JPH10250345A - Automobile air conditioning unit and automobile air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automobile air conditioning unit and an automobile air conditioner which are small in back-and-forth dimension and enable the reducing the control force of a mix door. SOLUTION: In for an automobile air conditioning unit 30, an evaporator 32 is arranged in a vehicular frontside and a heater core 33 in a vehicular rearside and their respective air passing surfaces 32a, 33a are arranged while turned in a nearly back-and-forth direction of the vehicle and a bypass passage 35 is formed near the heater core. A first butterfly shape mix door 34a for controlling the air amount flowing down to the heater core and a second butterfly shape mix door 34b for controlling the air amount flowing down to the bypass passage are provided between the evaporator 32 and the heater core 33.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner for an automobile, and more particularly to a vertical type in which an evaporator (a condenser and a heat exchanger for cooling) and a heater core (a heat exchanger for heating) are arranged in an integrated unit. About integrated air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With an increase in the cooler mounting rate, it has been studied to house an evaporator and a heater core in one unit and abolish the conventional cooler unit, especially in a passenger car air conditioner. In contrast to a conventional horizontal air conditioner in which an intake unit, a cooler unit, and a heater unit are arranged in a horizontal line in the left-right direction of the vehicle, this type of automotive air conditioner is often called a vertical integrated air conditioner. .

[0003] Combining the cooler unit and the heater unit into one unit not only increases the foot space in the vehicle interior, but also reduces the material, manufacturing and assembly costs by integrating the units.

As a conventional vertical integrated air conditioner, an evaporator and a heater core are arranged substantially upright and arranged in the front-rear direction of a vehicle (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-5318). Are arranged substantially horizontally and arranged in the up-down direction of the vehicle (for example, see
No. 04,129).

[0005] As shown in FIG. 6, the former air conditioner includes an air conditioner unit casing 31 and an air conditioner 32 and a heater core 3.
3 are provided in a substantially upright state, and the intake air from the intake unit is introduced into the casing 31 from an inlet 40 located in front of the vehicle. In addition, evaporator 3
A mix door 34a, a sub-mix door 34b and a bypass 35 are provided between the heater 2 and the heater core 33,
A vent outlet 37, a defrost outlet 38, and a foot outlet 39 are formed above the bypass passage 35.

In this air conditioner, the air introduced from the inlet 40 flows toward the rear of the vehicle in the order of the evaporator 32 and the heater core 33. "37D"
Is a vent door, “38D” is a differential door, and “39D” is a foot door.

[0007]

However, in the above-described conventional vertical integrated air conditioner, there is a problem that the dimension A shown in FIG. 6 is inevitably large in order to secure the rotation range of the mix door 34a. . This type of air conditioning unit 30
Is mounted on the center console CC in the center of the room shown in FIG.
It is an important issue to reduce the dimension of the air conditioning unit 30 in the front-rear direction as much as possible.

Further, in the conventional vertical integrated air conditioner, when the air volume from the intake unit is increased, the mixing door 34a receives the air, so that the operating force of the door 34a is also increased. For this reason, an actuator having a large output torque must be used in an auto air conditioner, and a lever operation becomes heavy in a manual air conditioner.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and provides a vertical integrated air conditioner which has a small size in the vehicle front-rear direction and can reduce the operation force of the mix door. The purpose is to do.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioning unit for an automobile, wherein the evaporator and the heater core are arranged such that the evaporator is located on the front side of the vehicle and the heater core is located on the rear side of the vehicle. A bypass passage (35) arranged so that an air passage surface of the heater core is substantially in the front-rear direction and bypassing the heater core near the heater core;
Is formed between the evaporator and the heater core, a first butterfly-shaped mixed door for controlling an amount of air flowing to the heater core, and an amount of air flowing to the bypass passage. A second butterfly-shaped mixed door is provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the mixing door provided between the evaporator and the heater core is divided into the first mixing door and the second mixing door. Is small, and the pivoting range can be further reduced because of the butterfly-shaped door. Therefore, the dimension between the evaporator and the heater core can be set short, and as a result, an air conditioning unit that is short in the vehicle front-rear direction can be provided.

