JPH11348532A - Air conditioner for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a unit compact in an air conditioner for a motor vehicle in which a blower unit is separate from an air conditioner unit. SOLUTION: In this air conditioner, an air filter 22 inserted from an insert port is provided between a first rib 27 and a second rib 28 provided in a duct part 21. In the opening part 21a side of the first rib 27, a seal member 29 for sealing a part between the outer wall of a duct part 16 and the inner wall of the duct part 21 is positioned. Since the first rib 27 has the combined functions of a rail for inserting the air filter 22 and positioning the seal member 29, a protruding rib exclusively used for positioning the seal member 29 does not need to be provided. Accordingly, the length of the duct parts 16 and 21 can be decreased and the unit can be made compact.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a case structure for mounting a seal member between units of an air conditioner for an automobile, in which a blower unit and an air conditioning unit are separated, and for mounting an air filter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An air filter is provided in an air passage of a vehicle air conditioner for purifying air introduced into a passenger compartment. 2. Description of the Related Art As an automotive air conditioner, a unit in which a blower unit and an air conditioning unit are integrated is known. A slit is set in a case at an upstream portion of a cooler so that an air filter can be inserted.

[0003]

By the way, in a compact car class vehicle, the unit size is required to be compact because the space for mounting the unit is narrow. Further, due to the problem of workability when assembling the unit to the vehicle body, the blower unit and the air conditioning unit are often separated. However, if the blower unit and the air conditioning unit are separate bodies, it is necessary to set a seal member at the connection between the units, so the physique becomes larger than the one in which the blower unit and the air conditioning unit are integrated, The requirement for a compact unit cannot be satisfied.

[0004] In addition, there is a problem that as the size of the unit increases, the cost of the unit case also increases.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the size of a unit in an automotive air conditioner in which a blower unit and an air conditioning unit are separated.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the automotive air conditioner of the present invention, one duct is inserted inside the other duct, and the other duct is fitted with the duct. The first ribs (27, 2
7 '), a second rib (28, 28') provided substantially parallel to the first rib (27, 27 ') on the side opposite to the opening from the first rib (27, 27'), and a first rib. (27, 2
7 ') and the second ribs (28, 28') and the first ribs (27, 27 ') and the second ribs (2
8, 28 ') and the insertion slot (2
6), and the first rib (2) in the other duct portion.
7, 27 ') and the second rib (28, 28')
An air filter (22) inserted from an insertion opening (26) is provided, and an opening of a first rib (27, 27 ') is provided between an outer wall of one duct and an inner wall of the other duct. Technical means is adopted in which a sealing member (29) is positioned on the side and seals between the outer wall of one duct portion and the inner wall of the other duct portion.

According to this, the first ribs (27, 27 ')
And the second ribs (28, 28 ') are connected to the air filter (2).
When 2) is inserted into the duct portion (16, 21), it functions as an insertion rail. Therefore, the air filter (2
2) can be easily housed in a fixed position in the duct portion (16, 21). The first rib (27, 27 ') is provided with a rail for inserting the air filter (22) and the sealing member (2).
Since it also has the function of the positioning of 9), there is no need to provide a protruding rib dedicated to positioning the seal member (29). Therefore, the length of the duct portion (16, 21) can be reduced, and the size of the unit (10, 20, 30) can be reduced. Units (10, 20, 3)
Even in a compact car class vehicle having a small mounting space of 0), workability when assembling the vehicle body can be improved. Further, the units (10, 20, 3)
Since the size of 0) can be reduced and the number of ribs provided in the duct portions (16, 21) can be reduced, the cost of the unit case can be reduced.

[0007] The symbols in the parentheses indicate the correspondence with specific means described in the embodiment described later.

[0008]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. (First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an air conditioner for a vehicle, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of a cooler unit, and FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a mounting structure of a seal member and an air filter at a connection portion between a blower unit and a cooler unit.

[0009] As shown in FIG.
The air-conditioning unit is further divided into a cooler unit 20 and a heater unit 3.
0. In the blower unit 10, an inside / outside air switching box 12 having an inside / outside air switching door 11 for switching the outside air introduction port 11 a and the inside air introduction port 11 b to open and close, and the air sucked through the inside / outside air switching box 12 is blown radially outward. A centrifugal blower fan (sirocco fan) 13 is provided in a blower case 14 made of resin. The blower fan 13 is driven to rotate by a motor 15. The air blown by the blower fan 13 is blown by the blower unit 10.
The air is blown to the cooler unit 20 through a duct 16 having a rectangular cross section provided on the downstream side of the air.

