JPH111117A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner for a vehicle improving amenity rapidly while being energy-saving by rapidly cooling or heating only a driver's seat even under an operating condition with large cooling load such as the start time of the air conditioner. SOLUTION: In an air conditioner for a vehicle, inlet parts of face ducts 61a, 61b and foot ducts 62a, 62b having face blowout ports 7, 9 and foot blowout ports 8, 10 to a driver's seat 52 and a front passenger's seat 53 are provided with dampers 14, 15 for supplying or cutting off air to the face blowout ports 7, 9 and foot blowout ports 8, 10 by opening/closing these inlet parts, and a controller 100 is provided to close the face duct 61b and foot duct 62b on the front passenger's seat 53 side without an occupant at the time of detecting the presence of an occupant only in the driver's seat 52 and supplies the air only to the blowout ports 7, 8 on the driver's seat 52 side.

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, and more particularly to a damper device for air distribution.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 2 and 3 show an example of a conventional air conditioner for a vehicle. FIG. 2 is a side view of the whole, and FIG. .

In FIGS. 2 to 3, reference numeral 11 denotes a vehicle compartment, 54 denotes an air intake port, 51 denotes an inside / outside air switching damper for switching between inside air and outside air from the vehicle room 11, and 1 denotes a blower driving device for feeding air. A blower motor 2, an evaporator 3, a heater 3, and an air mix damper 4, which adjusts an air volume passing through the heater 3.

[0004] Also, reference numeral 7 denotes a driver seat face (FAC).
E) an outlet, 9 is a face outlet on the passenger seat side, 8 is a foot (FOOT) outlet on the driver seat side, 10 is a foot outlet on the passenger seat side, and 55 is an upper outlet in the passenger compartment.

[0005] Reference numeral 5 denotes a first mode damper, which is a duct to the face outlets 7 and 9 and foot outlets 8 and 1.
0 and a branch to the duct to the upper compartment air outlet 55, and distributes the air volume to the face outlets 7, 9 and the air to the foot outlets 8, 10 and the upper compartment air outlet 55. adjust.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a second mode damper, which is provided at a branch between a duct to the foot outlets 8 and 10 and a duct to the upper compartment outlet 55, and supplies air to the foot outlets 8 and 10. Then, the air volume distribution to the vehicle compartment upper outlet 55 is adjusted.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an in-vehicle sensor, which has a function of detecting the presence or absence of an occupant in the cabin 11 and the cabin 1
1 is configured in combination with a sensor having a function of detecting the temperature of the inside.

Reference numeral 56 denotes a temperature sensor for detecting the air temperature at the outlet of the evaporator 2, and reference numeral 100 denotes a controller.

The controller 100 detects the number of rotations of the blower motor 1 and the air mixing damper 4 based on detection signals of the vehicle interior temperature from the vehicle interior sensor 12 and the evaporator outlet air temperature from the temperature sensor 56 which are input thereto. The opening and the opening of the first mode damper 5 and the second mode damper 6 are adjusted.

The air whose temperature has been adjusted by the air mix damper 4 in accordance with a control signal from the controller 100 is supplied to the face outlets 7 and 9 by the first mode damper 5 and to the foot outlets 8 and 10 and the passenger compartment. The distribution of the air volume to the upper outlet 55 is adjusted. At the time of this adjustment, air is mainly distributed from the face outlets 7 and 9 to the upper body of the occupant 56 during cooling, and is mainly discharged to the feet of the occupant 56 from the foot outlets 8 and 10 during heating. Distributed.

Reference numeral 52 denotes a driver's seat, and 53 denotes a passenger seat.

[0012]

In the conventional vehicle air conditioner shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the duct through which the air from the air mix damper 4 flows has a driver seat 52 side and a passenger seat 53 side. The air whose temperature has been adjusted by the air mix damper 4 is simply separated from the driver's seat 5.
It is evenly blown out to the second side and the passenger seat 53 side.

