JPH08207551A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an air conditioner for a vehicle capable of blowing the air-conditioned air from the front of the occupant and excellent in the air- conditioning feeling even when no instrument panel exists in front of a driver's seat. CONSTITUTION: A body unit 3 is arranged in a space rearward of a driver's seat 2, an air outlet switching means 22 is arranged directly on the floor of a corner part in front of the driver's seat, and the air-conditioned air to be fed from the body unit 3 is guided to the air outlet switching means 22 by an air duct 21 arranged on the floor at the side of the driver's seat 2. This air outlet switching means 22 switches the air-conditioned air to a face duct 23 which is arranged directly on the floor, a foot duct 24 and a defroster duct 25. The air-conditioned air from the body unit 3 rearward of the driver's seat 2 can be supplied from the respective ducts 23, 24, 25 in front of the occupant thereby, and the air-conditioning feeling is excellent.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner suitable for use in a work vehicle having no instrument panel in front of a driver's seat.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique for an air conditioner for a work vehicle, the technique disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-28891 is known. In this technology, the main body unit is arranged behind the driver's seat, and the blower outlet switching means of the blower outlet is arranged in the instrument panel in front of the driver's seat, and the main body unit and the blower outlet switching means are connected by a blower duct. By adopting the above configuration, the outlet switching means in the instrument panel is a face duct as an outlet duct,
The foot duct and defroster duct are connected.

[0003]

However, in a work vehicle, there is often no instrument panel in front of the driver's seat. Therefore, in the technique disclosed in the above publication, the air conditioner cannot be mounted when the instrument panel is not present in front of the driver's seat, and as a result, air conditioning in the vehicle interior cannot be performed. . In addition, it is conceivable to blow air-conditioning air (cool air or warm air) forward from the main unit located behind the driver's seat to air-condition the passenger compartment, but blow air-conditioning air from the rear to the front passenger side. In the configuration, it is difficult to effectively make the conditioned air reach each part of the room (especially, the upper half of the occupant, the windshield, etc.), and the air conditioning feel deteriorates.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to blow out conditioned air from the front of a passenger even when there is no instrument panel in front of the driver's seat. It is possible to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle, which has excellent air conditioning feeling.

[0005]

The vehicle air conditioner of the present invention employs the following technical means. [Means of Claim 1] An air conditioner for a vehicle comprises: (a) a main body duct forming an air passage; temperature changing means arranged in the main body duct to change the temperature of passing air;
A main body unit provided with a blower for generating an air flow passing through the temperature changing means in the duct, and being disposed behind a driver's seat for an occupant; and (b) air passing through the main body unit of the driver seat. A blower duct leading forward; and (c) an inlet arranged on the floor in front of the driver's seat and connected to the blower duct, and a plurality of air outlets. An outlet switching means capable of switching to an outlet and blowing out; and (d) a plurality of outlet ducts that are respectively connected to the plurality of outlets and that blow out the air blown out from the outlets to each part in the vehicle compartment. Prepare

[Means of Claim 2] In the vehicle air conditioner of Claim 1, the plurality of outlet ducts are arranged on the floor in front of the driver's seat.

[Means for Claim 3] In the vehicle air conditioner according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, the blower duct comprises:
An intermediate air outlet that blows out the air in the air duct and an intermediate opening / closing unit that opens and closes the intermediate air outlet are provided at a side portion of the driver seat. The intermediate opening / closing means, when the intermediate outlet is opened,
It may be a switching door capable of closing the blower duct on the downstream side of the intermediate outlet. In addition, an intermediate outlet is provided above the air duct, and a variable grill that changes the blowing direction is provided at the intermediate outlet to change the direction of the air blown from the intermediate outlet to the side of the occupant or the side glass. It may be provided in.

[0008]

Action of the Invention and Effect of the Invention

[Operation and Effect of Claim 1] When the main body unit behind the driver's seat operates, the blower and the temperature changing means operate to introduce the air whose temperature has changed (air-conditioned air) to the blower duct. The conditioned air guided to the blower duct is guided to the outlet switching means installed on the floor in front of the driver's seat, and the conditioned air is blown out from the outlet duct selected by the outlet switching means.

In the present invention, since the outlet switching means is installed on the floor in front of the driver's seat, the conditioned air is blown out from the front of the occupant even when there is no instrument panel in front of the driver's seat. You can For this reason, even if there is no instrument panel in front of the driver's seat, air conditioning in the vehicle interior can be performed with excellent air-conditioning feeling.

