JPH106737A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a ventilation duct thin, reduce its size, and make thin and small an entire air conditioner by horizontally disposing a cooler provided in a ventilation duct of which longitudinal direction corresponds to the longitudinal direction of the ventilation duct. SOLUTION: In a ventilation duct 21, a blower 22, an evaporator 23 and a heater core 24 are disposed in sequence from an upstream side, and a damper 27 for adjusting a suction ratio is provided in the upstream side of the blower 22. In this case, the evaporator 23 and the heater core 24 are horizontally placed in the longitudinal directions thereof correspond to the longitudinal direction of the ventilation duct 21, and an air inlet passage 34 to the evaporator 23 is provided in the upper side of the same and an air outlet passage 35 from the evaporator 23 is provided in its lower side. Between the evaporator 23 and the heater core 24, a connecting wall 38 for performing heat insulation between the evaporator 23 and the heater core 24 and preventing bypass flowing in the heater core 24 is provided. Then, by an opening/closing type air mix damper 39 provided in one end of the heater core 24, air flowing into the heater core 24 is controlled.

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 a vehicle or the like, and more particularly to a structure suitable for use in an air conditioner which is required to be thin and small.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The arrangement of various devices in a conventional air conditioner, particularly in a vehicle air conditioner, is as shown in FIG. 7, for example. 7, reference numeral 1 denotes a ventilation duct. In the ventilation duct 1, a blower 2, an evaporator 3 as a cooler, and a heater core 4 as a heater are arranged from the upstream side. An air mix damper 5 is provided on the upstream side. The intake ports 6 and 7 are provided with an intake control damper 8 for controlling the intake (ratio) of the inside and outside air, and the air whose intake ratio is controlled by the damper 8 is sucked in by the blower 2 and pumped downstream. Is done.

The air flowing through the ventilation duct 1 is supplied to an evaporator 3
After passing through the heater core 4, depending on the adjustment position of the air mix damper 5, the flow is set to one of a mode of flowing through the heater core 4, a flow bypassing the heater core 4, or a mixed state of both flows. Outlets 9, 10, 11 (eg, DEF, VENT, FOOT). The blow-out from each blow-out port 9, 10, 11
3 and 14.

[0004]

In recent years, as various electronic devices are mounted on a vehicle, the space available for an air conditioner is becoming smaller and smaller, and there is a strong demand for a smaller and thinner air conditioner. However, in the conventional air conditioner as described above, the evaporator 3 is particularly arranged so that its longitudinal direction is the width direction of the ventilation duct 1, that is, the direction traversing the passage in the ventilation duct 1. Ventilation duct 1
In particular, it is difficult to reduce the width dimension W.
Therefore, it has not been possible to sufficiently meet the above-described demands for thinning and thereby miniaturization.

[0005] Further, it is difficult to sufficiently meet the demands for thinning and miniaturization of the heater core with a structure in which the heater core is arranged inclined as shown in FIG. 7 and a bypass passage is provided above the heater core.

[0006] The object of the present invention is to address such circumstances.
By improving the arrangement structure of each device, the ventilation duct can be made thinner and smaller, and the overall air conditioner can be made thinner and smaller accordingly.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an air conditioner according to the present invention is an air conditioner having at least a cooler in a ventilation duct. It is characterized by being arranged in a horizontal type as a direction.

In the air conditioner according to the present invention, in the air conditioner having a cooler and a heater in a ventilation duct, the cooler and the heater are respectively set in the longitudinal direction of the ventilation duct. It is characterized by being arranged horizontally.

In such an air conditioner, the cooler, which has been an obstacle to the thinning of the conventional ventilation duct, is arranged horizontally so that its longitudinal direction is the longitudinal direction of the ventilation duct. Physically, the ventilation duct can be made thinner. When thinning the ventilation duct, a necessary air path may be secured around the cooler. By reducing the thickness of the ventilation duct, it becomes possible to reduce the thickness of the entire air conditioner and, consequently, to reduce the size.