Further, in the vehicle air conditioning unit according to the first aspect, since the mixing door is constituted by a butterfly-shaped door, even if a drag acts on one of the door pieces due to the wind, the wind is generated by the other door. Since a tailwind is applied to the piece, the operating force required for turning the door is reduced.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the position of the inlet of the air to be introduced into the air conditioning unit is not particularly limited. , Characterized in that an inlet for intake air is formed.

[0014] By doing so, the air flow path in the air conditioning unit is formed linearly from the front side to the rear side of the vehicle, so that an air conditioning unit with low airflow resistance can be provided. In addition, since the size of the vehicle air conditioning unit according to the first aspect can be reduced in the vehicle front-rear direction, a wide entrance capable of sufficiently reducing the ventilation resistance can be set at the front side of the evaporator.

In the air conditioning unit for a vehicle according to the first or second aspect, the setting position of the air mixing chamber for mixing the cold air and the hot air is not particularly limited. An air mix chamber is formed above the heater core in the vehicle, and a guide wall is formed on the back side of the heater core to guide air passing through the heater core to the air mix chamber.

Since a heater core for an automobile is generally smaller than an evaporator, when the evaporator and the heater core are arranged in a substantially upright state with their bottoms aligned, a space is created above the heater core in the vehicle. In the air conditioning unit for a vehicle according to the third aspect, this space is used to form an air mix chamber. However, since it is necessary to guide the warm air that has passed through the heater core to the air mixing chamber located above, a guide wall is formed on the back surface of the heater core.

[0017] By doing so, not only is the space effectively used and a small air conditioning unit is provided, but also the cool air that has flowed straight down to the rear side of the vehicle after passing through the evaporator and the cold air that has passed through the heater core. Since the hot air that has risen to the upper side of the vehicle collides at a substantially right angle, the mixing property of the two greatly increases.

In the vehicle air conditioning unit according to any one of the first to third aspects, the position of the outlet is not particularly limited, but the vehicle air conditioning unit according to the fourth aspect is arranged above the air mix chamber above the vehicle. And a vent outlet and a defrost outlet are formed.

As described above, since the automotive air conditioning unit is mounted near the center console of the instrument panel, the vent outlet connected to the vent grill and the defrost outlet connected to the defrost grill are provided. It is desirable to be in the immediate vicinity of the instrument panel. For this reason, in the automotive air-conditioning unit according to claim 4, the vent outlet and the defrost outlet are formed on the vehicle side of the air mix chamber,
This makes it possible to minimize the length of the duct leading to each grill.

In the vehicle air conditioning unit according to the third or fourth aspect, the set position of the foot air outlet is not particularly limited, but the vehicle air conditioning unit according to the fifth aspect is arranged such that the air mix is provided on the rear side of the guide wall. A foot outlet duct for guiding air from the chamber to the bottom side of the air conditioning unit casing is integrally formed, and a foot outlet is formed at a tip end thereof.

Since the air (warm air) from the foot outlet is to be supplied under the feet of the occupant, it is conventionally necessary to integrally form a duct connecting the air mixing chamber into the air conditioning unit casing. It is possible to omit the separate foot foot duct.

An air conditioner for an automobile which can exhibit the above-mentioned functions and effects by combining the air conditioning unit for an automobile according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and an intake unit having a blower and arranging these along the vehicle left-right direction. Is provided.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a mounted state of an automotive air conditioner of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of an automotive air conditioning unit of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, an air conditioner 100 for an automobile according to the present embodiment includes an intake unit 10 and an air conditioning unit 30, each having an intake unit casing 11 and an air conditioning unit casing 31, and these are ducts. (Not shown). These units 10 and 30 are mounted in the left and right direction along the dash panel DP within the instrument panel IP of the vehicle. Although not particularly limited, the intake unit 10 is attached to the back of the instrument panel IP located at the foot of the passenger seat, and the air conditioning unit 30
Is attached to the center console CC located at the center of the vehicle. In a left-hand drive vehicle, it is mounted symmetrically with respect to FIG.

The intake unit casing 11 includes:
An outside air intake 12 for taking in air outside the vehicle compartment and an inside air intake 13 for circulating room air are formed. The inside air inlet 13 is formed directly in the intake unit case 11 while the outside air inlet 12 is
It communicates with an inlet formed in the cowl panel of the vehicle body through an air duct (both not shown).