[Operation and Effect of Claim 2] Since the plurality of outlet ducts connected to the outlet switching means installed on the floor are also arranged on the floor in front of the driver's seat, the driver's field of view is emitted by a plurality of outlets. The problem of obstructing the duct does not occur, and it is possible to give the driver excellent visibility.

[Operation and Effect of Claim 3] When the intermediate opening / closing means is closed, all the conditioned air passing through the air blowing duct is guided from the air outlet switching means to the air outlet duct and blown out from the air outlet duct. When the intermediate opening / closing means is open, part or all of the conditioned air passing through the blower duct is blown out from the intermediate air outlet on the side of the occupant. For this reason, in order to prevent fogging of the side glass by blowing air-conditioning air from the intermediate outlet toward the side glass, or when direct sunlight is applied from the side, cool air is applied from the side of the occupant to prevent You can soften your sensation. That is,
The occupant's habitability and driving operability can be enhanced only by providing the intermediate air outlet and the opening / closing means in the blower duct passing laterally of the occupant.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a vehicle air conditioner of the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. [Structure of First Embodiment] FIGS. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an arrangement state of an air conditioner, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the air conditioner. The air conditioner 1 is mounted to air-condition the cabin of a work vehicle such as a forklift vehicle, a bulldozer vehicle, or an agricultural tillage vehicle, which does not have an instrument panel in front of the driver's seat 2. It is roughly divided into a unit 3 and a blowing unit 4.

(Description of Main Unit 3) Main Unit 3
Is mounted in a space behind the driver's seat 2 in the cabin, and is directly arranged on the floor behind the driver's seat 2 in this embodiment. The main body unit 3 is a reheat type air conditioner unit, and an inside / outside air switching means 5 for selectively introducing air inside the cabin (inside air) or air outside the cabin (outside air), and an air selected by the inside / outside air switching means 5. Main body duct 6 for guiding the air to the blowing unit 4, an evaporator 7 (an example of a temperature changing means) which is a cooling means for cooling the air flowing in the main body duct 6, and a heater core which is a heating means for heating the air passing through the evaporator 7. 8
The blower 9 (which is an example of the temperature changing means) sucks the air in the main body duct 6 and sends it to the blowing unit 4.

The inside / outside air switching means 5 is provided at the end portion of the main body duct 6 and switches the air sucked into the main body duct 6 into the inside air or the outside air. The inside air introducing port for communicating the inside air with the inside of the cabin is introduced. 11, an inside / outside air switching box 1 having an outside air inlet 12 communicating with the outside of the cabin to introduce outside air
3 is provided. Further, the inside / outside air switching unit 5 includes a plate-shaped inside / outside air switching door 14 in the inside / outside air switching box 13, which can close the inside air introduction port 11 or the outside air introduction port 12. The inside / outside air switching door 14 is rotatably operated by an actuator such as a servomotor or manually operated by an occupant, and an inside air circulation mode in which the inside air is introduced from the inside air inlet 11 and an outside air in which the outside air is introduced from the outside air inlet 12. The operation is switched to the introduction mode. An inside air filter 11a and an outside air filter 12a are attached to the inside air inlet 11 and the outside air inlet 12, respectively, so as to prevent dust and the like from entering the air conditioner 1.

The evaporator 7 is a component of a refrigeration cycle (not shown) and is arranged over the entire upstream surface of the main body duct 6 so that everything passing through the main body duct 6 can be cooled. The refrigeration cycle consists of a compressor, condenser, receiver, expansion valve,
The refrigerant has a well-known configuration in which the refrigerant circulates again through the evaporator 7 to the compressor, and the compressor is driven by a well-known drive means such as hydraulic pressure, an electric motor, or the rotational output of the engine.

The heater core 8 is disposed over the entire surface of the main body duct 6 downstream of the evaporator 7, and is capable of heating everything passing through the main body duct 6.
The hot water received by the heater core 8 is supplied with hot water from well-known hot water supply means such as engine cooling water (hot water), combustion water heater, electric heating water heater, etc. to heat the air.

The blower 9 comprises a scroll case 15, a centrifugal fan 16, and a fan motor 17, and is provided at the downstream end of the main body duct 6, and the air selected by the inside / outside air switching means 5 is blown into the main body duct 6. While sucking in
The air that has passed through the evaporator 7 and the heater core 8 is blown out toward the blowout unit 4.

(Explanation of the blowing unit 4) The blowing unit 4
Includes a blower duct 21, an outlet switching means 22, a face duct 23, a foot duct 24, and a defroster duct 25. The face duct 23, the foot duct 24, and the defroster duct 25 are examples of the blowing duct of the present invention.

