JPH1111135A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the pressure loss of a cold air passage in maximum cooling in a center-setting type air conditioner. SOLUTION: In the maximum cooling of face mode, an air mix door 16 and a face door 25 are arranged so that the both are arranged substantially linearly. According to this, cold air can be linearly run from a cold air bypass passage 15 to a face opening part 22 along the air mix door 16 and the face door 25 arranged substantially linearly as shown by an arrow A. Therefore, the flow of the cold air carried from the cold air bypass passage 15 toward the face opening part 22 can be prevented from being curved, the pressure loss of the cold air passage can be significantly reduced, and the improvement in cooling performance in maximum cooling and the reduction in blowing noise can be effectively attained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooling air-conditioning heat exchanger provided in a common air-conditioning case disposed at the center of a vehicle below a dashboard in the left-right direction of a vehicle. In a vehicle air conditioner in which heat exchangers are arranged in series on the rear side of a vehicle, the present invention relates to an improvement for increasing the air volume during maximum cooling in face mode.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vehicle air conditioner, in order to reduce the space for mounting the vehicle, one common air conditioning case is disposed at a central portion in a lateral direction of the vehicle in a lower portion of an instrument panel in the vehicle compartment. An apparatus in which an evaporator (heat exchanger for cooling) and a heater core (heat exchanger for heating) are arranged in the vehicle front-rear direction has been put into practical use. This arrangement layout is generally called a center-placed unit.

[0003] In this center-mounted unit, the temperature control of the conditioned air is usually performed by adjusting the air flow ratio between the hot air passing through the heater core and the cold air passing through the cool air bypass passage provided in parallel with the heater core by the air mixing door. The air mixing method is used. By switching the blowing direction of the temperature-controlled conditioned air with the blowing mode door, a blowing mode such as a face mode, a bi-level mode, a foot mode, and a defroster mode is obtained.

[0004]

In the face mode in which cold air is blown toward the occupant's head, the air mixing door fully opens the cold air bypass passage and completely closes the heater core side air passage. It is desired to increase the cooling capacity with an increase. However, in the conventional center-mounted type air conditioner, the mounting space in the vehicle longitudinal direction is inevitably reduced due to the restrictions of the vehicle instrument panel, and devices such as the evaporator and the heater core must be accommodated in the small space in the vehicle longitudinal direction. Must.

[0005] As a result, according to experimental studies by the present inventors,
It was found that the air flow from the cool air bypass passage toward the face opening was bent, increasing the pressure loss, and thus causing problems such as a decrease in the amount of cool air and an increase in blowing noise. In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to reduce the pressure loss of a cool air flow path during maximum cooling in an air conditioner of a center type.

[0006]

The present invention focuses on the arrangement of a temperature control air mix door (16) and a face door (25) that opens a face opening (22) in a face mode. The object is achieved by devising the arrangement of the two doors.

That is, according to the first to third aspects of the present invention,
At the time of the maximum cooling in the face mode, the air mix door (16) that fully opens the cool air bypass passage (15) and the face door (25) that opens the face opening (22) are arranged in a substantially straight line. It is characterized by arranging both doors. According to this, the air mix door (16) and the face door (2) are arranged substantially in a straight line.
Along 5), the cool air can be linearly flown from the cool air bypass passage (15) toward the face opening (22). Therefore, there is no bending in the flow of the cool air from the cool air bypass passage (15) toward the face opening (22), and the pressure loss in the cool air passage can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional device, and the cooling capacity at the maximum cooling is improved. Thus, it is possible to effectively reduce the blowing noise.

The air mix door (16) of the present invention
It is needless to say that the arrangement of the air mix door (16) is not limited to the complete linear arrangement, and according to an experimental study by the inventor of the present invention, the arrangement of the air mix door (16) is as follows. ) And the face door (25) are within 15 °, the increase in pressure loss in the cool air passage can be suppressed to a small extent, which is practically effective for improving the cooling capacity at the maximum cooling. I know that. That is, the arrangement of the two doors (16, 25) on a substantially straight line in the present invention also includes a slight amount of inclination arrangement within an inclination angle θ ≦ 15 °.

