JPH09109670A - Air filter clogging detector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To visually check the amount of clogging of an air filter of an air conditioner for a vehicle. SOLUTION: A pipe 18 of a detector 16 is connected to the outside of a casing 10 of a cooling unit 4, a piston 19 slides inside the pipe 18 according to a difference in pressure of air inside an upstream duct and pressure of air inside a cabin, and its clogging indicating part shows the clogged amount indicating part on the pipe 18 according to the position of a piston 19.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clogging detection device for an air filter provided in a duct of a vehicle air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a clogging detection device for an air filter is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-154324. In this conventional device, a whistle blow hole is provided in the dust filter to increase the clogging amount of the dust filter. As the wind blows, the draft resistance increases, and the air passes through the whistle blow holes with low draft resistance, resulting in sound being emitted from the whistle blow holes.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional device, since the sound is only generated from the whistle blowing hole, in the passenger compartment where various noises enter, this generated sound is generated at any place of the vehicle. There is a problem in that it is difficult to tell if it is occurring, and it is difficult to determine that it is the sound from the whistle blowing hole of the dust filter. Further, although the generated sound increases as the clogging amount increases, there is also a problem that it is extremely difficult to determine how clogged the dust filter is based only on the magnitude of the generated sound.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a clogging detection device having a simple structure in which the clogging amount of an air filter can be easily visually recognized. .

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pipe / casing mounting structure for enabling a clogging detection device for an air filter, for example, to be securely mounted to a casing of an air conditioner.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a clogging detection device for an air filter provided in a duct of an air conditioning system for a vehicle, wherein air in the duct upstream of the air filter is provided. The present invention provides a clogging detection device for an air filter, which has a detector that indicates the difference between the pressure in the vehicle and the pressure in the vehicle compartment.

[0007] Preferably, the detector has a horn which is blown by the exhaust air from the pipe when a piston sliding in the pipe communicating with the duct indicates clogging. It is a hole formed in.

The present invention is also a mounting structure for mounting a pipe so as to communicate with the inside of a casing, wherein an annular portion into which the pipe is fitted and a breakable joint in the annular portion are attached to the inner surface of the pipe. (EN) Provided is a mounting structure characterized by being configured with a lid portion provided with a protrusion for preventing forgetting and having a length which abuts and prevents attachment of a pipe.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2, an air conditioner for a vehicle includes a blower 2 that sucks air from an inside / outside air introduction duct 1.
A cooling unit 4 connected to the discharge side of the blower 2 and having an evaporator 3 therein;
And has a heater core 5 therein, a face outlet 6, a foot outlet 7, and a defroster outlet 8
And a heater unit 9 having

In the cooling unit 4, an air filter 11 for filtering the air from the blower 2 is arranged upstream of the evaporator 3 in a duct defined inside the casing 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the cooling unit 4 is located on the back side (front side in the vehicle front-rear direction) of the glove box 14 provided on the passenger seat 13 side of the instrument panel 12 of the vehicle. By further opening 14 from its normal open position, the cooling unit 4 is exposed in the glove box opening 15 of the instrument panel 12,
In this state, the air filter 11 can be attached to and detached from the cooling unit 4 for inspection and cleaning.

According to the present invention, the clogging detection device for detecting clogging of the air filter 11 is attached to the outside of the casing 10 of the cooling unit 4 so as to be exposed inside the glove box opening 15, and the air filter 11 A detector 16 is provided which is capable of generating a horn sound while indicating the difference between the pressure of the air in the duct upstream and the pressure in the passenger compartment. As shown in detail in FIG. 3, the detector 16 is connected to the mounting hole portion 17 of the casing 10 so that the upper end thereof communicates with the duct in the casing 10 upstream of the air filter 11, and the lower end thereof is in the passenger compartment. The pipe 18 that is open to the atmosphere, the piston 19 that slides in the pipe 18 in response to the pressure difference between both end surfaces, and the spring holding piece 20 that is fixed to the lower end of the pipe 18 and the piston 19 are arranged. A spring 21 as an elastic member for urging the piston 19 inward of the pipe 18 and a clogging indicator 22 formed on the piston 19 such as a triangular mark.
And a clogging amount display portion 23 such as a scale marked on the surface of the pipe 18 and a hole 24 of an appropriate size formed in the pipe 18, and a horn that is blown by the air discharged from the hole 24. It is composed of parts and. Note that 25
Is a fixing screw screwed into the screw hole 27 of the casing 10 through the upper end mounting portion 26 after the upper end mounting portion 26 of the pipe 18 is fitted in the mounting hole portion 17 of the casing 10 in an airtight manner.

