JP2508656Y2 - Vehicle air conditioner connection structure - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] a. Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a connection structure for connecting constituent units constituting a vehicle air conditioner (air conditioner) to each other. It is suitable for use in connecting a heater unit to each other.

b. Conventional technology An air conditioner is used in order to keep the condition of air in the passenger compartment of an automobile in good condition. FIG. 5 shows a general air conditioner (air conditioner) 1. This device 1 includes various constituent units, that is, an air intake box unit 2, an evaporator unit 3, a heater unit 4 and a branch. The box unit 5 and the like are connected.

By the way, when assembling the air conditioner 1, first, the heater unit 4 is attached to the vehicle body of the automobile, then the evaporator unit 3 is attached to the heater unit 4, and then the unit 3 is attached to the vehicle body. . Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the rectangular protruding piece portion 6 provided on the case 4a of the heater unit 4 is fitted to the rectangular protruding piece portion 7 provided on the case 3a of the evaporator unit 3. In this state, the evaporator unit 3 was screwed to the vehicle body via the upper and lower stays 8 and 9.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, a connecting portion of the evaporator unit 3 and the heater unit 4 which are butted against each other.
The units 10 and 11 are surrounded by a pair of connection bands 12a and 12b, and the connection bands 12a and 12b are fastened with a pair of screw members 13 to connect the units 3 and 4.

c. Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the case of the fitting type connection structure shown in FIG. 5, it is difficult to perform the connecting work in a narrow vehicle, and the evaporator unit 3 is not noticed with insufficient fitting and is not recognized. It may happen that the installation is done and the wind leaks. When the stays 8 and 9 are screwed to the vehicle body, the lower stay 9 is easy to screw,
The upper stay 8 is difficult to screw. That is, the front side of the evaporator unit 3 is covered with the dashboard, but the lower stay 9 is on the lower side of the front side for the assembling worker, so that the screwing work is easy. However, since the stay 8 on the upper side is on the back side and the upper side for the assembling worker, there is a disadvantage that the screwing work is difficult.

On the other hand, when the connection bands 12a and 12b as shown in FIG. 6 are used, the difficulty of fitting is eliminated, but the tightening work of the connection bands 12a and 12b is difficult and the number of parts is large. However, there is an inconvenience that the cost is high due to the large number of items.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object thereof is to greatly improve the workability of connection (assembly) and to reliably position the constituent units. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle air-conditioning system connection structure which does not cause a situation such as leakage and has a small number of parts and which can be manufactured at low cost.

d. Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the present invention, in a connecting structure for connecting the constituent units constituting the vehicle air conditioner to each other, among the constituent units to be connected to each other, The case of one of the constituent units is integrally provided with a U-shaped flange portion that extends along an edge portion of the periphery of the air circulation opening formed in the connection end surface excluding a portion on the vehicle rear side, and the flange portion is formed. A pair of screw fastening portions, which are bent pieces that are bent in opposite directions toward the direction away from the air circulation opening and are arranged on the same plane, are integrally provided at the upper and lower ends on the rear side of the The case of the other constituent unit of the constituent units to be connected is integrally provided with a plate-shaped mounting piece corresponding to the flange portion and the pair of screw fastening portions of the one constituent unit. Together, a pair of screw insertion holes are formed at both upper and lower ends of the mounting piece portion, and the mounting piece portion of the other constituent unit is abutted against the screw stop portion of the one constituent unit so that they are mutually connected by a screw member. By fastening, the flange portion of the one constituent unit and the mounting piece portion of the other constituent unit are connected to each other in the state where the air flow passage is formed.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the same parts as those in FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals.

1 and 2 show the entire vehicle air conditioner 1, and as shown in the figure, an evaporator unit 3 and an air intake unit 2 are sequentially connected to a side portion of a heater unit 4. The branch box unit 5 is connected to the bottom of the heater unit 4. In FIG. 2, 20 is a blower, 21 is a heater core, 22 is an evaporator, 23 to 26 are switching dampers, and 27 and 28 are packings.

Here, the heater unit 4 and the evaporator unit 3
The connection structure with is described below.

As shown in FIG. 3, around the air inlet 29 (air circulation opening) formed in the side portion (connection end surface) of the case 4a of the heater unit 4 described above, as shown in FIG. A U-shaped flange portion 30 formed of a protruding piece portion extending along the edge portion except the portion on the lower right side is integrally formed by bending. Then, on both sides of the flange portion 30 on the vehicle rear side, bending pieces 31, 32 are bent (substantially right angles) in opposite directions toward the direction away from the air intake port 29 and arranged on the same plane. Are formed integrally, and these bent pieces 3
Notches 33, 34 for screw insertion are provided in 1, 32, respectively. Thus, the bent piece portions 31, 32 having the notches 33, 34 are integrally provided in the case 4a of the heater unit 4 as the screw fastening portions 35, 36.

On the other hand, at the front end of the side surface of the evaporator unit 3,
As shown in FIG. 3, one flat plate-shaped mounting piece portion 37 extending in the vertical direction is integrally bent and formed. Then, screw insertion holes 38 and 39 are provided at both upper and lower ends of the mounting piece portion 37. Thus, the mounting piece portion 37 serves as the screw fastening portion 40 of the case 3a of the evaporator unit 3. In addition, the above-mentioned flat plate-shaped mounting piece portion 37 is configured to have a size and shape corresponding to the flange portion 30 and the pair of screw fastening portions 35 and 36 of the heater unit 4 described above. Insertion hole
38 and 39 are arranged so as to correspond to the notches 33 and 34 described above.

Next, the procedure for assembling the air intake box unit 2, the evaporator unit 3 and the heater unit 4 that compose the air conditioner 1 and the procedure for attaching them to the vehicle body will be described.