Note that the reference numerals in parentheses attached to the above means indicate the correspondence with specific means described in the embodiments described later.

[0010]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. A ventilation system of an air conditioner for a vehicle according to this embodiment includes:
It is roughly divided into two parts, an air conditioning unit 10 and a blower unit (not shown). The air blower unit is disposed in the lower part of the instrument panel in the passenger compartment, offset from the center to the passenger seat side, whereas the air conditioning unit 10 is located in the lower part of the instrument panel in the passenger compartment in the left-right direction. It is arranged at a substantially central portion of.

As is well known, a blower unit (not shown) switches between inside air (vehicle interior air) and outside air (vehicle outside air), and blows air introduced from the inside / outside air switching box. It consists of a blower. This blower rotates a well-known centrifugal multi-blade fan (radial fan) with an electric motor. Air conditioning unit 1
The zero part includes an evaporator (cooling heat exchanger) 12 and a heater core (heating heat exchanger) 13 in one common air conditioning case 11.
Are both built-in types. The air-conditioning case 11 is made of a molded article of a resin such as polypropylene having a certain elasticity and excellent strength.
In the vertical direction (vehicle vertical direction). After housing the heat exchangers 12 and 13 and the doors and the like described later in the left and right two-part case, the left and right two-part case is integrally connected by fastening means such as metal spring clips and screws, and the air conditioning unit is assembled. 10 is constituted.

The air-conditioning unit 10 is disposed in the form shown in FIG. 1 in the front-rear direction and the vertical direction of the vehicle at substantially the center of the lower part of the instrument panel in the vehicle interior.
1, an air inlet 14 is disposed at the most forward part of the vehicle. The conditioned air blown from the blower unit flows into the air inlet 14. The air inlet 14 is open on the side of the air-conditioning case 11 on the side of the passenger seat for connection to the air outlet of a blower unit disposed at the front part of the passenger seat.

In the air conditioning case 11, the air inlet 1
An evaporator 12 is disposed at a position immediately after 4 so as to cross the entire area of the air passage. As is well known, the evaporator 12 absorbs the latent heat of evaporation of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle from the conditioned air,
It cools conditioned air. Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the evaporator 12 is installed in the air-conditioning case 11 in a form that is thin in the vehicle front-rear direction and has a longitudinal direction in the vehicle vertical direction.

The evaporator 12 is of a well-known lamination type, in which a number of flat tubes formed by laminating two thin metal plates of aluminum or the like are laminated and interposed with corrugated fins and brazed integrally. It is. A heater core 13 is arranged adjacent to the evaporator 12 downstream of the air flow (rear side of the vehicle) at a predetermined interval. The heater core 13 reheats the cold air that has passed through the evaporator 12, in which high-temperature hot water (engine cooling water) flows, and heats the air using the hot water as a heat source. Like the evaporator 12, the heater core 13 is thin in the vehicle front-rear direction and installed in the air-conditioning case 11 so as to be oriented in the vehicle vertical direction in the longitudinal direction.

[0015] However, the heater core 13 is
Inside, and is inclined at a slight angle from the vertical toward the vehicle rear side. The heater core 13 is a well-known one, and is formed by laminating a large number of flat tubes formed by joining thin metal plates of aluminum or the like to have a flat cross section by welding or the like with corrugated fins interposed therebetween and brazing them integrally. .

In the air conditioning case 11, a cool air bypass passage 15 is formed above the heater core 13 so that air (cool air) flows through the heater core 13. In the air conditioning case 11, a flat air mix door 16 is arranged between the heater core 13 and the evaporator 12. The air mix door 16 adjusts the ratio of the amount of warm air heated by the heater core 13 to the amount of cool air flowing through the cool air bypass passage 15 bypassing the heater core 13 to adjust the temperature of air blown into the vehicle interior. . Here, the air mixing door 16 is integrally connected to a rotating shaft 16a arranged in the horizontal direction.
6a and can be rotated in the up-down direction of the vehicle.

