JPH09254638A - Vehicular air conditioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the operability for assembly and for maintenance and inspection and to secure sufficient airtightness between the inside and outside of a cabin. SOLUTION: In a vehicular air conditioning system, in which an evaporator 1 fitted with an expansion valve 6 is placed inside a cabin and refrigerant supply piping 10 leading from the outside of the cabin and refrigerant outflow piping 11 leading to the outside of the cabin are connected to the expansion valve 6 via a piping joint block 7, the piping joint block 7 is located only within the cabin with respect to a panel 8 that partitions the system into portions inside and outside the cabin.

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 used for vehicles such as automobiles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle air conditioner having a structure as shown in FIG. 3 has been known. In the figure, 30 indicates an evaporator. An expansion valve 31 for expanding the refrigerant is connected to the evaporator 30, and a pipe joint block 32 is connected to the expansion valve 31. A refrigerant supply pipe for supplying a refrigerant into the evaporator 30 and a refrigerant outflow pipe 37 for outflowing the refrigerant to the outside of the evaporator 30 are connected to the pipe joint block 32 via a flange portion 38. ing.

Reference numeral 33 denotes a panel which divides a vehicle interior (for example, an automobile) into a vehicle interior and a vehicle exterior. In FIG. Engine room) and panel 33
It is divided into a vehicle compartment formed on the right side of the vehicle.

A hole 34 is formed in the panel 33, and a grommet 35 is provided in the hole 34. The pipe joint block 32 is inserted into the hole 36 (FIG. 4) at the substantially center of the grommet 35, and one end of the pipe joint block 32 is projected outside the vehicle compartment. The grommet 35 is formed of an elastic body (for example, rubber), and functions as a seal member that prevents water and the like from entering the vehicle interior from the outside.

By the way, when assembling the above-mentioned conventional vehicle air conditioner to a vehicle, the grommet 3 is inserted into the hole 34 of the panel 33.
After mounting 5, the pipe joint block 32 is inserted from the passenger compartment side into the hole 36 at the substantially center of the grommet 35,
One end of the block 32 is projected from the passenger compartment to the outside of the passenger compartment, and the flange portion 38 of the refrigerant pipe is attached to one end of the block 32.
Was made to connect.

[0006]

However, when the above-mentioned assembling method is used, it is necessary to accurately position and insert one end of the pipe joint block 32 into the hole 36 of the grommet 35, which makes the assembling work difficult. . In addition, if the pipe joint block 32 is tried to be inserted while the positioning accuracy is insufficient, the holes 34
There is a possibility that the grommet 35 may fall out from the

Further, the grommet 35 is adapted to be brought into close contact with the pipe joint block 32 by elastically deforming the edge portion 36a extending to the inner circumference of the hole 36, and to maintain the hermeticity (sealing property) of the portion. However, when the grommet 35 is displaced due to unreasonable stress when the pipe joint block 32 is inserted, there is a possibility that sufficient sealing performance cannot be secured.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional vehicle air conditioner, when it is necessary to remove the device from the vehicle for maintenance and inspection, the flange portion 38 of the refrigerant pipe and the block 32 are provided outside the vehicle compartment. Since the block 32 had to be pulled out from the hole 36 after the joining was canceled, maintenance work was complicated.

An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioning system for a vehicle, which can improve the workability of assembling and the work such as maintenance and inspection and can sufficiently secure the airtightness inside and outside the vehicle.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a vehicle air conditioner of the present invention has an evaporator having an expansion valve attached inside a vehicle compartment, and a refrigerant supply pipe from outside the vehicle compartment. In a vehicle air conditioner in which a refrigerant outflow pipe to the outside of a vehicle compartment is connected to the expansion valve via a pipe joint block, the pipe joint block is connected to a panel that divides the vehicle interior side and the vehicle interior side into a vehicle. It is characterized by being placed only in the room.

The refrigerant supply pipe and the refrigerant outflow pipe extend from the outside of the vehicle compartment through the hole in the panel into the vehicle interior.

It is desirable that a sealing material is interposed between the pipe joint block and the panel.

It is desirable that the piping joint block be provided with a collar for sandwiching a sealing material between the piping joint block and the panel.

The above-mentioned sealing material can be attached to the surface of the flange of the piping joint block on the panel side in advance. The sealing material is not particularly limited, but is preferably a flat plate-like packing extending in an annular shape.

In the vehicle air conditioner as described above,
Since the piping joint block is located only inside the vehicle interior of the panel that divides the interior and exterior of the vehicle interior, it is possible to eliminate the complicated work of positioning the piping joint block with high precision and inserting it through the panel as in the conventional system. Can be easily and quickly assembled in a predetermined position.

Further, if the refrigerant supply pipe and the refrigerant outflow pipe are extended through the holes formed in the panel, it is possible to easily realize the structure in which the pipe joint block is located only in the passenger compartment. You can

Further, by interposing a sealing material between the pipe joint block and the panel, the airtightness inside and outside the vehicle can be further improved. Further, since the sealing material may be provided along the panel extending in a planar shape by being sandwiched between the flange of the piping joint block and the panel, it can be easily interposed.

Further, if a sealing material is attached in advance to the panel side surface of the flange of the pipe joint block and both members are integrally formed, the work efficiency of assembling the apparatus can be further improved. To attach the sealing material to the panel-side surface of the flange of the piping joint block, you can easily perform it by, for example, adhering both members with an adhesive, etc., and attach a grommet to the hole of the conventional panel. It can be performed extremely easily compared to the work to be done.