First, the heater unit 4 is attached to a predetermined position on the vehicle body by screwing or the like. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the attachment piece portion 37 of the evaporator unit 3 is moved forward in the direction of the arrow X and the upper and lower edges of the attachment piece portion 37 are screwed to the heater unit 4.
35, 36, and the screw member 41 is inserted into the screw insertion holes 38, 39 and the notches 33, 34 respectively and screwed into the nut 42 for fastening, whereby the flange portion 30 and the mounting piece portion are fastened. The evaporator unit 3 is connected (fastened) to the heater unit 4 in a state where one air flow passage is formed with 37. Thereafter, the stay 9 of the evaporator unit 3 is used to attach the unit 8 to the vehicle body. Further, the case of the air intake box unit 2 is inserted into the connection port of the evaporator unit 3, and under this state, the air intake box unit 2 is attached to the vehicle body via the air intake bracket 42, whereby the air conditioner 1 is assembled and attached. To complete.

According to the connection structure of the heater unit 4 and the evaporator unit 3 of the air conditioner 1 as described above, both units 4 and 3 can be connected by an extremely simple assembling work. That is, in the conventional case, since it was necessary to fit the heater unit 4 when mounting the evaporator unit 3, the evaporator unit 3 was moved horizontally and vertically (X and Y directions orthogonal to each other). It was necessary to move it and fit it in without any gaps, which was difficult to do. However, according to this example, without fitting the evaporator unit 3 into the heater unit 4,
Mounting piece that is integrally formed in advance with the evaporator unit 3
By simply moving 37 in the X direction in FIG. 4, the heater unit 4 and the like can be easily attached without moving.

Moreover, since the mounting piece portion 37 of the evaporator unit 3 is screwed to the screw fastening portions 35 and 36 of the heater unit 4, the positioning between the units 4 and 3 is surely performed. Besides, the heater unit 4 fixed to the vehicle body
Since the evaporator unit 3 is attached to the flange portion 30 of the above, the upper stay can be omitted and the lower stay 9 can be attached to the vehicle body only, thereby reducing the number of parts and the number of work steps. While being able to
Since the lower stay 9 is attached to the vehicle body on the lower side of the operator, the attaching work is easy and the workability can be improved.

As mentioned above, although one embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications and changes can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, a plate-shaped nut member (so-called speed nut) that can be bent for tightening with the screw member 41 may be used. Further, the attachment piece portion 37 of the evaporator unit 3 may be formed in the same formation as the flange portion 30 of the heater unit 4. Needless to say, the present invention is applicable not only to the connection structure between the heater unit 4 and the evaporator unit 3 but also to the connection structure between the evaporator unit 4 and the air intake box unit 2.

e. Effect of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the unit unit of the vehicle air conditioner (for example, the heater unit 4 shown in the embodiment) is integrally provided with the U-shaped flange portion and the pair of screw fastening portions. A flat plate-shaped mounting piece provided integrally with the other constituent unit (for example, the evaporator unit 3 shown in the embodiment) is abutted against the screw fastening portions at both ends of the flange portion, and these are fastened to each other by a screw member. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently connect the constituent units by an extremely simple work without performing the fitting work which has been performed conventionally. That is, connecting the constituent units by an extremely simple operation of moving the other constituent unit forward of the vehicle and abutting the flat plate-shaped mounting piece portion to the pair of screw fastening portions of the one constituent unit to perform screw fastening. Therefore, the connection work can be performed easily and quickly even in a narrow vehicle compartment. Moreover, relative positioning between the constituent units can be accurately performed, and the occurrence of inconvenient situations such as wind leakage can be eliminated. Furthermore, since no special member such as a connection band is required, the number of parts does not increase, and the structure of the U-shaped flange and the plate-shaped mounting piece is simple, which complicates the structure. Therefore, the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a vehicle air conditioner, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a heater unit. And an exploded perspective view of the evaporator unit, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the work of connecting the evaporator unit to the heater unit, FIG. 5 is an overall perspective view of a conventional vehicle air conditioner, and FIG. 6 is a heater unit and an evaporator. It is an exploded perspective view showing the conventional example which was made to fasten with a unit using a connection belt. 1 ... Vehicle air conditioner, 2 ... Air intake box unit, 3 ... Evaporator unit, 3a ... Case, 4 ... Heater unit, 4a ... Case, 30 ... Flange part, 35, 36 ... Screw Stopper, 37 …… Mounting piece, 40…
… Screw stop, 41 …… Screw member, 42 …… Nut.

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A connection structure for connecting constituent units constituting an air conditioner for a vehicle to each other, wherein air is formed on a connection end face of a case of one of the constituent units to be connected to each other. A U-shaped flange portion extending along an edge portion of the periphery of the opening excluding a portion on the vehicle rear side is integrally provided, and upper and lower end portions on the rear side of the flange portion are away from the air circulation opening. A pair of screw-fastened portions, which are formed by bending pieces that are bent in opposite directions toward each other and arranged on the same surface, are integrally provided, and the case of the other constituent unit of the constituent units to be connected to each other is A flat plate-like mounting piece corresponding to the flange portion and the pair of screw fastening portions of one component unit is integrally provided, and a pair of screw insertion holes are formed at both upper and lower ends of the mounting piece portion. Then, the mounting piece portion of the other constituent unit is abutted against the screw fastening portion of the one constituent unit and these are fastened to each other by a screw member, whereby the flange portion of the one constituent unit and the other constituent unit. A structure for connecting an air conditioner for a vehicle, characterized in that these constituent units are connected to each other in a state where an air flow path is formed with the mounting piece portion.