JP6218383B2 - Piping connection structure of a vehicle air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a clamp device and a pipe connection structure of a vehicle air conditioner including the clamp device.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a pipe clamp. This pipe clamp is provided with a lower block for sandwiching two pipes. This lower block has a structure in which a radial groove slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the two pipes is provided, and a screw hole and a screw through hole are provided. Like the lower block, the upper block is provided with a radial groove and further has two screw-through holes.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-134983

  However, in the structure shown in Patent Document 1, since only two pipes are fastened and fixed by the radial groove of the lower block and the radial groove of the upper block by screwing, one pipe side Is pressed, there is a problem that the fastening structure of the lower block and the upper block may rotate around the other pipe.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to prevent the connecting member from rotating around the other pipe even when the pipe is pressed when connecting the pipes with the connecting member. .

In one embodiment of the present invention, a first pipe through which the refrigerant flows, a second pipe through which the refrigerant flows, and a first insertion part through which the first pipe is inserted at one end side are formed, A second insertion part through which the second pipe is inserted on the other end side, and a clamp device that connects the first pipe and the second pipe; and The shape of the inner peripheral surface of the first insertion portion prevents the first insertion portion from rotating relative to the first piping by engaging with the convex portion formed in the first piping. And the convex part is a connecting part of two pipes constituting at least a part of the first pipe, and is inserted through the first insertion part. a direction connecting the center of the central portion and the said second being inserted through the insertion portion and the second pipe, and the central portion of the first pipe It intersects is the direction connecting the vertices in the convex direction of the convex portion of the inner peripheral surface mutually relates to Kitotsu portion, the second pipe, the refrigerant to the second pipe in the vicinity of the clamping device It is the piping connection structure of the air conditioning apparatus for vehicles provided with the inlet which introduce | transduces.
According to this structure, the inner peripheral surface of the first insertion portion is engaged with the convex portion formed in the first pipe, and the first insertion portion rotates with respect to the first pipe. Can be prevented.

  In each of the above cases, the inner peripheral surface of the second insertion portion is also engaged with the convex portion formed in the second pipe, and the second insertion portion rotates with respect to the second pipe. You may make it be the shape which prevents doing.

  According to the present invention, even if the second pipe side is pressed, the clamp device is prevented from rotating around the first pipe, and the second pipe is firmly supported by the first pipe. be able to.

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view showing a pipe connection structure of a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an arrangement in the engine room of the pipe connection structure of the vehicle air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the clamp device according to the embodiment of the present invention in an opened state. FIG. 5 is a front view of the clamp device according to the embodiment of the present invention in an opened state. In FIG. 6, (a) is a front view of the clamp apparatus which is one embodiment of the present invention in a closed state. (B) is a rear view of the clamp device in a closed state.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. This vehicle air conditioner 101 is a heat pump device mounted on a vehicle 201 (FIG. 3), and is used for cooling a passenger compartment. The vehicle air conditioner 101 includes a compressor 102 that compresses refrigerant, a condenser 103 that cools the refrigerant, a receiver tank 105 that stores liquid refrigerant, an expansion valve (not shown) that decompresses and vaporizes the liquid refrigerant, and cold refrigerant. An evaporator (not shown) for generating cold air is provided.

  The compressor 102 and the capacitor 103 are connected by a pipe 104. A receiver tank 105 is provided on the side of the capacitor 103. A pipe 2 is connected to the receiver tank 105, and a pipe 3 is connected to the tip of the pipe 2. An evaporator (not shown) is connected to the end of the pipe 3. An expansion valve (not shown) is provided at a position before the evaporator in the middle of the pipe 3. A pipe 4 is connected to the evaporator, and a pipe 5 is connected to the tip of the pipe 4. Further, the tip of the pipe 5 is connected to the compressor 102.

  Next, the basic operation of the vehicle air conditioner 101 having the above-described configuration will be described. First, the compressor 102 compresses the refrigerant into a high temperature and high pressure state. The refrigerant that has been brought into a high-temperature and high-pressure state by the compressor 102 is sent to the capacitor 103 via the pipe 104. The condenser 103 is cooled by a condenser fan (not shown), thereby cooling the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant. The refrigerant cooled by the condenser 103 and sufficiently liquefied is stored in the receiver tank 105.