In the cooler unit 20, an air filter 22 for purifying the conditioned air blown from the blower unit 10 and a cooler 23 for cooling the conditioned air are provided in a resin cooler case 24. Air filter 22
Is provided in a duct portion 21 having a rectangular cross section into which air from the blower unit 10 flows in a shape corresponding to the duct portion 21. The air filter 22 is for removing dust in the air introduced from the blower unit 10. For example, the air filter 22 is formed by folding a filter material such as filter paper or porous urethane foam into a corrugated (wave-like) shape. The filter area is increased, and the periphery of the corrugated filter medium is held by a rectangular frame made of resin or the like.

The cooler 23 is provided in the air downstream of the air filter 22 and is an evaporator of a refrigeration cycle in which a refrigerant is circulated by a compressor driven by an automobile engine. A duct section 2 having a rectangular cross section
The air after passing through the cooler 23 is sent to the heater unit 30. In the heater unit 30, a heater core (heater) 31 that heats air using cooling water (hot water) of an automobile engine as a heat source, and passes through the heater core 31, on the downstream side of the duct portion 38 into which air from the cooler unit 20 flows. An air mix door 33 and the like for adjusting the ratio of the amount of air (warm air) to be blown and the amount of air (cool air) passing through the bypass passage 32 to adjust the temperature of the blown air are provided in the heater case 34. In addition, heater case 3
An air outlet 3 connected to various outlets such as a face, a foot, a defroster, etc. (not shown)
5, 36 and 37 are open.

Blower unit 10 and cooler unit 20
Is connected by inserting the duct unit 16 inside the duct unit 21, and the cooler unit 20 and the heater unit 30 are connected by inserting the duct unit 25 inside the duct unit 38. . Next, the blower unit 1
2 and 3 show the connection structure between the air filter 22 and the cooler unit 20 and the structure for attaching the air filter 22 to the cooler unit.
This will be described with reference to FIG. A rectangular frame-shaped first protruding rib 27 is integrally formed on the inner surface of the duct portion 21. On the opening 21a side of the first projecting rib 27, a rectangular frame-shaped sealing member 29 corresponding to the shape of the duct portion 21 is provided. Positioning is performed. The seal member 29 is made of a foamable resin having excellent airtightness.

Blower unit 10 and cooler unit 20
When the connection is made, first, the seal member 29 is inserted into the duct portion 21 from the opening 21a side. The position of the seal member 29 is determined by the surface of the first protruding rib 27 on the opening 21a side. By inserting the duct portion 16 inside the rectangular frame-shaped seal member 29,
The blower unit 10 and the cooler unit 20 are connected. In the connection portion, the duct portion 16 and the duct portion 21 are set to have a size that fits without a gap via the seal member 29. Then, a seal member 29 is pressed against the outer wall of the duct 16 and the inner wall of the duct 21 to ensure airtightness at the connection. The connection between the cooler unit 20 and the heater unit 30 is performed in the same manner as the connection between the blower unit 10 and the cooler unit 20.

On the opposite side (downstream of the air) of the opening 21a of the first protruding rib 27, a second protruding rib 28 of the same shape is formed integrally with the duct portion 21 in parallel with the first protruding rib 27. The distance between the first protruding rib 27 and the second protruding rib 28 is
It is set in accordance with the thickness of the air filter 22 in the air flow direction. An insertion port 26 for the air filter 22 is provided at a position between the first protruding rib 27 and the second protruding rib 28 on the lower surface of the duct portion 21.

As shown in FIG. 2, the air filter 22
Is inserted into the duct portion 21 from the insertion opening 26.
When the air filter 22 is inserted, the first protruding rib 27 and the second protruding rib 28 serve as rails for inserting the air filter 22. Since the first protruding rib 27 and the second protruding rib 28 function as rails, the air filter 22 can be easily housed in a fixed position of the duct portion 21. After the air filter 22 is inserted into the duct portion 21, it is fixed by screws.

In the vehicle air conditioner of the present invention configured as described above, the first protruding rib 27 provided on the duct portion 21 serves as a positioning function of the seal member 29 and as a rail for inserting the air filter 22. It has both functions. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the duct portion 21 with a special protruding rib dedicated to positioning the seal member 29. As a result, the length of the duct portion 21 can be reduced, and the size of the cooler unit 20 can be reduced. In addition, even in a compact car class vehicle in which the unit mounting space is narrow, the workability of assembling the vehicle body can be improved.

