JP3985970B2 - Automotive air conditioning unit and air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an automotive air conditioner, and more particularly to a vertical integrated air conditioner in which an evaporator (condenser, cooling heat exchanger) and a heater core (heating heat exchanger) are vertically arranged in an integrated unit.

  With the background of the improvement in the cooler mounting rate, particularly in passenger car air conditioners, it has been studied to store the evaporator and the heater core in one unit and eliminate the conventional cooler unit. In contrast to a conventional horizontal air conditioner in which an intake unit, a cooler unit, and a heater unit are arranged in a horizontal row in the left-right direction of the vehicle, this type of automobile air conditioner is often referred to as a vertical integrated air conditioner. .

  By combining the cooler unit and the heater unit into one unit, not only the foot space in the vehicle compartment is expanded, but also the material, manufacturing and assembly costs can be reduced by integrating the units.

  As a conventional vertical integrated air conditioner, an evaporator and a heater core are substantially upright and arranged in the front-rear direction of the vehicle (for example, refer to Patent Document 1), or the evaporator and the heater core are substantially horizontal in the vertical direction of the vehicle. An arrangement (see, for example, Patent Document 2) is known.

  The former air conditioner introduces intake air from the intake unit into the unit from the front of the vehicle and causes the air to flow downward toward the rear of the vehicle in the order of the evaporator and the heater core. On the other hand, the latter air conditioner introduces intake air from the intake unit into the lower part of the side surface of the unit, and causes the air to flow downward in the order of the evaporator and the heater core.

  In such a vertical integrated air conditioner, the evaporator and heater core originally provided in the two units cannot be accommodated in one unit, so there is a potential problem that the ventilation resistance in the unit increases. is doing. The above-described conventional vertical integrated air conditioner has been devised for the arrangement of the evaporator and the heater core and the flow path, but it is not sufficient.

  In addition, when considering the arrangement of the evaporator and heater core, it is necessary to take into account the routing of these pipes. For the evaporator, the positional relationship between the refrigerant tank and the engine room, and for the heater core, the hot water tank and the engine room. Is important.

For example, in the latter air conditioner, the refrigerant tank of the evaporator is not close to the dash panel (the phase is approximately 90 ° from the dash panel surface), so the refrigerant pipe connecting the refrigerant tank and the cooling cycle in the engine room becomes long. Even if an integrated expansion valve that is particularly excellent in assemblability is adopted, there is a drawback that the effect cannot be sufficiently exhibited.
JP-A-8-156,570 JP-A-8-104,129

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a vertical integrated air conditioner that has low ventilation resistance and can fully demonstrate the advantages of an integrated expansion valve.

  In order to achieve the above object, an automotive air conditioning unit of the present invention is provided with an evaporator and a heater core, an inlet of intake air is formed at a lower portion of one side wall in the vehicle left-right direction, and the evaporator is disposed on the lower side Is disposed on the upper side, and the evaporator is disposed with the air passage surface substantially in the vertical direction, the refrigerant tank of the evaporator is located on the engine room side of the vehicle, and the expansion valve is The dash panel and the casing of the air conditioning unit are attached to the refrigerant tank.

  In the automotive air conditioning unit of the present invention, since the refrigerant tank of the evaporator is located on the engine room side of the vehicle, the connection length with the cooling cycle in the engine room is shortened, and the handling of the refrigerant piping is remarkably simplified. .

  In addition, when a so-called integral expansion valve is employed, since it can be configured to penetrate both the dash panel and the casing, refrigerant piping on the air conditioning unit side becomes unnecessary.

  In the automotive air conditioning unit of the present invention, the layout of the heater core is not particularly limited, but the automotive air conditioning unit according to claim 2 is characterized in that the air passage surface is arranged in a substantially vertical direction. In this way, the height of the air conditioning unit can be minimized, and the air flow path becomes extremely smooth, so that the ventilation resistance is reduced.

  In the automotive air conditioning unit of the present invention, the setting positions of the various air outlets are not particularly limited, but the automotive air conditioning unit according to claim 3 has a vent air outlet, a defrost air outlet, and a foot air outlet on the upper side of the heater core. It is formed.

  A vehicle air conditioner capable of exhibiting the above-described effects by combining the automotive air conditioning unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and an intake unit provided with a blower, and arranging them along the vehicle left-right direction. Is provided.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a small automobile air conditioning unit and automobile air conditioner that have sufficiently low ventilation resistance.