  The liquefied refrigerant in the receiver tank 105 is sent to the evaporator (not shown) side through the pipes 2 and 3. The liquefied refrigerant flowing through the pipe 3 is injected into the evaporator from a minute nozzle hole of an expansion valve (not shown) and is vaporized at once. The vaporized refrigerant takes heat around the evaporator, and thereby the evaporator is cooled. When air is passed through the cooled evaporator by a blower fan (not shown), cold air is generated. By introducing this cold air into the vehicle interior, the vehicle interior can be cooled. Then, the refrigerant exiting the evaporator returns to the compressor 102 via the pipes 4 and 5. By repeating the above refrigeration cycle, the passenger compartment can be continuously cooled.

  Such a vehicle air conditioner 101 includes a pipe connection structure 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the pipe connection structure 1 in the engine room. When the hood (not shown) of the vehicle 201 is opened, the pipe connection structure 1 is arranged in the engine room 202 so that the pipe connection structure 1 of the vehicle air conditioner 101 is immediately exposed in the engine room 202. Has been. The lengths of the pipes 4 and 5 and the pipes 2 and 3 are generally the front-rear direction of the vehicle 201 in the vicinity of the pipe connection structure 1.

  FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of the pipe connection structure 1. In this pipe connection structure 1, the pipe 3 and the pipe 4, and the pipe 2 and the pipe 5 are arranged in parallel, respectively. The pipe 4 and the pipe 5 are the first pipes through which the refrigerant flows. The pipe 2 and the pipe 3 are second pipes through which the refrigerant flows. A connecting portion 11 is provided at the distal end portion of the piping 4 on the piping 5 side, and a connecting portion 12 is provided at the distal end portion of the piping 5 on the piping 4 side. The connecting portion 11 and the connecting portion 12 are fastened to each other by a bolt 13 (in FIG. 1, the bolt 13 is hidden behind the connecting portion 11 and is not shown except for the reference numeral), and the pipe 4 and the pipe 5 are thus connected. ing. The connection parts 11 and 12 become a connection part. Reference numeral 14 denotes a bolt hole for the fastening. Connecting portions 21 and 22 are also provided at the distal end portion of the piping 3 on the piping 2 side and the distal end portion of the piping 2 on the piping 3 side, and the piping 2 and the piping 3 are fastened by the connecting portion 21 and the connecting portion 22. Are connected to each other.

  The clamp device 31 is provided with a clamp portion 32 serving as a first insertion portion through which the pipe 4 is inserted (at the connection portion 11 portion) on one end side. On the other end side of the clamp device 31, a clamp portion 33 serving as a second insertion portion through which the pipe 3 is inserted is provided. In this example, the clamp device 31 is fastened and fixed to the pipe 4 (the connecting part 11 thereof) by the clamp part 32 and is fastened and fixed to the pipe 3 by the clamp part 33. Thereby, the clamp apparatus 31 has connected the piping 4 and 5 side and the piping 2 and 3 side.

  The portion inserted through the clamp portion 32 of the pipe 4, that is, in this example, the connecting portion 11 includes a boss portion 11 a that is coaxial with the pipe 5 and thicker than the pipe 5. And the convex part 11b is formed in this boss | hub part 11a. The convex portion 11b has a substantially cylindrical shape protruding from the boss portion 11a, and the bolt hole 14 is formed therein. And between the boss | hub part 11a and the convex part 11b is depressed, and the recessed part 11c is comprised. And the convex part 11b and the inner peripheral surface of the clamp part 32 are engaged, and it is preventing that the clamp part 32 and by extension, the clamp apparatus 31 rotate centering | focusing on the piping 4 (in this example, connection part 11). Details of the structure of the clamp device 31 and the relationship with the connecting portion 11 will be described later with reference to FIGS.

Further, an inlet 61 for introducing a refrigerant is provided in the vicinity of the clamp device 31 of the pipe 4. The introduction port 61 is normally sealed with a cap 62. Further, an inlet 63 for introducing a refrigerant is provided in the vicinity of the clamp device 31 of the pipe 3. The introduction port 63 is normally sealed with a cap 64.
A clamping device 71 is provided in the vicinity of the introduction ports 61 and 63 in the pipes 3 and 4 at a position opposite to the clamping device 31 side when viewed from the introduction ports 61 and 63. The clamp device 71 is fastened and fixed to the pipes 3 and 4, respectively, and is further fixed to the vehicle body (the description of the details of the structure is omitted). The pipes 4 and 5 are relatively thick pipes. Therefore, the rigidity of the pipes 4 and 5 is so high that they hardly bend even if they are pressed slightly harder.