The rotating shaft 16a is rotatably supported by the air-conditioning case 11, and one end of the rotating shaft 16a projects outside the air-conditioning case 11 and is connected to a link mechanism (not shown) to provide a temperature control mechanism for the air conditioner. (Eg, an actuator such as a servomotor). In the air-conditioning case 11, a partition wall 17 extending in the vertical direction at a predetermined interval from the heater core 13 is formed integrally with the air-conditioning case 11 on the downstream side of the heater core 13 (at the rear side of the vehicle). ing. The partition wall 17 forms a warm air passage 18 that extends upward from immediately after the heater core 13, and a downstream side (upper side) of the warm air passage 18 merges with the cool air bypass passage 15 in an upper portion of the heater core 13 so that the cool air flows therethrough. A cool / hot air mixing space 19 for mixing hot air is formed.

A defroster opening 20 is formed at the front side of the vehicle on the upper surface of the air conditioning case 11.
The defroster opening 20 blows air from the cold / hot air mixing space 19 toward the inner surface of the vehicle window glass through a defroster duct and a defroster outlet (not shown). An entrance hole 20 a provided in a passage leading to the defroster opening 20 is opened and closed by a defroster door 21.
The defroster door 21 is rotatable about a rotating shaft 21a.

On the upper surface of the air-conditioning case 11, a face opening 22 is formed at a position on the rear side of the vehicle (closer to the occupant) than the defroster opening 20. The conditioned air from the cool / hot air mixing space 19 flows into the face opening 22 through the air passage 23. This air passage 23 is opened and closed by a defroster door 21. Face opening 22
Is connected to a front face outlet at the upper part of the instrument panel through a face duct (not shown) on the front side, and blows out conditioned air from the front face side outlet toward the head of the occupant in the front seat. .

The face opening 22 is connected to a rear seat face passage 22a.
An opening 22b at the downstream end of 2a is connected to a rear seat face outlet via a rear seat face duct (not shown),
The conditioned air is blown out from the rear face side air outlet toward the head of the rear occupant. On the other hand, in the air-conditioning case 11, a foot opening 24 on the front seat side is opened on the upper side of the side surface on the vehicle rear side. This front seat side foot opening 2
4 is provided with air-conditioned air from the cool / hot air mixing space 19 in the air passage 2.
3. Inflow through the inlet hole 24a. A front seat foot outlet is connected to the front seat foot opening 24 via a front seat foot duct (not shown), and the warm air is blown out from the foot outlet to the feet of the front seat occupant. Here, a rear seat side foot opening 24b is disposed below the front seat side foot opening 24, and the rear seat side foot opening 24b is connected to the rear seat side via a rear seat foot duct (not shown). A foot outlet is connected, and warm air is blown out from the foot outlet to the feet of the rear passenger.

The entrance hole 24a of the front seat side foot opening 24
, A face door 25 is rotatably mounted on a rotating shaft 25 a between the door 25 and the face opening 22.
Thereby, the entrance hole 24a of the foot opening 24 and the face opening 22 are switched and opened and closed. Therefore, the face door 25 of the present example functions as a face foot switching door. The defroster door 21 and the face door 25 are door means for blowing mode switching, are connected to a link mechanism (not shown), and are operated in conjunction with each other by a blowing mode switching mechanism (an actuator such as a servomotor). Has become.

