JP5303382B2 - Damper device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a damper device provided in a vehicle air conditioner.

Some vehicle air conditioners are provided with an air mix damper device (damper device) as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example. Such an air mix damper device includes an air mix damper (sliding damper) that is slidably moved, and adjusts the amount of cold air supplied to the heating flow path in which the heater core is installed according to the slide position of the air mix damper, This adjusts the mixing ratio of the warm air generated by the heater core and the cool air that is vented as it is.
More specifically, the air mix damper slides between two openings (an opening communicating with the heating flow path and an opening for allowing cool air to flow as it is) arranged in parallel with substantially the same size, Thereby, the ratio of the cold air supplied to the heating flow path is adjusted by changing the opening ratio of the two openings.

  A rack gear is formed in the air mix damper, and the air mix damper is configured to be slidable when the rack gear is moved by a pinion gear meshed with the rack gear.

International Publication No. 2004/108449 Pamphlet JP 2000-355212 A

  By the way, a part of the cold air supplied to the heating flow path is heated by the heater core, and is mixed with the cold air that has been ventilated as it is in the mixing unit. Thus, the air obtained by mixing the cold air and the warm air is supplied as conditioned air into the vehicle interior. Since the flow rate of the cold air supplied to the heater core changes depending on the slide position of the air mix damper, the slide position of the air mix damper is accurately set to control the temperature of the conditioned air supplied into the vehicle compartment more accurately. Need to control.

However, if the meshing between the rack gear and the pinion gear is weak, the pinion gear may idle. As a result, there is a possibility that the rotational speed of the pinion gear and the slide distance of the air mix damper are shifted, and the operation reliability of the air mix damper may be lowered.
That is, if the meshing between the rack gear and the pinion gear is weak, the slide position of the air mix damper may not be accurately controlled.
In addition, when the meshing between the rack gear and the pinion gear is weak, it is necessary to take a large backlash, which may cause abnormal noise.
In addition, the technical problems as described above are not limited to the air mix damper device, but include a damper device having a slide type damper (for example, a mode damper device that adjusts the opening of the air outlet and an inlet / outlet of the blower). This occurs in general inside / outside air switching damper devices that control opening and closing for air switching.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. In a damper device, a sliding gear is appropriately meshed with a rack gear formed on a sliding damper and a pinion gear meshed with the rack gear. The purpose of this is to more accurately position the damper and to suppress abnormal noise.
In particular, according to the present invention, in an air mix damper device, by appropriately meshing a rack gear formed on the air mix damper and a pinion gear meshed with the rack gear, more accurate positioning and abnormal noise of the air mix damper are achieved. The purpose is to control.

The present invention adopts the following configuration as means for solving the above-described problems.
A first aspect of the present invention is a damper device provided in a vehicle air conditioner, comprising a rack gear formed on a slide damper and having flexibility, and a pinion gear meshing with the rack gear, the rack gear described above A configuration is adopted in which bending forming means for bending the contact area with the pinion gear in the radial direction of the pinion gear is provided.
According to a second invention, in the first invention, the bend forming means is a slit formed on a side of the rack gear.
According to a third invention, in the first or second invention, a configuration is provided in which guide means is provided for sliding the slide type damper while always urging the rack gear with respect to the pinion gear.

According to the present invention, the rack gear has flexibility, and the contact region of the rack gear with the pinion gear is bent in the radial direction of the pinion gear by the bending forming means. As a result, the rack gear is pressed against the pinion gear by the repulsive force that the contact area of the rack gear returns to the pinion gear side, and the rack gear and the pinion gear mesh with each other at an appropriate strength and at an appropriate distance. It becomes.
Therefore, according to the present invention, the rack gear formed in the slide type damper and the pinion gear meshed with the rack gear can be appropriately meshed, and the slide type damper can be more accurately positioned and abnormal noise can be obtained. It becomes possible to suppress it.

It is a perspective view of the air mix damper device in a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is an enlarged view containing the rack gear with which the air mix damper apparatus in 1st Embodiment of this invention is provided. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the air mix damper apparatus in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged view containing the rack gear with which the air mix damper apparatus in 2nd Embodiment of this invention is provided.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a damper device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, the scale of each member is appropriately changed in order to make each member a recognizable size.
Further, in the following description, an air mix damper device including an air mix damper (sliding damper) will be described as a damper device according to the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a damper device having a slide-type damper (for example, a mode damper device that adjusts the opening of the air outlet or a suction port of the blower is opened and closed for switching between the inside and outside air. The present invention can be applied to all controllable inside / outside air switching damper devices).