Although not shown, the intake unit case 11 has an intake door rotatably provided at a position where the outside air intake 12 is fully closed (inside air circulation mode).
And a position (the outside air intake mode) where the inside air intake 13 is fully closed, and stops at an intermediate position (the inside / outside air intake mode) as necessary. This rotation of the intake door is performed by an intake door actuator attached to the intake unit case 11 or a manual wire. The intake of inside air and / or outside air is performed by a fan rotated by a fan motor.

As shown in FIG. 2, an inlet 40 of the air blown from the intake unit 10 through the duct is formed in the air conditioning unit casing 31 on the side of the casing 31 on the front side of the vehicle. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view when the air conditioning unit 30 is viewed from the passenger seat side in FIG.

Near the inlet 40, an evaporator 32 for cooling the intake air is provided substantially upright, with the air passage surface 32a directed in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. The evaporator 32 is one element of a cooling cycle configured by connecting the compressor, a condenser (evaporator), an expansion valve, a liquid tank, and the like with a refrigerant pipe.
In addition, since the main parts such as the compressor, condenser, and liquid tank are provided in the engine room,
These and the evaporator 32 are connected through the dash panel DP by refrigerant piping. The operation and stop of the cooling cycle are performed by an air conditioner switch of a control panel provided on an instrument panel IP in the vehicle compartment.

On the rear side of the evaporator 32 of the air conditioning unit case 31 on the vehicle side, a heater core 33 is provided.
5 are provided substantially upright. The heater core 33 is also provided with the air passage surface 33a facing the vehicle front-rear direction. The engine coolant of the vehicle circulates through the heater core 33, and the air is heated by heat exchange between the engine coolant and the air.

In the air-conditioning unit 30 of the present embodiment, between the evaporator 32 and the heater core 33, two butterfly-shaped mixing doors 34a and 34b are provided.
The butterfly-shaped door has a rotation shaft at substantially the center of the passage,
This is a butterfly-shaped door in which door pieces are formed on both sides of the rotation shaft. It is not necessary to form door pieces of the same size on both sides from the rotation shaft, but it is desirable that the door pieces on both sides have substantially the same size in consideration of the effect of reducing the operating force of the door described later.

First mix door 3 located on the lower side of the vehicle
4a controls the amount of air flowing down to the heater core 33, whereas the second mix door 34b
Controls the amount of air flowing down to the bypass.

The two mixed doors 34a, 34b
Is rotated in conjunction with mechanical (eg, a link mechanism) or electrically (eg, an actuator motor and a controller), whereby the ratio of the amount of air passing through the heater core 33 to the amount of air passing through the bypass 35 is adjusted. Is done. The fully open positions of the mix doors 34a and 34b are as follows.
The position where the door piece is parallel to the passage is in contrast to the fully closed position where the door piece is closed, usually the position where the door piece is perpendicular to the passage.

In the air-conditioning unit 30 of the present embodiment, the mix door provided between the evaporator 32 and the heater core 33 is first divided into a first mix door 34a and a second mix door 34b. The range required for rotation is small. In addition, in the air-conditioning unit 30 of the present embodiment, since the mix door is constituted by the butterfly door, the rotation range can be further reduced. Therefore, the dimension A (see FIG. 6) between the evaporator 32 and the heater core 33 can be set short, and as a result, the air conditioning unit 3 which is short in the vehicle front-rear direction.
0 can be provided.

Further, in the air conditioning unit 30 of the present embodiment, since the mix doors 34a and 34b are constituted by butterfly doors, even if a drag acts on one of the door pieces due to the wind, the wind is generated by the other. Since a tailwind is applied to the door piece, the operating force required for turning the door is reduced.

The air conditioning unit 30 of the present embodiment cools the air blown from the intake unit 10 by the above-described evaporator 32, then controls the temperature by the heater core 33, and adjusts the temperature of the vehicle compartment from a desired outlet. It has a function to distribute air. For this purpose, an air mix chamber C is formed above the heater core 33 of the air conditioning unit case 31 on the vehicle side.
A guide wall 41 for guiding the warm air that has passed through to the air mix chamber C is formed on the back surface of the heater core 33.

