JPH11245646A - Air conditioner for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize an air conditioner for vehicle to be provided at a semi-center position by providing an inside and outside air switching unit for controlling the lead-in variable of the inside or the outside air in the air upstream side of a blower unit, and arranging this inside and outside air switching unit between an air conditioner set and the blower unit. SOLUTION: An inside and outside air switching unit 14 is arranged in the air upstream side of a blower unit 2 in an air conditioner for vehicle between an air conditioning unit 3 provided with an evaporator 11 and a heater core 12. This inside and outside air switching unit 14 is provided like a duct forming flow passages for leading the air to a pair of suction ports opened in a scroll case part 7, and a bottom surface of the duct surface positioned at the lowest is provided as an outside top surface of the duct part 8. A wall surface positioned at the most right of the vehicle is provided as an outer wall surface of the air conditioning unit 3. Furthermore, a side wall is provided as a duct surface for connecting the inside and outside air switching unit 14 and the blower unit 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a layout of a vehicle air conditioner on a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 10 shows a layout of a general vehicle air conditioner. In the air conditioner of this conventional device, an air conditioner unit 101 containing an evaporator 100 and a heater core (not shown) is roughly classified.
And an inside / outside air blowing unit 102 containing a centrifugal fan
It is composed of And the air conditioner unit 10
1 is arranged at the center in the vehicle width direction, and the inside / outside air blowing unit 102 is arranged offset from the vehicle center in the vehicle width direction (hereinafter, this layout is referred to as semi-center placement).

The inside / outside air blowing unit 102 is provided with an inside / outside air switching box having an inside air introduction port and an outside air introduction port (not shown), and an inside / outside air switching door for opening and closing these introduction ports. ing.

[0004]

Meanwhile, the inside and outside air blowing unit 102 and the air conditioner unit 101 have a duct 103 extending from the air outlet of the scroll case of the inside and outside air blowing unit 102 to the evaporator 100. By reducing the length of the duct 103, the size of the vehicle air conditioner in the vehicle width direction can be reduced.

However, the duct portion 103 has a shape in which the cross-sectional area of the flow path gradually expands as shown in the figure. If the duct section 103 is shortened as described above, the flow path expands abruptly. The air volume was not enough. For this reason, it is practically difficult to shorten the flow path length of the duct portion 103. An object of the present invention is to reduce the size of such a semi-centered vehicle air conditioner.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the blower unit (2) is arranged upstream of the blower unit (2) in the air.
An internal / external air switching unit (14) for controlling the amount of internal air or external air introduced into the air conditioner, and the internal / external air switching unit (14) is disposed between the air conditioner unit (3) and the blower unit (2). It is characterized by.

The present invention focuses on the fact that a dead space is provided between the air conditioner unit and the blower unit in the layout of the vehicle air conditioner described above, and arranges the inside / outside air switching section in this dead space. In a vehicle air conditioner placed at a semi-center, the physique can be reduced. Further, in the invention described in claim 2, the blower (4) is constituted by a centrifugal fan arranged so that the rotation axis direction is directed to the vehicle front-rear direction, and the cooling heat exchanger (11) includes: Are arranged so that air is introduced upward from below, and the heating heat exchanger (1
2) is an upper portion of the cooling heat exchanger (11), which is characterized in that the air passing through the cooling heat exchanger (11) is arranged to be introduced upward from below.

The present invention is particularly effective for placing the above-described layout in a semi-center position. By employing this layout, the size of the vehicle air conditioner can be significantly reduced. In the invention according to claim 3, the blower (4)
Is characterized in that it is a two-sided suction fan that is arranged so that the direction of the rotation axis faces the vehicle front-rear direction, and sucks air from both sides in the direction of the rotation axis.

By the way, if the blower is a double suction fan, two passages corresponding to the two suction ports are required, and the size of the inside / outside air switching portion is particularly increased by these passages. Therefore, the present invention is particularly effective for an air conditioner for a vehicle using such a suction fan, and the size of the air conditioner for a vehicle can be remarkably reduced. Note that the reference numerals in parentheses attached to the above-described units indicate the correspondence with specific units described in the embodiments described later.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the vehicle air conditioner of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram viewed from the top direction to the ground direction in FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. Note that the vehicle air conditioner of the present embodiment is for a right-hand drive.

