JPH09136534A - Piping connecting structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the airtightness for a refrigerant circulating within the piping of a vehicular air-conditioning device, to enable manufacture at low cost through a reduction in the number of part items, and to enable assembly and maintenance operations and the like to be performed easily in a short time. SOLUTION: This piping connecting structure 32 includes a block joint 38 provided on the vehicle interior side and communicated to an evaporator 16; first and second refrigerant piping 44, 48 each of which is communicated to air-conditioning equipment placed on the engine room side and which is connected to the block joint 38 from the side of the engine room via a through hole 30 defined in a dashboard 28; and a disk-shaped member 54 provided on the engine room side and holding the block joint 38 from the side of the engine room in such a way that the joint 38 is freely attached and removed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pipe connection structure for a vehicle air conditioner mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a pipe connection structure for a vehicle air conditioner disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-197823 is known (see FIG. 5). The pipe connection structure according to this conventional technique is connected to a block joint 5 arranged in a through hole 4 of a dash panel 3 that separates an engine room 1 and a vehicle room 2 of an automobile, and an evaporator of a vehicle air conditioner, and the block. A passenger compartment side joint member 6 fixed to the passenger compartment side portion of the joint 5 and an engine room side joint member connected to the pipe arranged on the engine room side and fixed to the engine room side portion of the block joint 5 7 and.

The passenger compartment side joint member 6 is screwed by a first bolt 8 inserted from the passenger compartment side, while the engine room side joint member 7 is second bolt 9 inserted from the engine room side. Are fixed to the block joints 5, respectively.

[0004]

However, in the pipe connecting structure according to the prior art, the first pipe connecting surface 9a to which the vehicle interior side joint member 6 and the block joint 5 are connected,
Since the engine room side joint member 7 and the block joint 5 have two connecting surfaces, that is, the second pipe connecting surface 9b, the reliability of maintaining the airtightness of the refrigerant pipe is reduced.

Further, since two joint members, that is, the joint member 6 on the vehicle interior side and the joint member 7 on the engine room side, which are connected to the block joint 5 from the opposite sides, are used, the number of parts is increased and the manufacturing cost is increased. Has the inconvenience of rising. Further, at the time of assembling and maintaining the vehicle air conditioner, the first bolt 8 on the vehicle compartment side and the second bolt 9 on the engine room side must be removed respectively, which makes the assembling work and maintenance work complicated. There is.

The present invention has been made in order to overcome the above-mentioned various inconveniences, and improves the airtightness of the refrigerant flowing in the pipe of an air conditioner for a vehicle and reduces the number of parts to reduce the cost. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pipe connection structure which can be manufactured and can be easily assembled and maintained in a short time.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a pipe connection structure for a vehicle air conditioner mounted on a vehicle, which is provided on the passenger compartment side and is mounted on the passenger compartment side. Connects to the joint block that communicates with the installed air conditioner and the air conditioner that is located on the engine room side, and connects to the joint block from the engine room side through a through hole defined on the dashboard. And a mating surface of the joint block formed on the passenger compartment side of the dashboard surface, and a holding means provided on the engine room side and detachably holding the joint block from the engine room side. And are provided.

In this case, it is preferable that the holding means comprises a disc-shaped member screwed to the joint block, and a seal member is interposed between the joint block and the disc-shaped member. Further, it is preferable that the disc-shaped member has a holding hole for holding a pipe connected to the joint block. According to the present invention, the joint block can be detachably held to the dashboard from the direction of the engine room side via the holding means provided on the engine room side.

Therefore, at the time of assembling the piping for connecting the air conditioner on the vehicle interior side and the air conditioner on the engine room side,
The joint block can be held in the through hole of the dashboard from one direction on the engine room side through the holding means. Further, at the time of maintenance of the air conditioner, the joint block can be separated from the dashboard from one direction on the engine room side through the holding means.