Next, the structure and operation of the clamping device 31 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the clamp device according to the embodiment of the present invention in an opened state. FIG. 5 is a front view of the clamp apparatus in an opened state. In FIG. 6, (a) is a front view of the clamp device in a closed state. FIG. 4B is a rear view of the clamp device in a closed state.
The clamp device 31 is made of a material such as resin. The clamp device 31 is roughly divided into an upper part 41 and a lower part 42. The base end side of the upper side portion 41 and the base end side of the lower side portion 42 are elastically connected by a connecting portion 43. That is, the connecting part 43 is easily bent, and the upper part 41 and the lower part 42 can be opened and closed around the connecting part 43.

  A fixing portion 44 protrudes downward from the tip portion of the upper portion 41. Further, the fixing portion 45 protrudes downward from an intermediate position in the length direction of the upper portion 41. The fixed portions 44 and 45 both extend downward from the upper portion 41, bend in the middle (bent portions 44 b and 45 b), and the tip end faces the upper portion 41. And the step part 44a, 45a is formed in the front end side part of the fixing | fixed part 44,45, respectively.

A concave portion 46 that forms a part of the clamp portion 32 is formed on the proximal end side of the upper portion 41. Further, a convex portion 47 is formed in the vicinity of the connecting portion 43 on the base end side of the upper portion 41. A receiving portion 48 that is in contact with the pipe 2 while being abutted against the pipe 2 is formed at an intermediate position between the fixing portion 44 and the fixing portion 45 of the upper portion 41.
A fixed portion 51 is formed at a position facing the fixed portion 44 at the tip portion of the lower side portion 42, and a hollow portion 52 is formed at the back of the fixed portion 51. The cavity 52 is formed with an opening 53 that leads from the front portion of the clamp device 31 in FIG. 5 to the outside. Further, a fixed portion 54 is formed at a portion facing the fixing portion 45 at an intermediate position in the length direction of the lower side portion 42, and a hollow portion 55 is formed at the back of the fixed portion 54. The hollow portion 55 is formed with an opening 56 that leads from the back surface portion of the clamp device 31 in FIG. 5 to the outside.

  A concave portion 57 that forms a part of the clamp portion 33 is formed on the proximal end side of the lower side portion 42. In addition, a concave portion 58 that forms a part of the clamp portion 33 is formed at a position facing the receiving portion 48 at an intermediate position between the fixed portion 51 and the fixed portion 54 on the distal end side of the lower side portion 42. Has been. Further, a claw portion 59 is formed in the vicinity of the connecting portion 43 on the proximal end side of the lower side portion 42. A protruding portion 60 that is one step higher than the recess 57 is formed in a substantially arc shape at the edge portion on the front side of the recess 57 in FIGS. 5 and 6A.

Next, the operation of the clamp device 31 having the above configuration will be described. To connect the pipe 3 and the pipe 4 using the clamp device 31, the following is performed. First, the upper part 41 and the lower part 42 of the clamp device 31 are kept open. Then, the lower side of the pipe 4 (the connecting portion 11) is inserted into the recess 57, and the lower side of the pipe 3 is inserted into the recess 58.
In this state, when the upper side portion 41 and the lower side portion 42 are closed so as to match with each other, the tips of the fixing portions 44 and 45 of the upper side portion 41 are inserted into the fixed portions 51 and 54 of the lower side portion 42, respectively. The fixed portions 44 and 45 are pressed by the portions 51 and 54, bent and compressed by the bent portions 44b and 45b, and the fixed portions 44 and 45 are inserted into the fixed portions 51 and 54, respectively. And the edge of the to-be-fixed parts 51 and 54 and the step parts 44a and 45a of the fixing | fixed part 44 and 45 each engage. Thereby, even if the force which separates the upper part 41 and the lower part 42 is applied to the clamp device 31, the upper part 41 and the lower part 42 are fixed to each other so as not to be separated. In this state, the convex portion 47 and the claw portion 59 are engaged with each other.

  In this state, the clamp device 31 is fastened and fixed to the pipe 4 (the connection portion 11 thereof) by the clamp portion 32 constituted by the concave portion 57 and the concave portion 46 on one end side thereof. In addition, the clamp device 31 is fastened and fixed to the pipe 3 by a clamp portion 33 including a recess 58 and a receiving portion 48 on the other end side. Accordingly, the pipes 2 and 3 side and the pipes 4 and 5 side are connected by the clamp device 31. At this time, the overhanging portion 60 of the lower side portion 42 is engaged with the edge portion of the connecting portion 11 so that the clamping device 31 is not displaced in the axial direction of the pipe 4 in the direction toward the clamping device 71.