The blower duct 21 is a duct extending in the front-rear direction, which is directly arranged on the floor beside the driver's seat 2 (to the left of the driver's seat 2 in this embodiment), and is a main body arranged behind the driver's seat 2. The unit 3 is connected to the air outlet switching means 22 arranged directly on the floor of the corner portion in front of the driver's seat 2,
The air-conditioning wind that has passed through the main body unit 3 has a blowout port switching means 22.
Leads to

The blower outlet switching means 22 is a blower outlet selecting means for switching and supplying the conditioned air supplied from the blower duct 21 to the face duct 23, the foot duct 24 and the defroster duct 25, as shown in FIG. , Air duct 2
1, a face outlet 27 to which the face duct 23 is connected, a foot outlet 28 to which the foot duct 24 is connected, and a defroster outlet 29 to which the defroster duct 25 is connected.

The face duct 23 is the outlet switching means 2
The air-conditioning wind blown from the second face outlet 27 is blown toward the upper half of the occupant's body, and is directly arranged on the left and right floors in front of the footrest 31. The foot duct 24 is the foot outlet 2 of the outlet switching means 22.
The air-conditioning wind blown from 8 is blown toward the feet of the occupant, and is arranged directly on the floor. The defroster duct 25 is the defroster outlet 2 of the outlet switching means 22.
Air-conditioning air blown out from the air conditioner 9 is blown out toward the windshield. In this embodiment, the face duct 23
It is placed directly on the floor further ahead.

The outlet switching means 22 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and comprises an outlet switching box 32 and the outlet switching box 32.
It is composed of first and second doors 33 and 34 that rotate inside, and operating means 35 that rotates the first and second doors 33 and 34.

The outlet switching box 32 has a substantially cubic shape which is arranged on the floor of the corner portion in front of the driver's seat 2. The blower duct 21 is connected to one of the six faces of the blowout port switching box 32, and an intake port 26 for taking in the air passing through the main body unit 3 is provided therein. A face duct 23 is connected to one of the remaining five faces of the outlet switching box 32 that faces the intake port 26 to blow the air guided into the outlet switching box 32 toward the upper body of the occupant. The face outlet 27 is provided. In addition, of the remaining four surfaces of the outlet switching box 32, the two facing each other
A foot duct 24 is connected to one surface, and a foot outlet 28 for blowing out the air guided into the outlet switching box 32 toward the feet of the occupant and a defroster duct 25 are connected to the outlet switching box 32. A defroster outlet 29 is provided for blowing the air guided into the inside 32 toward the windshield.

The first door 33 is a plate member capable of opening and closing the face outlet 27 or the foot outlet 28. The second door 34 is a plate-shaped member that opens and closes the face outlet 27 or the defroster outlet 29. It should be noted that the first door 33 and the second door 34 overlap in their respective turning ranges. Therefore, the operation means 35 is rotated to prevent the first door 33 and the second door 34 from interfering with each other.

The operating means 35 of this embodiment is the first door 33.
As shown in FIG. 4, the first lever 36 interlocks with the first door 33, the second lever 37 interlocks with the second door 34, and the first and second levers. A link plate 38 linked to 36 and 37, and an electric actuator 3 for rotating the link plate 38.
9 and 9.

The link plate 38 is set to three rotational positions of the first, second and third set states by the electric actuator 39. When the link plate 38 is set to the first set state, As shown in FIG. 5A, the first door 33 closes the foot outlet 28 and the second door 34 closes the defroster outlet 29. Plate 38
Is set to the second setting state, as shown in FIG. 5B, the first door 33 closes the face outlet 27 and the second door 34 also closes the face outlet 27. When the plate 38 is set to the third setting state, (c) of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the first door 33 closes the foot outlet 28 and the second door 34 closes the face outlet 27.

In this embodiment, when the first door 33 closes the face outlet 27, the face outlet 27 is not completely closed but stopped at an intermediate position as shown in FIG. The air-conditioning air flowing from the inlet 26 is mainly guided to the foot air outlet 28, and the air-conditioning air introduced to the defroster air outlet 29 is limited.

