JPS6029321A - Car air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to hold an air conditioning unit compactly, inside a dashboard which is set in the center of a car room, by setting an air route through an evaporator and an air route through a heater core, in parallel with each other, and making a two-stage-structure, an upper stage/an under stage, by setting the evaporator on the upper part of the heater core. CONSTITUTION:The interior of an air conditioner case 10, which is set around the center of the inside of a car dashboard, is separated into two stages, an upper stage and an under stage, with a partition wall 23. A heater core 11 is set in the under stage, and an evaporator 12 is set in the upper stage, respectively. After the air, sent by a blower 14, is guided to pass through the heater core 11 or the evaporator 12, in the air conditioner case 10, it is allowed to flow into the air mixing part 13 and blown from here into the car room through a vent hole 17 or some other holes. At this time, the temperature of the blown air is controlled by separating the air, sent from the blower 14, into two routes, a route 30 through the heater core 11 and a route 31 through the evaporator 12, in an optional rate of air-quantity, by a temperature controlling damper 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, and particularly to the structure of a vehicle interior air conditioning unit that includes an evaporator, which is a component of a refrigeration cycle, and a heater core that uses engine cooling water.

In a conventional automobile air conditioner, a blower 3 and an evaporator 1 are installed inside the instrument panel on the passenger seat side, as shown in Figure 1.
A heater unit 2 with a built-in heater core 2a is arranged inside the instrument panel near the center of the vehicle, and a portion of the cold air cooled by the evaporator 1a is reused at the heater core 2a. Temperature control is performed by heating to produce warm air, and mixing this warm air with cold air that does not pass through the heater core 2a in an air mixing chamber 2b within the heater unit 2 to achieve an appropriate temperature. In this conventional structure, most of the space from the center of the instrument panel to the passenger seat side is occupied by the air conditioner, which causes the problem that the storage space for various other devices is significantly obstructed. Ta. In particular, recently, there has been a tendency for more and more 1M instruments to be stored around the instrument panel.
There is a strong demand for solutions to the above problems.

Additionally, there is a growing demand for the ability to freely change the temperature of the vent outlet and the foot outlet during the pie level mode. For example, if the occupant's upper body is exposed to sunlight even during heating, it is desirable to discharge cold air from the vent outlet.

However, in reality, the above-mentioned conventional device cannot satisfy the above-mentioned requirements, even though many efforts have been made in the design to provide a temperature difference between the upper and lower parts of the vehicle compartment.

In view of the above points, the present invention enables the vehicle interior air conditioning unit to be compactly stored inside the instrument panel in the center of the vehicle interior, thereby eliminating the need for installation space at the bottom of the instrument panel on the passenger seat side, and significantly reducing the installation space in the vehicle interior. It is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner for an automobile that can reduce the temperature difference between the upper and lower parts of a vehicle interior, easily set the temperature difference of the blown air between the upper and lower parts of the vehicle compartment, and supply air with an arbitrary temperature difference.

The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, in which the inside of the air conditioning case 10 provided near the center inside the vehicle instrument panel is separated into two upper and lower stages, and the lower stage uses engine cooling water as a heat source. Refrigeration cycle evaporator 12 is placed above the heater core 11
It is installed. After the air blown by the blower 14 passes through the heater core 11 or the evaporator 12 in the air conditioning case 10, it flows into the air mixture $13, and is sent to the vent outlet 17, etc. from here. The blower 14 is arranged adjacent to the left side of the air conditioning case 10 in this example. Furthermore, an internal/external air switching box 14a is integrally provided above the blower 14 to selectively introduce internal/external air.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram specifically showing the installation location of the unit of the present invention in the vehicle interior, and is located inside the central part of the vehicle instrument panel 15.
It is shown that an air conditioning unit A in which an evaporator 12 and a heater core 11 are housed in two stages, upper and lower, is installed in the space case 10.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the vehicle interior unit of the automotive air conditioner according to the present invention, viewed from the side (the blower 14 side in FIG. 2), and each arrow indicates the flow direction of air passing through the heater core 11. The air passage 30 passing through the evaporator 12 and the air passage 31 passing through the evaporator 12 are parallel to each other. The air sent from the blower 14 is distributed to a passage 30 on the heater core 11 side and a passage 31 on the evaporator 12 side at an arbitrary air volume ratio by a temperature control damper 16 in the figure.