Further, since the size of the cooler unit 20 can be reduced and the number of projecting ribs provided on the duct portion 21 can be reduced, the cost of the cooler case 24 of the cooler unit 20 can be reduced. (Second Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view showing a mounting structure of a seal member 29 and an air filter 22 at a connection portion between a blower unit 10 and a cooler unit 20 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, the air filter 22 is provided in the duct 21 of the cooler unit 20. However, as shown in FIG. 4, it may be provided in the duct section 16 of the blower unit 10. At this time, the first protruding rib 27 'and the second protruding rib 28' are also provided on the duct portion 16 of the blower unit 10. In this case, the second
The protruding rib 28 'is provided on the opposite side of the first protruding rib 27' from the opening 16a. Further, the insertion port of the air filter 22 is also provided between the first protruding rib 27 'and the second protruding rib 28' as in the first embodiment. When the blower unit 10 and the cooler unit 20 are connected, a rectangular frame-shaped sealing member 29 is attached to the opening 16a side of the first protruding rib 27 ', and the duct portion 21 is placed inside the sealing member 29. To connect.

In the first and second embodiments, a filter for removing dust is used as the air filter 22, but a filter for removing odor or a filter having both functions of removing dust and removing odor may be used. Air filter 2
Although the insertion port 26 for inserting the second 2 is provided on the lower surface of the duct portion 21, it may be provided on another surface. In the first and second embodiments, the first protruding ribs 27, 27 'and the second protruding ribs 28, 28' are provided on the inner surface of the duct portion 21 or the duct portion 16 in a rectangular frame shape. . However, the first protruding ribs 27, 27 'and the second protruding ribs 28, 28' do not need to be frame-shaped.
That is, as a rail for inserting the air filter 22, at least the air filter 22
It may be provided in a fragmentary manner along the insertion direction. The positioning of the seal member 29 is also possible by the first protruding ribs 27 and 27 'provided in this manner.

Although the cooler unit 20 is inserted and connected inside the heater unit 30, the heater unit 30 may be inserted and connected inside the cooler unit 20. Further, the cooler unit 20 and the heater unit 30 are not separate components, and an integrated air conditioning unit may be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of a cooler unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a mounting structure of a seal member and an air filter at a connection portion between a blower unit and a cooler unit in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a mounting structure of a seal member and an air filter at a connection portion between a blower unit and a cooler unit in a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 blower unit, 16 duct unit, 20 cooler unit, 21 duct unit, 21a opening, 22 air filter, 27 first projecting rib, 28 second projecting rib, 29 sealing member.

Claims (3)

[Claims] A blower unit (1) for blowing conditioned air.
0) and an air conditioning unit (2) that adjusts the temperature of the conditioned air blown from the blower unit (10) and blows the air into the room.
0, 30), wherein the blower unit (10) blows conditioned air toward the air conditioning unit (20, 30), and has an opening (16a) at an end thereof. A first duct portion (16) is provided, and the air conditioning unit (20, 30) has a second duct portion (21) having an opening (21a) through which the conditioned air flows from the first duct portion (16). The first duct part (16) or the second duct part (2) is provided.
1) one of the duct portions is inserted into the inside of the other duct portion, and the other duct portion has a first rib (27, 27 ′) protruding toward the inner surface thereof; (27, 27 '), a second rib (28, 28') provided substantially parallel to the first rib (27, 27 ') on the side opposite to the opening, and the first rib (27, 27'). And the second rib (28,
28 ') and the first rib (2
7, 27 ') and an insertion port (26) provided at a position corresponding to the second rib (28, 28'), and the first rib (27, 27 ') in the other duct portion.
An air filter (22) inserted from the insertion port (26) is provided between the first duct portion and the second rib (28, 28 '). A sealing member is positioned between the inner wall and the opening of the first rib (27, 27 ') to seal between the outer wall of the one duct and the inner wall of the other duct. 2
9) An air conditioner for a vehicle, wherein the air conditioner is provided. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the one duct portion is the first duct portion and the other duct portion is the second duct portion. Air conditioner. 3. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the one duct portion is the second duct portion and the other duct portion is the first duct portion. Air conditioner.