JPH09290626A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To check any drop in air blasting quantity as well as to discharge drainage favorably to the outside of a cabin. SOLUTION: A lower duct part 16 or a passage at the downstream side of an evaporator 2 is formed to be extended downward. In addition, a flexural part out of this lower duct part 16 becomes a lowermost position in the lower duct part 16 and an extension duct 9. A branch pipe part 17 interconnected to an inner part of the lower duct part 16 is integrally formed in this flexural part. Furthermore, one end of a drain pipe 12 is connected to an end connection, and the other end is connected to an inlet pipe part 17a of the branch pipe part 17 respectively.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to discharge of drain water generated in an evaporator, particularly in an air conditioner for a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, some vehicle air conditioners have a front seat air conditioning unit installed in the front part of the vehicle and a rear seat air conditioning unit installed in the rear part of the vehicle. And FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the rear seat air conditioning unit 90 is generally called a rear cooler 90, and has a blower 100 and an evaporator 102 in a unit case 101.
Is arranged, and the air blown by the blower 100 is cooled by the latent heat of vaporization of the evaporator 102 to blow cold air into the passenger compartment.

The rear cooler 90 is installed on the rear side of the vehicle in a wall at one end side in the vehicle width direction, and as shown in FIG. 5, cool air passing through the evaporator 102 is passed through one end in the vehicle width direction. A duct 103 is provided for guiding to a cold air outlet (not shown) installed on the side. Further, the rear cooler 90 includes an evaporator 10
A duct 104 is provided to guide the cool air passing through 2 to a cool air outlet (not shown) provided on the other end side in the vehicle width direction.

The duct 103 is connected to the evaporator 1
The cold air that has passed through 02 is configured to be guided upward in the direction of gravity, and the duct 104 is formed with a flow path that extends to the other end side of the vehicle after guiding the cool air that has passed through the evaporator in the direction of gravity. . Also, this rear cooler 90
In order to discharge the drain water generated in the evaporator 102, a drain water discharge hole 105 is formed below the evaporator 102. Then, a drain pipe 106 or the like is connected to the drain water discharge hole 105 so that the drain water is discharged outside the vehicle compartment.

[0005]

The rear cooler 90 described above is to be solved.
Then, when the blower 100 blows air toward the evaporator 102, the drain water generated in the evaporator 102 by the wind pressure of the blower 100 scatters toward the downstream side of the evaporator 102. If the splashed drain water flows into the duct 104, the drain water will accumulate in the duct 104 in the summer, for example, and an offensive odor due to mold or the like will occur.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, a water splash prevention plate 107 for preventing water splash is provided on the downstream side of the evaporator 102, and the drain water sprayed on the water splash prevention plate 107 is drain water discharge hole 105. To deal with the above problem. However, when the water splash prevention plate 107 is provided in this way, there is a problem that ventilation resistance increases and the air flow rate decreases.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems.
The purpose of the present invention is to suppress the decrease in the amount of air blow and to discharge drain water satisfactorily outside the passenger compartment.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claims 1 to 4, among the flow paths in the air conditioning unit case, the flow path on the downstream side of the cooling heat exchanger is It is formed so as to extend upward in the direction of gravity, and a drain water pool portion in which drain water generated in the cooling heat exchanger is pooled is formed on the downstream side of the flow path extending upward in the direction of gravity. Is provided with a downstream drain discharge hole for discharging the drain water accumulated in the drain water reservoir to the outside of the vehicle compartment.

As a result, the drain water generated in the cooling heat exchanger blows off to the downstream side of the cooling heat exchanger, flows into the flow path extending in the direction of gravity due to its own weight, and is formed on the downstream side of this flow path. Even if the drain water is collected in the drain water reservoir, this drain water reservoir has a downstream drain water discharge hole for discharging the drain water. Can be discharged outdoors. As a result, it is possible to prevent the drain water from accumulating in the drain water collecting portion and prevent the generation of offensive odor due to mold, etc., while suppressing a decrease in the amount of air blown due to an increase in ventilation resistance in the air conditioning unit case.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 4, a drain pipe for guiding drain water to the outside of the vehicle compartment is connected to the drain water discharge hole and the downstream drain water discharge hole, and the drain pipe is the drain water discharge. It is characterized in that the drain water discharged from the hole and the downstream drain discharge hole is combined and discharged to the outside of the vehicle compartment. That is,
Generally, the vehicle air conditioner is often installed by being embedded in a vehicle compartment or a wall of the vehicle. And
The outlet part (exhaust port) of the drain pipe needs to be exposed to the outside of the vehicle compartment, and the outlet part (exhaust port) of the drain pipe and the outside of the vehicle chamber must be blocked by a blocking member such as a packing or the like. Foreign matter outside the vehicle compartment may enter the vehicle compartment or the vehicle wall from the outer periphery of the vehicle.