Furthermore, the cold air that has passed through the evaporator 12 and the hot air that has passed through the heater core 11 are mixed in the air mixing section 13 in the air conditioning case 10 to become air at fL temperature, and the air is heated to a temperature of fL. , is discharged into the vehicle interior from the differential air outlet 18 and foot air outlet 19. Damper 20,2
1.22 is operated in conjunction with a mode setting member to be described later, and these dampers 20.21.22
By opening and closing the passages of each of the air outlet ports 17, 18, and 19, the air outlet modes of heater mode, differential mode, bilevel mode, and tarp/vent mode are obtained. Reference numeral 23 denotes a partition wall that partitions the inside of the space case 10 into two stages, upper and lower. On this partition wall 23, the evaporator 12 and the condensed water receiver are placed via a plate 12d. Reference numeral 24 denotes a partition wall that partitions the hot air passage 3Qa downstream of the heater core 11 from the passage 19a leading to the foot outlet 19. This partition wall 24 is provided with a hole that directly communicates the downstream passage 30a of the heater core 11 with the passage 19a on the inlet side of the foot outlet 19, that is, a warm air bypass passage 37, which is opened and closed by a damper 40. It is supposed to be done. This damper 40 is connected to the mode setting damper 20 by a vertical temperature difference setting member, which will be described later. 21.2
2 is operated independently.

FIG. 5 shows the space control panel 33, which is located on or near the instrument panel 15, at a position that is easier to operate than the driver's seat.

Reference numeral 29 indicates a push-button type knob for the pressure 1a machine operation switch of the refrigeration cycle, and 30 indicates a rotary type knob for the speed control switch of the blower 14, which are each provided on a panel 33 so as to be manually operable.

34 is a blowout mode setting member, which is connected to the horizontal groove 33a of the panel 33.
It consists of a lever 34a that is movable inside the lever 34a, and a knob 34b attached to the tip of the lever 34a. 20.
21. 22 pieces are connected.

35 is a temperature setting member, which includes a lever 35a provided so as to be movable within the panel horizontal groove 33b;
The temperature adjusting damper 16 is connected to the lever 35a via a suitable link mechanism, control wire, etc.

36 is a top and bottom temperature difference setting member, which is installed in the horizontal groove 33c of the panel 33.
It is configured by a lever 36a provided and a knob 36b attached to the tip of the lever 36a, and the lever 36a is connected to the A vertical temperature difference setting angle damper 40 is connected.

Although not shown in FIG. 5, the panel 33 is provided with an inside/outside air setting member, and by operating this member, the inside/outside air switching damper in the inside/outside air switching box 14a is operated. There is.

Next, the operation of this embodiment in the above configuration will be explained. The operation will be explained for each blowout mode.

(1) Tala vent (VENT) mode When the knob 34b of the blowout mode setting member 534 is operated to the VENT position in FIG. 5, the damper 20, damper 21... Damper 22
are respectively operated to the positions shown in FIG. Therefore, when the blower 14 is operated by the knob 30 of the blower control switch, the blown air flows through the air passage 30 inside the case 10.
After passing through the evaporator 12, it is blown into the vehicle interior only from the vent outlet 17.

Temperature control can be performed by operating the temperature control damper 16 using the temperature setting member 35 and changing the air volume ratio between the passage on the heater core II side and the passage 31 on the evaporator 12 side. After the mixture is mixed in the mixing section 13 and reaches an appropriate temperature, it is blown out. At this time, the upper and lower temperature difference setting member 36 is in the closed position as shown in FIG.
is also closed.

(2) High level health (B I L E V E L) When the knob 34b of the F blowing mode setting member 34 is operated to the B/L position, the damper 22 closes as shown in FIG.
The dampers 20 and 21 are the vent outlet 17 and the foot outlet 19.
Both the passages 19a are opened. Accordingly, air is blown into the vehicle interior from both the vent outlet 17 and the foot outlet 19. In this case, out of the cold air cooled by the evaporator 12 and the hot air heated by the heater core 11, the cold air is mainly blown toward the vent outlet 17 side, and the warm air is blown mainly toward the foot outlet 19 side, so that the upper and lower By making a difference in the temperature of the blown air, it is possible to obtain a comfortable temperature distribution that keeps the head cold and the feet warm. Here, the temperature difference between the upper and lower sides can be set to any value necessary for the occupant by operating the setting member 36 shown in FIG. 5 and controlling the opening and closing of the damper 40. For example, by operating the damper 40 to an intermediate position between opening and closing as shown in FIG. 7, or operating the damper 40 to a fully open position as shown in FIG. 8, the opening of the damper 40, in other words, the bypass passage By adjusting the amount of hot air passing through 37, the difference in temperature between the upper and lower blowing air can be arbitrarily changed.

In the state shown in FIG. 8, most of the hot air flows through the bypass passage 37.
Since the air flows through the air directly to the foot outlet 19, the difference in temperature between the upper and lower air outlets is maximized.

On the other hand, temperature control may be performed by adjusting the opening degree of the damper 16.