Further, a vent outlet 37 and a defrost outlet 38 are formed in the air mix chamber C. The vent outlet 37 is connected to a vent grill provided in front of the instrument panel IP in the vehicle compartment via an air duct or directly, and blows out conditioned air mainly toward the upper body of the occupant.

The defrost outlet 38 is connected to a defrost grill provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel IP through an air duct or directly, and blows low humidity air or warm air toward the inner surface of the windshield to remove fogging. Clear up.

On the other hand, the foot outlet 39 is opened under the feet of the occupant in the passenger compartment through a foot outlet duct 42 extending downward from the air mix chamber C of the air conditioning unit case 31, and mainly supplies warm air to the occupant. Spout toward your feet. The foot outlet duct 42 of the present embodiment is formed integrally with the air conditioning unit casing 31.

Vent outlet 37, defrost outlet 38
Is provided with a vent door 37D and a differential door 38D,
Open and close each outlet. A foot door 39D is provided in the foot outlet duct 42, and opens and closes the foot outlet duct 42 and, consequently, the foot outlet.

These doors 37D, 38D, 39D are
It is operated by a mode door actuator or a manual wire via a link mechanism or the like. In other words, vent mode,
By selecting various blowing modes such as a defrost mode, a bi-level mode, and a foot mode, three doors 37D,
These doors operate according to the combination of opening and closing of 38D and 39D.

For example, in the bi-level mode, the vent outlet 37 and the foot outlet 39 are each opened halfway,
Cool air is blown out from the vent outlet 37 and warm air is blown out from the foot outlet 39, so that a so-called head-and-foot-type thermal control is performed.

Next, the operation will be described. 3 shows the air flow in the full cool mode, FIG. 4 shows the air flow in the full hot mode, and FIG. 5 shows the air flow in the temperature control mode.

First, in the full cool mode, FIG.
As shown in (2), the defrost outlet 38 and the foot outlet 39 are fully closed, and the vent outlet 37 is fully opened. Further, the first mix door 34a fully closes the heater core 33, and the second mix door 34b fully opens the bypass passage 35.

By doing so, the intake unit 10
The intake air introduced into the inlet 40 from the evaporator 3
While passing through the second air passage surface 32a, it flows toward the rear side of the vehicle, reaches the bypass 35 along both door pieces of the second mix door 34b, and flows into the vent outlet 37 as it is.

As described above, in the full cool mode, since the air flow path from the inlet 40 to the vent outlet 37 is formed substantially linearly, the ventilation resistance is extremely small, and a large amount of cold air is supplied to the room. can do. In addition, since the second mix door 34b is configured as a butterfly door, the cool air passing therethrough can be deflected to the vent outlet 37, thereby further reducing the ventilation resistance.

In the full hot mode, as shown in FIG.
Is fully closed, and the foot outlet 39 is fully opened. Further, the first mix door 34a is fully opened, and the second mix door 34b is fully closed. The cooling cycle is usually OF
F.

By doing so, the intake unit 10
The intake air introduced into the inlet 40 from the evaporator 3
The air flows toward the rear of the vehicle while passing through the second air passage surface 32a, and is guided to the heater core 33 along both door pieces of the first mix door 34a. The air (warm air) passing through the air passage surface 33a of the heater core 33 rises smoothly by the guide wall 41, and reaches the foot outlet 39 from the air mix chamber C through the foot outlet duct 42.

As described above, in the full hot mode, the warm air that has passed through the heater core 33 is appropriately guided to the guide wall 41 and the foot outlet duct 42, and the warm air that has passed through the heater core 33 naturally rises. So
Even if the air flow path from the inlet 40 to the foot outlet 39 is meandering, the ventilation resistance can be suppressed. Further, by configuring the first mix door 34a as a butterfly door, the air passing therethrough can be uniformly deflected to the air passage surface 33a of the heater core 33.
Heat exchange efficiency is also improved.