In the operation of the detector 16 described above, when the air filter 11 is not clogged, the ventilation resistance of the air passing through the air filter 11 is small, and therefore the pressure of the air in the duct upstream of the air filter 11 is small. _Let P _{F be} the force acting on the upper surface of the piston 19, P _{O be} the force acting on the lower surface of the piston 19 by the atmospheric pressure in the vehicle compartment, and P _S be the force of the spring 21, then P _F <P _O + P _S Then, the piston 19 is pressed upward by the spring 21 to close the hole 24, and the clogging indicator 22 of the piston 19 indicates that the clogging amount is zero or small in the clogging amount display 23. When the air filter 11 becomes clogged, the ventilation resistance of the air passing through the air filter 11 increases, and the air pressure in the duct rises to increase the P _F
> P _O + P _S , the piston 19 is pushed downward against the spring 21 as shown in FIG.
The hole 24 is opened, and a whistle sound is generated by the air discharged from the hole 24, and the clogging indicator 22 of the piston 19 has a large clogging amount in the clogging amount display 23 and requires replacement of the air filter 11. Indicates that.

The invention also relates to the pipe 1 of this detector 16.
A mounting structure for securely mounting 8 to the casing 10 of the cooling unit 4 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, this mounting structure includes an annular portion 28 that defines the mounting hole portion 17 of the casing 10, and a fragile portion 29 and a pipe formed by an annular cutout groove inside the annular portion 28. A protrusion 3 for preventing folding, which has a length that abuts on the inner surface of 18 and prevents the pipe 18 from being attached.
And a rupturable lid portion 31 provided with 0.

Therefore, in mounting the detector 16 on the casing 10, the operator must fit the upper end mounting portion 26 of the pipe 18 into the annular portion 28 of the mounting hole portion 17 and fix it with the fixing screw 25. It is necessary to break the fragile portion 29 by holding the projection 30 for forgetting to fold and remove the lid portion 31 from the casing 10 or otherwise, the projection 30 for forgetting to fold has a length corresponding to the projection length. Therefore, it comes into contact with the inner surface of the pipe 18, and the upper end mounting portion 26 cannot be fitted into the annular portion 28.

This mounting structure is not limited to the case where the pipe 18 of the detector 16 is mounted to the casing 10 of the cooling unit 4 as described above, and the pipe can be mounted so as to communicate with the inside of the casing in all fields. It is applicable.

[0017]

According to the present invention, the pipe of the detector is attached to the outside of the casing of the cooling unit, and the piston is piped in response to the difference between the pressure of the air in the duct upstream of the air filter and the pressure in the passenger compartment. Sliding inside, and the clogging indicator points to the clogging amount display of the pipe according to the piston position, so the vehicle user or worker can open the glove box to detect it. You can easily know the clogging of the air filter just by looking at the container.

Further, since the piston is biased inwardly of the pipe by the spring so that the air pressure in the duct and the pressure in the vehicle compartment act on the piston, the structure is simple and its operation reliability is high. It is highly likely.

Further, when the air filter is clogged, a hole formed in the pipe is opened as the piston moves against the spring, and a horn sound is generated by the air discharged from this hole. The person can easily know the replacement time of the air filter not only visually but also auditorily.

Further, according to the present invention, when the pipe is mounted so as to communicate with the inside of the casing, the lid portion on the casing side must be removed so that the protrusion for preventing the folding will contact the inner surface of the pipe. Since the pipe cannot be attached to the casing, it is possible to reliably prevent the malfunction of the detector due to the worker attaching the pipe without accidentally removing the lid portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a vehicle air conditioner equipped with a clogging detection device for an air filter according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the vicinity of a passenger seat of the vehicle showing the arrangement positions of the air filter and the clogging detection device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing an attachment portion of a pipe of a clogging detection device and a casing of a cooling unit.

4 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Blower 3 Evaporator 4 Cooling Unit 5 Heater Core 9 Heater Unit 10 Casing 11 Air Filter 12 Instrument Panel 14 Glove Box 15 Glove Box Opening 16 Detector 17 Mounting Hole 18 Pipe 19 Piston 20 Spring Holding Piece 21 Spring 22 Clog Instruction Part 23 Clogging amount display part 24 Hole 26 Upper end mounting part 28 Annular part 29 Weak part 30 Forgetting to prevent protrusion 31 Lid part

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A clogging detection device for an air filter provided in a duct of an air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising a detector for indicating a difference between a pressure of air in the duct upstream of the air filter and a pressure in a vehicle compartment. A device for detecting clogging of an air filter, which is characterized in that 2. A clogging detection device for an air filter according to claim 1, wherein the detector is a pipe communicating with the duct upstream of the air filter, a piston sliding in the pipe, and a piston. Clogging detection of the air filter, which has an elastic member for urging the duct toward the duct side, a clogging indicating portion formed on the piston, and a clogging amount display portion described on the pipe. apparatus. 3. A clogging detection device for an air filter according to claim 2, wherein the detector has a horn part which is blown by the air discharged from the pipe when the piston indicates clogging. An air filter clogging detector. 4. A mounting structure for mounting a pipe so as to communicate with the inside of a casing, wherein the pipe is fitted into an annular portion, and the pipe is rupturablely coupled to the annular portion and abuts against the inner surface of the pipe. A mounting structure comprising: a lid portion provided with a protrusion for preventing forgetting and having a length that prevents the pipe from being attached.