  In addition, the operation of the refrigerant piping with the cooling cycle in the engine room is remarkably simplified, and particularly when the integral expansion valve is adopted, the effect is remarkable.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of an automotive air conditioner of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a graph showing the ventilation resistance with respect to the inclination angle of the evaporator of the present invention.

  The automotive air conditioner 100 includes an intake unit 10 and an air conditioning unit 30, each having an intake unit casing 11 and an air conditioning unit casing 31, which are connected by a duct 20. As shown in FIG. 2, these units 10 and 30 are mounted in the left-right direction along the dash panel DP of the vehicle. Although not particularly limited, the intake unit 10 is attached to the back of the instrument panel located at the foot of the passenger seat, and the air conditioning unit 30 is attached to the back of the center console located in the center of the vehicle.

  The intake unit casing 11 is formed with an outside air inlet 12 for taking in air outside the passenger compartment and an inside air inlet 13 for circulating indoor air. The inside air inlet 13 is directly opened in the intake unit case 11, while the outside air inlet 12 is communicated with an inlet formed in the cowl panel of the vehicle body via an air duct (both not shown). ing.

  Although not shown, the intake unit case 11 is provided with an intake door so as to be rotatable, and a position where the outside air inlet 12 is fully closed (inside air circulation mode) and a position where the inside air inlet 13 is fully closed (outside air). (Intake mode) and, if necessary, stop at the intermediate position (inside / outside air intake mode). The rotation of the intake door is performed by an intake door actuator attached to the intake unit case 11 or a manual wire.

  The intake of inside air and / or outside air is performed by a fan 15 that is rotated by a fan motor 14.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the air conditioning unit casing 31 has an inlet 40 for air blown from the intake unit 10 through the duct 20 at the lower part of the side surface of the casing 31.

  In the vicinity of the inlet 40, an evaporator 32 for cooling the intake air is provided. The evaporator 32 is connected to the compressor, a condenser (evaporator), an expansion valve EX, a liquid tank, and the like with a refrigerant pipe. It becomes one element of the cooling cycle comprised by connection. In addition, since main components such as a compressor, a condenser, and a liquid tank are provided in the engine room, these and the evaporator 32 are connected through the dash panel DP by refrigerant piping. The cooling cycle is operated and stopped by an air conditioner switch on a control panel provided on an instrument panel in the passenger compartment.

  On the upper side of the evaporator 32 of the air conditioning unit case 31, a heater core 33 is provided so as to form a bypass path 35. The heater core 33 is also disposed with its air passage surface 33a facing in the vertical direction. The ratio between the amount of air passing through the heater core 33 and the amount of air passing through the bypass path 35 is adjusted between the heater core 33 and the evaporator 32, that is, by the mix door 34 provided on the front surface of the heater core 33.

  Note that engine coolant of the vehicle circulates in the heater core 33, and the air is heated by heat exchange between the engine coolant and air. The mix door 34 is rotated by a mix door actuator or a manual wire between a position where the front surface 33a of the heater core 33 is fully closed (full cool) and a position where the bypass path 35 is fully closed (full hot).

  The air conditioning unit 30 of the present embodiment cools the air blown from the intake unit 10 with the above-described evaporator 32 and then controls the temperature with the heater core 33 and distributes conditioned air from a desired outlet to the vehicle interior. Has a function to wind. For this purpose, an air mix chamber is formed in the uppermost part (downstream side) of the air conditioning unit case 31, and a vent outlet 37, a defrost outlet 38 and a foot outlet 39 are formed therein.

  The vent outlet 37 communicates with the vent grill provided through the air duct or directly on the front surface of the instrument panel in the passenger compartment, and blows out conditioned air mainly toward the upper body of the occupant. The defrost outlet 38 communicates with the defrost grill provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel through an air duct or blows out low-humidity air or warm air toward the inner surface of the windshield to clear the fog. The foot air outlet 39 opens under the passenger's foot in the passenger compartment through an air duct extending downward from the air conditioning unit case 31, and mainly blows warm air toward the passenger's foot.

  In addition, a vent door 37D, a differential door 38D, and a foot door 39D are provided at the air outlets 37, 38, and 39, respectively, so that the air outlets can be opened and closed. These doors 37D, 38D, and 39D are provided with a link mechanism or the like. It is operated by a mode door actuator or a manual wire.