For this reason, in such a conventional apparatus, when air conditioning is started under the condition of large cooling and heating loads, even if the occupant is only in the driver's seat 52, the passenger seat 5
Conditioned air is also sent to the driver's seat 5
It is difficult to make the occupants on the two sides comfortable, and there is a problem that the cooling and heating efficiency is low.

FIG. 4 shows a technique capable of solving the above problem.
Has been proposed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-26918.

In the present invention, the front seat, ie, the driver's seat 52
And a main foot outlet duct 13a arranged so that air directly hits the feet of the occupant in the passenger seat 53, and a subfoot outlet duct 13b directed toward the floor of the passenger compartment without directly hitting the feet of the occupant. When the temperature is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature, the sub-foot blowing duct 13b is closed by the damper 20, and the warming is intensively blown from the main foot blowing duct 13a to the feet of the occupant for rapid heating.

However, in such a device, only a part of the foot outlet duct, that is, the sub foot outlet duct 13b is closed at the time of heating, and the passenger seat 53 and the rear seat 5 are closed.
Since heating air is also sent to the 7th side, efficient heating cannot be performed if the occupant is only in the driver's seat, and no air distribution is taken into account for cooling, so When there is only one person, it is difficult to rapidly increase comfort, and no energy is saved.

Further, as another means for solving the above-mentioned problem, there has been proposed a device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-26532.
In the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 6, the deflection dampers 32, 33, 34 are attached to a shaft 31 that penetrates through the face duct 30, and the deflection ducts 32, 33, 34 are changed according to, for example, the amount of solar radiation. The direction is changed and the air distribution to the driver's seat and the passenger seat is adjusted.

However, even in the present invention, no consideration is given to rapid cooling and heating when the occupant is only in the driver's seat, and the flow of some of the conditioned air can be prevented without completely closing the distribution duct 30. No control is provided for blowing air to the feet during heating. For this reason, even in such a device, the comfort only in the driver's seat is not sufficiently improved, and it is also difficult to perform air conditioning only in a necessary space to save energy.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle for a vehicle in which only the driver's seat can be rapidly cooled and heated even under an operating condition with a large cooling load, such as when the air conditioner is started, whereby the comfort is promptly improved and the energy is saved. An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner.

[0020]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. The gist of the invention is to supply air temperature-controlled by an evaporator, a heater and an air mixing damper from a driver's seat side to a passenger seat side. In the vehicle air conditioner configured to blow out from the face outlet to the upper part of the passenger compartment through a face duct provided over the vehicle, and to blow out from the foot outlet to the lower part of the passenger compartment through the foot duct, At the entrance of the foot duct, by opening and closing the entrance, a damper for supplying or blocking air to the face outlet and the foot outlet is provided, and when it is detected that an occupant is present only in the driver's seat, Close the face duct and foot duct on the side where no occupant is present, and leave the empty space only at the driver's seat side outlet. In vehicle air conditioning apparatus characterized by comprising a controller allowed to supply.

According to the above means, when an occupant is present only in the driver's seat, for example, when the air conditioner starts up, the controller detects this, and the face duct and the foot duct on the side where the occupant is not present, such as the passenger seat. Close the damper at the entrance,
Control is performed such that temperature-controlled air is sent only to the face duct and foot duct on the driver's seat side.

This prevents wasteful air from being supplied to the passenger seat or the like where no occupant is present, and the entire amount of air is sent to the driver's seat side, so that the vicinity of the driver's seat is quickly cooled and heated. The occupant can quickly obtain a comfortable riding feeling.