As a result, the work of assembling the pipes and the work of maintaining the air conditioner can be performed easily and in a short time.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of a pipe connection structure according to the present invention will be given and described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of essential parts of a vehicle air conditioner to which a pipe connection structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

The air conditioner 10 for a vehicle is formed integrally with the heater unit body 14 provided with a cool air outlet 12 for drawing out the cooled air toward the passenger compartment of the automobile. An evaporator 1 that cools the air in the passenger compartment by removing heat from the hot air in the passenger compartment by a low-temperature refrigerant passing through the inside.
6 and a suction port 17 for sucking air in the passenger compartment,
And a blower 22 that pressure-feeds the sucked air to the evaporator 16 through the opening 20 of the maintenance 18.

In this case, the heater unit body 14,
The evaporator 16 and the blower 22 are arranged inside the vehicle compartment, and the through hole 30 of the dashboard 28 that separates and separates the vehicle compartment 24 and the engine room 26 has an air conditioner (for example, a condenser) provided on the engine room side. And the like) and a pipe connection structure 32 that connects the refrigerant passage of the evaporator 16 provided inside the vehicle compartment.

In the evaporator 16, a first pipe body 34 for leading a gaseous refrigerant from the evaporator side to a compressor (not shown) and a liquid refrigerant drawn from a condenser side (not shown) are introduced into the evaporator 16. The second pipe body 36 and the refrigerant passage in the evaporator are communicated with each other, and the ends of the first pipe body 34 and the second pipe body 36 are
It is airtightly connected to a disk-shaped block joint (joint block) 38 mounted in a through hole 30 of the dashboard 28.

In addition, on the surface of the block joint 38 on the engine room side, a first screw hole 40 and a second screw hole 42 and a first connecting port for connecting a first refrigerant pipe (pipe) 44 described later. 46 and piping for the second refrigerant (pipe)
A second connection port 50 to which 48 is connected is defined.
The diameter of the first refrigerant pipe 44 is slightly larger than that of the second refrigerant pipe 48.

The pipe connection structure 32 includes a first refrigerant pipe 44.
And a disc-shaped member (holding means) 54 integrally formed with a holding hole 52 for holding the second refrigerant pipe 48, and the first refrigerant pipe 44 and the second refrigerant pipe 48.
Are disposed substantially orthogonal to the disc-shaped member 54 and penetrate the holding hole 52 (see FIG. 3A). Dashboard 28
A substantially ring-shaped seal member 56 that hermetically holds the connecting surface between the disc-shaped member 54 and the block joint 38 is interposed between the disc-shaped member 54 and the disc-shaped member 54 (see FIG. 2).

In this case, the first screw member 6 is inserted from the engine room side through the screw portion 58 provided on the disk member 54.
The disk-shaped member 54 is screwed to the block joint 38 by screwing 0 into the first screw hole 40. Similarly, by screwing the second screw member 62 into the second screw hole 42 from the engine room side, the second refrigerant pipe 48 is airtightly screwed to the block joint 38, and the second connecting port 50 is used. The second refrigerant pipe 48 on the engine room side and the second pipe body 36 on the vehicle interior side are connected and connected.

Further, by inserting the tip end portion of the first refrigerant pipe 44 into the first connection port 46 of the block joint 38, the first refrigerant pipe 44 on the engine room side via the first connection port 46. And the first tube 34 on the passenger compartment side
And are connected for communication. At that time, the connecting portion between the first refrigerant pipe 44 and the first connecting port 46 is airtightly held by the seal ring 64 fitted in the annular groove of the first refrigerant pipe 44 (see FIG. 2).

Piping connection structure 3 according to the embodiment of the present invention
The vehicle air conditioner 10 in which 2 is incorporated is basically configured as described above. Next, its operation and action and effect will be described. First, the general operation of the vehicle air conditioner 10 assembled using the pipe connection structure 32 will be described.