[0010] In addition to the horizontal arrangement of the above-mentioned cooler, if the heater is also of a horizontal arrangement, the ventilation duct can be made thinner in the heater arrangement portion, and the overall apparatus can be made thinner and smaller. It is further encouraged.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and particularly shows a case where the present invention is applied to a vehicle air conditioner. In the drawing, reference numeral 21 denotes a ventilation duct, and the motor 2 is provided in the ventilation duct 21 in order from the upstream side.
A blower 22 driven by 2a, an evaporator 23 as a cooler, and a heater core 24 as a heater are arranged. On the upstream side of the blower 22, an inside air suction port 25 and an outside air suction port 26 are opened, and the suction or the suction ratio of the inside and outside air can be adjusted by a damper 27. On the downstream side of the heater core 24, each outlet 28 of the temperature-regulated air,
29, 30 (for example, DEF, VENT, FOOT)
Is provided, and the blowout amount is set for each of the dampers 31, 32, 33.
Can be adjusted.

[0012] The evaporator 23 is disposed in a horizontal position with its longitudinal direction being the longitudinal direction of the ventilation duct 21. In the present embodiment, the heater cores 24 are also arranged horizontally. The evaporator 23 is located above the evaporator 23 in the drawing.
A passage 34 for inflow of air to the evaporator 23 is formed, and a passage 35 for outflow of air from the evaporator 23 is formed below in the figure. In order to form these passages 34 and 35 and to prevent passing air from bypassing the evaporator 23, seal walls (passage walls) 36 and 37 are provided at one end on the inlet side and one end on the outlet side of the evaporator. The seal dies 36 and 37 are connected to the ventilation duct 21 respectively.

Between the evaporator 23 and the heater core 24,
A connection wall 38 is provided. The connection wall 38 plays a role in heat insulation between the evaporator 23 and the heater core 24 and also in preventing a bypass flow from being generated in the heater core 24. An open / close air mix damper 39 is provided at one end of the heater core 24.
4 can be controlled. When the damper 39 is fully closed (the state shown in FIG. 1), the entire amount passes through the heater core 24, when the damper 39 is fully open, almost the entire amount bypasses the heater core 24, and when the damper 39 is at the intermediate opening degree, the heater core 2
The air that has passed through 4 and the air that has bypassed are mixed (in a so-called air mix state).

In such an air conditioner, the evaporator 2
By arranging 3 horizontally, the width W1 of the ventilation duct 21 can be physically significantly reduced.
That is, the passages 34 on the inlet side and the outlet side of the evaporator 23,
As long as 35 can be appropriately secured, the width W1 can be made as small as possible. Therefore, as compared with the conventional structure shown in FIG. 7, the width W1 of the ventilation duct 21 can be significantly reduced, and the ventilation duct 21 can be made thin. The reduction in the thickness of the ventilation duct 21 leads to a reduction in the thickness and size of the entire air conditioner, and the intended purpose is achieved.

Particularly, in this embodiment, since the heater core 24 is also of the horizontal type, the thickness of the heater core 24 can be reduced, and the entire ventilation duct can be easily reduced in thickness.

FIG. 2 shows an air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, as compared with the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the evaporator 41 is particularly constituted by a multitubular heat exchanger. The multi-tube extends in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. One of the seal walls 42, 43 connected to the evaporator 41 has the same configuration as the seal wall 36 shown in FIG. 1, but the other seal wall 43 is connected to one end of the evaporator 41. At the center of the evaporator 41 in the width direction. Other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment, but the heater core 24 may also be configured by a multi-tube heat exchanger.

In such a heater core, since the evaporator 41 is constituted by a multi-tube heat exchanger, air can flow into the evaporator 41 in both flow directions indicated by arrows 44 and 45 in FIG. The arrows 46 and 47 indicate the air outflow.
Both flow directions as shown by are possible. That is, there is substantially no restriction on the flow direction of the air flowing into or out of the evaporator 41, and the pressure loss due to the evaporator 41 can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to reduce the size of the passages 34 and 35 between the ventilation duct 21 on the entrance side and the exit side of the evaporator 41, and to omit these passages 34 and 35 in some cases. The width can be further reduced. Therefore, the air conditioner can be further reduced in thickness and size. Further, as a result of the pressure loss being kept small, the blowing power can be kept small.

FIG. 3 shows an air conditioner according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the evaporator 23
And the structure around the same as in the first embodiment,
The heater core 51 and the air mix damper 52 are arranged as shown in FIG.
Has substantially the same configuration as the conventional structure shown in FIG. Even in such a configuration, the width of the ventilation duct 53 can be reduced at least for the evaporator 23, and the ventilation duct 53
Can be partially reduced in thickness to contribute to downsizing of the entire air conditioner.