When the drain pipe is taken out of the vehicle compartment, if the number of drain pipes increases, it is workable to disconnect the drain pipe outlet (exhaust port) from the outside of the vehicle compartment with a blocking member such as packing. Is bad. On the other hand, in the present invention, by forming the drain pipe so that the drain water flowing through the two drain discharge holes merges, it is possible to reduce the number of drain pipes to be discharged to the outside of the vehicle compartment, thereby improving workability. Can be improved.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described. The vehicular air conditioner of the present invention is applied to a rear seat air conditioning unit that is installed in the rear part of the vehicle and cools the rear space of the vehicle. FIG. 1 shows a schematic mounting view in which the rear seat air conditioning unit 1 is mounted on a vehicle. FIG. 2 shows an overall perspective view of the rear seat air conditioning unit as seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG.

The rear seat air conditioning unit 1 of this embodiment is
As shown in FIG. 1, it is installed in the vicinity of the seat located in the rearmost part of the vehicle compartment, and is provided mainly in the rear space of the vehicle compartment, especially for the rearmost seat occupants. This rear seat air conditioning unit 1 has a blower unit case portion 1a as shown in FIG.
And a cooling unit case portion 1b in which the evaporator 2 is installed, and a blower duct 1c for guiding the conditioned air cooled by the cooling unit case portion 1b to an outlet (not shown) in the vehicle compartment. It has, and these are combined to form a flow path toward the vehicle interior.

The blower unit case portion 1a has a centrifugal multi-blade fan (sirocco fan) 3 and a motor (not shown) for rotationally driving the sirocco fan. And
This sirocco fan 3 is installed in a scroll-shaped scroll casing 4. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the sirocco fan 3 is installed such that the axial direction of the rotating shaft of the motor is just oriented in the vehicle width direction. As a result, the sirocco fan 3 is configured to take in the vehicle interior air from the vehicle width direction and blow it out to the rear of the vehicle.

A suction port 5 is formed in the scroll casing 4 so as to correspond to the sirocco fan 3. The suction port 5 communicates with an inside air introduction port (not shown) that is opened on the inner wall of the vehicle interior, and
The blower unit case portion 1a is configured to suck only the air inside the vehicle. The cooling unit case portion 1b is installed in a wall portion on one end side in the vehicle width direction (in the present embodiment, the vehicle right side) as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Further, since the rear seat air conditioning unit 1 in the present embodiment does not have a heat exchanger for heating air, it is an air conditioning unit dedicated to cooling that functions only to cool the passenger compartment.

The cooling unit case portion 1b is provided with the evaporator 2 which is an evaporator forming a part of a refrigeration cycle device (not shown) mounted on a vehicle. Further, this refrigeration cycle device is a well-known device, and includes a first seat expansion means and a front seat evaporator in parallel between the outlet side of the condenser and the suction side of the compressor. It has a refrigerant circuit and a second refrigerant circuit including a rear seat expansion means and a rear seat evaporator which is the evaporator 2.

Further, the evaporator 2 may be a laminated evaporator in which a pair of bowl-shaped plates are generally assembled to form a refrigerant flow path, or plate-shaped plate fins are laminated. However, the plate fin type evaporator may be configured so that the tube forming the refrigerant flow path penetrates the plate fin. As shown in FIG. 2, the blower duct 1c is provided on the left side of the vehicle and the right side air outlet 6 installed on the inner wall of the vehicle compartment so as to divide the cool air conditioned by the cooling unit case 1a into two. It leads to the left outlet 7.

Specifically, the blower duct 1c is formed with a passage a so that the cool air conditioned by the cooling unit case 1a extends upward as shown by an arrow a in FIG. As shown by the arrow b in FIG. 2, after the cool air conditioned by the cooling unit case portion 1a extends downward, the flow path b is formed so as to extend to the front side of the vehicle.

An extension duct 8 is connected to the flow path a to guide the cool air flowing through the flow path a to the right outlet 6. Further, an extension duct 9 is connected to the flow path b to guide the cool air flowing through the flow path b to the right outlet 7. The extension duct 9 has a duct portion 9a formed so as to extend in the vehicle width direction in a substantially horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 2. The duct portion 9a is located just below the rearmost seat in the vehicle compartment. It is arranged (see FIG. 1).