The high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant compressed by a compressor (not shown) provided in the engine room 26 is sent to a condenser (not shown) to be cooled, and then the refrigerant discharged from the condenser is water or dust. And the like are removed and then introduced into an expansion valve (not shown) to become a low-temperature low-pressure atomized refrigerant. The atomized refrigerant is connected to the second refrigerant pipe 48 on the engine room side and the second pipe body 3 on the vehicle interior side, which are connected by the pipe connection structure 32.
It is introduced into the evaporator 16 through 6 and absorbs heat from the high temperature air (air in the vehicle interior) around the evaporator 16 to evaporate. As a result, the gaseous refrigerant in the evaporator that has finished the work is sucked into the compressor again via the first pipe body 34 on the vehicle interior side and the first refrigerant pipe 44 on the engine room side.

Hereinafter, the air in the vehicle compartment is cooled by repeating the above steps to circulate the refrigerant. Next, a case will be described in which the first refrigerant pipe 44 and the second refrigerant pipe 48 are assembled to the evaporator 16 using the pipe connection structure 32. At that time, dashboard 2
The block joint 38, which communicates with the refrigerant passage of the evaporator 16 disposed on the vehicle compartment side with 8 in between, is held in the through hole 30 in advance by a positioning means (not shown).

By inserting the first screw member 60 into the first screw hole 40 from the engine room side, the disk-shaped member 54
The seal member 56 is integrally connected to the block joint 38, and similarly, the second screw member 62 is screwed into the second screw hole 42 from the engine room side, so that the second refrigerant is supplied through the second connection port 50. The piping 48 is connected to the block joint 38. Further, the first coolant pipe 44 is fitted into the first connection port 46 of the block joint 38 by penetrating the holding hole 52 of the disc-shaped member 54. In this way, the refrigerant passage of the evaporator 16 arranged on the vehicle interior side and the refrigerant passage of the air conditioner provided on the engine room side can be connected for communication.

In the pipe connection structure 32 according to the present embodiment, the first screw member 60 and the second screw member 62 are screwed only from the direction of the engine room side, and the disc-shaped member 54 and the seal member 56 are block jointed. By integrally assembling with 38, the refrigerant pipe on the vehicle interior side and the refrigerant pipe on the engine room side can be connected. Therefore, in the pipe connection structure 32, a total of two joint members 6 and 7 are screwed from the two directions of the vehicle compartment side and the engine room side via the first bolt 8 and the second bolt 9 as in the prior art. Since there is no need, it becomes possible to assemble easily and in a short time.

In the prior art shown in FIG. 5, the first pipe connecting surface 9a connecting the vehicle interior side joint member 6 and the block joint 5 and the engine room side joint member 7 and the block joint 5 are connected. In contrast to the two connection surfaces with the second pipe connection surface 9b, the present embodiment has one connection surface for connecting the disc-shaped member 54 to one side surface of the block joint 38. Therefore, the reliability of maintaining the airtightness at the connecting portion of the refrigerant pipe is improved.

Next, a case will be described in which the evaporator 16 is maintained by removing the first refrigerant pipe 44 and the second refrigerant pipe 48 from the block joint 38 arranged inside the vehicle compartment. The operator moves the blower 22 and the maintenance 18 provided on the passenger compartment side in the arrow direction along the dashboard surface, and then connects the first refrigerant pipe 44 to the block joint 38 from the engine room side. The first screw member 60 and the second screw member 62 are similarly removed from the direction toward the engine room to remove the first coolant port 48 from the first connection port 46 and separate the second coolant pipe 48 and the disc-shaped member 5 from the block joint 38.
4 is separated from the dashboard surface. As a result, the holding state of the block joint 38 is released,
The evaporator 16 is movable in the arrow direction along the dashboard surface and can be easily removed.

As described above, in this embodiment, during maintenance, the block joint 38 is separated from the dashboard surface by loosening the first screw member 60 and the second screw member 62 from the engine room side. The evaporator 16 can be easily removed along the dashboard surface. Therefore, the first bolt 8 is loosened from the vehicle compartment side to separate the vehicle compartment side joint member 6 from the block joint 5, and the second bolt 9 is loosened from the engine room side direction to remove the engine room joint member 7. In the present embodiment, as compared with the conventional technique of separating from the block joint 5, the first screw member 60 and the second screw member 62 from one direction on the engine room side.
It is only necessary to loosen the disk-shaped member 54 and the seal member 56 to loosen them, and maintenance work can be performed easily and in a short time.