FIG. 1 shows the entire ventilation system of a vehicle air conditioner. The main body of the ventilation system 1 is disposed below an instrument panel of a vehicle. The vehicle air conditioner has an air conditioning case 1 (resin, for example, polypropylene) forming an air passage into a vehicle interior. As shown in FIG. 1, the air-conditioning case 1 includes a blower unit 2 and an air-conditioning unit 3 arranged at a substantially central portion in a vehicle width direction.

The blower unit 2 is for sucking inside air or outside air into the air conditioning case 2. In the present embodiment, the blower unit 2 is arranged on the left side offset from the center in the vehicle width direction, and is arranged just in front of the passenger seat. The blower unit 2 has a built-in blower 4 for blowing air toward the air conditioner unit 3. The blower 4 of this example includes a fan 5 and a drive motor 6.
And a centrifugal fan arranged so that the direction of the axis of rotation is oriented in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. In addition, the blower 4 of the present embodiment is configured by two suction fans that draw in from both directions of the rotation axis (the front-rear direction of the vehicle) as indicated by an arrow B in FIG. Specifically, the fan 5 has a conical mounting portion (not shown) extending from the center inner peripheral side in the axial direction toward the central portion thereof (integrally formed) (resin), and the central portion of the mounting portion is And a boss portion into which the shaft of the motor 6 is fitted. And the motor 6
Are inserted into the fan 5 from one side in the rotation axis direction of the fan 5.

The fan 5 is disposed in a scroll case 7 forming a scroll-shaped flow path, and the axis of the winding shaft of the scroll case 7 is in the vehicle front-rear direction. A duct 8 is formed at the air outlet of the scroll case 7 so as to extend in the vehicle width direction as shown in FIG. The duct portion 8 forms a flow path for introducing the blast air blown from the blower unit 2 from below into an evaporator 11 described below. The duct section 8 is configured such that the flow path cross-sectional area increases toward the downstream side of the air as shown in FIG.

In the air conditioner unit 3, an evaporator 11 which is a cooling heat exchanger for cooling the passing air is provided.
A heater core 12, which is a heating heat exchanger for heating the air passing downstream of the air, is provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the evaporator 11 and the heater core 12 are arranged substantially horizontally in the air conditioner unit 3 such that the ventilation surface is substantially horizontal.

Therefore, the blown air blown from the blower 7 flows toward the driving side in the vehicle width direction by the duct portion 8, is introduced into the air conditioner unit 3, and is introduced into the air conditioner unit 3. The blast air is introduced into the evaporator 11 from above to below. Thereafter, the air that has passed through the evaporator 11 is introduced into the heater core 12 from below.

In this embodiment, the evaporator 11 is inclined downward with respect to the horizontal line so that the condensed water in the evaporator 11 can be collected in one place. Thereby, the condensed water in the evaporator 11 can be satisfactorily discharged to the outside of the case from a drain pipe (not shown) disposed below the inclined lower end of the evaporator 11. The evaporator 13 is an evaporator constituting a well-known refrigeration cycle connected to a compressor, a condenser, a liquid receiver, and a pressure reducer (not shown) by piping, and dehumidifies and cools air in the air conditioning case 12. The compressor is connected to the engine of the vehicle via an electromagnetic clutch (not shown), and the drive stop is controlled by intermittently controlling the electromagnetic clutch. The heater core 12 is a heat exchanger using cooling water of an automobile engine as a heat source, and heats the cool air cooled by the evaporator 11. The air conditioning air temperature adjustment method in this example is a so-called reheat type in which the air conditioning air temperature is adjusted by controlling the flow rate of hot water supplied to the heater core 12.

In the uppermost part of the air conditioner unit 3, a plurality of openings (not shown) for blowing the conditioned air whose temperature is adjusted by the heater core 12 are formed. The plurality of openings are a face opening, a foot opening, and a defroster opening. The face opening is for blowing out conditioned air toward the upper body of the occupant, and the foot opening is provided for the lower body of the occupant. It is for sending the conditioned air toward. The defroster opening is for blowing conditioned air toward the inner surface of the vehicle window glass. These openings are connected to ducts (not shown), and communicate with face outlets, foot outlets, and defroster outlets in the vehicle cabin. Further, the plurality of openings are
It is opened and closed by a blowing mode switching door (not shown). Thus, the well-known face mode, bi-level mode, foot mode, foot defroster mode, and defroster mode can be switched as the blowout mode.