  In this manner, the clamp device 31 is attached to the pipe 4 (the connecting portion 11) and the pipe 3, respectively, and is in a state as illustrated in FIGS. The state at this time is shown in FIG. In this example, the cross-sectional shape of the connecting portion 11 in the radial direction swells at the boss portion 11 a of the pipe 4, and the convex portion 11 b around the bolt hole 14 protrudes. On the other hand, a concave portion 11c is formed at an intermediate position between these portions 11a and 11b. Further, the inner periphery of the rear side portion (the upper portion 46a of the concave portion 46 in FIG. 6) and the rear portion of the concave portion 57 (the lower portion 57a of the concave portion 57 in FIG. 6) forming the clamp portion 32. The surface shape matches the outer peripheral surface shape of the connecting portion 11 facing the inner peripheral surface (the outer peripheral shape of the portions 11a and 11b).

  And as above-mentioned, the convex part 11b is engaged with the internal peripheral surface of the clamp part 32, and it prevents that the clamp part 32 and by extension, the clamp apparatus 31 rotate centering | focusing on the piping 4 (in this example, connection part 11). ing. Therefore, even if it presses the piping 2 and 3 side, the clamp apparatus 31 does not rotate centering | focusing on the piping 4 (the connection part 11). As described above, the rigidity of the pipes 4 and 5 is high enough that the pipes 4 and 5 are hardly bent even if pressed slightly. Therefore, the pipes 2 and 3 that are thinner than the pipes 4 and 5 and have relatively low rigidity can be firmly supported by the pipe 4 via the clamp device 31.

Therefore, even if the work for removing the cap 64 and introducing the refrigerant into the vehicle air conditioner 101 from the introduction port 63 is performed, the pipes 2 and 3 are greatly bent or bent along with the work. There is nothing.
Needless to say, the technical contents described in the above embodiments are merely embodiments of the present invention, and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

For example, if it can prevent that the convex part 11b and the clamp part 32 engage and the clamp apparatus 31 rotates centering on the piping 4, the shape of the internal peripheral surface of the clamp part 32 and the convex part 11b of the connection part 11 will be shown. Various shapes can be selected.
Further, in the above example, only the connecting portion 11 and the clamp portion 32 are engaged with each other to prevent the clamp device 31 from rotating around the pipe 4, but further, the connecting portion 21 (or the connecting portion). 22) and the clamp part 33 may be engaged with each other so that the clamp part 33 and thus the clamp device 31 do not rotate around the pipe 3 (or 2).

  Furthermore, in the above example, the clamp device 31 is fixed by the connecting portion 11 of the pipe 4, but may be fixed to the connecting portion 12. Further, the clamp device 31 may be fixed to the pipe 4 or 5 itself by devising the radial cross-sectional shape of the pipe 4 or 5 itself. Alternatively, a dedicated member for fixing the clamp device 31 may be provided in the pipe 4 or 5, and the clamp device 31 may be fixed to the dedicated member.

  However, if the clamp device 31 is fixed at the connecting portion 11 of the pipe 4 (or at the connecting portion 12 of the pipe 5) as in the above embodiment, the radial cross-sectional shape of the pipe 4 or 5 itself is processed. Alternatively, by providing a dedicated member for fixing the clamp device 31 in addition to the connecting portion 11 in the pipe 4 or 5, the clamp device 31 is fixed to the pipe 4 or 5 itself, or the clamp device 31 is attached to the dedicated member. No need to fix. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost and the number of parts.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Piping connection structure of vehicle air conditioner 2-5 Piping 11, 12 Connecting part 31 Clamping device 32, 33 Clamping part 61, 63 Inlet

Claims (1)

A first pipe through which a refrigerant flows;
A second pipe through which the refrigerant flows;
A first insertion part is formed on one end side through which the first pipe is inserted, and a second insertion part is formed on the other end side through which the second pipe is inserted. A clamp device connecting the first pipe and the second pipe;
With
The shape of the inner peripheral surface of the first insertion portion prevents the first insertion portion from rotating relative to the first piping by engaging with the convex portion formed in the first piping. And a shape to
The convex portion is a connecting portion of two pipes constituting at least a part of the first pipe, and the center part of the first pipe and the second part inserted through the first insertion part. In the direction connecting the central portion of the second pipe inserted through the insertion portion and the convex direction of the convex portion of the inner peripheral surface engaged with the central portion of the first pipe and the convex portion . The direction connecting the vertices intersects,
The second pipe includes an inlet for introducing a refrigerant into the second pipe in the vicinity of the clamp device.
Piping connection structure of a vehicle air conditioner.

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