(First embodiment)
The air mix damper device S1 (see FIG. 1) of this embodiment is mounted on a unitized vehicle air conditioner (HVAC: Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning), and is housed in a heater case in which a heater core and an evaporator are housed. Yes.
Then, the air mix damper device S1 (damper device) adjusts the supply amount of the cold air supplied from the evaporator to the heating flow path, and thereby the warm air obtained by heating in the heating flow path and the mixing section as it is. Adjust the mixing ratio with the cool air to be ventilated.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air mix damper device S1 of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view including the rack gear 3 provided in the air mix damper device S1 of the present embodiment, where (a) is a plan view and (b) is a side view.
As shown in FIG. 1, an air mix damper device S1 of the present embodiment includes a frame case 1, an air mix damper 2 (sliding damper), a rack gear 3, a slit 4 (deflection forming means), and a pinion gear. 5 and a shaft 6.

  The frame case 1 is fixed to and supported by the heater case, and is provided with a heating channel opening 1a that communicates with the heating channel, and a ventilation opening 1b that directly ventilates the cool air through the mixing section. . Further, the frame case 1 has a support wall 1c that is provided on both sides of the heating channel opening 1a and the ventilation opening 1b and supports a bearing 7 for supporting the shaft 6.

Further, the frame case 1 is provided with a guide 1 d for guiding the air mix damper 2. The guide 1d is formed as a groove in the support wall 1c and guides the air mix damper 2 along its own shape.
In the present embodiment, the guide 1 d guides the air mix damper 2 so that the rack gear 3 is always urged against the pinion gear 5. More specifically, the guide 1d moves closer to the air mix damper 2 than the tooth bottom surface of the rack gear 3 in a state where the tooth tip surface of the pinion gear 5 is not subjected to external load (that is, not deformed). The air mix damper 2 is guided as follows. As a result, the rack gear 3 is always biased with respect to the pinion gear 5.

The air mix damper 2 is made of a plate-shaped packing 2a having a size capable of closing the heating flow path opening 1a or the ventilation opening 1b, and a resin made to reinforce the packing 2a while being affixed to the packing 2a. And a frame portion 2b.
The packing 2a is formed of, for example, a flexible resin, and by receiving a load, a region that receives the load can be easily elastically deformed.
The frame portion 2b is made of resin, for example, like the packing 2a and has flexibility, but is harder than the packing 2a. The frame portion 2b is formed with four protrusions 2b1 protruding toward the support wall 1c, and these protrusions 2b1 slide on the guide 1d. In FIG. 1, only one of the four protrusions 2b1 is shown.

The rack gear 3 has flexibility by being formed of the same resin as the frame portion 2 b of the air mix damper 2, for example, and is formed integrally with the air mix damper 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the rack gear 3 is disposed so as to extend in the sliding direction of the air mix damper 2 and is provided on both sides of the air mix damper 2.
Further, both end portions 3a of the rack gear 3 are raised, and are lifted away from the installation surface 2b2 of the rack gear 3 (the surface of the frame portion 2b).

As shown in FIG. 2A, the slit 4 is formed with respect to the frame portion 2 b and is formed so as to sandwich the rack gear 3 on both sides of the rack gear 3. The slit 4 is formed over substantially the same length as the entire length of the rack gear 3. In FIG. 2, only one rack gear 3 is shown, but slits 4 are similarly formed on both sides of the rack gear 3 (not shown).
The slit 4 functions as a deflection forming means of the present invention. In other words, due to the presence of the slit 4, the contact region of the rack gear 3 with the pinion gear 5 can be bent in the radial direction of the pinion gear 5.

The pinion gear 5 is a gear that meshes with the rack gear 3 and is fixed to the shaft 6. The pinion gear 5 functions as a drive gear by being rotated by the shaft 6.
The shaft 6 has pinion gears 5 fixed to both ends, and is supported by bearings 7 attached to the support wall 1c. The shaft 6 is connected to a motor (not shown) controlled by a control device (not shown), and is driven to rotate when power is transmitted from the motor.

In the air mix damper device S1 of this embodiment having such a configuration, when the shaft 6 is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown), the pinion gear 5 rotates, the rack gear 3 advances, and further, the air mix damper. 2 is slid between a position where only the heating channel opening 1a is completely closed and a position where only the ventilation opening 1b is completely closed.
Then, the rotation direction and amount of rotation of the pinion gear 5 are controlled by a control device (not shown), and thereby the slide position of the air mix damper 2 is controlled. As a result, the area ratio of the heating channel opening 1a and the ventilation opening 1b closed by the air mix damper 2 is adjusted, and cold air (cold air that is directly ventilated to the mixing unit) and hot air (heated by the heating channel). The mixing ratio is adjusted.

