JPS6129531Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cooler unit in an automobile air conditioner, and particularly relates to an improvement in the structure for drawing out a refrigerant conduit from a cooler unit case.

Generally, an air conditioner for a vehicle is equipped with a cooler unit to perform air conditioning for cooling, dehumidifying, etc. inside the vehicle interior. The cooler unit is equipped with a cooling cycle as shown in FIG.
Cooling cycle 2 in this cooler unit 1
is compressor 3 installed in the engine room.
and capacitor 4 installed on the front of the radiator.
, an expansion valve 5 that is normally attached to an evaporator, and an evaporator 6 built into a case 8 that forms part of the air passage of the air conditioner.
The compressor 3 highly compresses the refrigerant, the condenser 4 cools and liquefies the high-pressure high-temperature refrigerant, and the expansion valve 5 rapidly compresses the high-pressure liquid refrigerant. The atomized refrigerant is vaporized in the evaporator 6, and during this vaporization, heat is removed from the air flowing in the case 8 to cool it, and the vaporized refrigerant is returned to the compressor 3. It is starting to return to . In addition, in the figure, 9 is a liquid tank, and 10 is a suction throttle valve. A suction throttle valve may or may not be installed.

In this way, in the cooler unit of an automobile air conditioner, the evaporator and expansion valve are installed inside the case, and the compressor and condenser are installed outside the case, so the refrigerant conduit connecting these is installed on the side wall of the case. If the conduit is passed through the side wall of the case, the case must be kept airtight.

Conventionally, in order to maintain the airtightness of the case and allow the conduit to pass through the side wall of the case, a through hole was drilled in the side wall of the case, and after the conduit was inserted into the through hole, the gap around the through hole around the conduit was filled with sealing material. It has a sealed structure. However, this structure has the problem of poor assembly workability and a large number of parts.

Therefore, conventionally, a conduit penetrating structure as shown in FIG. 2 is sometimes used. This structure consists of a case 8 and a mating case (usually a heater unit case or a case 8 divided into two) 11
Notches 12a, 12b sufficient to allow the conduit 7 to escape are formed on the edges of the side walls 8b, 11b adjacent to the connection end surfaces 8a, 11a, respectively, and on the other hand, a pair of through holes 14, 14 made of an elastic body are formed. After preparing a grommet 13 and inserting the conduits 7, 7 into the through holes 14, 14, the grommet 13 is clamped between the notches 12a, 12b. However, in such a conventional conduit penetrating structure, the conduit 7 is connected to the grommet 13.
It is difficult to insert the grommet 1 into the through hole 14 of the case 8, 11, and the workability is poor.
Since the pressing force applied to the grommet 3 was not sufficient, there was a problem in that the sealing performance between the grommet 13 and the notches 12a, 12b and between the through hole 14 and the conduit 7 was poor.

The present invention was developed by focusing on these conventional problems.In addition to cutting a cut line into the through hole from the side of the grommet, the conduit can be pushed in from the body, and the connecting surface of the case can be inserted into the grommet. The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems by applying a sufficient pressing force with the connection auxiliary frame attached to the auxiliary connection frame.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

3 to 5 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 3 to 5, the case 8 is formed into a substantially cubic box shape, and the edge of the side wall 8b adjacent to one connection surface (usually the connection surface on the heater unit case side) 8a of the case 8 is A rectangular notch 12 is formed approximately in the center. The size of the notch 12 is
The dimensions are sufficient to escape the outer diameter of the conduits 7, 7 with a chisel. A long hole 15 is bored in the vicinity of the notch 12 of the connecting surface 8a in parallel to the side wall 8b for allowing a stopper plate in a grommet to escape, which will be described later. Grommet 1 prepared in this example
6 is integrally molded with an elastic material such as rubber in a substantially angle shape, and a through hole 14, 14 for inserting and holding a conduit is bored in the center of one side 16a of the angle. A pair of cut lines 17, 1 are formed on the longitudinal side surface of one side 16a of the grommet 16 having the through hole 14.
7 is cut so as to reach the through holes 14, 14, and grooves 18 are provided on three side surfaces of this side 16a.
is formed at a certain depth. This kerf 18
The grommet 16 has one side 16a thereof forming a fitting portion 19 into the cutout portion 12, and a pair of retaining plate portions 20a and 20b on both sides of the three sides thereof.

