JP2024090407A - Defroster outlet structure - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a defroster air outlet structure that enables conditioned air from an air conditioner to be more reliably blown out from a defroster duct toward a defroster air outlet.
[Solution] A defroster outlet structure 1 has an instrument panel 20, 30 that constitutes a part of the passenger compartment, a defroster duct 40 that forms a passage c through which conditioned air A from an air conditioner 50 flows, and a defroster outlet O that is provided in the instrument panel 20, 30 and blows out the conditioned air A flowing out from the defroster duct 40 into the passenger compartment. An opening S1 at the end of the passage c on the side of the defroster outlet O is formed larger than an opening S2 at the end of the defroster outlet O on the side of the passage c, and is also formed larger than a cross section S3 of at least a part of the passage c.
[Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a defroster outlet structure.

In the defroster outlet structure described in Patent Document 1 below, conditioned air from the air conditioner is blown out of the defroster outlet in the instrument panel via a defroster duct, and the resulting airflow hits the side windows and door glass, eliminating condensation.

JP 2021-11197 A

Taking into consideration misalignment that may occur when the defroster duct is attached to the instrument panel, the opening of the defroster duct needs to be larger than the defroster outlet. However, there is a concern that some of the conditioned air flowing through the defroster duct will flow along the inner surface of the defroster duct and collide with the wall of the instrument panel around the defroster outlet, leaking out through the gap between this wall and the tip of the defroster duct.

The object of the present invention is to provide a defroster outlet structure that allows conditioned air from an air conditioner to be more reliably blown out from a defroster duct toward a defroster outlet.

The present invention has been made to solve at least some of the problems described above, and can be realized in the following aspects or application examples.

The defroster outlet structure according to this application example has an instrument panel that constitutes a part of the passenger compartment, a defroster duct that forms a passage for circulating conditioned air from an air conditioner, and a defroster outlet that is provided in the instrument panel and blows the conditioned air flowing out of the defroster duct into the passenger compartment, and is characterized in that the opening of the end of the passage on the defroster outlet side is formed larger than the opening of the end of the defroster outlet on the passage side and is formed larger than the cross section of at least a part of the passage.

In this application example, the opening in the defroster duct is larger than the opening in the defroster outlet, so even if the defroster duct is installed in a position slightly different from the correct position, the conditioned air flowing out from the opening in the defroster duct can be blown out into the vehicle compartment from the defroster outlet.

In addition, according to this application example, the opening in the defroster duct is formed larger than the cross section of at least a portion of the defroster duct passage, so that the conditioned air flowing near the inner surface and in the center of the passage can be concentrated in the center of the passage near the opening. This makes it possible to prevent the conditioned air blown out from the opening in the defroster duct toward the defroster outlet from being dispersed, thereby preventing the conditioned air from colliding with the wall portion near the defroster outlet in the instrument panel, and further preventing the conditioned air from leaking out from the gap between the wall portion near the defroster outlet and the tip of the defroster duct on the defroster outlet side.

In this way, according to the present invention, the conditioned air from the air conditioner can be more reliably blown out from the defroster duct toward the defroster outlet.

1 is a front perspective view of an embodiment of a defroster air outlet structure according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a left side perspective view of the defroster air outlet structure shown in FIG. 1 . 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the defroster air outlet structure shown in FIG. 3 .

Next, the configuration, operation, and effects of one embodiment of the defroster air outlet structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 as appropriate.

(Configuration of defroster outlet structure)
First, a configuration of an embodiment of a defroster air outlet structure according to the present invention will be described. The defroster air outlet structure 1 according to the present embodiment is arranged in a vehicle cabin, and includes a center panel 10 (first instrument panel), a left panel 20 (second instrument panel), a right panel 30 (third instrument panel), a defroster duct 40, an air conditioning duct 41, and an air conditioner 50.

In the following, the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle in which the defroster air outlet structure 1 is disposed is referred to as the "fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle", the right side of the vehicle is referred to as the "right side of the vehicle", and the left side of the vehicle is referred to as the "left side of the vehicle".