FIG. 4 shows an air conditioner according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, an evaporator 61 as a cooler and a heater core 62 as a heater are both arranged laterally with respect to the ventilation duct 63, and a switching / adjusting means is provided at an upstream end of the evaporator 61. And a slide damper 65 as switching / adjusting means is provided at a downstream end of the heater core 62. At the other end of the evaporator 61 and the other end of the heater core 62, fixed seal walls 66 and 67 are provided. The sliding dampers 64, 65
May be a rotary damper.

In such an air conditioner, the evaporator 6
By arranging the heater core 1 and the heater core 62 horizontally, the thickness of the ventilation duct 63 can be reduced, and switching and adjustment to each air conditioning mode can be performed extremely easily and reliably.

That is, in the mode shown in FIG. 4A, the entire amount of air in the ventilation duct 63 is changed to the evaporator 6.
1, flows in order to the heater core 62, and is set to a predetermined temperature adjustment state. In the mode shown in FIG.
5 is switched, and the air that has passed through the evaporator 61 is directly sent downstream, bypassing the heater core 62. Therefore, it becomes the maximum cooling mode. In the mode shown in (C), the slide damper 64 is switched from the mode in (A), and the air bypasses without passing through the evaporator 61 and passes through the entire heater core 62. Therefore, the maximum heating mode is set. By setting the damper 65 at the intermediate position (and in some cases, the damper 64 is also at the intermediate position), an air mixing state can be achieved.

FIG. 5 shows an air conditioner according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, as compared with the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the fixed seal walls 66 and 67 are one fixed seal wall 71, and the evaporator 61 and the heater core 62 are substantially connected. With this configuration, it is possible to save the space for disposing the devices in the longitudinal direction of the ventilation duct 63, and to reduce the thickness and the size in the longitudinal direction at the same time. Switching to each mode shown in (A), (B), and (C) of FIG. 5 corresponds to (A), (B), and (C) of FIG. 4, respectively.

FIG. 6 shows an air conditioner according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, as compared with the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the width of the ventilation duct 81 is further reduced in part where the ventilation duct extends substantially linearly and becomes a dead space. That is, the portion 82,
Further, the portions 83 and 84 are bulged inward in the passage of the ventilation duct 81, and these portions 82, 83 and 84 are partially, but further narrowed. This makes it possible to reduce the thickness and size of the entire air conditioner to a position close to the physical limit. Switching to each mode shown in (A), (B), and (C) of FIG.
These correspond to (A), (B), and (C) in FIG.

[0024]

As described above, in the case of the air conditioner of the present invention, by arranging at least the cooler horizontally with respect to the ventilation duct, the ventilation duct can be greatly reduced in thickness. The entire air conditioner can be made thinner and smaller. As a result, it is possible to meet the demand for miniaturization of the vehicle air conditioner and the like, and to contribute to improvement of the degree of freedom in vehicle design.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

21, 53, 63, 81 Ventilation duct 22 Blower 23, 41, 61 Evaporator 24, 51, 62 as a cooler Heater core 34 as a heater 34 Air inflow passage 35 Air outflow passage 36, 37, 42, 43, 66, 67, 71 Seal wall (passage wall) 38 Connection wall 39, 52 Air mix damper 64, 65 Sliding damper 82, 83, 84 as switching / adjusting means Ventilation duct portion W1 Ventilation duct width

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner having at least a cooler in a ventilation duct, wherein the cooler is arranged in a horizontal direction with its longitudinal direction being the longitudinal direction of the ventilation duct. 2. An air conditioner having a cooler and a heater in a ventilation duct, wherein the cooler and the heater are each arranged in a horizontal arrangement with their longitudinal direction being the longitudinal direction of the ventilation duct. Air conditioner. 3. An air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein said heater is provided with a switching / adjusting means for controlling a flow of air to said heater. 4. An air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein said cooler is provided with a switching / adjusting means for controlling a flow of air to said cooler. 5. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a passage wall for controlling a flow of air to the cooler is connected to the cooler. 6. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein said cooler and / or said heater comprises a shell-and-tube heat exchanger.