Further, since the supply of useless air to the passenger seat or the like where no occupant is present is prevented, energy loss is reduced and energy saving operation can be realized.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a vehicle compartment, 56 is an occupant, 54 is an air inlet, 51 is an inside / outside air switching damper for switching between inside air and outside air from the vehicle compartment 11, and 1 is a blower for feeding air. , A reference numeral 2, an evaporator, a reference numeral 3, a heater, and a reference numeral 4, an air mix damper for controlling the temperature of air by adjusting the amount of air passing through the heater 3.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a driver side face (FAC).
E) an outlet, 9 is a face outlet on the passenger seat side, 8 is a foot (FOOT) outlet on the driver seat side, 10 is a foot outlet on the passenger seat side, and 55 is an upper outlet in the passenger compartment.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a first mode damper, which is a duct to the face outlets 7 and 9 and foot outlets 8 and 1.
0 and a branch to the duct to the upper compartment air outlet 55, and distributes the air volume to the face outlets 7, 9 and the air to the foot outlets 8, 10 and the upper compartment air outlet 55. adjust.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a second mode damper, which is provided at a branch between a duct to the foot outlets 8 and 10 and a duct to the upper compartment outlet 55, and supplies air to the foot outlets 8 and 10. Then, the distribution of the air volume to the upper compartment outlet 55 is adjusted.

The above configuration is the same as the conventional one shown in FIGS. In the embodiment of the present invention, the face duct 61b is connected to the face outlet on the passenger seat 53 side.
Further, dampers 14, 15 for opening and closing the ducts 61b, 62b are provided in a foot duct 62b to the foot outlet, and the controller 100 controls opening and closing of the dampers 14, 15.

That is, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 52 denotes a driver's seat in the passenger compartment 11 and reference numeral 53 denotes a passenger seat. The main duct 6 is provided at the height of the upper body of the occupant 56 on the driver's seat 52 side and the passenger seat 53 side.
Face ducts 61a and 61b extending from left to right from 3 are provided, and the face outlet (driver's seat) 7 and the face outlet (passenger seat) 9 are opened in the respective face ducts 61a and 61b.

In the lower part of the main duct 63,
Foot ducts 62a and 62b are branched and connected to the feet of the driver seat 52 and the passenger seat 53, and the left and right foot ducts 62a and 62b are connected to the foot outlet 8 on the driver seat 52 side and the passenger seat 53 side. Are open.

14 is a face duct opening / closing damper,
The face duct 61b on the passenger seat 53 side is provided near the branch from the main duct 63 to open and close the face duct 61b on the passenger seat side.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a foot duct opening / closing damper, which is a main duct 6 of the foot duct 62b on the passenger seat 53 side.
3, which opens and closes the foot duct 62b on the passenger seat side, which is provided in the vicinity of the branch from the third.

Reference numeral 100 denotes a controller, which is the face duct opening / closing damper 14 and the foot duct opening / closing damper 1.
5 are connected via control lines 65 and 66, and the dampers 14 and 15 are controlled to open and close by a control signal from the controller 100 in a procedure described later.

Numeral 12 denotes an in-vehicle sensor, which has a function of detecting the presence or absence of an occupant in the cabin 11 and
1 and a sensor having a function of detecting a temperature in the passenger compartment 1.
Above 3 and, if necessary, the rear seat (not shown)
It is installed above. Reference numeral 56 denotes a temperature sensor for detecting the air temperature at the evaporator outlet.

The detection signal of the in-vehicle sensor 12 and the detection signal of the temperature sensor 56 are input to the controller 100.

During operation of the vehicle air conditioner constructed as described above, the detection signal of the vehicle interior temperature from the interior sensor 12 and the detection signal of the evaporator outlet air temperature from the temperature sensor 56 are sent to the controller 100. Based on these temperature detection signals, the controller controls the rotation speed of the blower motor 1 and the opening degree of the air mix damper 4, as well as the first mode damper 5 and the second mode
The opening of the mode damper 6 is adjusted.

The air whose temperature has been adjusted by the air mix damper 4 according to the control signal from the controller 100 is supplied to the face mode outlets 7 and 9 by the first mode damper 5 and to the foot outlets 8 and 10 and the passenger compartment. The distribution with the air volume to the upper outlet is adjusted.

During normal operation, the controller 100 controls the opening and closing of the first mode damper 5 and the second mode damper 6 so that air is mainly supplied from the face outlets 7 and 9 to the occupant 56 during cooling. Of the occupant 56 from the foot outlets 8 and 10 at the time of heating.

At the start of the summer, for example, when the cooling load is large, the in-vehicle sensor 11 detects that the occupant 56 is present only in the driver's seat 52 and inputs this detection signal to the controller 100. In response to this, a control signal for closing the face duct opening / closing damper 14 provided in the face duct 61b on the passenger seat 53 side is output, and the opening / closing damper 14 is closed.