The above doors 16, 21, 25
Have basically the same structure in the form of a flat plate.
It has a resin or metal door substrate integrally joined with the a, 21a, and 25a, and has a structure in which an elastic sealing material such as urethane foam is adhered to both front and back surfaces of this substrate. By the way, the present invention relates to an air mixing unit 16 and a face door 2 in a center-mounted type air conditioning unit 10.
The position where the face door 25 completely closes the entrance hole 24a of the front seat side foot opening 24 and fully opens the face opening 22 (solid line position in FIG. 1). In the face mode in which the air mixing door 16 is fully opened to open the cold air bypass passage 15 and fully closed the air flow path of the heater core 13 (the solid line position in FIG. 1), the air mixing door 16 has a flat plate shape. The doors 16 and 25 are arranged such that the air mix door 16 and the flat face door 25 are arranged substantially in a straight line.

As described above, the heater core 13 is disposed on the vehicle rear side and below the evaporator 12 and on the lower side, and the cool air bypass passage 15 is provided above the heater core 13.
Are arranged, during the maximum cooling in the face mode, the cool air bypass passage 15, the cool / hot air mixing space 19, and the face opening 22 are connected to the air mixing door 16 from the portion immediately after the evaporator 12 toward the vehicle rear side. And are linearly arranged obliquely upward along the face door 25.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment in the above configuration will be described. As is well known, an air conditioner for a vehicle is provided with operation signals from various operation members provided on an air conditioning operation panel and various sensors for air conditioning control. An electronic control unit (not shown) to which a sensor signal is input is provided, and the position of each door 16, 21, 25 is controlled by an output signal of the control unit.

FIG. 1 shows a face (FAC) used in summer.
In the face mode, the defroster door 21 closes the inlet hole 20a of the defroster opening 20 and opens the air passage 23. The face door 25 fully opens the face opening 22 and closes the entrance hole 24 a of the foot opening 24.
Therefore, in this state, blast air from a fan unit (not shown) flows into the air conditioning unit 10 from the air inlet 14 and is cooled by the evaporator 12 to become cool air, and all of the cool air passes through the face opening 22. It is blown out toward the occupant's head.

By the way, in FIG.
6 shows a state in which the cooling air bypass passage 15 is fully opened and the air flow path to the heater core 13 is fully closed, and the cooling air is operated to the maximum cooling position. In the maximum cooling state, the flat air mix door 16 and the flat face door 25 are arranged substantially in a straight line, so that the cool air cooled by the evaporator 12 flows from the cool air bypass passage 15 to the cool / hot air mixing space 19. And flows straight toward the face opening 22 as shown by the arrow A.

Therefore, immediately after the evaporator 12, the flow of the cool air passing through the cool air bypass passage 15 and the cool / hot air mixing space 19 toward the face opening 22 is not bent, and the pressure loss in the cool air flow path is smaller than that of the conventional device. Can be greatly reduced. As a result, it is possible to effectively improve the cooling capacity at the time of maximum cooling and reduce the blowing noise. On the other hand, when controlling the temperature of the blown air in the face mode,
6 is rotated from the maximum cooling state (solid line position in FIG. 1) to the maximum heating side (dotted line position side in FIG. 1). Thereby, the air flow path to the heater core 13 is partially opened, and a part of the cool air flows into the heater core 13. Heater core 13
The hot air heated by the air flows into the cold / hot air mixing space 19 through the hot air passage 18.

Then, the hot air from the hot air passage 18 and the cold air from the cold air bypass passage 15 are mixed in the cold / hot air mixing space 19 to obtain cold air at a desired temperature. Therefore, the blow-out air temperature in the face mode can be arbitrarily adjusted by selecting the rotation position of the air mix door 16. In the face mode, a part of the cool air that has flowed into the face opening portion 22 can flow into the rear seat side face passage 22a as shown by an arrow B and can be blown out to the rear seat side.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which a bi-level mode used in an intermediate season such as spring and autumn is set. In this bi-level mode, the defroster door 21 closes the inlet hole 20 a of the defroster opening 20. And
The air passage 23 is open. Also, face door 25
Is the entrance hole 2 of the face opening 22 and the foot opening 24.
4A, the entrance holes 24a of the face opening 22 and the foot opening 24 are both opened.