  That is, these doors operate according to the combination of opening and closing of the three doors 37D, 38D, and 39D by selecting various blowing modes such as a vent mode, a defrost mode, a bi-level mode, and a foot mode. For example, in the bi-level mode, the vent air outlet 37 and the foot air outlet 39 are respectively opened half way, cold air is blown out from the vent air outlet 37, and warm air is blown out from the foot air outlet 39, so-called head cold foot heat type temperature control is performed.

  In the air conditioning unit 30 of the automotive air conditioner 100 of the present embodiment, a submix door 36 is provided on the back surface of the heater core 33 and is connected by a link mechanism or the like so as to operate in conjunction with the mix door 34. The submix door 36 is provided in order to improve the mixability of warm air and cold air in the air mix chamber. For example, in the temperature control region where the mix door 34 rotates to the intermediate position, the submix door 36 is also in the middle. Accordingly, a part of the warm air that has passed through the heater core 33 is guided by the cold air that has flowed down the bypass passage 35, thereby improving the mixing property.

  In particular, in the air conditioning unit 30 of the present embodiment, the evaporator 32 is arranged such that the air passage surface 32b is inclined to the right or left with respect to the flow direction of the air introduced into the inlet 40. Referring to FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a perspective view seen from the back side of FIG. 3, in which the upper left side is the engine room and the lower left side is the intake unit 10. The air taken in by the intake unit 10 is guided to the inlet 40 of the air conditioning unit casing 31 through the duct 20 in the direction of the arrow A1. The evaporator 32 according to the present embodiment is arranged so that the air passage surface 32a of the evaporator 32 has a lower right shoulder when the evaporator 32 is viewed in the arrow A1 direction.

  The inclination angle θ of the evaporator 32 in the present embodiment is preferably 10 ° to 40 °. As shown in FIG. 4, the intake air is introduced from the side of the evaporator 32 and passes upward through the evaporator 32. Therefore, when the inclination angle of the evaporator 32 is smaller than 10 °, that is, almost horizontal. This is because the opening area of the inlet 40 is reduced accordingly, and the ventilation resistance is increased.

  FIG. 5 is a graph showing experimental results of measuring the ventilation resistance when the inclination angle of the evaporator 32 is changed, and it was confirmed that the ventilation resistance increases remarkably when the inclination angle of the evaporator 32 is small. However, in this experiment, the combined ventilation resistance with the heater core 33 shown in FIG. 3 is not shown.

  When the inclination angle of the evaporator 32 is large, that is, when the evaporator 32 is raised too much, the opening area of the inlet 40 increases. However, when the evaporator 32 stands up, the height dimension increases. The air flow path that is introduced and passes through the evaporator 32 is curved, and the ventilation resistance increases accordingly.

  Further, in the air conditioning unit 30 of the present embodiment, when the evaporator 32 is inclined, the refrigerant tank 32a is positioned on the engine room side. If only the ventilation resistance and the height of the unit 30 are taken into consideration, the refrigerant tank 32a may be either on the engine room side or on the outdoor side. However, by arranging the refrigerant tank 32a on the engine room side, as shown in FIG. The effect when the integrated expansion valve EX is adopted is remarkable.

  That is, in this embodiment, the cylindrical projection part 31a which penetrates the dash panel DP is formed in the air conditioning unit casing 31, and the integral expansion valve EX is attached to the air conditioning unit casing 31 so as to penetrate the dash panel DP. This integrated expansion valve EX has a refrigerant inlet from the cooling cycle and a refrigerant outlet to the same cycle, and these are communicated with the refrigerant tank 32a. Further, since the expansion valve main body and the temperature sensing part are also built in, piping for surrounding the expansion valve and the temperature sensing part is remarkably simplified. By adopting this type of integral expansion valve EX, the air conditioning unit 30 of the present embodiment simplifies the indoor refrigerant piping, and the connection operation with the cooling cycle only has to be performed only from the engine room side. It will be.

  Next, each operation of the full cool mode, the full hot mode, and the temperature control mode will be described. 6 shows the air flow in the full cool mode, FIG. 7 shows the full hot mode, and FIG. 8 shows the air flow in the temperature control mode.

  First, in the full cool mode, as shown in FIG. 6, the defrost outlet 38 and the foot outlet 39 are fully closed, and the vent outlet 37 is fully opened. The mix door 34 fully closes the heater core 33. The submix door 36 is not particularly limited.