Next, the inside / outside air switching unit 14 (inside / outside air switching unit) which is a main part of the present invention will be described. The inside / outside air switching unit 14 is disposed on the air upstream side of the blower unit 2,
It controls the amount of inside air or outside air introduced into the blower unit 2. And in this example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the inside / outside air switching unit 14 is disposed between the air conditioner unit 3 and the blower unit 2.
Hereinafter, a specific configuration will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the inside / outside air switching unit 14 forms a flow path for guiding air to a pair of suction ports 7a opened in the scroll case 7. For this reason, the inside / outside air switching unit 14 has a duct shape. In this example, the wall surface having the duct shape is configured as follows. The bottom surface located at the lowest position among the duct surfaces of the inside / outside air switching unit 14 is the outer upper surface of the duct portion 8 as shown in FIGS. That is, the duct portion 8 also serves as a duct surface of the inside / outside air switching unit 14. The wall surface of the duct surface of the inside / outside air switching unit 14 which is located on the rightmost side of the vehicle is the outer wall surface of the air conditioner unit 3 as shown in FIGS. That is, the outer wall of the air conditioner unit 3 also serves as the duct surface of the inside / outside air switching unit 14.

As a duct surface connecting the inside / outside air switching unit 14 and the blower unit 2, as shown in FIG.
4a, a wall portion 14a extending to the left of the vehicle located behind the fan 5 in the vehicle. A wall 14b is formed at the uppermost portion of the inside / outside air switching unit 14 so as to be connected to the upper end of the scroll case 7 as shown in FIG. Thereby, the passage in the inside / outside air switching unit 14 is
The vehicle is directed from the center in the vehicle width direction to the left side of the vehicle.

The wall 14a is located on the front side of the vehicle.
1 and 2, an inside air inlet 15 is formed which opens toward the front of the vehicle. An outside air inlet 16 that opens upward is formed in the wall 14b. The inside air introduction port 15 is for introducing inside air into the blower unit 2, and the outside air introduction port 16 is for introducing outside air into the blower unit 2. The outside air inlet 16 is arranged on the vehicle front side of the inside air inlet 15.

The inside air inlet 15 and the outside air inlet 1
6 is selectively opened and closed by a plate-like inside / outside air switching door (inside / outside air switching door member) 17 as shown in FIG. The inside / outside air switching door 17 is rotatable about a rotation shaft 18 rotatably supported by the inside / outside air switching unit 14. Thereby, in this example, the inside air introduction port 15 is opened by the inside / outside air switching door 17 and the inside air circulation mode (see FIG. 3) in which the outside air introduction port 16 is closed, and the outside air introduction port 16 is opened by the inside / outside air switching door 17. Then, it is possible to switch between the outside air introduction mode in which the inside air introduction port 15 is closed (refer to FIG. 4 and a diagram in which the door position is different from that in FIG. 3).

2 and 3 in the inside air introduction mode.
As shown by the middle arrow C, the inside air introduced from the inside air introduction port 15 is sucked from both suction ports of the fan 5. In the outside air introduction mode, the outside air introduced from the outside air introduction port 15 is sucked from both the suction ports of the fan 5 as shown by an arrow D in FIGS. By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, in this example, the centrifugal fan 5 is arranged so that the direction of the rotation axis is oriented in the vehicle front-rear direction. For this reason, compared with the case where the fan unit 2 is arranged so that the axial direction of the fan is directed in the up-down direction, in this example, the up-down dimension of the blower unit 2 is increased. In this example, the scroll case 7
The air conditioner unit 7 and the air conditioner unit 7 are arranged at intervals in the vehicle width direction by the duct portion 8, and the evaporator 11 and the heater core 12 are arranged so as to be vertically stacked in the air conditioner unit 3. For this reason, in the present example, a large dead space exists between the blower unit 1 and the air conditioner unit 3 above the duct portion 8.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the inside / outside air switching unit 1
4 focused on a dead space formed between the blower unit 2 and the air conditioner unit 3, and the inside / outside air switching unit 14 was arranged in this dead space. Thereby, the physique can be reduced in the vehicle air conditioner placed at the semi-center. Further, in this example, since the blower 4 is a double-suction type fan as described above, the size of the vehicle air conditioner can be significantly reduced. That is, the two-suction type fan requires two passages corresponding to the two suction ports, and the size of the inside / outside air switching unit 14 is particularly increased by these passages. Therefore, the present invention is effective for the air conditioner using the two suction fans as described above, and can significantly reduce the size of the vehicle air conditioner.