Further, the air mix door 16 is operated at an intermediate position between the maximum cooling position and the maximum heating position. In this state, after the air blown from a blower unit (not shown) is cooled by the evaporator 12 to become cool air, the cool air is reheated by the air mix door 16 through the portion flowing through the cool air bypass passage 15 and the heater core 13. Divided into parts.

Then, the hot air heated by the heater core 13 rises in the hot air passage 18 and then goes to the cool / hot air mixing space 19. In the cool / hot air mixing space 19, the cool air from the cool air bypass passage 15 and the hot air from the hot air passage 18 are mixed and adjusted to a predetermined temperature, and then the air from the space 19 passes through the air passage 23 to face It flows into the opening 22 and the foot opening 24.

Here, by operating the face door 25 to the intermediate position, the cool air from the cool air bypass passage 15 easily flows toward the face opening 22, and the warm air from the warm air passage 18 flows through the foot opening 24. The temperature of the air flowing toward the face opening 22 becomes lower than the temperature of the air flowing toward the foot opening 24 because the air flows easily toward the inlet hole 24a. As a result, the temperature of the blown air blown out to the occupant's head through the face opening 22 becomes lower than the temperature of the blown air blown out to the occupant's foot through the foot opening 24, so that the comfortable temperature of the head cold foot type is achieved. A distribution is obtained.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a state in which the defroster mode is set. Since the air passage 23 is closed by the defroster door 21, only the defroster opening 20 is opened. Therefore, all the conditioned air is blown out toward the vehicle window glass through the defroster opening 20 to prevent fogging of the window glass. Both the bi-level mode of FIG. 2 and the defroster mode of FIG. 3 show a state in which the air mix door 16 is operated at an intermediate position between the maximum heating position and the maximum cooling position. By rotating this from the intermediate position to the maximum cooling side or the maximum heating side, the blown air temperature can be arbitrarily adjusted.

FIG. 4 shows the foot mode, in which only the face opening 22 is closed by the two mode doors 21 and 25, and both the defroster opening 20 and the foot opening 24 are opened. You. However, the defroster door 21 is operated to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG.
Is operated to a position that increases the opening of the.

Thus, the amount of air blown to the defroster opening 20 and the side face opening (not shown) is set to about 20%, and the amount of air blown to the foot opening 24 is set to about 60%. . As a result, it is possible to perform a heating action by blowing hot air to the feet of the occupant while preventing the window glass from fogging. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the air mix door 16 is operated in the vicinity of the maximum heating position and the opening of the cool air bypass passage 15 is greatly reduced, but the foot position is adjusted by adjusting the operation position of the air mix door 16. The outlet air temperature in the mode can be adjusted arbitrarily.

Further, when the defroster door 21 is rotated counterclockwise by a predetermined amount from the position of the foot mode indicated by the solid line in FIG. 4 to the position indicated by the dashed line in FIG. Since the opening of the inlet hole 20a of the defroster opening 20 increases and the opening of the air passage 23 decreases, the amount of air blown out to the defroster opening 20 and the foot opening 24 is about 40% (equivalent air flow). Thus, a foot defroster mode in which the amount of air blown to the side face opening (not shown) is set to about 20% is obtained.

(Other Embodiments) In the above embodiment, the flat air mix door 16 and the flat face door 25 are arranged substantially in a straight line during the maximum cooling in the face mode. Although both doors 16 and 25 are arranged, as shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6, a flat air mix door 16 and a flat face door 25 are provided.
Even if they are arranged with a slight amount of inclination angle θ, an increase in pressure loss in the cool air flow path can be suppressed slightly.

According to an experimental study by the present inventor, if the inclination angle θ between the air mix door 16 and the face door 25 is within 15 °, an increase in pressure loss in the cool air flow passage can be suppressed to a small extent, and the maximum cooling time can be reduced. It was found to be effective in improving the cooling capacity of the car. The inclination angle θ is more preferably 10 °
It is better to be within. As described above, the arrangement of the air mix door 16 and the face door 25 in the present invention is not limited to the complete linear arrangement, and may be arranged with a slight inclination angle θ.

