JPH1076838A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner that is capable of achieving the promotion of sharp miniaturization and lightweightiness in the whole system as maintaining its excellent heat-exchange performance. SOLUTION: In this vehicle air conditioner that is provided with at least a blower 2 and an evaporator 3, having them installed in the flowing direction of air in this order, the evaporator 3 is composed of a multitubular heat exchanger having a passage expanded part 5 expanding a passage in the air flowing direction in the inner part of a body, and an air inflow surface 4 of this multitubular heat exchanger is installed toward a direction crossing with an air duct longitudinal direction of this air conditioner 1, while the blower is installed as being directly connected to the air inflow surface 4 of this multitubular heat exchanger substantially.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner suitable for a vehicle, and more particularly to an air conditioner which can be reduced in size and weight.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a vehicle air conditioner, for example, the one shown in FIG. 4 is known. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 100 denotes an air conditioner. Air conditioner 100
Is a blower unit 101, a cooling unit 102,
It comprises a heater unit 103, and each unit is arranged in series in this order in the direction of air flow. The air blown from the blower unit 101 passes through the evaporator 104 after passing through the flow path expanding portion 107 of the cooling unit 102, and then flows into the heater unit 103. Then, the wind direction is changed by a damper 106 whose rotation is controlled in accordance with each mode (for example, cooling, air mix, etc.), and each air outlet selectively passes through the heater 105 and is connected to the heater unit 103. (VENT, DE
F, FOOT).

[0003]

However, in the air conditioner 100 as described above, since the units are arranged in series in the flow direction of the air, the air conditioner 1
When the size of the air flow direction (longitudinal direction) of 00 is reduced, the length of the air path is shortened, and there is a possibility that the performance of the apparatus is reduced.
For this reason, with the spread of vehicles equipped with an airbag system, a navigation system, and the like, there is a possibility that the demand for a smaller and lighter air conditioner cannot be sufficiently satisfied. In addition, in the said air conditioner 100, the flow path expansion part 107 is what is called dead space, and it is necessary to reduce dead space in order to achieve the said objective.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to achieve a significant reduction in the size and weight of the entire apparatus without deteriorating the performance.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle air conditioner which can sufficiently respond to the above demand.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, an air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention has at least a blower and an evaporator, and the blower and the evaporator are arranged in this order in the direction of air flow. In the installed vehicle air conditioner, the evaporator is constituted by a multi-tube heat exchanger having a flow path expanding portion in a main body in which a flow path expands in a flow direction of air, and the air of the multi-tube heat exchanger is provided. The inflow surface is opened in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the air passage of the air conditioner, and the blower is provided substantially directly connected to the air inflow surface of the multi-tube heat exchanger. Consists of

The evaporator and the blower can be integrated as a unit.

In the vehicle air conditioner as described above,
The evaporator is composed of a multi-tube heat exchanger in which many thin tubes are arranged. That is, in the case of a multi-tube heat exchanger, the air direction can be freely changed inside the multi-tube heat exchanger, so that the air inflow surface of the multi-tube heat exchanger intersects with the longitudinal direction of the air path of the air conditioner. It is possible to change the wind direction in the heat exchanger to a desired direction even if the airflow opening is established in the heat exchanger. Therefore, compared to a conventional device in which a blower is arranged in series in the longitudinal direction of the air path of an air conditioner,
Since the arrangement position (direction) of the blower is set to the direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the air passage, the longitudinal dimension of the device is shortened, and the entire device is reduced in size and weight. In addition, the enlarged flow path portion, which was conventionally a dead space, is substantially formed in the multi-tube heat exchanger main body, and heat is exchanged also in the enlarged flow path portion. Therefore, the conventional dead space is eliminated, or the heat exchange performance is improved by effectively utilizing the dead space, and the desired heat exchange performance can be secured even if the air path length is substantially shortened.

Further, if the evaporator and the blower are integrated as a unit, further reduction in size and weight can be promoted.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show an air conditioner according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes the entire air conditioner. The air conditioner 1 includes a unit 6 and a heater unit 7. In this embodiment, the blower 2 and the evaporator 3 are integrated as one unit 6, and the heater unit 7 is connected to the unit 6.

The evaporator 3 is a multi-tube heat exchanger in which a number of thin tubes (not shown) are arranged. In the present embodiment, the thin tubes extend in the vertical direction in FIG. In addition, the evaporator 3 has a flow path expanding portion 5 in which the flow path expands in the air flow direction in the main body. The air inflow surface 4 of the evaporator 3 is opened in a direction intersecting with the longitudinal direction of the air path of the air conditioner 1 (in this embodiment, a direction substantially orthogonal to the air passage). The blower 2 is directly connected to 4.

The heater unit 7 has a heater 8 (heater core). The inflow of air into the heater 8 is controlled by the rotation of the damper 9. VENT outlet 10, DE
Three outlets, an F outlet 11 and a FOOT outlet 12, are connected and opened.

In the air conditioner 1 according to this embodiment, the air blown from the blower 2 passes through the evaporator 3 composed of a multi-tube heat exchanger, and the direction of the air is controlled by the rotation of the damper 9. In the heating mode, a flow path is formed as shown in FIG. 2 and in the air mix mode, a flow path as shown in FIG. 3 is formed, and the air is blown out from one or more air outlets.

In the air conditioner 1 according to the present embodiment, the evaporator 2 comprises a multi-tube heat exchanger in which a number of thin tubes are arranged. It is possible to freely change the wind direction inside the main body. For this reason, the air inflow surface 4 of the multi-tube heat exchanger is opened in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the air path of the air conditioner 1, and the blower 2 is directly connected to the air inflow surface 4 to allow air to flow. Also, in the multi-tube heat exchanger, the wind direction can be changed to the longitudinal direction of the air path of the air conditioner 1. Therefore, unlike the conventional device, it is not necessary to extend the blower 2 in the longitudinal direction of the air conditioner 1, so that the size of the air conditioner 1 in the longitudinal direction can be reduced by that much, and the size and weight can be reduced. Furthermore, since the flow path enlarged portion 5 which was conventionally a dead space is substantially formed in the multi-tube heat exchanger main body, the flow path enlarged portion 5 can be effectively used as a heat exchange area. it can.
Therefore, miniaturization and weight reduction can be achieved at the same time while maintaining excellent heat exchange performance.

Further, since the evaporator 3 and the blower 2 are integrated as a unit 6, the size and weight can be reduced more effectively.

[0015]

As described above, with the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention, it is possible to greatly reduce the size and weight of the entire device while maintaining excellent performance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a flow of air in a heating mode of the air conditioner of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a flow of air when the air conditioner of FIG. 1 is in an air mix mode.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional vehicle air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air conditioner 2 Blower 3 Evaporator 4 Air inflow surface 5 Channel expansion part 6 Unit 7 Heater unit 8 Heater 9 Damper 10 VENT outlet 11 DEF outlet 12 FOOT outlet

Claims (2)

[Claims] In a vehicle air conditioner having at least a blower and an evaporator, and the blower and the evaporator are arranged in this order in the flow direction of air, the evaporator flows in the body in the flow direction of air. A multi-tubular heat exchanger having a flow path expanding portion in which the path expands, and the air inflow surface of the multi-tubular heat exchanger is opened in a direction intersecting with the longitudinal direction of the air path of the air conditioner. An air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein the blower is provided substantially directly connected to an air inflow surface of a multi-tube heat exchanger. 2. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein at least the evaporator and the blower are integrated as a unit.