As a result, the conditioned air passing through the main duct 63 is blocked from flowing into the face duct 61b on the passenger seat 53 side, and almost all of the conditioned air flows through the face duct 6 on the driver seat 52 side.
The air flows into the vehicle compartment 11 through the face outlet 7 and is quickly cooled in the vicinity of the driver's seat 52 to be in a comfortable state.

At the time of start-up in winter, etc., the in-vehicle sensor 12 detects that an occupant is present only in the driver's seat 52, and inputs this detection signal to the controller 100. The controller 100 receives this detection signal. A control signal for closing the foot duct opening / closing damper 15 provided in the foot duct 62b on the passenger seat 53 side is output, and the opening / closing damper 15 is closed.

As a result, the conditioned air passing through the main duct 63 is prevented from flowing into the foot duct 62b on the passenger seat side, and the entire amount flows into the foot duct 62a on the driver seat 52 side. The air is blown out in the vicinity of the feet of the occupant 56, and the vicinity of the driver's seat 52 is quickly heated to a comfortable state.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the passenger is not present in the passenger seat 53 at the time of the start of cooling and heating, the duct 61b or 62b to the passenger seat 53 side where the passenger is not present is connected to the duct. Opening / closing damper 14
Alternatively, by closing 15 to close and drive the cool air or warm air only to the vicinity of the driver's seat 52 where the occupant is present, the vicinity of the driver's seat 52 is rapidly cooled and heated, and a comfortable riding feeling can be obtained.

Further, since air conditioning is performed by sending cool air or warm air only to the space where the occupant is present, energy loss is small and energy is saved.

[0046]

The present invention is configured as described above.
According to the present invention, when the occupant is present only in the driver's seat, the face duct and the foot duct on the side where no occupant is present, such as the passenger seat, are closed, and only the face duct and the foot duct on the driver's seat side are closed. Since the air is controlled so as to send the temperature-adjusted air, it is prevented that useless air is supplied to the passenger seat where no occupant is present, and the entire amount of air is sent to the driver's seat side. Is quickly cooled and heated, and the occupant can quickly obtain a comfortable riding feeling.

Further, since supply of useless air to the passenger seat or the like where no occupant is present is prevented, energy loss is reduced and energy saving operation can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a conventional vehicle air conditioner.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a vehicle interior arrangement corresponding to FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another example of the conventional vehicle air conditioner.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing still another example of a conventional vehicle air conditioner.

FIG. 6 is a plan layout view corresponding to FIG. 5;

[Description of Signs] 1 Blower motor 2 Evaporator 3 Heater 4 Air mix damper 5 First mode damper 6 Second mode damper 7 Face outlet (driver seat) 8 Foot outlet (driver seat) 9 Face outlet (passenger seat) 10 Foot outlet (passenger seat) 11 Car room 12 In-vehicle sensor 14 Face duct opening / closing damper 15 Foot duct opening / closing damper 51 Inside / outside air switching damper 52 Driver seat 53 Passenger seat 54 Suction port 55 Car compartment upper outlet 56 Temperature sensor 61a, 61b Face Ducts 62a, 62b Foot duct 63 Main duct 100 Controller

Claims (1)

[Claims] An air temperature controlled by an evaporator, a heater, and an air mix damper is blown out from a face outlet through a face duct provided from a driver's seat side to a passenger seat side to an upper part of a vehicle compartment, and a foot duct is provided. In the vehicle air conditioner configured to blow out from the foot outlet through the foot outlet to the lower part of the passenger compartment, the face outlet and the foot are opened and closed at the inlet of the face duct and the foot duct. A damper for supplying or shutting off air to the air outlet is provided, and when it is detected that an occupant is present only in the driver's seat, the face duct and the foot duct on the side where no occupant is present are closed and the air outlet on the driver's seat side is closed. An air conditioner for a vehicle, comprising: a controller that supplies the air only to the vehicle.