  By doing so, the intake air introduced from the intake unit 10 to the inlet 40 rises while passing through the air passage surface 32 b of the evaporator 32, and reaches the vent outlet 37 through the bypass passage 35 as it is. As described above, in the full cool mode, the air flow path from the inlet 40 to the vent outlet 37 is formed in a substantially straight line, so that the airflow resistance is extremely small and a large amount of cold air can be supplied indoors. it can.

  In the full hot mode, as shown in FIG. 7, the defrost outlet 38 and the vent outlet 37 are fully closed, and the foot outlet 39 is fully open. The mix door 34 opens the heater core 33 fully.

  In this way, the intake air introduced from the intake unit 10 to the inlet 40 rises while passing through the air passage surface 32b of the evaporator 32, is guided to the heater core 33 by the mix door 34, and passes through the heater core 33. Continue to the foot outlet 39. In this way, even in the full hot mode, the air flow path from the inlet 40 to the foot outlet 39 is formed in a substantially straight line, so that the airflow resistance is extremely small and a large amount of hot air is supplied indoors. Can do.

  Further, in the temperature control mode for supplying air at an intermediate temperature and in the bi-level mode, as shown in FIG. 8, the defrost outlet 38 is fully closed and the vent outlet 37 and the foot outlet 39 are half open. . Further, the mix door 34 is set at a substantially intermediate position, and the submix door 36 is also set at a substantially intermediate position.

  In this way, the intake air introduced from the intake unit 10 to the inlet 40 rises while passing through the air passage surface 32 b of the evaporator 32, but the air led to the heater core 33 and the bypass passage 35 at the mix door 34. Branches to the air led to. Further, the warm air passing through the heater core 33 is further branched by the submix door 36 into warm air that reaches the foot outlet 39 and warm air that is deflected toward the bypass path 35. The hot air deflected toward the bypass passage 35 is mixed by colliding with the cold air rising through the bypass passage 35 to reach an appropriate temperature, and then reaches the vent outlet 37.

  As described above, even in the temperature control mode, the air flow path from the inlet 40 to the vent outlet 37 or the foot outlet 39 is formed in a substantially straight line. Can be supplied indoors. In addition, since the warm air collides with the cold air in a substantially right angle direction by the submix door 36, the mixing property is improved, and the uncomfortable feeling of head cold foot heat can be suppressed. In addition, if the submix door 36 is configured to be operable independently, the temperature difference of the head cold foot heat can be freely changed.

  The embodiment described above is described in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and is not described in order to limit the present invention. Therefore, each element disclosed in the above embodiment is intended to include all design changes and equivalents belonging to the technical scope of the present invention.

It is a front view which shows embodiment of the air conditioning apparatus for motor vehicles of this invention. It is a top view of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the III-III line | wire of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the evaporator which concerns on this invention. It is a graph which shows ventilation resistance with respect to the inclination-angle of the evaporator of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the airflow in the full cool mode of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the airflow in the full hot mode of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the airflow in the temperature control mode of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Intake unit 14 ... Fan motor (blower)
15 ... Fan (blower)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Duct 30 ... Air-conditioning unit 31 ... Casing 31a ... Cylindrical protrusion 32 ... Evaporator 32a ... Refrigerant tank 32b ... Air passage surface 33 ... Heater core 33a ... Air passage surface 34 ... Mix door 35 ... Bypass passage 36 ... Sub mix door 37 ... vent outlet 38 ... defrost outlet 39 ... foot outlet 40 ... inlet EX ... expansion valve DP ... dash panel

Claims (4)

An evaporator (32) and a heater core (33) are provided, an intake air inlet (40) is formed in a lower portion of one side wall of the vehicle in the left-right direction, the evaporator is disposed on the lower side, and the heater core is disposed on the upper side. In the air conditioning unit (30) for automobiles arranged with the air passage surface (32b) substantially in the vertical direction,
The evaporator refrigerant tank (32a) is located on the engine room side of the vehicle,
The expansion valve (EX) passes through the dash panel (DP) of the vehicle and the casing (31) of the air conditioning unit, and is attached to the refrigerant tank. The automotive air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein the heater core (33) is arranged with the air passage surface (33a) in a substantially vertical direction. The automotive air conditioning unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a vent outlet (37), a defrost outlet (38), and a foot outlet (39) are formed above the heater core (33). . The automotive air conditioning unit (30) according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and the intake unit (10) provided with the blowers (14, 15) are arranged along the vehicle left-right direction. Harmony device.

Images