Here, in the air mix damper device S1 of the present embodiment, slits 4 are formed on both sides of the rack gear 3 having flexibility. For this reason, by applying a load to the rack gear 3, the air mix damper 2 can be sunk to the packing 2a side.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, when a load is applied to the contact region R due to the rack gear 3 contacting the pinion gear 5, the contact region R sinks in the radial direction of the pinion gear 5 and bends. Mu The packing 1a changes following the bending of the contact region R.
As a result, the rack gear 3 is pressed against the pinion gear 5 by the repulsive force that the contact area R of the rack gear 3 returns to the pinion gear 5 side, and the rack gear 3 and the pinion gear 5 have an appropriate strength. And it will mesh at an appropriate distance.

Therefore, according to the air mix damper device S1 of the present embodiment, the rack gear 3 formed in the air mix damper 2 and the pinion gear 5 meshed with the rack gear 3 can be appropriately meshed.
Then, by appropriately meshing the rack gear 3 and the pinion gear 5, the pinion gear 5 is prevented from idling and the air mix damper 2 can be positioned more accurately.
Further, by appropriately meshing the rack gear 3 and the pinion gear 5, it is possible to reduce backlash and to suppress abnormal noise.

Further, in the air mix damper device S1 of the present embodiment, the guide 1d has a tooth tip surface of the pinion gear 5 from the tooth bottom surface of the rack gear 3 in a state where no external load is applied (that is, deformation). The air mix damper 2 is guided so as to move below. That is, the guide 1d guides the air mix damper 2 so that the rack gear 3 is always urged with respect to the pinion gear 5.
For this reason, it becomes possible to bend the contact area | region R with the pinion gear 5 of the rack gear 3 reliably.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the description of the second embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted or simplified.

  FIG. 4 is an enlarged view including the rack gear 10 provided in the air mix damper device of the present embodiment, (a) is a plan view, and (b) is a side sectional view. As shown in this figure, the air mix damper device of the present embodiment includes a flat rack gear 10 in place of the rack gear 3 with both ends raised in the first embodiment, and is provided in the slit 4 of the first embodiment. Instead, an opening 20 (deflection forming means) is formed.

  The opening 20 is wider and shorter than the rack gear 10. And the fixed area | region 10a in which the tooth | gear is not formed is provided in the both ends of the rack gear 10, and the rack gear 10 is fixed to the frame part 2d by the said fixed area | region 10a. It spans across the opening 20.

In such an air mix damper device of this embodiment, an opening 20 is provided below the rack gear 10 having flexibility. For this reason, the rack gear 10 can be sunk in the packing 2a side by applying a load to the rack gear 10.
Therefore, when a load is applied to the contact region R due to the rack gear 10 contacting the pinion gear 5, the contact region R sinks in the radial direction of the pinion gear 5 and bends.
Therefore, according to the air mix damper device of the present embodiment, the rack gear 3 and the pinion gear 5 can be appropriately meshed as in the air mix damper device S1 of the first embodiment.
Further, as described above, the rack gear 3 and the pinion gear 5 can be appropriately meshed even if the rack gear 10 is flat without both ends rising.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. Various shapes, combinations, and the like of the constituent members shown in the above-described embodiments are examples, and various modifications can be made based on design requirements and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the rack gears 3 and 10 have been described as having flexibility by being formed of resin.
However, this invention is not limited to this, For example, you may form with the metal. In such a case, flexibility is imparted to the rack gear depending on the shape of the rack gear (for example, the thickness or the aspect ratio in the planar shape).

Moreover, in the said embodiment, the structure by which the packing 1a was arrange | positioned just under the rack gear 3 was demonstrated.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to remove the packing 1a from directly below the rack gear 3.

  S1 ... Air mix damper device (damper device), 2 ... Air mix damper (sliding damper), 3 ... Rack gear, 4 ... Slit (deflection forming means), 5 ... Pinion gear, 10 ... Rack gear , 20... Opening (deflection forming means), 1 d... Guide (guide means), R.

Claims (1)

A damper device that is formed in a sliding damper and has a flexible rack gear and a pinion gear that meshes with the rack gear, and is provided in an air conditioner for a vehicle,
A bending forming means for bending a contact area of the rack gear with the pinion gear in a radial direction of the pinion gear ;
A guide means for sliding the sliding damper while constantly urging the rack gear with respect to the pinion gear ;
The damper device according to claim 1, wherein the bending forming means is a slit formed on a side of the rack gear .

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