The present invention can be applied to the general semi-centered vehicle air conditioner shown in FIG. 10 described above. In such a case, the following configuration is obtained. In FIG. 10, for example, the inside / outside air switching unit is set to N
Suppose that it is arrange | positioned between the blower unit 102 and the air conditioner unit 101 in the site | part shown by. Then, in order for the outside air introduction port formed in the inside / outside air unit to communicate with the suction port of the fan 104, for example, a duct portion connecting the outside air introduction port and the suction port is required. In such a layout, it is necessary for the above-mentioned duct part to get over the duct part 103. Therefore, it is difficult to significantly reduce the size of the vehicle air conditioner.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as described above, the inside / outside air switching unit 14 is disposed above the duct portion 8 between the blower unit 1 and the air conditioner unit 3 so that the flow of the inside / outside air switching unit 14 is reduced. It is not necessary to form the path so as to avoid the duct portion 8. Therefore, the present invention is particularly effective for a layout with a semi-center placed as in this example, and the size of the vehicle air conditioner can be significantly reduced.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this example, the present invention partitions the inside of the vehicle air conditioner into a passage for inside air and a passage for outside air, and blows the inside air flowing through the passage for inside air to the foot outlet, and the outside air flowing through the passage for outside air to the defroster outlet. This is an example applied to an air conditioner capable of setting a so-called two-layer mode, in which the heating capacity is improved and the anti-fogging property is ensured by blowing air.

FIG. 5 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. First, in this example, in order to partition the vehicle air conditioner into two passages as described above, in the blower unit 2, the partition plate 21 is provided.
The flow path is divided into two. Partition plate 21
Is formed so as to extend in the vehicle width direction, and partitions the inside of the blower unit 2 in the vehicle front-rear direction to form an outside air passage 22a on the vehicle front side and an inside air passage 23a on the vehicle rear side. In the fan 5, the air sucked from both the suction ports is prevented from being mixed with each other by the above-mentioned attachment portion.

In the inside / outside air switching unit 14, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, the partition plate 24 separates the air passage 22b into an outside air passage 22b that communicates with the outside air passage 22a and the inside air passage 23b that communicates with the outside air passage 23a. Another inside air inlet 20 is formed in the wall 14b of the inside / outside air switching unit 14, as shown in FIGS. The inside air introduction port 20 is opened and closed by an inside / outside air switching door 28 that is rotatable about a rotation shaft 25 rotatably supported by the inside / outside air switching unit 14. The inside air introduction port 20 is formed on the side of the inside air passage 23b on the vehicle rear side as shown in FIGS. On the other hand, the inside air inlet 15 and the outside air inlet 1
6 is formed on the outside air passage 22b side on the vehicle front side.

The partition plate 24 is not formed at the most upstream side of the air in the inside / outside air switching unit 14, and the outside air passage 22b and the inside air passage 2 are formed as shown in FIG.
3b is formed. The communication passage 26 is opened and closed by the inside / outside air switching door 26. That is, the inside / outside air switching door 26 closes the communication passage 26 when the inside air introduction port 20 is opened, and closes the communication passage 26 when the inside air introduction port 20 is closed. Then, when the communication passage 26 is closed, the inside of the inside / outside air switching unit 14 is completely partitioned into the outside air passage 22b and the inside air passage 23b.

