rib 40C is at an angular position advanced in the rotation direction of the impeller 2 relative to the outer end 42, and the rear edge 44 of each rib 40C is in the rotation direction of the impeller 2 rather than the front edge 43. Each rib 40C is inclined with respect to the meridional section of the centrifugal blower so as to be at an angular position advanced to. Also in this case, the degree to which each rib 40C hinders the flow of air passing through the inside of the suction port 22 outside the separation cylinder 14 is reduced.

  In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2B and 3B and the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2C and 3C, the angular position where the rib is disposed can be the same as that in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2A and 3A.

  2A and FIG. 3A, FIG. 2B and FIG. 3B, and FIG. 2C and FIG. 3C are compared, the embodiment of FIG. 2A and FIG. It is the easiest to manufacture, and the embodiment of FIGS. 2C and 3C has the best performance.

  Each rib (40A, 40B, 40C) is not limited to a flat one, and may be curved.

  Next, the operation of the vehicle air conditioner shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described.

  In the first operation mode of the vehicle air conditioner, the second opening 26 and the fourth opening 28 are opened, and the first opening 25 and the third opening 27 are closed. This state is not shown. In this case, the outside air introduced from the second opening 26 forms a first air flow that passes through the first passage 14A outside the separation cylinder 14 and flows into the upper half 5 of the blade row 3A of the impeller 2. The outside air introduced from the fourth opening 28 forms a second air flow that passes through the second passage 14 </ b> B inside the separation cylinder 14 and flows into the lower half 6 of the blade row of the impeller 2. The first operation mode may be referred to as an outside air mode.

  In the second operation mode, the second opening 26 and the third opening 27 are opened, and the first opening 25 and the fourth opening 28 are closed. This state is shown in FIGS. In this case, the outside air AE introduced from the second opening 26 passes through the first passage 14A outside the separation cylinder 14 and forms a first air flow that flows into the upper half 5 of the blade row 3A of the impeller 2. . Further, the inside air AR introduced from the third opening 27 forms a second air flow that passes through the second passage 14B inside the separation cylinder 14 and flows into the lower half 6 of the blade row 3A of the impeller 2. The second operation mode may be referred to as an inside / outside air two-layer flow mode.

  In the third operation mode, the first opening 25 and the third opening 27 are opened, and the second opening 26 and the fourth opening 28 are closed. This state is not shown. In this case, the inside air introduced from the first opening 25 forms a first air flow that passes through the first passage 14A outside the separation cylinder 14 and flows into the upper half 5 of the blade row 3A of the impeller 2. The inside air introduced from the third opening 27 forms a second air flow that passes through the second passage 14 </ b> B inside the separation cylinder 14 and flows into the lower half 6 of the blade row 3 </ b> A of the impeller 2. The third operation mode may be referred to as an inside air mode.

  The second operation mode (inside / outside air two-layer flow mode) is a heating operation in which the vehicle interior is heated quickly while preventing the front window from fogging from the cold state particularly in winter or when the temperature is relatively low. Used when performing. When this heating operation is performed by automatic control, outside air AE is blown from the defroster outlet (not shown) of the passenger compartment to the front window (not shown) for a while after the start of heating, and the indoor air AR is changed to the passenger compartment. The air is blown out from the foot air outlet (not shown) toward the feet of the passengers.

  When the second operation mode (internal / external air two-layer flow mode) is executed, the external air AE flowing into the upper half 5 of the blade row 3A of the impeller 2 passes through the first air flow path 18 to the defroster outlet. The inside air AR that is supplied and flows into the lower half 6 of the blade row 3 </ b> A of the impeller 2 is supplied to the foot outlet through the second air flow path 19. At this time, if the high-humidity inside air AR is mixed into the outside air AE supplied to the defroster outlet, an event that is a safety problem such as fogging of the front window may occur. In addition, when the low-temperature outside air AE is mixed into the inside air AR supplied to the foot outlet, it may be a factor that makes passengers feel uncomfortable. Therefore, when the second operation mode is executed, it is desirable that all of the outside air AE flows into the first air flow path 18 and all of the inside air AR flows into the second air flow path 19.

  Note that since only the inside air or only the outside air is used when the first and third operation modes are executed, there is no strict requirement for avoiding the mixture of the inside air and the outside air as much as when the second operation mode is executed. By providing the rib 40, the gap between the lower end of the separation cylinder 14 and the blade 3 of the impeller 2 can be reduced, which contributes to the improvement of the separation performance of the inside and outside air particularly in the second operation mode.

  4A and 4B show a case where the lower part of the separation cylinder 14, the rib 40 </ b> A, and the upper part of the scroll housing 17 are integrally formed using a resin injection molding technique, separately from the lower part of the separation cylinder 14. 1 schematically shows a coupling structure that couples the upper part of the separation cylinder 14 manufactured to the lower part of the separation cylinder 14.