[Operation of Embodiment] Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. The air conditioner 1 operates according to an instruction from a controller (not shown) provided on an operation panel 41 arranged on the side of the driver's seat 2. The controller includes an operation switch for operating the blower 9, a cooler switch for operating the evaporator 7, a heater switch for operating the heater core 8, a blowing mode operation means for switching the blowing mode, and a switching between the inside and outside air introducing modes. The inside / outside air mode operation means is provided. By turning on only the operation switch, the air blowing operation is performed, by turning on the operation switch and the cooler switch, the cooling operation is performed, and by turning on the operation switch and the heater switch, the heating operation is performed. Dehumidifying operation is performed by turning on the switch, cooler switch, and heater switch. Also, the operation switch, cooler switch, and heater switch are turned on to adjust the amount of hot water supplied to the heater core 8 (manual adjustment or automatic adjustment).
By doing so, conditioned air in a wide temperature range can be obtained.

In the operation of this embodiment, the operation of the cooling operation will be described as an example. Operation switch and cooler switch
When turned on, in the body unit 3 arranged behind the driver's seat 2, the air (inside air or outside air) selected by the inside / outside air switching means 5 is sucked into the body duct 6 and passes through the evaporator 7. , The air is cooled by the evaporator 7. The cooled air (air-conditioned air) passes through the heater core 8 whose operation is stopped, is sucked by the blower 9, and is fed under pressure into the blower duct 21.

The conditioned air guided to the air duct 21 is blown from the rear of the driver's seat 2 by the air duct 21.
Outlet switching means 2 arranged on the floor of the corner in front of
Guided to 2. Then, the conditioned air guided to the outlet switching unit 22 is blown from the outlet duct (face duct 23, foot duct 24, or defroster duct 25) selected by the outlet switching unit 22 in the outlet direction of the outlet duct. .

Specifically, when the blowout mode operating means is set to the face mode, the blowout port switching means 22 is provided.
As shown in (a) of FIG. 5, only the face outlet 27 is opened, and the conditioned air guided to the outlet switching means 22 is
It is blown toward the upper half of the occupant's body through a face duct 23 arranged in front of the occupant.

In the state where the blowout mode operation means is set to the foot mode, the blowout port switching means 22 operates as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the foot outlet 28 and the defroster outlet 2
9 is opened and the conditioned air guided to the outlet switching means 22 is blown toward the foot of the occupant through the foot duct 24 arranged in front of the occupant, and the defroster duct arranged in front of the occupant. It is blown out toward the windshield through 25.

In the state where the blowout mode operation means is set to the defroster mode, the blowout port switching means 22 has only the defroster blowout port 29 opened, as shown in FIG. The introduced conditioned air is blown toward the windshield via the defroster duct 25 arranged in front of the occupant.

[Effects of Embodiment] In this embodiment, the outlet switching means 22 is directly installed on the floor of the corner portion in front of the driver's seat 2. Therefore, even in the work vehicle of this embodiment in which the instrument panel does not exist in front of the driver's seat 2, the conditioned air can be blown from the position in front of the driver's seat 2. Therefore, even in a work vehicle in which the instrument panel does not exist in front of the driver's seat 2, it is possible to perform air conditioning in the cabin with excellent air conditioning feeling.

In this embodiment, the face duct 2
3, the foot duct 24 and the defroster duct 25 are also directly installed on the floor in front of the driver's seat 2. Therefore, the driver's view is not obstructed by the face duct 23, the foot duct 24, the defroster duct 25, and the like, and the driver can be provided with an excellent view.

Further, the main body unit 3 of this embodiment can be downsized as compared with the air mix type by adopting the reheat type. Therefore, even if the space behind the driver's seat 2 is small, the possibility of attachment is high. Further, since the main body unit 3 can be downsized, the main body unit 3 does not obstruct the rear view, and the rear visibility is excellent.

On the other hand, the air outlet switching box 32 of the air outlet switching means 22 of this embodiment includes an intake port 26, a face air outlet 27,
The foot outlet 28 and the defroster outlet 29 are provided close to each other. Therefore, the outlet switching box 32 can be downsized, and as a result, the outlet switching means 22 can be downsized. In this way, since the outlet switching means 22 can be downsized, the outlet switching means 22 can be easily installed in the space on the floor of the corner portion in front of the narrow cabin.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an air conditioner 1 showing a second embodiment. The air duct 21 is the first
As shown in the embodiment, it is a duct that extends in the front-rear direction and is arranged directly on the floor on the side of the driver's seat 2 (on the left of the driver's seat 2 in this embodiment). The air duct 21 of this embodiment is
An intermediate blow-out port 42 that blows out the air guided into the blower duct 21 is provided at a side portion of the driver's seat 2. In the present embodiment, the intermediate outlet 42 is provided on the upper side of the blower duct 21, and the intermediate outlet 42 is provided with a variable grill for manually changing the air outlet direction from the upper half of the occupant's upper body to the side glass. Has been. Further, an intermediate opening / closing means 43 for opening / closing the intermediate outlet 42 by a manual operation is provided. The intermediate opening / closing means 43 of this embodiment is provided as a switching door capable of closing the blower duct 21 downstream of the intermediate outlet 42 when the intermediate outlet 42 is opened.