The passage in the duct portion 8 is also partitioned by a partition plate 30, and is divided into a passage communicating with the outside air passage 22a and a passage communicating with the inside air passage 22b. Even in the air conditioner unit 3,
The passage communicates with the outside air passage 22a and the passage communicates with the inside air passage 22b. And
For example, when the blowing mode is the foot mode or the foot defroster, the conditioned air blown to the outside air passage 22a is supplied to the inside air passage 22a through the defroster outlet.
The conditioned air blown to b is sent to the foot outlet.

Next, switching of the inside / outside air mode in this embodiment will be described. Two-layer mode (see FIG. 7) In the two-layer mode, as shown in FIG.
Closes the communication passage 26 and opens the inside air introduction port 20. The inside / outside air switching door 17 closes the inside air introduction port 15 and opens the outside air introduction port 16. As a result, as shown by arrows in FIG. 7, the outside air from the outside air introduction port 16 is sucked from the suction port on the vehicle front side of the fan 5, and the outside air passages 22a, 22a
2b. On the other hand, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 7, the inside air from the inside air inlet 15 is sucked from the suction port on the vehicle rear side of the fan 5 and is blown to the inside air passages 23a and 23b.

Thus, if the blowing mode is the foot mode or the foot defroster mode as described above,
Low humidity outside air is blown to the defroster outlet, and relatively high temperature inside air is blown to the foot outlet.
As a result, the heating capacity can be improved and the anti-fogging property can be ensured. All-outside air mode (see FIG. 8) In the all-outside air mode, as shown in FIG.
8 opens the communication passage 26 and closes the inside air inlet 20. The inside / outside air switching door 17 closes the inside air introduction port 15 and opens the outside air introduction port 16. Thereby, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 8, the outside air from the outside air inlet 16 is sucked from both the suction ports of the fan 5 and is blown to the outside air passages 22a and 22b.

All inside air mode (see FIG. 9) In the all outside air mode, as shown in FIG.
8 opens the communication passage 26 and closes the inside air inlet 20. The inside / outside air switching door 17 opens the inside air inlet 15 and closes the outside air inlet 16. Thereby, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 9, the outside air from the outside air inlet 16 is sucked from both the suction ports of the fan 5 and is blown to the outside air passages 22a and 22b.

As described above, the present invention can be applied to a vehicle air conditioner in which a two-layer mode can be set.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a top view as viewed from a top direction toward a ground direction in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2, and is a diagram illustrating an inside air introduction mode.

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to the AA cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 and showing an outside air introduction mode.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a top view as viewed from the top direction in FIG. 5 toward the ground.

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 6, and is a diagram illustrating a two-layer mode.

FIG. 8 is a view corresponding to the AA cross-sectional view of FIG. 6 and showing the all outside air mode.

FIG. 9 is a diagram corresponding to the AA cross-sectional view of FIG. 6 and showing the all inside air mode.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a conventional semi-centered vehicle air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... blower unit, 3 ... air conditioner unit, 4 ... blower, 11 ... evaporator, 12 ... heater core, 14 ... inside / outside air switching unit.

Claims (3)

[Claims] An air conditioner unit (3) that houses a cooling heat exchanger (11) and a heating heat exchanger (12), and is disposed at a substantially central portion in a vehicle width direction; And a blower unit (2) that has a built-in blower (4) that blows air toward the vehicle, and a blower unit (2) that is arranged offset from the center in the vehicle width direction. An internal / external air switching unit (14) disposed upstream of the unit (2) for controlling the amount of internal air or external air introduced into the blower unit (2); An air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein the air conditioner is disposed between the air conditioner unit (3) and the blower unit (2). 2. The blower (4) is constituted by a centrifugal fan arranged so that the direction of the axis of rotation is oriented in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and the cooling heat exchanger (11) is provided with air. The heating heat exchanger (12) is disposed so as to be introduced upward from below, and the cooling heat exchanger (1)
The air conditioner for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the air passing through the cooling heat exchanger (11) is arranged to be introduced upward from below at an upper portion of (1). . 3. The blower (4), wherein the blower (4) is a double-suction fan that is arranged so that a rotation axis direction is directed to a vehicle front-rear direction, and sucks air from both sides in the rotation axis direction. 3. The vehicle air conditioner according to 2.