Further, if the sealing material is a ring-shaped flat packing, it is possible to easily secure the airtightness between the pipe joint block and the panel while having a simple sealing structure.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of a vehicle air conditioner of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 indicates an evaporator. The evaporator 1 has a flat tube 2 and corrugated fins 3. Further, the evaporator 1 has an inlet pipe 4 for introducing the refrigerant into the evaporator 1 and the refrigerant with the inlet pipe 4.
An outlet pipe 5 for sending to the outside is provided. Pipe 4,
An expansion valve 6 is connected to 5. A pipe joint block 7 is connected to the expansion valve 6.

The pipe joint block 7 is provided with a flange 17, holes 14 and 15 which communicate with a refrigerant supply pipe 10 and a refrigerant outflow pipe 11 which will be described later. Also, piping 1
A flange portion 18 is provided at the ends of 0 and 11,
The pipes 10 and 11 are connected to the pipe joint block 7 via a flange portion 18.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a panel for partitioning a vehicle interior and a vehicle exterior, and in the present embodiment, the panel 8 is provided.
As shown in FIG. 2, the panel 8 is partitioned into a vehicle compartment on the left side of the panel 8 (for example, an engine room) and a vehicle compartment on the right side. Further, in the vehicle air conditioner according to the present embodiment, the pipe joint block 7 is arranged only in the vehicle compartment of the panel 8, and between the collar 17 of the pipe joint block 7 and the panel 8. A sealing material 12 described later is sandwiched and interposed.

A hole 9 is formed in the panel 8. A flange portion 18 of a refrigerant supply pipe 10 for supplying a refrigerant from the outside of the vehicle compartment to the inside of the evaporator 1 and a refrigerant outflow pipe 11 for sending the refrigerant in the evaporator 1 to the outside of the vehicle compartment is penetrated through the hole 9. . The pipes 10 and 11 communicate with the holes 14 and 15 of the pipe joint block 7.

The seal material 12 is, in this embodiment,
It consists of a flat packing. This sealing material 12 is
Panel-side surface 13 of the collar 17 of the piping joint block 7
It is attached in advance. The method of attaching is not particularly limited, and the sealing material 12 can be easily attached to the surface 13 on the panel side with an adhesive or the like. Further, the sealing material 12 can be attached to the panel 8 side. Furthermore, it does not need to be attached.

In the vehicle air conditioner according to this embodiment, for example, the refrigerant that has passed through the compressor (not shown) and the condenser (not shown) is sent to the expansion valve 6 through the refrigerant supply pipe 10 and the hole 14. The refrigerant is expanded by the expansion valve 6 and flows into the evaporator 1 through the inlet pipe 4. Then, it flows in the flat tube 2, and the tube 2 and the corrugated fin 3
Heat exchange takes place with the air passing through the section. Also,
The refrigerant circulated in the evaporator 1 has an outlet pipe 5, an expansion valve 6,
It is adapted to be returned to the compressor again through the hole 15 and the refrigerant outflow pipe 11.

Further, in the vehicle air conditioner according to the present embodiment, since the pipe joint block 7 is located only on the right side of the panel 8, that is, in the passenger compartment, the pipe joint block 7 is installed in the panel 8 as in the conventional case. It is possible to easily and quickly assemble the air conditioner at a predetermined position by eliminating the complicated work of accurately positioning and inserting the hole.

A sealing material 12 is provided between the piping joint block 7 and the panel 8. In this embodiment, the sealing material 12 is the panel-side surface 13 of the flange 17 of the piping joint block 7. Since it is attached in advance to the pipe joint block 7 and is substantially integrally formed with the pipe joint block 7, the assembling workability can be further improved. Further, as described above, the sealing material 12 can be attached to the surface 16 of the panel 8 in advance. In addition, whichever surface is attached, it can be performed very easily as compared with the conventional grommet attachment.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the sealing material 12 is made of a flat packing, the surface 16 of the panel 8 and the joint block 7 are installed after the air conditioner is installed.
The flat packing comes into planar contact with the surface 13 of. Therefore, the sealing property of the portion can be greatly improved.

At the time of maintenance and inspection of the air conditioner, the pipe 1
Flange 18 of 0 and 11 and piping joint block 7
Since the device can be easily removed by disconnecting the connection with, it is possible to improve the work efficiency of maintenance and inspection as compared with the conventional case.

[0030]

As described above, according to the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention, the workability of assembling and maintenance and inspection can be improved, and the airtightness inside and outside the vehicle can be sufficiently ensured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged vertical sectional view of the vicinity of the pipe joint block of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional vehicle air conditioner.

4 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a piping joint block and a grommet of the apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Evaporator 2 Flat Tube 3 Corrugated Fin 4 Inlet Pipe 5 Outlet Pipe 6 Expansion Valve 7 Piping Joint Block 8 Panel 9 Hole 10 Refrigerant Supply Pipe 11 Refrigerant Outflow Pipe 12 Sealing Material 13 Panel Side 14 Hole 15 Hole 16 Panel Surface 17 Tsuba 18 Flange

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An evaporator equipped with an expansion valve is arranged in a vehicle compartment, and a refrigerant supply pipe from the outside of the vehicle compartment and a refrigerant outflow pipe to the outside of the vehicle compartment are connected to the expansion valve via a pipe joint block. In the above vehicle air conditioner, the pipe joint block is located only inside the vehicle compartment with respect to a panel that divides the inside of the vehicle interior and the outside of the vehicle interior. 2. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerant supply pipe and the refrigerant outflow pipe extend through a hole formed in the panel. 3. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a sealing material is interposed between the pipe joint block and the panel. 4. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the piping joint block is provided with a collar that holds the sealing material between the piping joint block and the panel. 5. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein the sealing material is previously attached to a panel-side surface of the flange of the pipe joint block. 6. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the sealing material is a flat ring-shaped packing.