(3) Heating (HEAT) mode When the knob 34b of the blowout mode setting member 34 is operated to the HE AT position, as shown in FIG.
1 is operated to a position where the vent outlet 17 is closed, and the damper 22 is operated to a position where the differential outlet 18 is partially opened. Therefore, among the cold and hot air mixed in the air mixing section 13, relatively low temperature air is blown out from the differential air outlet 18, and at the same time, high temperature air passes through the passage 19a and passes through the foot air outlet 19.
More outburst. Temperature control can be performed by adjusting the opening degree of the damper 16.

Further, even in the heating mode, the difference in temperature between the upper and lower air outlets between the differential air outlet 18 and the foot air outlet 19 can be adjusted by the damper 40.

(4) Defroster (DEF) mode When the knob 34bl of the blowout mode setting member 34 is operated to the DEF position, the damper 20 closes the passage 19a and the damper 21 closes the vent outlet 17B1, as shown in FIG.
The damper 22 opens the differential air outlet 18. Therefore, all of the blown air is blown out from the differential air outlet 18. In this case as well, the temperature can be controlled by adjusting the opening degree of the damper 16. Note that the damper 40 is always operated in the closed position.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment, in which the wall 24b for mixing cold and hot air provided on the upper end side of the partition wall 24 (labeled in FIG. 1O) is eliminated, and a warm air bypass passage is provided in this part. 3
8 and a damper 41, the damper 41 may be connected to the member 36 shown in FIG. 5, and the temperature difference between the upper and lower blown air may be adjusted by controlling the opening and closing of the damper 41.

That is, the damper 41 controls the flow of warm air that bypasses the air mixing section 13 and directly flows into the passage 19a from the bypass passage 3B, thereby adjusting the difference in blowout temperature between the upper and lower sides.

It goes without saying that each damper 16, 20, 21, 22, 40° 41 may be actuated using a diaphragm actuator, a motor, etc., without directly manually operating each damper.

As can be understood from the above description, in the present invention, the air passage 31 passing through the evaporator 12 and the air passage 30 passing through the heater core 11 are arranged in parallel, and the evaporator 12 is disposed above the heater core 11 in two stages, upper and lower. This structure constitutes one compact air conditioning unit A, and since this air conditioning unit A is installed near the center of the instrument panel, the passenger seat, where conventionally most of the space was occupied by the cooling unit, An excellent effect is that the space inside the side instrument panel can be used effectively as a sufficient storage space for a glow box or as a space for arranging other automobile equipment.

Furthermore, by disposing the evaporator 12 above the heater core 11, the vent outlet 17 for blowing out cold air can be provided immediately after the evaporator 12 blows out, and as a result, the ventilation resistance in the cooling mode is reduced, and the This also has the effect of increasing the amount of air.

Furthermore, warm air bypass passages 37, 38 that allow hot air heated by the heater core 11 to directly flow into the passage 19a leading to the foot outlet 19, and dampers 40 that open and close this passage.
, 41, it is possible to easily obtain a temperature difference between the upper and lower air outlets, and the temperature difference can be adjusted arbitrarily, which is a great effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overview of a conventional device, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an overview of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a vehicle instrument panel showing the mounting position of the device of the present invention. Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of the air conditioning unit of the device of the present invention, No. 511! J is a front perspective view of the air conditioning control panel of the device of the present invention, FIGS. 6 to 1O
Each figure is an explanatory view of the operation of the device of the present invention, and shows the same cross-sectional structure as FIG. 4. FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention. A... Air conditioning unit, 11... Heater core, 12
... Evapo Lake, 13... Air mixing section, 14.
... Prower, 15... Vehicle instrument panel, 16... Temperature control damper, 17... Vent outlet, 18... Differential outlet, 19... Foot outlet, 19a... Inlet side passageway, 37.38... warm air bypass passageway, 40.41.
··damper. Representative Patent Attorney Takashi Okabe Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 1 etc.

Claims (1)

[Claims] It has an evaporative lake of the refrigeration cycle and a heater core that uses engine cooling water, and controls the temperature of the blown air by mixing the cold air obtained from the evaporator and the warm air obtained from the heater core. In an automobile air conditioner that blows temperature-controlled air into the vehicle interior from a vent outlet, a differential outlet, a footwell outlet, etc., the air passage passing through the heater core and the air passage passing through the evaporator are arranged in parallel. The evaporator is arranged above the heater core to form one air conditioning unit, and this air conditioning unit is installed near the center of the inside of the instrument panel in the vehicle interior, and A passage is provided on the inlet side through which the cold air and the warm air mix and flow, and a warm air bypass passage is provided in which the hot air downstream of the heater core directly flows into the passage,
An air conditioner for an automobile, further comprising a damper that opens and closes the warm air bypass path.