On the other hand, in the bi-level mode, which is a temperature control mode for supplying air at an intermediate temperature, as shown in FIG. 5, the defrost outlet 38 is fully closed, and the vent outlet 37 and the foot outlet 39 are closed. Half open. Also, the first
And the second mix doors 34a and 34b are respectively set at substantially intermediate positions.

Then, the intake air introduced from the intake unit 10 to the inlet 40 flows toward the rear side of the vehicle while passing through the air passage surface 32a of the evaporator 32. Here, the first mixing door The air is guided to the heater core 33 and the air is guided to the bypass 35 at the second mixing door 34b.

The cool air branched to the bypass passage 35 side passes through the heater core 33 and collides with the warm air rising along the guide wall 41 in the air mix chamber C. As a result, the mixture is brought to an appropriate temperature, then flows into the vent outlet 37, and the air at an appropriate temperature is supplied to the upper body of the occupant. A part of the warm air that has passed through the heater core 33 flows into the foot outlet duct 42 as it is, and air having a higher temperature than the vent outlet duct is supplied from the foot outlet 39 to the feet of the occupant.

As described above, in the temperature control mode, the cold air passing through the bypass 35 and the hot air rising through the heater core 33 collide in a substantially right angle direction.
The mixing property is enhanced, and the discomfort of head and foot fever can be suppressed.

The embodiments described above are described to facilitate understanding of the present invention, but are not described to limit the present invention. Therefore, each element disclosed in the above embodiment is intended to include all design changes and equivalents belonging to the technical scope of the present invention.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, the dimension between the evaporator and the heater core can be set short, and as a result, an air conditioning unit short in the vehicle longitudinal direction can be provided.

Further, even if a drag acts on one of the door surfaces due to the wind, the wind acts as a tailwind on the other door surface, so that the operating force required for turning the door is reduced. As a result, it is not necessary to increase the capacity of the actuator in the automatic air conditioner, and the operating force of the lever is reduced in the manual air conditioner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a mounted state of a vehicle air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of the automotive air conditioning unit of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a full cool mode of the air conditioning unit of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing a full hot mode of the air conditioning unit of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a temperature control mode of the air conditioning unit of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a conventional vertical integrated air conditioning unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Intake unit 30 ... Air-conditioning unit 31 ... Casing 32 ... Evaporator 32a ... Air passage surface 33 ... Heater core 33a ... Air passage surface 34a ... 1st butterfly mix door 34b ... 2nd butterfly mix door 35 ... Bypass path 37 ... vent outlet 38 ... defrost outlet 39 ... foot outlet 40 ... inlet 41 ... guide wall 42 ... foot outlet duct C ... air mix chamber IP ... instrument panel CC ... center console DP ... dash panel

Claims (6)

[Claims] An evaporator (32) and a heater core (33) are provided with the evaporator on the front side of the vehicle, the heater core on the rear side of the vehicle, and respective air passage surfaces (3).
2a, 33a) are disposed substantially in the vehicle front-rear direction, and a vehicle air conditioning unit (3) having a bypass path (35) formed near the heater core and bypassing the heater core is formed.
0), between the evaporator (32) and the heater core (33), a first butterfly-shaped mix door (34a) for controlling the amount of air flowing down to the heater core, and the amount of air flowing down to the bypass path. And a second butterfly-shaped mixed door (34b) for controlling the air conditioner. 2. A vehicle front side of the evaporator (32),
2. A vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 1, wherein an intake air inlet (40) is formed. 3. An air mix chamber (C) is formed above the heater core (33) in the vehicle, and a guide wall (7) is provided on the back side of the heater core (33) to guide air passing through the heater core to the air mix chamber. The air conditioning unit for a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein (41) is formed. 4. A vent outlet (37) and a defrost outlet (3) are provided above the vehicle in the air mix chamber (C).
8) is formed.
The air conditioning unit for a vehicle according to any one of the above. 5. A foot outlet duct (4) for guiding air from the air mix chamber (C) to the bottom side of the air conditioning unit casing (31) on the back side of the guide wall (41).
2) is formed integrally and a foot outlet (3
The vehicle air conditioning unit according to claim 3 or 4, wherein (9) is formed. 6. An air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein the air conditioning unit (30) for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and an intake unit (10) having a blower are arranged along a lateral direction of the vehicle. .