The center panel 10 includes a center base 11, a driving unit 12, and a center blowing section 13. When the center panel 10 is placed in the vehicle cabin, the center base 11 forms part of the vehicle cabin. The driving unit 12 is a unit that allows the driver to drive the vehicle, and is attached to the center base 11. The driving unit 12 includes, for example, a steering wheel, a shift lever, and various meters. Note that in FIG. 1, only a steering wheel, a shift lever, and various meters are shown as the driving unit 12, but other devices may also be included. The center blowing section 13 includes a left front blowing section 13a, a left rear blowing section 13b, a right front blowing section 13c, and a right rear blowing section 13d. These blowing sections 13a to 13d are provided at the left front, left rear, right front, and right rear of the center base 11, respectively, and are configured to blow out conditioned air A from these blowing sections 13a to 13d.

The left panel 20 includes a left base 21, a left outlet section 22 (defroster outlet section), and a left mounting member 23. The left base 21 forms part of the vehicle's passenger compartment. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the left base 21 is attached to the left side of the vehicle of the center base 11 by the left mounting member 23.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the left outlet 22 is provided on the upper surface of the left base 21. The left outlet 22 has a defroster outlet O that opens slightly upward from the horizontal direction on the left side of the left base 21.

The light panel 30 includes a light base 31, a light outlet section 32 (defroster outlet section), and a light mounting member 33. The light panel 30, the light base 31, the light outlet section 32, and the light mounting member 33 are different from the left panel 20, the left base 21, the left outlet section 22, and the left mounting member 23 in that they are located on the right side of the vehicle of the center base 11, but are otherwise similar in basic configuration.

As shown in FIG. 1, the defroster duct 40 forms a passage (e.g., passage c shown in FIG. 3) for supplying the conditioned air A from the air conditioner 50 to the left blowing section 22 and the right blowing section 32, respectively.

In FIG. 3, the left blowing section 22 and the structure of the defroster duct 40 near the left blowing section 22 are shown in schematic form, with the tip portion 40a, the connecting portion 40b, and the base portion 40c of the defroster duct 40 being representatively shown. As shown in FIG. 3, the tip portion 40a is the tip portion on the side of the defroster outlet O formed in the left blowing section 22, and is integrally molded by being connected to the base portion 40c via the connecting portion 40b.

Specifically, the defroster duct 40 is formed from the tip side with a tip section 40a, a connecting section 40b, and a base section 40c, and further formed with a passage c for circulating the conditioned air A supplied from the air conditioner 50. The inner surface of the tip section 40a extends in the same straight line direction (i.e., parallel) as the inner surface of the base section 40c. The area (flow path area) of the cross section perpendicular to the extending direction of the inner surface of the defroster duct 40 increases from the front end of the base section 40c through the connecting section 40b to the tip section 40a. In other words, the flow path area of the connecting section 40b is larger than the flow path area of the base section 40c, and the flow path area of the tip section 40a is larger than the flow path area of the connecting section 40b.

As shown in FIG. 3, the opening S1 of the tip 40a of the defroster duct 40 is an opening in the passage c, and is located close to the defroster outlet O formed in the left outlet section 22. The opening S2 of the defroster outlet O is located on the defroster duct 40 side of the defroster outlet O. The defroster duct 40 is not in contact with the defroster outlet O, but is positioned with a slight gap between it and the defroster outlet O. In other words, the opening S1 of the defroster duct 40 and the opening S2 of the defroster outlet O are not directly connected.

The opening S1 of the defroster duct 40 is formed larger than the opening S2 of the defroster outlet O. Specifically, the opening S2 is formed in a configuration and position such that it fits inside the opening S1 when projected onto the opening S1 in the extension direction of the inner surface of the base portion 40c. Also, the opening S1 is formed larger than the cross section S3 of the passage c in the base portion 40c, while the opening S2 has approximately the same opening shape and flow path area as the cross section S3. Specifically, the cross section S3 is formed in a configuration and position such that it fits inside the opening S1 when projected onto the opening S1 in the extension direction of the inner surface of the base portion 40c, and is formed in approximately the same configuration and position as the opening S2 when projected onto the opening S2 in this extension direction.

Although not shown, the structure and positional relationship of the light outlet 32 and the defroster duct 40 in the vicinity of the light outlet 32 are also as shown in FIG. 3.