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, since the cooling unit case portion 1a is installed on the right side of the vehicle,
The duct portion 9a is provided so as to traverse the vehicle width direction, and its flow path length is longer than that of the extension duct 8.
It's getting quite long. Next, the cooling unit case portion 1b and the blower duct 1c, which are essential parts of the present invention.
Will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Note that FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view seen from the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram schematically showing FIG.

A drain water discharge hole 11 for discharging the drain water generated in the evaporator 2 to the outside of the cleaning unit 1b is formed in the cooling unit case portion 1a below the evaporator 2. Also,
As shown in FIG. 3, the drain water discharge hole 11 is formed so that the connection portion 13 for connecting the drain pipe 12 later projects to the outside of the cooling unit case portion.

As shown in FIG. 3, the blower duct 1c is connected and fixed to the downstream side of the cooling link unit 1b by a fixing member 14 such as a fitting claw or a screw. As shown in FIG. 3, the blower duct 1c is divided into two parts from the downstream side of the cooling unit case part 1b and is formed to extend upward and an upper duct part 15 formed to extend upward. The lower duct portion 16 is formed. The upper duct portion 15 and the lower duct portion 16 are integrally formed of resin material such as polypropylene by blow molding.

As described above, the lower duct portion 16 is configured to bend after the cold air blown from the evaporator 2 flows downward, and then to change the direction of the flow path forward of the vehicle. The bent portion of the lower duct portion 16 is at the lowest position in the lower duct portion 16 and the extension duct 9 as shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a bulging portion 20 is formed in the bent portion so as to bulge downward.

A forked pipe portion 17 is formed integrally with the lower duct portion 16 at the bulging portion 20. In the bifurcated pipe portion 17, the drain water generated in the evaporator 2 is blown off to the downstream side of the evaporator 2 by wind pressure,
The drain water flows into the lower duct portion 16 by its own weight and is discharged to the outside.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bifurcated pipe portion 17 has a cylindrical shape and is bent in a V shape, and the drain water drainage hole 1 for downstream is provided at the bent portion which is bent in a right shape.
8 is formed in. And the forked pipe part 17 is
It has an inlet pipe portion 17a which is connected to one end of the drain pipe 12 and has an outlet pipe portion 17b which is attached so as to project to the outside of the vehicle.

Next, the drain water draining function in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The drain water generated in the evaporator 2 flows downward by its own weight and flows into the drain pipe 12 through the drain water discharge hole 11. And
The drain water that has flowed in the drain pipe 12 flows into the inlet pipe portion 17a and is discharged to the outside of the vehicle compartment from the outlet pipe portion 17b.

On the other hand, the drain water blown to the downstream side of the evaporator 2 by the wind pressure without flowing into the drain water discharge hole 11 flows into the lower duct portion 16 by its own weight. Then, this drain water flows into the bulging portion 20,
Since the downstream drain water discharge hole 18 is provided below the bulging portion 20, it is discharged to the outside of the vehicle compartment from the outlet pipe portion 17b.

In other words, in the present embodiment, the drain water flowing into the drain water discharge hole 11 and the drain water flowing into the bifurcated pipe portion 17 join at the outlet pipe portion 17b, and the drain pipe 17b It can be satisfactorily discharged outside the passenger compartment. Thus, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the amount of air blown due to an increase in ventilation resistance, and it is possible to respond to the occupant's warmth.

Further, for example, if the bifurcated pipe portion 17 is simply formed without forming the bulging portion 20, there is a possibility that it will flow into the downstream side of the lower duct portion 16 (extension duct 9) due to wind pressure. A small amount of drain water accumulates in the extension duct 9 and causes an offensive odor. However, by forming the bulging portion 20, even if drain water flows into the lower duct 16, it becomes difficult for the drain water to flow to the downstream side due to wind pressure.

That is, since there is the bulging portion 20, the bulging portion 2
The drain water that has flowed to 0 has to go over the bulging portion 20 to prevent the drain water from flowing into the extension duct 9. Further, in the present embodiment, the drain water that flows into the drain discharge hole 11 located below the evaporator 2 and the bifurcated pipe portion 17 is merged and then discharged from the outlet pipe portion 17b to the outside of the vehicle compartment. This has the following effects.

That is, according to the present invention, as described above, two drain holes for discharging drain water are provided, and when drain water is discharged to the outside of the vehicle compartment, two drain pipes are used and each drain pipe is used. The drain water can also be discharged outside the vehicle compartment. However, in this case, two drain pipes are required, and the cost increases due to an increase in the number of parts and an increase in the number of assembling steps. Therefore, as in the above-described embodiment, the bifurcated pipe portion 17 is connected to the lower duct portion 1
By integrally forming with 6 (blower duct 1c), the number of parts can be reduced and drain water can be satisfactorily discharged.