Next, a modified example of the pipe connection structure 32 is shown in FIG. 3B.
And shown in FIG. 3C. It should be noted that the same components as those shown in FIG. 3A are designated by the same reference numerals with reference numerals a and b, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the modified example of the pipe connection structure 32a shown in FIG. 3B, first, a first holding hole 52a for holding the first refrigerant pipe 44 and a second holding hole 52b for holding the second refrigerant pipe 48. Disc-shaped member 5
Secondly, a structure is adopted in which the tip of the second refrigerant pipe 48 is directly screwed to the second connecting port 50 via the externally fitted seal ring 64a without being screwed. Third, a set of screw parts 58 for screwing the disk-shaped member 54a to the block joint 38.
It differs from the pipe connection structure 32 shown in FIG. 3A in that a and 58b are provided.

Further, in the pipe connection structure 32b shown in FIG. 3C, a substantially circular opening 66 is formed at the center of the disk member 54b.
Forming a first refrigerant pipe 44 and a second refrigerant pipe 4
3 is different from the pipe connection structure 32 shown in FIG. 3A in that a pair of block bodies 68a and 68b for respectively screwing the tip portions of 8 are provided. In addition, the above-mentioned FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C.
In the modified example shown in FIG. 3, the effect is substantially the same as that of the pipe connection structure 32 shown in FIG.

[0029]

According to the pipe connecting structure of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. That is, in the pipe connection structure, there is no need to screw a total of two joint members from two directions on the vehicle compartment side and the engine room side, unlike the prior art.
It becomes possible to perform the pipe assembling work easily and in a short time by the holding means from one direction on the engine room side.

Further, in the above-mentioned pipe connection structure, since the joint block and the holding means have only one connecting surface, the reliability of maintaining the airtightness at the connecting portion of the pipe is improved. Further, at the time of maintenance, by separating the joint block from the dashboard from the direction of the engine room through the holding means, the air conditioner provided on the vehicle compartment side can be easily removed, which makes maintenance work simple and short. Can be done in time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a vehicle air conditioner to which a pipe connection structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a partially omitted cross-sectional view of the pipe connection structure shown in FIG.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the pipe connection structure shown in FIG. 1,
3B and 3C are modified examples of the pipe connection structure shown in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4 is a partially omitted cross-sectional view of the pipe connection structure shown in FIG. 3C.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a pipe connection structure according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Vehicle air conditioner 14 ... Heater unit main body 16 ... Evaporator 18 ... Maintenance 22 ... Blower 24 ... Vehicle compartment 26 ... Engine room 28 ... Dashboard 30 ... Through holes 32, 32a,
32b ... Tube connection structure 34, 36 ... Tube 38 ... Block joint 40, 42 ... Screw hole 44, 48 ... Refrigerant piping 46, 50 ... Connection port 52, 52a,
52b ... Retaining hole 54, 54a, 54b ... Disc-shaped member 56 ... Sealing member 58, 58a, 58b ... Threaded portion 60, 62 ... Threaded member

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pipe connection structure for a vehicle air conditioner mounted on a vehicle, comprising a joint block which is provided on a vehicle compartment side and communicates with an air conditioner disposed on the vehicle compartment side, and an engine room side. Piping connected to the installed air conditioner and connected to the joint block from the direction of the engine room through a through hole defined in the dashboard, and a pipe formed on the cabin side from the dashboard surface. A pipe connection structure comprising: a mating surface of the joint block; and a holding unit that is provided on the engine room side and detachably holds the joint block from the engine room side. 2. The pipe connecting structure according to claim 1, wherein the holding means is a disc-shaped member screwed to the joint block. 3. The pipe connecting structure according to claim 2, wherein a seal member is interposed between the joint block and the disc-shaped member. 4. The pipe connection structure according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the disc-shaped member has a holding hole for holding a pipe connected to the joint block. Construction.