The air conditioning duct 41 forms a passage for supplying the conditioned air A to the left front blowing section 13a, the left rear blowing section 13b, the right front blowing section 13c, and the right rear blowing section 13d. Note that the configuration of the air conditioning duct 41 is a known configuration, so a detailed description is omitted.

The air conditioner 50 is capable of generating conditioned air A. Examples of conditioned air A include dry air, heating air, and cooling air. The air conditioner 50 may be a single air conditioner, or multiple air conditioners that supply conditioned air A to each of the defroster duct 40 and the air conditioning duct 41.

(Operation of the defroster outlet structure)
As shown in FIG. 1, conditioned air A is blown from the air conditioner 50 through a passage c (see FIG. 3) in the defroster duct 40 and from the left blower portion 22 and the right blower portion 32 into the vehicle compartment.

For example, near the left air outlet 22, as shown in FIG. 3, the conditioned air A that has flowed in the passage c from the base 40c side toward the tip 40a side is blown out from the defroster outlet O toward the window W (e.g., the door glass or side window) in the vehicle compartment.

(Effect of defroster outlet structure)
According to the defroster outlet structure 1, the opening S1 at the tip 40a of the defroster duct 40 is formed larger than the opening S2 of the defroster outlet O and the cross section S3 of the base 40c of the defroster duct 40, so that even if the defroster duct 40 is assembled in a position slightly shifted from the appropriate position, the conditioned air A flowing out from the opening S1 can be blown out from the defroster outlet O.

In addition, because the opening S1 at the tip 40a is formed larger than the cross section S3 of the passage c inside the base 40c, the conditioned air A flowing near the inner surface and center of the base 40c can be concentrated in the center of the passage c near the opening S1. This makes it possible to prevent the conditioned air A blown out from the opening S1 toward the defroster outlet O from being dispersed, which prevents the conditioned air A from colliding with the wall near the defroster outlet O in the left outlet section 22, and further prevents the conditioned air A from leaking out from the gap between the wall and the tip of the defroster outlet O side.

In this way, the conditioned air A from the air conditioner 50 can be more reliably blown out from the defroster duct 40 toward the defroster outlet O.

(others)
In the above embodiment, the defroster outlet O in the left outlet section 22 is formed facing slightly upward from the left side of the vehicle, but the orientation of the defroster outlet O in the left outlet section 22 and the right outlet section 32 is not particularly limited.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the inner surface of the tip portion 40a and the inner surface of the base portion 40c are parallel to each other, but the inner surface of the tip portion 40a may be configured to gradually open from the base portion 40c side toward the defroster outlet O side.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the opening S2 of the defroster outlet O and the cross section S3 of the base portion 40c have approximately the same opening shape and flow path area, but the relationship between the opening S2 of the defroster outlet O and the cross section S3 of the base portion 40c is not limited to this.

For example, FIG. 4 shows a modified example of the defroster outlet structure 1 shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the opening S4 of the defroster outlet O1 needs to be at least larger than the cross section S3 of the base portion 40c and smaller than the opening S1 of the tip portion 40a.

1 Defroster air outlet structure 10 Instrument panel 11 Center base 12 Driving unit 13 Center air outlet section 13a Left front air outlet section 13b Left rear air outlet section 13c Right front air outlet section 13d Right rear air outlet section 20 Left panel 21 Left base 22 Left air outlet section 23 Left mounting member 30 Right panel 31 Right base 32 Right air outlet section 33 Right mounting member 40 Defroster duct 41 Air conditioning duct 50 Air conditioner A Air conditioning air c Passage O, O1 Defroster air outlet S1, S2 Opening S3 Cross section S4 Opening W Window

Claims (1)

An instrument panel that constitutes part of the vehicle interior;
A defroster duct that forms a passage for circulating conditioned air from an air conditioner;
a defroster outlet provided in the instrument panel and configured to blow out the conditioned air flowing out from the defroster duct into the vehicle compartment;
In a defroster air outlet structure having
A defroster outlet structure characterized in that an opening of the passage at the end on the defroster outlet side is formed larger than an opening of the passage at the end on the defroster outlet side, and is formed larger than a cross section of at least a portion of the passage.

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