In the above embodiment, the face door 2
5 has a role of opening and closing the entrance hole 24a of the foot opening 24, and is configured as a face / foot switching door. However, a foot door is provided separately from the face door 25, and the foot opening 24 is provided by a dedicated foot door. May be opened and closed. Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the operations of the doors 16, 21, and 25 are performed by an actuator such as a servomotor via a link mechanism. However, a temperature control lever, a mode lever, and the like provided on an air conditioning operation panel are described. Each of the doors may be operated via an operation cable or the like by a manual operation force applied to the manual operation member of (1).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an air conditioning unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a maximum cooling state in a face mode.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state of a bi-level mode of the air conditioning unit of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state of a defroster mode of the air conditioning unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state of a foot mode of the air conditioning unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part of an air conditioning unit showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a main part of an air conditioning unit showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 air conditioning unit, 11 air conditioning case, 12 evaporator, 13 heater core, 15 cold air bypass passage, 16
... air mixing door, 19 ... cold and hot air mixing space, 20 ... defroster opening, 21 ... defroster door, 22 ... face opening, 23 ... air passage, 24 ... foot opening, 25
... face door.

Claims (3)

[Claims] An air-conditioning case (11) disposed at a central portion in a vehicle left-right direction below an instrument panel in a vehicle interior, and an air-conditioning case (11) is disposed at a portion on a front side of the vehicle in the air-conditioning case (11). A cooling heat exchanger (12) for cooling; and a cooling heat exchanger (12) disposed in the air conditioning case (11) at a position on the vehicle rear side of the cooling heat exchanger (12). A heating heat exchanger (13) for heating the passed air-conditioning air; and a cold air bypass passage (15) formed in the air-conditioning case (11) and passing the air-conditioning air bypassing the heating heat exchanger (13). And an air mixing door disposed in the air conditioning case (11) for adjusting an air volume ratio of hot air passing through the heating heat exchanger (13) and cold air passing through the cold air bypass passage (15). (16) and the air conditioning case (11) A cold / hot air mixing space (19) formed inside the cooling air / air mixing passage (19) for mixing the hot air passing through the heating heat exchanger (13) and the cold air passing through the cold air bypass passage (15); A face opening (22) for blowing the conditioned air from 19) toward the head of the vehicle occupant, and a foot opening for blowing the conditioned air from the cold / hot air mixing space (19) toward the feet of the vehicle occupant. (24), and a face door (25) that opens and closes at least the face opening (22), and the face opening (22) is connected to the face door (2).
5) In the face mode in which the air is blown out from the face opening (22) through the face opening (22), the cool air bypass passage (1) is opened by the air mixing door (16).
5) is fully opened, and the air flow path of the heating heat exchanger (13) is fully closed.
6) and the face door (25) are arranged such that the two doors (16, 25) are arranged substantially in a straight line, and the cool air in the cool air bypass passage (15) is mixed with the cool / hot air mixing space (19). ), And flows linearly toward the face opening (22). 2. The heating heat exchanger (13) is disposed at a position rearward and below the vehicle of the cooling heat exchanger (12), and the cold air bypass passage (15) is provided at the heating air conditioner. The cool air bypass passage is disposed above the cooling heat exchanger (13), and from the portion immediately after the cooling heat exchanger (12) toward the vehicle rear side during the maximum cooling in the face mode. (15) The cold / hot air mixing space (19) and the face opening (22)
The air mix door (16) and the face door (2
The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle air conditioner is linearly arranged obliquely upward along (5). 3. The two doors (16) such that the inclination angle (θ) between the air mix door (16) and the face door (25) is within 15 ° during the maximum cooling in the face mode. , 25) is arranged, The air conditioner for vehicles according to claim 1 or 2 characterized by things.