  In FIG. 4A, the upper portion 14 </ b> D of the separation cylinder 14 is fitted into the lower portion 14 </ b> C of the separation cylinder 14. By doing so, there is a possibility that outside air flowing outside the separation cylinder 14 may be mixed with inside air flowing inside the separation cylinder 14 at the coupling portion, but inside air flowing inside the separation cylinder 14 is mixed. There is no possibility of being mixed with the outside air flowing outside.

  In FIG. 4B, a ring-shaped receiving portion 14F is provided on the upper portion 14E of the separation cylinder 14, and the upper end of the lower portion 14C of the separation cylinder 14 is inserted into the reception portion 14F. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the outside air flowing outside the separation cylinder 14 and the inside air flowing inside the separation cylinder 14 from being mixed at the coupling portion.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Centrifugal blower 2 Impeller Ax Axis of rotation 3 Blade 3 A Circumferential cascade 13 Motor 14 Separating cylinder 16 Outlet side end (lower part) of separating cylinder
17 Scroll housing 17t Scroll housing tongue 18 First air flow path 19 Second air flow path 20 Partition wall 21 Air intake housing 22 Scroll housing inlet 26, 28 Outside air inlet (opening)
25, 27 Inside air inlet (opening)
40A, 40B, 40C Rib 41 Inner end of rib 42 Outer end of rib 43 Front edge of rib 44 Rear edge of rib AE Outside air AR Inside air

Claims (6)

A single suction centrifugal blower (1) for a vehicle,
A motor (13);
A plurality of blades (3) forming a circumferential blade row (3A) are driven around the rotation axis (Ax) by the motor, and the radial direction of the blade row (3A) from one end side in the axial direction An impeller (2) that blows out the air sucked into the inner space radially outward;
A scroll housing (17) having an internal space for accommodating the impeller, a suction port (22) opened on one end side in the axial direction, and a discharge port (170) opened in the circumferential direction;
Of the internal space of the scroll housing (17), an area between the inner peripheral surface of the scroll housing (17) and the outer peripheral surface of the impeller (2) and the internal space of the discharge port (170) A partition wall (20) that is divided in the axial direction to form a first air flow path (18) and a second air flow path (19);
A separation cylinder (14) extending in the axial direction through a radially inner side of the suction port and a radially inner side of the blade row of the impeller (2), the scroll housing ( 17) Provided to divide the flow of air sucked into the interior into a first air flow passing outside the separation cylinder and a second air flow passing inside the separation cylinder, and the first air The flow is turned radially outward to guide the first air flow path (18), and the second air flow is turned radially outward to guide the second air flow path (19). A separation cylinder (14) having an outlet end (16);
It has at least one outside air introduction port (26, 28) for taking in outside air of the vehicle and at least one inside air introduction port (25, 27) for taking in the inside air of the vehicle, and the outside air introduction port (26 , 28) and the outside air taken in from the inside air inlet (25, 27) can be made to flow inside the separating cylinder (14). An air intake housing (21);
A plurality of ribs (40A, 40B, 40C) provided in the suction port (22) and bridging the scroll housing (17) and the separation cylinder (14);
Each of the ribs (40A, 40B, 40C) has an inner end (41), an outer end (42), a front edge (43), and a rear edge (44), and the inner end is connected to the separation cylinder (14). The outer end is connected to the scroll housing (17), and the rear edge is on the inner space side of the scroll housing (17) between the separation cylinder (14) and the scroll housing (17). The front edge extends to the opposite side of the rear edge between the separation cylinder (14) and the scroll housing (17);
Each rib (40A, 40B, 40C)
The inner end (41) is at an angular position advanced in the rotational direction of the impeller (2) relative to the outer end (42), and the rear edge (44) is more than the front edge (43). The centrifugal blower, which is inclined with respect to the meridional section of the centrifugal blower so as to satisfy at least one of the angular positions advanced in the rotation direction of the impeller (2).   The centrifugal blower according to claim 1, wherein in each of the ribs (40A, 40C), the inner end (41) is at an angular position advanced in the rotational direction of the impeller (2) relative to the outer end (42).   The centrifugal blower according to claim 1, wherein, in each of the ribs (40B, 40C), the rear edge (44) is at an angular position advanced in the rotation direction of the impeller (2) relative to the front edge (43).   In each of the ribs (40A, 40B, 40C), the inner end (41) is at an angular position advanced in the rotational direction of the impeller (2) relative to the outer end (42), and the trailing edge ( The centrifugal blower according to claim 1, wherein 44) is at an angular position advanced in the rotational direction of the impeller (2) relative to the front edge (43).   As the plurality of ribs (40A, 40B, 40C), N pieces (N is N from the first rib to the Nth rib arranged sequentially with an angular interval in the rotational direction of the impeller (2). 3), the first rib is at an angular position corresponding to the tongue (17t) of the scroll housing (17), and the i-th rib among the N ribs ( Where i is a natural number of 1 or more and N or less) and an angular interval between the i-th rib and the rib located at an angular position advanced from the i-th rib in the rotation direction of the impeller (2) is The centrifugal blower according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein i increases as i increases.   The rib is not provided in an angular range from an angular position of the tongue (17t) to an angular position advanced by 90 degrees in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the impeller (2). Centrifugal blower as described in any one.

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