Further, in the above embodiment, the outlet pipe portion 17b of the bifurcated pipe portion 17 is discharged outside the vehicle compartment. When the pipe portion for draining normal drain water is taken out of the vehicle compartment, it is necessary to block it with packing or the like so that foreign matter outside the vehicle compartment does not get into the wall of the vehicle from the portion exposed outside the vehicle compartment. . Therefore, as described above, 2
If you use two drain pipes, it will be difficult to stick and seal the packing. Therefore, drainage water is discharged through one outlet pipe portion 17b as in the above-described embodiment, so that workability of attaching a blocking member such as packing can be improved. .

Since both the drain water discharge hole 11 and the downstream drain water discharge hole 18 are formed on one end side (right side) of the vehicle as shown in FIG. 3, the drain pipe 12 can be easily drained. It can be connected to the water discharge hole 11 and the inlet pipe portion 17b. Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention can be applied to modified examples as described below.

Although the above embodiment is applied to the rear seat air conditioning unit, it can also be applied to a general air conditioning unit mounted in the front part of the vehicle. Further, in the above embodiment, the downstream side of the duct portion 9a formed to extend in the horizontal direction is formed to extend upward, but the outlet is formed on the downstream side of the duct portion 9a without extending upward. May be.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vehicle mounting diagram in which a rear seat air conditioning unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view as seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view seen from the direction of arrow B in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram schematically showing FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional rear seat air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a ... blower unit case part, 1b ... cooling unit case part, 1c ... blower duct, 2 ... evaporator, 3
... Sirocco fan, 16 ... Lower duct part, 18 ... Downstream drain discharge hole

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takahiro Mizuno 100 Kanayama, Ichiriyama-cho, Kariya city, Aichi Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Koji Ito 100 Kanayama, Ichiriyama-cho, Kariya city, Aichi prefecture Toyota body Within the corporation

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioning unit case (1a, 1b, 1c) forming a flow path toward a vehicle compartment, a blower (3) for generating an air flow toward the vehicle interior in the air conditioning unit case, and the air conditioning unit. A cooling heat exchanger (2) installed in the case for cooling the blown air of the blower, and in the flow path in the air conditioning unit case, the cooling heat exchanger (2) is downstream of the cooling heat exchanger (2). Is formed so as to extend downward in the direction of gravity, and the drain water generated in the cooling heat exchanger (2) is provided on the downstream side of the passage (16) extending downward in the direction of gravity. A drain water pool (20) is formed for storing the drain water pool (2).
0) is a drain discharge hole (18) for the downstream for discharging the drain water accumulated in the drain water reservoir (20) to the outside of the vehicle compartment.
An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising: 2. A drain water discharge hole (11) for discharging drain water generated in the cooling heat exchanger to the outside of the vehicle compartment is provided in the air conditioning unit case in the gravity direction of the cooling heat exchanger. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1. 3. An air conditioning unit case (1a, 1b, 1c) forming a flow path toward the vehicle compartment, a blower (3) for generating an air flow toward the vehicle interior in the air conditioning unit case, and the air conditioning unit. A cooling heat exchanger (2) arranged in the case for cooling the blown air of the blower, and provided in the air conditioning unit case below the cooling heat exchanger (2) in the direction of gravity and for the cooling A vehicle air conditioner that has a drain water discharge hole (11) for discharging drain water generated in a heat exchanger to the outside of the vehicle compartment, and is installed on a wall portion at one end side in the vehicle width direction, Of the flow paths in the air conditioning unit case, the flow path (1c) on the downstream side of the cooling heat exchanger (2) is a first air flow path (1c, which is formed so as to extend upward in the gravity direction.
8) and a second air flow passage (1c, 9) formed so as to extend to the other end side in the vehicle width direction, the second air flow passage (1c, 9) is branched. 1 c, 9), a drain water pool (20) for collecting drain water generated in the cooling heat exchanger (2) is formed on the downstream side of the cooling water heat exchanger (2). Drain water pool (20)
An air conditioner for a vehicle, characterized in that a downstream drain discharge hole (18) for discharging the drain water collected in the outside of the vehicle is provided. 4. A drain pipe (12) for guiding drain water to the outside of the vehicle compartment is connected to the drain water discharge hole and the downstream drain water discharge hole, and the drain pipe is the drain water discharge hole. And drain water discharged from the downstream drain discharge hole,
The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the air conditioner is configured to be discharged to the outside of the vehicle compartment.