The connection auxiliary frame 21 prepared in this embodiment is integrally molded from synthetic resin or the like.
The main body 22 of the case 8 is formed into a square thin plate frame whose outer shape is approximately equal to the outer shape of the connecting surface 8a of the case 8 and the outer shape of the air outlet 8c. A pair of brackets 23, 23 are spaced apart from each other and protrude from the upper edge of the end face on the connection surface 8a side of the main body 22, approximately at right angles to this end face, and each of the brackets 23 has an engagement hole 24 formed therein. ing. A hook portion 25 is provided on the lower edge of the opening in this end face, and is provided along the lower edge so as to protrude gradually away from the end face as it goes downward. A positioning tube 26 is provided protruding from the edge of the portion. A condensed water scattering prevention plate 27 is provided at the upper end of the hook 25 along the lower edge of the opening and projects at an inclined angle with respect to the upper surface of the hook 25 so as to be approximately perpendicular to the end surface of the main body 22. It is set up. A guide cylinder 28 is provided on the opposite end surface of the main body 22 so as to protrude along the entire circumference of the opening and to exhibit a desired orientation.

On the other hand, the case 8 is provided with means for attaching and holding the connection auxiliary frame 21.
That is, the connection surface 8a on the upper surface of the case 8
A pair of engaging protrusions 29, 29 are formed near the edge, and are formed at the lower edge of the air outlet 8c of the case 8 so as to be inclined at an appropriate angle and gradually become higher at the bottom of the case 8. sloped part 3
0 extends continuously along this edge.

In addition, in FIG. 4, the suction port 8 of the case 8
A case is shown in which the connection auxiliary frame 21 is also attached to the end surface 8d on the e side, and the connection auxiliary frame 21 on the suction port 8e side is shown in cross section for convenience. Also,
In FIG. 4, 31 is a drain port for discharging condensed water generated in the evaporator 6.

Next, the assembly work will be explained.

First, a grommet 16 is installed in the middle of the refrigerant conduit 7. At this time, place the grommet 16 on the score line 1.
It is only necessary to pull the refrigerant conduit 7 open at step 7, push in the body at a predetermined location of the refrigerant conduit 7, and fit it into the through hole 14, making the installation work extremely easy. After fitting the refrigerant conduit 7 into the through hole 14, it is preferable to apply or inject an adhesive 32 to the cut surface of the cut line 17 to bond it. Thereafter, the grommet 16 with the refrigerant conduit 7 inserted therethrough is inserted into the notch 1 of the case 8.
Attach it at point 2. That is, grommet 16
Fit the edge of the side wall 8b of the case 8 into the cut groove 18 of the case 8, fit the inner retaining plate part 20a of the grommet 16 into the long hole 15 of the case end face 8a, and then insert the outer retaining plate part 2
0b along the outer surface of the case side wall 8b, and the fitting portion 19 of the grommet 16 is press-fitted into the notch 12. In this attached state, the fitting part 19 is compressed and deformed in the vertical direction by the notch 12, so the fitting part 19 tightens the outer periphery of the refrigerant conduit 7 inserted into the through hole 14, and both 14, 7 In addition to strengthening the sealing condition between the incision lines 17
Make the cut surfaces completely adhere to each other. Therefore, the sealing condition at the score line 17 can be ensured even if the score line 17 is not bonded. Further, the grommet 16 is prevented from coming off by the retaining plate portions 20a and 20b on both the inner and outer sides.

