JP4061712B2 - Air conditioner for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner capable of adjusting the air volume distribution between a driver seat side and a passenger seat side.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, the number of vehicle air conditioners that can adjust the temperature independently on the left and right (for example, the driver's seat side and the passenger's seat side) has increased.
In this air conditioner, FACE doors are provided at the driver seat side and the passenger seat side FACE outlets, respectively, so that the right and left air volume distribution can be adjusted by changing the opening degree of each FACE door. In addition, when it is desired to increase the blown air volume only on one side (for example, passenger side), the blower voltage is increased to increase the overall blower air volume, and the door opening on the driver's seat side is decreased. .
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the above-described method for increasing the blower voltage is effective when there is room to increase the blower voltage, but is applicable when the blower voltage is maximized (for example, at the maximum air flow) during MAX cooling, for example. There was a problem that I could not.
The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle air conditioner that can adjust the right and left air volume distribution even when the blower voltage is maximum (at the maximum air volume).
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
(Means of Claim 1)
A communication hole that connects the driver seat side air passage and the passenger seat side air passage is formed in the partition plate that partitions the driver seat side air passage and the passenger seat side air passage in the air blowing case. In this case, for example, if the door opening of the passenger side air outlet is made smaller than the door opening of the driver side air outlet (slightly closing the passenger seat side door), the ventilation resistance of the passenger side air passage increases. Part of the blown air flows from the passenger seat side air passage to the driver seat side air passage through the communication hole. As a result, the amount of air blown from the driver's seat side air outlet increases.
Here, when the door opening degree of one of the air outlets is reduced, a part of the blown air flows from the air passage that leads to one air outlet through the communication hole to the air passage that leads to the other air outlet. For this, the position of the communication hole opening in the partition plate is important. Therefore, in the present invention, a communication hole is formed in the vicinity of the driver side door and the front passenger side door, and the door opening degree of either one of the driver side and the front passenger side door is changed from the fully open state. When the door is made smaller, a communication hole is opened on the upstream side of the air with respect to the door whose door opening is reduced.
[0005]
(Means of Claim 2)
When both the driver's and passenger's doors are fully open, a request is made to increase the amount of air blown from either the driver's seat outlet or the passenger's seat outlet The door opening of the other outlet is reduced according to the increased air volume.
For example, if both the driver's seat side and the passenger's side door opening are fully open, and there is a request to increase the air flow rate at the driver's seat side air outlet, the door at the passenger's seat side air outlet according to the increased air volume. When the opening is reduced, the ventilation resistance of the passenger seat side air passage increases, so that part of the blown air flows from the passenger seat side air passage to the driver seat side air passage through the communication hole. Thereby, even when the door opening on the driver's seat side is fully opened, the amount of air blown out from the driver's seat side outlet can be increased. In other words, even when the blower voltage of the blower is maximum (at the time of the maximum air flow), by reducing the door opening degree of one of the air outlets, the air flow rate of the other air outlet can be increased.
[0007]
(Means of claim 3 )
The driver seat side air outlet and the passenger seat side air outlet are a driver seat side face air outlet and a passenger seat side face air outlet for blowing air toward the upper body of the driver side passenger and the passenger seat side passenger. In this case, the present invention can be applied most effectively.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the air conditioning unit 1.
The vehicle air conditioner of the present embodiment includes an air conditioning unit 1 that can independently adjust the temperature on the driver's seat side and on the passenger seat side.
The air conditioning unit 1 includes a blower case 2, a cooling heat exchanger 3 accommodated in the blower case 2, a heating heat exchanger 4, an A / M door 5, and an outlet switching door (described later). Composed.
[0009]
The blower case 2 is connected to a well-known blower (not shown) and forms a blower passage for sending air sent from the blower into the passenger compartment. The interior of the case is separated from the driver's seat by a partition plate 6 (see FIG. 3). It is partitioned into a side air passage 7 and a passenger seat side air passage 8 (see FIG. 2). The blower case 2 has a DEF outlet 9, a driver-side FACE outlet 10, a passenger-side FACE outlet 11, a driver-side FOOT outlet 12, and a passenger-side FOOT outlet 13 as blower air outlets. , MAX cool air outlets (not shown), etc. are provided, and each air outlet communicates with an air outlet opening at various locations in the vehicle compartment via ducts not shown.
The driver side FACE outlet 10 and the FOOT outlet 12 are opened in the driver side air passage 7, respectively, and the passenger side FACE outlet 11 and the FOOT outlet 13 are opened in the passenger side air passage 8, respectively. The DEF air outlet 9 and the MAX cool air outlet are opened to both the driver seat side air passage 7 and the passenger seat air passage 8, respectively.
[0010]
The partition plate 6 is arranged on the air downstream side of the cooling heat exchanger 3 in the air blowing case 2, and the air downstream side of the cooling heat exchanger 3 is arranged on the driver seat side air passage 7 and the passenger seat air passage 8. It is divided into. As shown in FIG. 3, the partition plate 6 divides a driver seat side air passage 7 leading to the driver seat side FACE outlet 10 and a passenger seat side air passage 8 leading to the passenger seat FACE outlet 11 ( A communication hole 14 is provided in the upper part of FIG. 3, and the driver seat side air passage 7 and the passenger seat side air passage 8 are communicated with each other through the communication hole 14.
[0011]
The cooling heat exchanger 3 is a refrigerant evaporator of a refrigeration cycle, and cools air passing through the cooling heat exchanger 3 (air blown from a blower) by heat exchange with a low-temperature refrigerant flowing inside.
The heating heat exchanger 4 heats air passing through the heating heat exchanger 4 (air cooled by the cooling heat exchanger 3) using engine cooling water (hot water) as a heat source.
The A / M door 5 is disposed adjacent to the heating heat exchanger 4, and the amount of air passing through the heating heat exchanger 4 and the amount of air bypassing the heating heat exchanger 4 according to the door opening degree Adjust the ratio. However, the A / M door 5 is disposed in both the driver seat side air passage 7 and the passenger seat air passage 8 and is driven to rotate independently by an individual actuator (not shown). Therefore, by separately controlling the opening degree of the A / M door 5 on the driver seat side and the passenger seat side, the blowout temperatures on the driver seat side and the passenger seat side can be adjusted separately.
[0012]
The air outlet switching door switches the air outlets according to the selected air outlet mode, and the DEF door 15 that opens and closes the DEF air outlet 9 and the driver seat side FOOT door 16 that opens and closes the driver side FOOT air outlet 12. A passenger side FOOT door 17 that opens and closes the passenger side FOOT outlet 13; a driver side FACE door 18 that opens and closes the driver side FACE outlet 10; and a passenger side FACE door that opens and closes the passenger side FACE outlet 11 19 and a MAX cool door 20 that is fully opened only at the maximum cooling operation (position shown in FIG. 1) and supplies the air cooled by the cooling heat exchanger 3 to the MAX cool outlet.
Here, the driver seat side FACE door 18 and the passenger seat side FACE door 19 according to the present invention will be described. The FACE doors 18 and 19 are commonly called butterfly doors, and have opening / closing plates on both sides in the radial direction of the rotary shaft 21. The FACE doors 18 and 19 are rotationally driven between positions where the FACE outlets 10 and 11 are fully opened (positions shown in FIG. 1) and positions where they are fully closed by individual actuators (not shown). The actuator (for example, servo motor) is energized and controlled by an electronic control unit (ECU) (not shown).
[0013]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
a) When the air conditioning mode is A / M operation.
The air sent from the blower to the air conditioning unit 1 is cooled when passing through the cooling heat exchanger 3, and the air passing through the heating heat exchanger 4 according to the opening degree of the A / M door 5 and the heating After being divided into air that bypasses the heat exchanger 4, the temperature of the hot air that has passed through the heating heat exchanger 4 and the cold air that has bypassed the heating heat exchanger 4 are merged to adjust the temperature. The air is blown into the vehicle compartment from a predetermined air outlet that opens according to the exit mode.
b) When the air conditioning mode is maximum heating operation.
When the A / M door 5 fully opens the inlet side of the heating heat exchanger 4, all of the air cooled through the cooling heat exchanger 3 is heated when passing through the heating heat exchanger 4. The air is blown out mainly from the FOOT air outlets 12 and 13 into the passenger compartment (steps of passengers).
[0014]
c) When the air conditioning mode is maximum cooling operation.
When the A / M door 5 fully closes the inlet side of the heating heat exchanger 4 (position shown in FIG. 1), all the air cooled through the cooling heat exchanger 3 is heated. 4 bypasses and flows out from the FACE outlets 10 and 11 and the MAX cool outlet to the passenger compartment (the upper body of the occupant).
In this maximum cooling operation, since the blower voltage of the blower is maximum (at the time of the maximum air flow), for example, even if a request for increasing the blown air amount only on the driver's seat side is issued, the blower voltage of the blower cannot be increased. Therefore, in this embodiment, for example, when a request is made to increase the blown air volume only on the driver's seat side, only the passenger seat side FACE door 19 is slightly closed as shown in FIG. 4 (the driver seat side FACE door 18 is in the fully open position). ). In this case, if the passenger seat side FACE door 19 is slightly closed, the ventilation resistance of the passenger seat side air passage 8 increases, so that a part of the blown air flowing through the passenger seat side air passage 8 opens in the partition plate 6. It flows into the driver's seat side air passage 7 through the communication hole 14. Thereby, the amount of blowing air blown from the driver's seat side FACE outlet 10 can be increased.
[0015]
In addition, when the set temperature is changed between the driver seat side and the passenger seat side due to the communication hole 14 being provided in the partition plate 6, the following problems can be considered. For example, when the set temperature on the driver's seat side and the passenger's seat side is both 20 ° C., if only the driver's seat side is changed to 30 ° C., the temperature from the driver's seat side air passage 7 to the passenger's seat side air passage 8 passes through the communication hole 14. As the wind flows, the temperature at the passenger seat increases.
As a result of measuring the blowing temperature by changing the size of the communication hole 14, the length a of the communication hole 14 is slightly smaller than the length of the FACE doors 18 and 19 (length of the opening / closing plate). When the width b of the communication hole 14 is about 15 mm, it has been found that there is almost no problem as shown in FIG. The graph shown in FIG. 5 is obtained by measuring the blowing temperature when the width b of the communication hole 14 is 15 mm. Even when the set temperature on the driver seat side is increased, the blowing temperature on the passenger seat side almost increases. It can be seen that a substantially constant temperature is maintained. As a result, if the size of the communication hole 14 is appropriately selected, the above-described problem (when one set temperature is raised, the other blowing temperature is also raised) can be avoided.
[0016]
Further, the position of the communication hole 14 is formed in the vicinity of the driver seat side FACE door 18 and the passenger seat side FACE door 19, and either one of the door openings on the driver seat side and the passenger seat side is fully opened. When the door opening is reduced, it is desirable that the opening is on the upstream side of the FACE door with the smaller door opening. On the contrary, when the passenger seat side FACE door 19 is slightly closed, for example, as shown in the broken line position A in FIG. If so, the air flowing through the passenger side air passage 8 is almost blown out from the passenger side FACE outlet 11 and the amount of air passing through the communication hole 14 becomes extremely small. A big effect cannot be expected for the demand to increase.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a rectangular opening is formed below the bearing hole 22 adjacent to the bearing hole 22 through which the rotation shafts of both FACE doors 18 are inserted. Alternatively, the communication hole 14 may be formed in a region indicated by an arrow C as indicated by a broken line position B in FIG.
[0017]
(Effect of this embodiment)
According to the air conditioning unit 1 described in the present embodiment, even when the blower voltage of the blower is maximum (at the time of the maximum air flow), for example, the passenger seat side FACE door 19 is slightly closed to blow out the driver seat side FACE outlet 10. The air volume can be increased, and conversely, by slightly closing the driver seat side FACE door 18, the air volume blown from the passenger seat side FACE outlet 11 can be increased. Thereby, even at the time of the maximum air volume at which the blower voltage of the blower cannot be increased, it is possible to meet the demand for further increasing the air volume on either the driver seat side or the passenger seat side.
In addition, even when lower than the maximum air volume (when the blower voltage is not maximum), by applying the method described in the present embodiment (reducing the door opening of one of the driver seat side and the passenger seat side), It is possible to meet the demand for increased air volume without increasing the blower voltage of the blower.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of an air conditioning unit.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the air conditioning unit viewed from the direction A in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a partition plate.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of an air conditioning unit for explaining the operation of the present embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a graph comparing blowing temperatures on the driver's seat side and the passenger seat side.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 Blower case 6 Partition plate 7 Driver's seat side air passage 8 Passenger's side air passage 10 Driver's seat side FACE outlet (driver's seat side outlet)
11 Passenger side FACE outlet (passenger side outlet)
14 Communication hole 18 FACE door on the driver's seat (door on the driver's seat)
19 Passenger side FACE door (passenger side door)

Claims (3)

A blowing case having a driver's seat side outlet that blows out blowing air to the driver's seat side and a passenger seat side outlet that blows out blowing air to the passenger's seat side;
A blower that introduces air into the blower case and blows air;
A driver side door that opens and closes the driver side outlet;
A passenger seat side door for opening and closing the passenger seat side outlet;
A driver side air passage that is formed in the air case and guides the air to the driver side outlet;
A passenger-side air passage that is formed in the air-blowing case and guides the air to the passenger-side air outlet;
A partition plate that partitions the driver seat side air passage and the passenger seat side air passage in the air blowing case;
This partition plate is opened and closed and a communication hole for communicating the front passenger seat side air passage to the driver's seat side air passage,
The communication hole is formed in the vicinity of the driver seat side door and the passenger seat side door, and when the door opening degree of the driver seat side and the passenger seat side is both fully open, when one of the door openings is reduced. An air conditioner for a vehicle , characterized in that it opens to the air upstream side with respect to a door whose door opening is reduced .   When both the opening degree of the driver's seat and the passenger's side door is fully open, a request is made to increase the amount of air blown from one of the driver's seat outlet and the passenger's seat outlet. 2. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the door opening degree of the other outlet is reduced according to the increased air volume. The driver seat side outlet and the passenger seat side outlet are a driver side face outlet and a passenger side face outlet for blowing air toward the upper body of the driver side passenger and the passenger side passenger. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2 .

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