The intermediate outlet 42 is opened by the intermediate opening / closing means 43.
In the state in which is closed, the conditioned air passing through the blower duct 21 is guided to the outlet switching means 22 and from the selected outlet duct (face duct 23, foot duct 24 or defroster duct 25) in the outlet direction of the outlet duct. Blown out. When the intermediate outlet 42 is opened by the intermediate opening / closing means 43, the conditioned air passing through the blower duct 21 is
It is blown out from the intermediate air outlet 42 on the side of the occupant. Therefore, it can be used as a side defroster that blows the conditioned air from the intermediate outlet 42 toward the side glass to prevent the side glass from fogging. Further, in the case where the occupant is exposed to direct sunlight from the side, cold air is blown toward the occupant's side from the intermediate outlet 42, so that the discomfort caused by the direct sunlight can be alleviated. In this way, the blower duct 21 arranged on the side of the occupant is provided with the intermediate air outlet 42 and the intermediate opening / closing means 4
It is possible to improve the occupant's habitability and driving operability only by providing the number 3.

[Third Embodiment] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an air conditioner 1 showing a third embodiment. In the above-mentioned first and second embodiments, an example is shown in which the air outlet of the face duct 23 is provided so as to open at a position close to the floor, and the lower part of the windshield corresponds to the cabin extending to the vicinity of the floor. In a cabin whose lower portion does not extend to the vicinity of the floor, the air outlet of the face duct 23 may be provided close to the upper body of the occupant, as shown in FIG. 7. By thus providing the air outlet of the face duct 23 close to the upper body of the occupant, the diffusion of the cool air blown out from the face duct 23 can be suppressed and the feeling of cool air can be enhanced.

[Modification] In the above embodiment, an example in which the main body unit 3 is provided in a reheat type has been shown, but if a space behind the driver's seat 2 can be secured, the air mix type main body unit 3 is arranged. May be. Also, the main unit 3
Although an example in which both the cooling means and the heating means are arranged inside is shown, only one of the cooling means and the heating means may be arranged so as to perform only the cooling operation or only the heating operation.

Although the example in which the air outlet switching means 22 is operated by using the actuator 39 is shown, the air outlet switching means 22 may be operated manually. Although the example of switching the intermediate opening / closing means 43 by the manual operation is shown, the intermediate opening / closing means 43 may be operated by using an actuator.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an installed state of an air conditioner (first embodiment).

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioner (first embodiment).

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an outlet switching means (first embodiment).

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of operating means (first embodiment).

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an operating state of the outlet switching means (first embodiment).

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an installed state of the air conditioner (second embodiment).

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an air conditioner (third embodiment).

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Air Conditioner for Vehicle 2 Driver's Seat 3 Main Unit 6 Main Body Duct 7 Evaporator (Temperature Change Means) 8 Heater Core (Temperature Change Means) 9 Blower 21 Blower Duct 22 Blowout Switch 23 Means Face Duct (Blowout Duct) 24 Foot Duct ( Air outlet duct) 25 Defroster duct (air outlet duct) 26 Inlet 27 Face outlet 28 Foot outlet 29 Defroster outlet 42 Intermediate outlet 43 Intermediate opening / closing means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. (a) A main body duct forming an air passage,
The main body duct is provided with a temperature changing means for changing the temperature of passing air and a blower for generating an air flow passing through the temperature changing means in the duct, and is arranged behind a driver's driver's seat. A main body unit, (b) a ventilation duct that guides the air passing through the main body unit to the front of the driver's seat, and (c) an intake arranged on the floor in front of the driver's seat and connected to the blower duct. And a plurality of air outlets, which is capable of switching the air introduced from the intake to the plurality of air outlets and ejecting the air, and (d) the air outlets connected to the plurality of air outlets, respectively. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising: a plurality of blowout ducts that blow out more blown air toward each part in a vehicle compartment. 2. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of outlet ducts are arranged on a floor in front of the driver's seat. 3. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the blower duct is provided with an intermediate outlet for blowing out the air in the blower duct at a side portion of the driver seat. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising an intermediate opening / closing means for opening / closing an intermediate outlet.