Thereafter, the connection auxiliary frame 21 is attached to the case end face 8a to which the grommet 16 is attached. First, insert the hook part 25 of the connection auxiliary frame 21 from near the bottom of the air outlet 8c of the case 8, and insert the hook part 25 into the air outlet 8c.
hook on the inclined part 30 at the lower edge of c. Subsequently, the main body 22 of the connection auxiliary frame 21 was rotated toward the upper edge of the case 8 around the base of the hook 25, and the bracket 23 at the upper end of the main body 22 was hooked onto the upper edge of the case 8. After that, push it in so that the engagement holes 24 are engaged with the engagement protrusions 29 of the case 8, respectively. In this state, the connection auxiliary frame 21
is pressed against the end surface 8a of the case 8 by the tightening force of the bracket 23 and the elastic force of the hook portion 25 due to engagement, and also presses the pressure receiving portion 16b of the grommet 16 that slightly protrudes from the end surface 8a. Due to this pressing, the fitting part 19 of the grommet 16 press-fitted into the notch part 12 is further compressed and deformed in the lateral direction.
In addition to further strengthening the sealing state between the through hole 14 and the refrigerant conduit 7, the notch 12 of the fitting part 19 itself
Strengthen the seal inside. Incidentally, in order to ensure close contact between the case end surface 8a and the end surface of the main body 22 of the connection auxiliary frame 21, the main body 22
At the end face of the grommet 16 at a position facing the pressure receiving part 16b, a predetermined pressing distance is taken into consideration.
It is preferable to provide an escape groove 33. Further, when a cushion member made of an elastic body is interposed between the joint surfaces of the connection auxiliary frame 21 and the case 8, the tightening force at the engagement hole 24 and the hook portion 25 is strengthened, and the tightening force between the two 21, 8 is strengthened. Not only does the airtightness between the grommet 16 and the pressure receiving portion 16b improve, but the pressure of the grommet 16 against the pressure receiving portion 16b is also strengthened. Since the cushion member itself is compressively deformed to form the relief portion of the pressure receiving portion 16b, the relief groove 33 may be omitted.

In addition, in this installation state, the connection auxiliary frame 21
Since the positioning cylinder 26 is fitted into the air outlet 8c, the connection auxiliary frame 21 is accurately positioned at the air outlet 8c, and therefore the guide cylinder 28 of the connection auxiliary frame 21
will assume a pre-designed attitude with respect to the air outlet 8c. In this way, since the guide tube 28 takes a predetermined posture, when connecting the suction port (not shown) of the heater unit case to this case 8,
Both can be properly and easily connected in a predetermined posture designed in advance. Also,
The joint surface of the lower part of the connection auxiliary frame 21 with the case 8, where water leakage etc. is likely to occur, is connected from the press-contact part between the lower back surface of the connection auxiliary frame 21 and the lower surface of the case 8 to the back surface of the hook part 25 and the slope of the case 8. Since the contact surface is formed over a wide range up to the part in pressure contact with the surface of the part 30, sealing performance is improved and accidents such as water leakage can be completely prevented. Furthermore, the condensed water splash prevention plate 27 protruding from the hook 25 has the function of pushing back condensed water that may be blown up from the inner bottom of the case 8 downward, so that the condensed water does not reach the heater unit case. Prevent them from entering the room.

Note that the connection auxiliary frame is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, since it is sufficient to compress and deform the grommet attached to the notch. Further, the installation position of the notch and the grommet is not limited to the outlet side of the case, but may be on the suction inlet side. Furthermore, the incision line only needs to reach the through hole, and the incision location, width, etc. are not limited to those in the above embodiments.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the conduit can be pushed in from the body by cutting a cut line into the through hole from the side of the grommet, and the connection auxiliary frame attached to the connection surface of the case on the grommet is sufficient. Since the configuration applies a pressing force, it is possible to sufficiently secure the sealing performance at the case-penetrating portion of the conduit and to improve the assembling workability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a cooler unit in an automobile air conditioner, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway side view showing a conventional example, Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 The figure is a partially cutaway side view showing the assembled state, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line of FIG. 4. 1...Cooler unit, 3...Compressor,
4... Capacitor, 6... Evaporator, 7...
Refrigerant conduit, 8... Case, 8a... Connection surface, 8b
...Side wall, 8c...Air outlet, 12...Notch, 1
4... Through hole, 16... Grommet, 17... Cut line, 19... Fitting portion, 21... Connection auxiliary frame.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A cooler unit case that has a connection surface with another unit case and forms part of the air passage in an automotive air conditioner, an evaporator built into this case, and a side wall adjacent to the connection surface of this case. It is attached to a notch formed on the edge,
A grommet made of an elastic body having a pair of through holes, each inserted into the pair of through holes of the grommet,
In a cooler unit for an automobile air conditioner, comprising a pair of refrigerant conduits that connect the evaporator to a compressor and a condenser installed outside the case, cut lines are cut into the pair of through holes from the side surface of the grommet, respectively. At the same time, push the bodies of the pair of refrigerant conduits through these cut lines so that the refrigerant conduits are inserted into the grommets, and further attach a connection auxiliary frame to the connection surface of the case so as to press the grommets. A cooler unit for an automobile air conditioner, characterized by: